There were up to a thousand killings during this period as Riina and the Corleonesi, together with their allies, wiped out their rivals. His "compare d’anello" (a kind of best man and trusted friend) at his wedding in 1974 was Domenico Tripodo, a powerful boss and prolific cigarette smuggler. Today Salvatore Riina, Capo dei Capi, died in the prison in Parma, Italy, that had been his home for almost 25 years. Mori maintained his contacts with Ciancimino were aimed at combating the Mafia and catching Riina, and there had been no list. Knowing Riina would order the death of subordinates whom he considered unreliable, Di Maggio fled Sicily and collaborated with the authorities. He was also known by the nicknames la belva ("the beast") and il capo dei capi (Sicilian: 'u capu di 'i capi, "the boss of bosses"). [58] Later that September, he was again hospitalized for heart problems. (Gregorio Borgia / Associated Press) A law to create a new offence of Mafia association and confiscate Mafia assets was introduced by Pio La Torre, secretary of the Italian Communist Party in Sicily, but it had been stalled in parliament for two years. ... where he starts to work as a model and tries to socialize. In a gross underestimation of the mobsters from Corleone, the Palermo bosses often referred to the Corleonesi as i viddani – "the peasants". In response to public disquiet about the failure to effectively combat the organisation Riina headed, Pio La Torre's law was passed 10 days later. In May 1982, the Italian government sent Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, a general of the Italian Carabinieri, to Sicily with orders to crush the Mafia. They were acquitted because of intimidation of the jurors and witnesses. Stars: Claudio Gioè, Daniele Liotti, Salvatore Lazzaro, Simona Cavallari. non [7], The Corleonesi's primary rivals were Stefano Bontade, Salvatore Inzerillo and Tano Badalamenti, bosses of various powerful Palermo Mafia families. Salvatore "Totò" Riina (born November,16 1930 - died November,17 2017) was a Sicilian crime lord, mafiosi, drug kingpin, businessman, mass murderer, terrorist, and the overlord of the Sicilian Mafia, a member of the Sicilian Mafia who became the most powerful member of the criminal organization in the late 1970s. Riina pinned his hopes on the lengthy appeal process that had frequently set convicted mafioso free, and he suspended the campaign of murders against officials while the cases went to higher courts. Between 1981 and 1983, the Second Mafia War was instigated by Riina, and Bontade and Inzerillo, together with many associates and members of both their Mafia and blood families, were killed. Giuseppe Salvatore Riina has written a book about growing up as the son of Italy's most wanted man, Salvatore 'Toto' Riina, and appeared on RAI's premier talkshow to promote it. He was 87. In 2006, the council of Corleone created T-shirts reading I love Corleone in an attempt to dissociate the town from its infamous Mafiosi, but a brother-in-law of one of Riina's daughters began an attempt to sue the Corleone mayor by claiming the Riina family owned the copyright to the phrase. With Claudio Gioè, Daniele Liotti, Salvatore Lazzaro, Simona Cavallari. Riina was highly persuasive and often highly sentimental. Riina and Leggio were arrested and tried in 1969 for murders carried out earlier that decade. "Audizione del procuratore Sergio Lari dinanzi alla Commissione Parlamentare Antimafia - XVI LEGISLATURA", Italy: Ex-interior minister implicated in mafia negotiations, The Olive Tree of Peace: The massacre in via dei Georgofili, "Assolto l'ex generale del Ros Mario Mori "Non favorì la latitanza del boss Provenzano" - Palermo - Repubblica.it", "Crime Bosses Considered Hit on Giuliani", "Mob Murder FAQ: Do Mafioso ever put out contracts on law enforcement officials? Together with Riina, Calogero Bagarella and Bernardo Provenzano (who were three of the gunmen in Navarra's slaying), Leggio began to increase the power of the Corleonesi. In 1998, Riina picked up yet another life sentence for the high-profile murder of Salvo Lima, a politician who had long since been suspected of being in league with the Mafia and who had been shot dead in 1992 after he had failed to prevent the convictions of Mafiosi in the Maxi Trial of the mid 1980s. Brusca also quoted Riina as declaring that the children of informants were legitimate targets. Riina succeeded Luciano Leggio as head of the Corleonesi criminal organisation in the mid 1970s and achieved dominance through a campaign of violence, which caused police to target his rivals. [40] Attacks on art galleries and churches left ten dead and many injured, causing outrage among Italians. During the 1970s Sicily became an important location in the international heroin trade, especially with regards to the refining and exporting of the narcotic. Ignazio Salvo, who had advised Riina against killing Falcone, was himself murdered on September 