{"id":6793,"date":"2023-09-26T07:25:55","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T11:25:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/?p=6793"},"modified":"2023-09-26T07:25:58","modified_gmt":"2023-09-26T11:25:58","slug":"ruthless-mafia-boss-matteo-messina-denaro-dies-in-hospital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/panoramitalia.com\/index.php\/2023\/09\/26\/ruthless-mafia-boss-matteo-messina-denaro-dies-in-hospital\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruthless Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro dies in hospital"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sicilian Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro, captured in January after three decades on the run, has died in hospital in central Italy, the ANSA news agency reported Monday.<\/h3>
<\/div>

AFP <\/strong>– The 61-year-old had colon\u00a0cancer<\/a>, for which he had sought treatment while on the run — a decision that brought him to the attention of the authorities, who arrested him at a clinic in Palermo.<\/p>

Messina Denaro was one of the most ruthless bosses in Cosa Nostra, the real-life Sicilian crime syndicate depicted in the Godfather movies.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>

He was convicted by the courts of involvement in the murder of anti-Mafia judge Giovanni Falcone in 1992 and in deadly bombings in Rome, Florence <\/a>and Milan in 1993.<\/p>

One of his six life sentences was also handed down for the kidnapping and subsequent murder of the 12-year-old son of a witness in the Falcone case.<\/p>

Messina Denaro disappeared in the summer of 1993, and spent the next 30 years on the run as the Italian state cracked down on the Sicilian mob.<\/p>

But he remained the top name on Italy’s most-wanted list and, increasingly became a figure of legend.<\/p>

In a stunning swoop, he was arrested on January 16, 2023, as he visited a health clinic where he was being treated using a fake identity.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>

He was detained in a high-security jail in L’Aquila, central Italy, where he continued treatment for his cancer in his cell.<\/p>

In August, Messina Denaro was moved to the inmates’ ward of the local hospital, where his condition had declined in recent days.<\/p>

This weekend, media reports said he was in an “irreversible coma”. Medics had stopped feeding him and he had asked not to be resuscitated, they added.<\/p>

His arrest may have brought some relief for his victims, but the mob boss always maintained his silence.<\/p>

In interviews in custody since being arrested, Messina Denaro even denied he was a member of the Cosa Nostra.<\/p>

Wiretaps<\/h2>

After Messina Denaro went on the run, there was intense speculation that he had gone abroad — and he likely did.<\/p>

But in the end, he was found to have been staying near his hometown of Castelvetrano in western Sicily.<\/a><\/p>

Preparations are already under way for his burial in the family tomb in the town, alongside his father, Don Ciccio, according to the Corriere della Sera newspaper.<\/p>

Don Ciccio was also head of the local clan. He was said to have died of a heart attack while on the run, his body left in the countryside, dressed for the funeral.<\/p>

Investigators had been combing the Sicilian countryside for Messina Denaro for years, searching for hideouts and wiretapping members of his family and his friends.<\/p>

They were heard discussing the medical problems of an unnamed person who suffered from cancer, as well as eye problems — a person who detectives became sure was Messina Denaro.<\/p>

They used a national health system database to search for male patients of the right age and medical history, and eventually closed in.<\/p>

Read more here<\/a><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sicilian Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro, captured in January after three decades on the run, has died in hospital in central Italy, the ANSA news agency reported Monday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6794,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1578,1577,1075,1575],"class_list":{"0":"post-6793","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-cancer","9":"tag-dies-hospital","10":"tag-matteo-messina-denaro","11":"tag-ruthless-mafia-boss"},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t