Michele Cavataio
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Michele Cavataio (18 March 1929 – 10 December 1969), also known as ''Il cobra'' (The cobra) was an
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
mobster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...
and powerful member of the
Sicilian Mafia 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 ...
. He was the boss of the Acquasanta
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 ...
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 ...
and was a member of the first
Sicilian Mafia Commission The Sicilian Mafia Commission (Italian: ''Commissione provinciale''), known as Commissione or Cupola, is a body of leading Sicilian Mafia members to decide on important questions concerning the actions of, and settling disputes within the Sicili ...
. Some sources spell his surname as Cavatajo. Cavataio was one of the most feared mafioso gangsters of his time. His nickname ''The Cobra'' allegedly came from his favorite firearm, the
Colt Cobra The Colt Cobra is a lightweight, aluminum-framed, double-action short-barrelled revolver, not to be confused with the Colt King Cobra. The Cobra was chambered in .38 Special, .38 Colt New Police, .32 Colt New Police, and .22 LR. It holds six ...
, a six-shot revolver.Mafia Boss Provenzano Accused of 1969 Palermo Murders
Bloomberg, November 29, 2007
He was described as a cunning killer with a
gorilla Gorillas are herbivorous, predominantly ground-dwelling great apes that inhabit the tropical forests of equatorial Africa. The genus ''Gorilla'' is divided into two species: the eastern gorilla and the western gorilla, and either four or fi ...
-like face.Longrigg, ''Boss of Bosses'', pp. 23-24


Early Mafia career

Cavataio was seen as an exponent of a 'new' Mafia of Americanised gangsters that appeared in the mid 1950s. After World War II, he made his fortune selling petrol that was stolen from the Italian Navy. From the modest position of a taxi driver, he accumulated a considerable fortune in a few years, according to a report of the Parliamentary
Antimafia Commission The Italian parliamentary Antimafia Commission ( it, Commissione parlamentare antimafia) is a bicameral commission of the Italian Parliament, composed of members from the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate. The first commission, formed in 1963, was ...
.Servadio, ''Mafioso'', p. 228-30 The Acquasanta Mafia family controlled the docks of Palermo that were situated in their area. They acted as strike breakers against the dockworkers, and did not hesitate to shoot at the strikers if necessary. In 1955, the bosses of the Acquasanta Mafia clan, Gaetano Galatolo and Nicola D’Alessandro were killed in a dispute over the protection rackets when the fruit and vegetable wholesale market moved from the Zisa area to Acquasanta, disturbing the delicate power balances within Cosa Nostra. The killer of Galatolo was never identified, but Cavataio was suspected. Cavataio became the new boss of the clan and had to agree to split the profits of the wholesale market racket with the
Greco Mafia clan The Greco Mafia family () is historically one of the most influential Mafia clans in Sicily and Calabria, from the late 19th century. The extended family ruled both in Ciaculli and Croceverde Giardini, two south-eastern outskirts of Palermo in t ...
of
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 Gre ...
, who traditionally controlled fruit and vegetable supply to Palermo wholesale market. Cavataio actively participated in what is called the '
Sack of Palermo The Sack of Palermo is the popular term for the construction boom from the 1950s through the mid-1980s in Palermo, Italy, that led to the destruction of the city's green belt and historic villas to make way for characterless and shoddily-constructe ...
' during the reign of
Salvo Lima Salvatore Achille Ettore Lima (; 23 January 1928 – 12 March 1992) was an Italian politician from Sicily who was associated with, and murdered by, the Sicilian Mafia. He is often just referred to as Salvo Lima. According to the ''pentito'' ...
as mayor of
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 ...
. Mafia bosses were granted building licenses through contacts with politicians. The construction boom destroyed the city's green belt and villas that gave it architectural grace, to make way for characterless and shoddily constructed apartment blocks.