17. At the entrance to a complex of villas where a wealthy businessman who acted as Riina's driver lived, Di Maggio identified Riina's wife. [51][52], In November 2009, Massimo Ciancimino [it] – the son of Vito Ciancimino – said that Provenzano betrayed the whereabouts of Riina. Rita Borsellino, sister of Paolo Borsellino, was one of a number of high-profile Italians who condemned the idolization of Mafiosi. Some investigators believed that most of those who carried out murders for Cosa Nostra answered solely to Leoluca Bagarella, and that consequently Bagarella actually wielded more power than Bernardo Provenzano, who was Riina's formal successor. In October 1993, nine months after his capture, Riina was convicted of ordering the murders of Vincenzo Puccio and his brother Pietro. But over $125million — probably just a fraction of his fortune — and his vast mansion was seized by the court in 1997. The same year, in the trial for the murder of Judge, In 1998, he was sentenced to life imprisonment together with the boss, The same year, in the trial for the murder of the politician, In 1999, he was sentenced to life imprisonment as principal for the, In 2000, he was sentenced to life imprisonment together with. He also had close relations with the 'Ndrangheta, the mafia-type association in Calabria. Schneider, Jane T. & Peter T. Schneider (2003). [35] Some prosecutors have theorized that Borsellino's murder was connected to the alleged negotiations. Giovanni Brusca claimed that, during 1991 and early 1992, Riina contemplated acts of terrorism against the state to get it to back off in its crackdown against the Mafia, including acts such as bombing the Leaning Tower of Pisa. [61], In 2017, Riina's lawyers applied to the Bologna Surveillance Court for the deferral of the sentence to house arrest, submitting the precarious state of health of Riina as a reason. In November 2001, a court in Palermo sentenced 24-year-old Giovanni to life in prison for four murders. In November 2001, a court in Palermo sentenced 24-year-old Giovanni to life in prison for four murders. [12][18] On 11 September 1982, Buscetta's two sons from his first wife, Benedetto and Antonio, disappeared, never to be found again, which prompted his collaboration with Italian authorities. In February 1980, Tommaso Buscetta had fled to Brazil to escape the brewing Second Mafia War. The Italian government arranged for a massive crackdown against the Mafia in response. According to Brusca, Bernardo Provenzano "sold" Riina in exchange for the valuable archive of compromising material that Riina held in his apartment in Via Bernini 52 in Palermo. [14] Di Maggio's credibility had been shaken in the closing weeks of the Andreotti trial, when he admitted killing a man while under state protection. On 15 January 1993, Carabinieri arrested Riina at his villa in Palermo. In 2006, the Palermo Court absolved Mario Mori and Captain "Ultimo" (Sergio Dicaprio) – the man who arrested Riina – of the charge of consciously aiding and abetting the Mafia. Police sent maps of Palermo to Vito Ciancimino. The explosion was part of a series. A law to create a new offence of Mafia conspiracy, and confiscate Mafia assets was introduced by Pio La Torre but it had been stalled in parliament for two years, La Torre was murdered April 30, 1982. The following year he killed a man during an argument and served six years in prison for manslaughter. At this point, the arrest and cooperation of Balduccio Di Maggio led to the arrest of Riina. In a move that was both practical and symbolic, this mansion was turned into a school for the local children. Salvatore Riina, the Mafia’s murderous “boss of bosses,” who earned multiple life sentences and the nickname the Beast for his cruelty and for unleashing a war against law enforcement that claimed the lives of Italian prosecutors and police officers, died early Friday in a hospital in the northern Italian city of Parma. Although Leggio retained some influence from behind bars, Riina was now the effective head of the Corleonesi. In contrast, Riina, Provenzano and other Corleonesi were fugitives, always in hiding and rarely seen by other mobsters, let alone the public. Riina's tenure as 'boss of bosses' was marked by a changing public attitudes to organised crime. He had obtained medical attention for his diabetes and registered all four of his children under their real names at the local hospital. Buscetta provided a great deal of information to Judge Giovanni Falcone and he testified at the Maxi Trial in the mid 1980s that saw hundreds of Mafiosi imprisoned. He had been a fugitive for 23 years. Summary: Salvatore Riina is 60 years old today because Salvatore's birthday is on 09/23/1960. [91], Italian crime boss and member of the Sicilian Mafia, Mugshot of Totò Riina after his arrest in 1993, Claims of negotiations with the government, CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (, Totò Riina nega in