Giuseppe Marchese (born 12 December 1963) is a former member of the Sicilian

Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

, who turned state witness (

pentito ''Pentito'' (; lit. "repentant"; plural: ''pentiti'') is used colloquially to designate collaborators of justice in Italian criminal procedure terminology who were formerly part of criminal organizations and decided to collaborate with a public ...

). Giuseppe ''Pino'' Marchese was born in

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

in a family with long-standing ties to the Mafia. His father Vincenzo and his uncle

Filippo Marchese Filippo Marchese (11 September 1938 in Palermo – September 1982 in Palermo) was a leading figure in the Sicilian Mafia and a hitman suspected of dozens of homicides. Marchese was one of the most feared killers working for mafia boss Vincenzo Chi ...

were both members of Cosa Nostra.

Early Mafia career

He learned the hard way what it meant to be born in a Mafia family. When he was 16 he wanted to marry a girl. However, her parents were separated, which, according to the rules of Cosa Nostra, was not allowed. Giuseppe’s brother made the suggestion that he "clean up the family mess" and marry an orphan instead of the daughter of separated parents. In other words, Giuseppe was supposed to kill his girlfriend’s father. If he would not do it, his brother would. Giuseppe broke off the relationship.Siebert, ''Secrets Of Life And Death'', p. 31 In 1980, just 17 years old, Giuseppe Marchese was initiated into the Mafia by

Salvatore Riina Salvatore Riina (; 16 November 1930 – 17 November 2017), called (, Totò being the diminutive of Salvatore), was an Italian mobster and chief of the Sicilian Mafia, known for a ruthless murder campaign that reached a peak in the early 1990s ...

and

Leoluca Bagarella Leoluca Bagarella (; born 3 February 1942) is an Italian criminal and member of the Sicilian Mafia. He is from the town of Corleone. Following Salvatore Riina's arrest in early 1993, Bagarella became the head of the stragist strategy faction, opp ...

as ‘reserved’ man of honour affiliated with the

Corleonesi The Corleonesi Mafia clan was a faction within the Corleone family of the Sicilian Mafia, formed in the 1970s. Notable leaders included Luciano Leggio, Salvatore Riina, Bernardo Provenzano, and Leoluca Bagarella. Corleonesi affiliates were n ...

.Sentenza nei confronti di Dell’Utri Marcello e Cinà Gaetano
, December 11, 2004, pp. 293-95 His membership of Cosa Nostra was to be kept confidential in order to work exclusively for Riina and his uncle.Paoli, ''Mafia Brotherhoods'', p. 70 He became one of the many killers at the disposal of the Corleonesi in the

Second Mafia War The Second Mafia War was a period of conflict involving the Sicilian Mafia, mostly taking place from the late 1970s to the early 1990s and involved thousands of homicides. Sometimes referred to as The Great Mafia War or the ''Mattanza'' (Italian ...

Arrest

He was only 18 when he participated in the so-called "Christmas Massacre" when, on the afternoon of 25 December 1981, in

Bagheria Bagheria (; scn, Baarìa ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in Sicily, Italy, located approximately 10km to the east of the city centre. Etymology According to some sources, the name ''Bagheria'' (by way of old Sicil ...

, three Mafiosi – including Giovanni Di Peri, the boss of

Villabate Villabate ( Sicilian: ''Villabbati'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 19,441 and an area of .All d ...

– and an innocent bystander were murdered.

Giuseppe Greco Giuseppe Greco (; 4 January 1952 – September 1985) was a hitman and high-ranking member of the Sicilian Mafia. A number of sources refer to him exclusively as Pino Greco, although Giuseppe was his Christian name; "Pino" is a frequent abbr ...

and Marchese's uncle

also took part in the bloodshed.Stille, ''

Excellent Cadavers ''Excellent Cadavers'' is a 1995 non-fiction book by American author Alexander Stille about the Sicilian Mafia, concentrating on magistrate Giovanni Falcone's fight against the Mafia and his 1992 assassination. Book title The name of the book ...

'', pp. 63-64 Giuseppe Marchese was captured on 15 January 1982, and imprisoned for his role in the Christmas Massacre. His conviction was secured by the fact that his

fingerprint A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfac ...

was found on the steering wheel of one of the getaway-cars (the

forensic scientist Forensic science, also known as criminalistics, is the application of science to criminal and civil laws, mainly—on the criminal side—during criminal investigation, as governed by the legal standards of admissible evidence and criminal p ...

, Dr.

Paolo Giaccone Paolo Giaccone (March 21, 1929 in Palermo, Italy – August 11, 1982 in Palermo, Italy) was an Italian forensic pathologist and a professor at the University of Palermo The University of Palermo ( it, Università degli Studi di Palermo) is ...

