Matteo Messina Denaro, the notorious Italian Mafia boss who was apprehended in January after evading capture for 30 years, has passed away, as reported by the ANSA news agency on Monday.
At the time of his arrest, Messina Denaro, aged 61, was battling cancer. In recent weeks, as his health deteriorated, he was transferred from a maximum-security prison in central Italy, where he was initially held, to a hospital.
According to ANSA, Messina Denaro had expressed a wish for no aggressive medical intervention, and medical staff ceased feeding him after he was declared to be in an irreversible coma.
He had been convicted of numerous crimes, including his involvement in plotting the 1992 assassinations of anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellinoâcrimes that sent shockwaves across Italy and led to a crackdown on the Sicilian mafia. Messina Denaro was also held responsible for bombings in Rome, Florence, and Milan in 1993 that claimed the lives of 10 individuals. Additionally, he played a role in orchestrating the abduction of Giuseppe Di Matteo, a 12-year-old boy, in an attempt to dissuade the boy’s father from testifying against the mafia. Tragically, the boy was held captive for two years before being murdered.
Referred to as “the last Godfather” by the Italian press, Messina Denaro is not believed to have provided any information to the authorities following his apprehension outside a private health clinic in the Sicilian capital, Palermo, on January 16.
The death of Messina Denaro marks the end of an era in the world of organized crime, but it also raises questions about the future power dynamics within the Sicilian Mafia and the broader Italian criminal syndicate. Authorities will likely be monitoring closely for any potential shifts or power struggles in the wake of his passing.