tribunale di conoscere Cosa Nostra, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, List of fugitives from justice who are no longer sought, Learn how and when to remove this template message, The Mafia Kills Only in Summer (TV series), "Dal primo omicidio all'arresto Una lunga scia di orrori", Italy Arrests Sicilian Mafia's Top Leader, "#AccaddeOggi: 16 maggio 1974, arrestato a Milano Luciano Liggio, la", E ora la ’ndrangheta supera cosa nostra: Intervista a Enzo Ciconte, "E LEGGIO SPACCO' IN DUE COSA NOSTRA - la Repubblica.it", 'Kiss of honour' between Andreotti and Mafia head never happened, La confessione di Balduccio: "Ho ucciso anche da pentito", "L'11 settembre della mafia palermitana: la tragica fine dei figli di Buscetta", "UN IMPERO BASATO SULLA COCAINA CHE GESTIVA COME UN MANAGER - la Repubblica.it", "GIUSTIZIATO IL NIPOTE DI BUSCETTA - la Repubblica.it", "impastato-cronologia le vicende del processo", "IL BRASILE HA CONCESSO L' ESTRADIZIONE TOMMASO BUSCETTA PRESTO IN ITAL - la Repubblica.it", "BUSCETTA CI DISSE: 'NON SONO UN NEMICO' - la Repubblica.it", "338 GUILTY IN SICILY IN A MAFIA TRIAL; 19 GET LIFE TERMS", Rapido 904: "Un intreccio tra mafia, camorra e politica", Giovanni Falcone, Paolo Borsellino and the Procura of Palermo, "Gli esecutori materiali della strage di Capaci - Sentenza d'appello per la strage di Capaci". Some investigators believed most of those who carried out murders for Cosa Nostra answered solely to Leoluca Bagarella, and that consequently Bagarella actually welded more power than Bernardo Provenzano who was Riina's formal successor. The council of top bosses headed by Riina reacted by ordering the assassination of Salvatore Lima (on the grounds that he was an ally of Giulio Andreotti), and Falcone. Calderone quoted Riina as saying "I don't want any woman other than my Ninetta, and if they [her family] don't let me marry her, I'll have to kill some people." In 2012, he was given another life sentence for the 1992 murder of Alfio Trovato in Milan. In July 2012, Mancino was ordered to stand trial on charges of withholding evidence about alleged 1992 talks between the Italian state and the Mafia. [59] On 4 March 2014, he was hospitalized again. In 1996, he was again sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of judge Antonino Scopelliti together with the bosses Giuseppe Calò, Francesco Madonia, Giuseppe Giacomo Gambino, Giuseppe Lucchese, Bernardo Brusca, Salvatore Montalto, Salvatore Buscemi, Nenè Geraci and Pietro Aglieri. [33] Ignazio Salvo, who had advised Riina against killing Falcone, was himself murdered on 17 September 1992. In 2007, Italian television broadcast Il Capo dei Capi (The Boss of Bosses), a six-part miniseries based on Riina's life and crimes He was played by Claudio Gioè. [85] According to Antonio Ingroia, one of the prosecutors of the Direzione distrettuale antimafia [it] (DDA) of Palermo, Giovanni is among the possible leading figures in the Sicilian Cosa Nostra after the arrest of Provenzano in 2006 and Salvatore Lo Piccolo in 2007, but still too young to be recognized as leading boss of the organisation. [49][50] According to Giuliani, the Sicilian Mafia offered $800,000 for his death during his first year as mayor of New York in 1994. It is not exactly known what Riina's net worth was. Interview of agent Vullo the day after the massacre. [55], In total, Riina was given 26 life sentences[56] and served his sentence in solitary confinement. Ciancimino, who was born in Corleone, corruptly allowed untrammelled property development on the well-known valley known as "Conca d'Oro" (Golden Bowl), amassing a vast fortune in the process. At this point, the arrest and cooperation of Balduccio Di Maggio led to the arrest of Riina. La Torre was murdered on 30 April 1982. Riina reprimanded an ambitious Mafioso, Balduccio Di Maggio, for leaving his wife and children for a mistress, telling him he would never be made a boss. Some prosecutors have theorized that Borsellino murder was connected to the alleged negotiations. At the entrance to a complex of villas where a wealthy businessman who acted as Riina's driver lived, Dimaggio identified Riina's wife. [26] Buscetta helped judges Falcone and Paolo Borsellino achieve significant success in the fight against organized crime that led to 475 Mafia members indicted, and 338 convicted in the Maxi Trial. Both saw the murder of Lima as an indication they would be killed. It was only several years later, when police stumbled on explosives of the same type as used in Train 904 while searching the hideout of Giuseppe Calò, that it became apparent that the Mafia had been behind the attack.[28]. Riina allegedly was suspicious of Giuliani's efforts prosecuting the American Mafia and was worried that he might have spoken with Italian anti-mafia prosecutors and politicians, including Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, who were both murdered in 1992 in separate car bombings.