Giuseppe Montana, (;

Agrigento Agrigento (; scn, Girgenti or ; grc, Ἀκράγας, translit=Akrágas; la, Agrigentum or ; ar, كركنت, Kirkant, or ''Jirjant'') is a city on the southern coast of Sicily, Italy and capital of the province of Agrigento. It was one of ...

, 8 October 1951 –

Santa Flavia Santa Flavia (known as Solunto until 1880) is a town in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, Sicily, southern Italy. Overview The town is situated between the Gulf of Palermo and the town and hot springs known as Termini Imerese, on the Tyrrhenian S ...

, 28 July 1985), was an Italian policeman assassinated by the

Cosa Nostra The Sicilian Mafia, also simply known as the Mafia and frequently referred to as Cosa nostra (, ; "our thing") by its members, is an Italian Mafia-terrorist-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society originating in the region of Sicily a ...

Life

Commissioner of the

Judicial police The judicial police, judiciary police, or justice police are (depending on both country and legal system) either a branch, separate police agency or type of duty performed by law enforcement structures in a country. The term judiciary police is mo ...

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 ...

, he was chief of the new created ''Sezione Catturandi'', which was responsible for the search of fugitives. In this role he gained great results, discovering

Michele Greco Michele Greco (; 12 May 1924 – 13 February 2008) was a member of the Sicilian Mafia and a convicted murderer. Greco died in prison while serving multiple life sentences. His nickname was ''Il Papa'' ("The Pope") due to his ability to mediate bet ...

's arsenal in 1983 and capturing Tommaso Spadaro (

Giovanni Falcone Giovanni Falcone (; 18 May 1939 – 23 May 1992) was an Italian judge and prosecuting magistrate. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, Sicily, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Sicilian ...

's childhood friend), who became the ''boss'' of cigarette smuggling and drug trafficking. He collaborated with the ''San Michele maxi blitz'' of the

Antimafia pool The Antimafia Pool was a group of investigating magistrates at the Prosecuting Office of Palermo (Sicily) who closely worked together sharing information and developing new investigative and prosecutorial strategies against the Sicilian Mafia. An ...

, taking part in the 475 arrest orders. He continued to work closely together with the pool until his last day, consolidating the relationship with that structure born with

prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the Civil law (legal system), civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the ...

Rocco Chinnici Rocco Chinnici (, ; 19 January 1925 – 29 July 1983) was a noted Italian anti-Mafia magistrate killed by the Sicilian Mafia. Life Born at Misilmeri, Chinnici graduated in law at the University of Palermo in 1947 and started working as a magist ...

, engaged in the front line of the struggle against the Cosa Nostra. Following Chinnici's killing, Montana said: "In Palermo we are just about ten people to constitute a real threat to the Mafia. And their

hitmen 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 ...

know us all. We are easy targets, unfortunately, and if the Mafia decide to kill us they can do it without difficulty." Three days before the death of Montana, on 25 July 1985, his team had arrested eight men of

, who managed to escape from capture.

Assassination

On 28 July 1985, the day before going on holiday, he was killed by gunshots (a

357 Magnum The .357 Smith & Wesson Magnum, .357 S&W Magnum, .357 Magnum, or 9×33mmR as it is known in unofficial metric designation, is a smokeless powder cartridge with a bullet diameter. It was created by Elmer Keith, Phillip B. Sharpe, and Douglas B. W ...

and a caliber 38 with expanding bullets) while he was with his girlfriend in Porticello, a

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

near the harbour where his motorboat was moored. From the day of his killing, began a summer that saw the city of Palermo immersed in the blood of the victims of the Mafia: in just ten days, three investigators of the Palermo judicial police were murdered, particularly exposed because, according to a large number of unanimous sources, these men were left alone.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Montana, Giuseppe 1951 births 1985 deaths People murdered by the Sicilian Mafia Italian police officers People murdered by the Corleonesi

Life

Assassination

See also

References