Matteo Messina Denaro, the “last godfather” of the Sicilian mafia who was accused of orchestrating some of the most heinous crimes perpetrated by the Cosa Nostra, has died after a long illness.
In January, Denaro, 61, who had been in hiding since 1993, was apprehended in a private clinic in Palermo, where he had been periodically receiving treatment for a tumour under the false name of Andrea Bonafede.
On 8 August, he was moved from the maximum-security prison in L’Aquila and admitted to the city’s San Salvatore hospital, as his health had deteriorated and was “not compatible” with the tough jail regime he was being held under, his lawyer, Alessandro Cerella, said.
Preparations were already under way for his burial in the family tomb in the town, alongside his father, Don Ciccio, who was also head of the local clan, according to the Corriere della Sera newspaper.
While at large, the mobster, who once infamously claimed: “I filled a cemetery, all by myself,” had apparently kept up his luxurious lifestyle, thanks to several bankrollers who, according to prosecutors, included politicians and businessmen.
With only a few identity pictures taken in the late 1980s and early 90s, the Italian authorities reconstructed his appearance digitally, using the latest computer technology and information provided by mafia turncoats.
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