Matteo Messina Denaro, the notorious Sicilian mafia boss, has reportedly died, according to Italian media reports. Messina Denaro, who spent a staggering 30 years on the run, was arrested back in January. However, it has been revealed that he was battling cancer at the time of his capture.
As his health deteriorated in recent weeks, he was transferred from a maximum-security prison to a hospital in central Italy. This move aimed to provide him with the necessary medical care, considering his worsening condition. The 61-year-old mafia boss was involved in numerous crimes, including planning the heinous 1992 murders of anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. These shocking crimes sent shockwaves throughout Italy and triggered a major crackdown on the Sicilian mob.
Moreover, Messina Denaro was also held responsible for bombings in Rome, Florence, and Milan in 1993, resulting in the deaths of 10 innocent people. Additionally, he played a key role in organizing the kidnapping of 12-year-old Giuseppe Di Matteo as a means to intimidate the boy’s father into withholding evidence against the mafia. Tragically, the young boy was held captive for two years before being brutally murdered.
Dubbed as “the last Godfather” by the Italian press, Messina Denaro maintained his silence and refused to provide any information to the police following his arrest outside a private health clinic in Palermo. Medical records leaked to the media indicate that he had undergone surgeries in 2020 and 2022 under an assumed name as part of his battle with colon cancer.
The son of a mafioso, Messina Denaro was born in the town of Castelvetrano in southwestern Sicily in 1962. He followed in his father’s footsteps and joined the ranks of the mafia. Shockingly, he carried a gun at the young age of 15 and committed his first murder at 18, according to police reports.
Throughout his criminal career, Messina Denaro proved to be a loyal protege of the infamous Salvatore “Toto” Riina, the feared Godfather of the Sicilian mafia. Known as “The Beast,” Riina led the Corleonesi, an ally of the Castelvetrano clan to which Messina Denaro belonged. The mafia boss amassed a staggering 20 life prison terms for his involvement in various mob-related murders during trials held in absentia.
In 1993, as informants began to reveal details of his criminal activities, Messina Denaro went into hiding. Investigators believe that he seldom strayed far from Sicily and lived in close proximity to his mother’s house. To communicate with other mafiosi, he relied on handwritten notes, known as “pizzini,” which were sometimes coded. Despite his long and elusive existence, Messina Denaro never married but was known to have multiple lovers. In fact, he even claimed to have a daughter he had never met.
The demise of Matteo Messina Denaro marks the end of an era for the Sicilian mafia. His reign of terror and ruthless actions will forever be remembered as a dark chapter in Italian history.
