Enrico De Pedis (; 15 May 1954 − 2 February 1990) was an Italian gangster and one of the bosses of the

Banda della Magliana The Banda della Magliana (, ''Magliana Gang'') is an Italian criminal organization based in Rome. It was founded in 1975. Given by the media, the name refers to the original neighborhood, the Magliana, of some of its members. The ''Banda dell ...

, an Italian criminal organization based in the city of

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, particularly active throughout the late 1970s until the early 1990s. His nickname was ''"'Renatino"''. Unlike other members of his gang, De Pedis possessed a strong entrepreneurial spirit. While other members squandered their earnings, he invested his illicit proceeds (in construction companies, restaurants, boutiques, etc.). Along with many of the crimes committed by his gang, De Pedis has also been linked to the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi, whose case has been linked with the

Pope John Paul II assassination attempt On 13 May 1981, in St. Peter's Square in Vatican City, Pope John Paul II was shot and wounded by Mehmet Ali Ağca while he was entering the square. The Pope was struck twice and suffered severe blood loss. Ağca was apprehended immediately and ...

. On 2 February 1990, De Pedis was ambushed and murdered by his former colleagues on ''Via del Pellegrino'' near

Campo de' Fiori Campo de' Fiori (, literally "field of flowers") is a rectangular square south of Piazza Navona in Rome, Italy, at the border between rione Parione and rione Regola. It is diagonally southeast of the Palazzo della Cancelleria and one block north ...

. He was buried in the Sant'Apollinare Basilica in Rome. In 2009, the Rome prosecutor's offices investigated why De Pedis was entombed in the Vatican-owned basilica. According to the former Banda della Magliana member Antonio Mancini, speaking in 2011, this was a reward to De Pedis for his role in persuading other members to stop the strikes (including Orlandi's kidnapping) that the gang was making against the Vatican in order to force the restitution of large amounts of money they had lent to the

Vatican Bank The Institute for the Works of Religion ( it, Istituto per le Opere di Religione; la, Institutum pro Operibus Religionis; abbreviated IOR), commonly known as the Vatican Bank, is a financial institution situated inside Vatican City and run by a ...

through

Roberto Calvi Roberto Calvi (13 April 1920 – 17 June 1982) was an Italian banker, dubbed "God's Banker" () by the press because of his close association with the Holy See. He was a native of Milan and was chairman of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed in ...

Banco Ambrosiano Banco Ambrosiano was an Italian bank that collapsed in 1982. At the centre of the bank's failure was its chairman, Roberto Calvi, and his membership in the illegal former Masonic Lodge Propaganda Due (aka P2). The Vatican-based Institute for the ...

. In May 2012, the tomb was opened and bones were removed as part of the investigation into Orlandi's disappearance. In June 2012, De Pedis' corpse was finally removed from the church, cremated and the ashes dissolved in the sea."De Pedis traslato e cremato a Prima Porta: 'Caso chiuso'"
''RomaToday'', June 18, 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:De Pedis, Enri hoi 1954 births 1990 deaths Criminals from Rome Murdered Banda della Magliana members People murdered in Italy

See also

References