, who found and identified the fingerprint was subsequently shot to death by Rosario Rotolo, one of Filippo Marchese's killers; at the

Maxi Trial The Maxi Trial ( it, Maxiprocesso) was a criminal trial against the Sicilian Mafia that took place in Palermo, Sicily. The trial lasted from 10 February 1986 (the first day of the Corte d'Assise) to 30 January 1992 (the final day of the Supreme ...

, Rotolo was convicted of this murder.)

Betrayed by Riina

On 11 May 1989 Giuseppe Marchese and his brother Antonino battered to death

Vincenzo Puccio Vincenzo Puccio (November 27, 1945 – May 11, 1989) was a member of the Sicilian Mafia. He was from Palermo and joined the Ciaculli Mafia family sometime in the late 1970s, although like many other members of that particular family he operated ...

, boss of the

mandamento Mandamento may refer to: * Mandamento (administrative district) * Mandamento (Sicilian Mafia) See also * Capomandamento Within Cosa Nostra a mandamento is traditionally a district of three geographically contiguous Mafia cosche (families contr ...

Ciaculli Ciaculli is an outlying suburb of Palermo, Sicily, Italy. It counts less than 9500 residents. Ciaculli is close to the suburb of Croceverde. Ciaculli has been important within the history of the Cosa Nostra. The best known Mafia family is the Grec ...

and a fellow

convict A convict is "a person found guilty of a crime and sentenced by a court" or "a person serving a sentence in prison". Convicts are often also known as "prisoners" or "inmates" or by the slang term "con", while a common label for former convict ...

and

hitman Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...

for the Corleonesi. Puccio had been plotting to overthrow the Corleonesi bosses,

and

Bernardo Provenzano Bernardo Provenzano (; 31 January 1933 – 13 July 2016) was an Italian mobster and chief of the Sicilian Mafia clan known as the Corleonesi, a Mafia faction that originated in the town of Corleone, and ''de facto'' the boss of bosses (''il c ...

.Stille, ''

'', pp. 307-08 Giuseppe and Antonino Marchese had been ordered to kill Puccio by Riina but were unaware that Riina, on the same day, had Puccio's brother murdered. A deliberate ploy by Riina to ensure the Marchese brothers were unable to claim they had carried out the killing of Vincenzo Puccio during a spontaneous act of self-defence. The two Marcheses were subsequently given additional life sentences.

Pentito

In September 1992 he became a

and started to collaborate with the authorities. He claimed he was disillusioned by Riina's tactics of murder and treachery, complaining he had been used then discarded by Riina. Marchese admitted to have participated in more than 20 murders, including the one on

Stefano Bontade Stefano Bontade (23 April 1939 – 23 April 1981) was a powerful member of the Sicilian Mafia. His actual surname was Bontate. He was the boss of the Santa Maria di Gesù Family in Palermo. He was also known as the ''Principe di Villagrazia'' (Prin ...

and

Salvatore Inzerillo Salvatore Inzerillo (; 20 August 1944 – 11 May 1981) was an Italian member of the Sicilian Mafia, also known as Totuccio (a diminutive for Salvatore). He rose to be a powerful boss of Palermo's Passo di Rigano family. A prolific heroin trafficke ...

. He was the second (after the Marino Mannoia) mafioso from the winning faction of the

in the

to become state witness. Although isn't involved, he also talked about

Pino Greco Pino or Piño may refer to: People * Danny Pino (born 1974), American actor * Domenico Pino (1760–1826), Italian general of the Napoleonic Wars * Fernando Solanas (born 1936), aka "Pino" Solanas, Argentine filmmaker * Frank J. Pino (1909–2 ...

's killing Giuseppe Marchese was a brother in-law of

from

Corleone Corleone (; scn, Cunigghiuni or ) is an Italian town and ''comune'' of roughly 11,158 inhabitants in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, in Sicily. Several Mafia bosses have come from Corleone, including Tommy Gagliano, Gaetano Reina, Jack Dragn ...

, who married his sister Vincenzina in 1991. According to

Toni Calvaruso, Vincenzina committed suicide on 12 May 1995, due to her depressive state after a series of miscarriages, her brother becoming a

and her husband's involvement with the death of Giuseppe Di Matteo.Longrigg, ''Mafia Women'', p. 122Il femminile in Cosa Nostra
Francesco Flocca & Serena Giunta, Psychomedia, September 5, 2003

References

* Longrigg, Clare (1998). ''Mafia Women'', London: Vintage * Paoli, Letizia (2003). ''Mafia Brotherhoods: Organized Crime, Italian Style'', Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press * Siebert, Renate (1996).
Secrets Of Life And Death. Women and the Mafia
', London: Verso * Stille, Alexander (1995). ''Excellent Cadavers. The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic'', London: Vintage {{DEFAULTSORT:Marchese, Giuseppe 1963 births Possibly living people Pentiti Sicilian mafiosi