Matteo Messina Denaro, Italian Mafia boss incarcerated in January after a 30-year fugitive stint, has passed away, as confirmed by ANSA news agency.
At 61, Messina Denaro was battling cancer when arrested. His deteriorating health led to a transfer from a maximum-security prison in central Italy to a hospital.
Reports indicate that he declined aggressive medical treatment, and medical care ceased when he entered an irreversible coma.
Among his many convictions, Messina Denaro played a significant role in planning the 1992 murders of anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, a dark period that instigated Italy’s fierce crackdown on the Sicilian mob.
He was also implicated in the bombings of Rome, Florence, and Milan in 1993, which resulted in the deaths of 10 people. Additionally, he orchestrated the kidnapping of Giuseppe Di Matteo, a 12-year-old, in an attempt to deter the boy’s father from testifying against the mafia. Tragically, the boy was held for two years and later murdered.
Often referred to as “the last Godfather” by the Italian press, Messina Denaro did not cooperate with the police following his arrest in Palermo on January 16.
Leaked medical records revealed that he had undergone surgery for colon cancer in 2020 and 2022 under an assumed identity. According to a doctor in Palermo, Messina Denaro’s health had deteriorated significantly in the months leading up to his capture.
Born in Castelvetrano, Sicily, in 1962, Messina Denaro followed in his father’s footsteps, joining the mafia at a young age. By 15, he was already carrying a firearm, and by 18, he committed his first murder.
Associated with the Corleonesi and their leader Salvatore “the Beast” Riina, Messina Denaro was often called “‘U Siccu” (The Skinny One). He demonstrated his ruthless nature, earning 20 life prison sentences in absentia for his involvement in various mob killings. He once claimed to have taken enough lives to fill a cemetery.
In 1993, he went into hiding as turncoats began revealing details of his mafia activities, but it is believed he seldom ventured far from Sicily.
During 2022, police suspected that he spent most of his time in Campobello di Mazara, a small town near his mother’s residence in western Sicily. Messina Denaro communicated with fellow mafiosi through “pizzini,” small notes often written in code and delivered by messengers, some of which were intercepted by law enforcement. Although he mentioned having a daughter, he had never met her.
Despite his infamy, prosecutors doubted that Messina Denaro held the title of Mafia “boss of bosses,” suggesting instead that he led Cosa Nostra in western Sicily.
