Italian Mafia boss Messina Denaro dies of cancer months after capture

Italian Mafia brag Matteo Messina Denaro, who was convicted of aggregate murders and was arrested successful January aft spending 30 years on the run, has died of cancer, officials said connected Monday.

Messina Denaro, 61, was suffering from crab of the colon astatine the clip of his arrest. As his information worsened successful caller weeks, helium was transferred to a infirmary from the maximum-security jailhouse successful cardinal Italy wherever helium was initially held.

He fell into a coma connected Friday and ne'er regained consciousness.

“You shouldn’t contradict prayers to anyone, but I can’t accidental I americium sorry,” Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said connected Instagram.

Messina Denaro was recovered blameworthy of galore crimes, including helping program the 1992 murders of anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino — crimes that shocked Italy and sparked a crackdown connected the Sicilian mob.

Denaro’s mugshot aft being taken into custody backmost successful January.ITALIAN CARABINIERI PRESS OFFICE/AFP via Getty Images

He was besides held liable for bombings successful Rome, Florence and Milan successful 1993 that killed 10 people, arsenic good arsenic helping signifier the kidnapping of Giuseppe Di Matteo, 12, to dissuade the boy’s begetter from giving grounds against the mafia.

The lad was held for 2 years and past murdered.

Dubbed by the Italian property arsenic “the past Godfather”, Messina Denaro is not believed to person fixed immoderate accusation to the constabulary aft he was seized extracurricular a backstage session successful the Sicilian capital, Palermo, connected Jan. 16.

Denaro moments aft being arrested successful Palermo, Italy, backmost connected January 16, 2023. via REUTERS

According to aesculapian records leaked to the Italian media, helium underwent country for colon crab successful 2020 and 2022 nether a mendacious name. A doc astatine the Palermo session told La Repubblica paper that Messina Denaro’s wellness had worsened importantly successful the months starring up to his capture.

RUTHLESS

The lad of a mafioso, Messina Denaro was calved successful the southwestern Sicilian municipality of Castelvetrano successful 1962.

He followed his begetter into the mob and astatine 15, was already carrying a gun. Police accidental helium carried retired his archetypal sidesplitting erstwhile helium was 18.

The Castelvetrano clan was allied to the Corleonesi, led by Salvatore “the Beast” Riina, who became the undisputed “boss of bosses” of the Sicilian mob, known arsenic Cosa Nostra (Our Thing), acknowledgment to his ruthless pursuit of power.

A reconstruction of the look of Denaro who was caught by Italy’s anti-mafia constabulary connected January 16, 2023.ITALIAN CARABINIERI PRESS OFFICE/AFP via Getty Images

Nicknamed “U Siccu” (The Skinny One), Messina Denaro became his protege and showed helium could beryllium conscionable arsenic pitiless arsenic his master, picking up 20 life-prison presumption successful trials held successful absentia for his relation successful an array of mob murders.

He himself erstwhile claimed to person murdered capable radical to capable a cemetery.

“You ever request to respect death, due to the fact that dissimilar mafiosi, we respect beingness until death.

A computer-generated representation released by Italian Police of Mafia apical brag contender Matteo Messina Denaro erstwhile helium was connected the tally from authorities.AP

But we cannot hide who Messina Denaro was, a murderer, a wide murderer who wounded his land,” the politician of Castelvetrano Enzo Alfano told Adnkronos quality agency.

Messina Denaro went into hiding successful 1993 arsenic a increasing fig of turncoats started providing details of his relation successful the mob, but investigators judge helium seldom wandered acold from Sicily.

Police accidental helium spent overmuch of 2022 hiding successful Campobello di Mazara, a municipality of astir 11,000, a abbreviated thrust from his mother’s location successful occidental Sicily.

He communicated with different Mafiosi via “Pizzini”, tiny pieces of insubstantial sometimes written successful codification distributed by messengers, immoderate of which were intercepted by police.

He ne'er married, but was known to person had a fig of lovers.

Denaro wrote that helium had a daughter, but had ne'er met her.

Italian media said the 2 saw each different aft helium was captured and that she had agreed to instrumentality his surname.

Despite his notoriety, prosecutors person ever doubted that Messina Denaro became the Mafia “boss of bosses”, saying it was much apt that helium was simply the caput of Cosa Nostra successful occidental Sicily.

His assemblage is expected to beryllium returned to Sicily successful the coming days for a strictly backstage funeral, a authorities authoritative said.