crime
Italian mafia boss Messina Denaro dies
Matteo Messina Denaro died as a result of cancer. photo
© -/Comando Generale Carabinieri /dpa
As the boss of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, Matteo Messina Denaro is said to have committed or organized dozens of murders. He was arrested in January after three decades on the run. Now the mafioso is dead.
Italy’s long-time most wanted mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro is dead. The 61-year-old died in a prison clinic in the central Italian city of L’Aquila as a result of cancer, the Italian news agency Ansa reported.
The boss of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra was only arrested in mid-January after three decades on the run. At that time he wanted to be treated under a false name in a private clinic in Sicily’s capital Palermo for his colon cancer.
The criminal’s health had deteriorated drastically in the past few days. On Friday evening, the treating doctors announced that Messina Denaro had fallen into an irreversible coma from which he would no longer wake up. At his own request, life support measures were discontinued.
As a member of Cosa Nostra, Messina Denaro is said to have committed or organized dozens of murders – including the fatal bombings of mafia hunters Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, which made headlines around the world in 1992. Since his arrest, he has undergone two operations, the most recent in August. He also received chemotherapy. According to Italian media reports, the family was able to say goodbye to him in the past few days.