- A report suggests that mobster Matteo Messina Denaro took inspiration from an “old Jewish saying” to evade capture.
- Known as the “last godfather,” he openly dined in restaurants and played poker in a Sicilian town.
- After being on the run for 30 years, the cancer-stricken mobster is now in police custody at a hospital in Italy.
Matteo Messina Denaro, 61, has been branded “Italy’s last godfather” and the “boss of all bosses” by the Italian media. His apartment, when raided by the police, was found to contain a poster of Marlon Brando in ‘The Godfather’.
He remained one of Italy’s most wanted fugitives until his arrest in January this year, after being on the run for three decades.
The Times reported that a recently-released transcript reveals details of his life as a fugitive, including living openly under an assumed identity in the town of Campobello di Mazara.
When questioned by magistrates, Messina Denaro claimed to have followed an old Jewish saying: “If you want to hide a tree, plant it in a forest.” It should be noted, however, that there is no evidence of this proverb having Jewish origins.
According to informers and prosecutors, Messina Denaro’s criminal career involved participating in bomb attacks that killed anti-mafia magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in 1992. He was also convicted for his involvement in the abduction and murder of Giuseppe Di Matteo, the son of a mafia informant, in 1996.
Various sources, including CNN and The Guardian, link Messina Denaro to multiple other mafia-related murders.
Carabinieri/Handout via REUTERS
The mobster has recently been transferred from a maximum-security jail in L’Aquila to San Salvatore hospital for an operation. The prisons ombudsman for the region confirmed that the procedure was successful.
Since his capture, Messina Denaro has been held under Italy’s strict “hard prison regime” for high-security criminals, which includes mafia members.
Due to his cancer and recent surgery for an intestinal obstruction, Messina Denaro’s health has deteriorated. His lawyer has argued that his condition is incompatible with the prison regime and has requested immediate hospitalization.
Remaining true to the mafia code of silence, known as “omertà,” Denaro has refused to cooperate with authorities or admit his affiliation with the Cosa Nostra.
Teresa Principato, a magistrate involved in his capture, stated that he will never betray his fellow gangsters due to his loyalty to the Cosa Nostra.
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