After the arrest of mob boss Matteo Messina Denaro, Italian investigators found more hiding places for the Cosa Nostra criminal. During searches this week in the town of Campobello di Mazara, police discovered another apartment and a secret room in a third building next to the apartment where the 60-year-old man allegedly lived until his arrest.
Investigators found valuables such as jewelry and expensive clothing at the scene. According to media reports today, a poster of mob boss Vito Corleone, played by Hollywood actor Marlon Brando, from the movie “The Godfather” was hanging in an apartment.
Questionable prisoner cooperation
Messina Denaro has been on the run since 1993 and is the most wanted mobster in the country. He has already been sentenced to life in prison for dozens of murders, including those of mob hunters Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. He was arrested on Monday when he went to a cancer clinic in Palermo under a false name to be treated. Many Italian politicians celebrated the arrest as a historic success in the fight against the Mafia.
Messina Denaro is now in high security prison in the town of L’Aquila in Abruzzo, which has particularly harsh prison conditions for ex-mafiosi and serious criminals. At the institution, the Sicilian continues his chemotherapy for a tumor in his intestine. Messina Denaro hired her niece Lorenza Guttadauro, whose grandfather was also a mafia boss, as a lawyer.
Investigators are hoping Messina Denaro will cooperate or even offer to be a key witness in striking further blows at the Sicilian mafia. In return, as a cancer patient, he could be given easier prison conditions. However, so far there have been no signs of cooperation, as reported by the media.