First Mafia War

Cavataio was one of the protagonists of the first Mafia War in 1962-63. According to the
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 ...
Tommaso Buscetta Tommaso Buscetta (; 13 July 1928 – 2 April 2000) was an Italian mobster and a member of the Sicilian Mafia. He became one of the first of its members to turn informant and explain the inner workings of the organization. Buscetta participated i ...
it was Michele Cavataio who deliberately escalated a dispute between different factions. The conflict erupted over an underweight shipment of heroin. The shipment was financed by
Cesare Manzella Cesare Manzella (; December 18, 1897 – April 26, 1963) was a traditional Mafia capo, who sat on the first Sicilian Mafia Commission. He was the head of the Mafia family in Cinisi, a small seaside town near the Punta Raisi Airport. As the airport ...
, the Greco cousins from Ciaculli and the La Barbera brothers. Suspicion fell on
Calcedonio Di Pisa Calcedonio Di Pisa (; 11 October 1931 – 26 December 1962), also known as Doruccio, was a member of the Sicilian Mafia. He was the boss of the Mafia family in the Noce neighbourhood in Palermo and sat on the first Sicilian Mafia Commission, the ...
, who had collected the heroin and had organised the transport to New York.Dickie, ''Cosa Nostra'', p. 315-16 The case was brought before the Mafia Commission, but disagreement on how to handle it led to a bloody conflict between clans allied with the Grecos, headed by
Salvatore "Ciaschiteddu" Greco Salvatore "Ciaschiteddu" Greco (; 13 January 1923 – 7 March 1978) was a powerful mafioso and boss of the Sicilian Mafia Family in Ciaculli, an outlying suburb of Palermo famous for its citrus fruit groves, where he was born. His nickname was "Ci ...
, and clans allied with the La Barberas – in particular when Di Pisa was killed on 26 December 1962. The Grecos suspected the La Barberas of the attack. However, it had been Cavataio who had killed Di Pisa in the knowledge that the Grecos would blame the La Barberas and a war would be the result. Cavataio – having his own problems with Di Pisa and wanting him out of the way, and on bad terms with the La Barberas as well – contrived Di Pisa's murder in such a way that the La Barberas would appear responsible. He kept fuelling the conflict with more bomb attacks and killings. Other Mafia families who resented the growing power of the
Sicilian Mafia Commission The Sicilian Mafia Commission (Italian: ''Commissione provinciale''), known as Commissione or Cupola, is a body of leading Sicilian Mafia members to decide on important questions concerning the actions of, and settling disputes within the Sicili ...
to the detriment of individual Mafia families backed Cavataio.Stille, ''Excellent Cadavers'', p. 103-04 Behind both Cavataio and La Barbera was an alliance of bosses from the north-west of Palermo who resented the Commission's growing power, and the influence of the south-eastern Palermo cosche such as the Grecos.Dickie, ''Cosa Nostra'', p. 309 Cavataio then participated, along with Pietro Torretta, Buscetta and another Acquasanta capo, in several car bomb attacks on the Grecos and their allies, considered enemies because of their intrusion in the wholesale produce market.Schneider & Schneider, ''Reversible Destiny'', p. 65-66 He was responsible for a car bomb that exploded near Greco's house in Ciaculli on 30 June 1963, killing seven police and military officers sent to defuse it after an anonymous phone call. The outrage over the
Ciaculli massacre The Ciaculli massacre on 30 June 1963 was caused by a car bomb that exploded in Ciaculli, an outlying suburb of Palermo, killing seven police and military officers sent to defuse it after an anonymous phone call. The bomb was intended for Salvator ...
changed the Mafia war into a war against the Mafia. It prompted the first concerted anti-Mafia efforts by the state in post-war Italy. The
Sicilian Mafia Commission The Sicilian Mafia Commission (Italian: ''Commissione provinciale''), known as Commissione or Cupola, is a body of leading Sicilian Mafia members to decide on important questions concerning the actions of, and settling disputes within the Sicili ...
was dissolved and of those mafiosi who had escaped arrest many went abroad. Cavataio was arrested. Cavataio was arrested in July 1963. He received a four-year sentence at the Trial of the 114 against the Mafia in
Catanzaro Catanzaro (, or ; scn, label= Catanzarese, Catanzaru ; , or , ''Katastaríoi Lokrói''; ; la, Catacium), also known as the "City of the two Seas", is an Italian city of 86,183 inhabitants (2020), the capital of the Calabria region and of its p ...
in December 1968, despite an indictment for ten murders. He was sentenced for criminal association and soon left jail when in appeal his sentence was reduced to two years.


Growing suspicion

The Ciaculli bombing made the other Mafia clans aware of Cavataio's manipulation of the Mafia War. When the bomb exploded,
Salvatore La Barbera Salvatore La Barbera (; April 20, 1922 – January 17, 1963) was a Sicilian mafioso. Together with his brother Angelo La Barbera he ruled the Mafia family of Palermo Centro. Salvatore La Barbera sat on the first Sicilian Mafia Commission that ...
was already dead and his brother
Angelo La Barbera Angelo La Barbera (; July 3, 1924 – October 28, 1975) was a powerful member of the Sicilian Mafia. Together with his brother Salvatore La Barbera he ruled the Mafia family of Palermo Centro. Salvatore La Barbera sat on the first Sicilian Mafia C ...
had fled to
Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
, where he was seriously wounded. It became clear that Cavataio – and not the La Barberas – had planted the bomb and fomented much of the trouble. Other Mafia bosses started to realise Cavataio's double-crossing role in the Mafia war. In retaliation, during a meeting in
Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...
several top Mafia bosses decided to eliminate Cavataio on the instigation of
Salvatore "Ciaschiteddu" Greco Salvatore "Ciaschiteddu" Greco (; 13 January 1923 – 7 March 1978) was a powerful mafioso and boss of the Sicilian Mafia Family in Ciaculli, an outlying suburb of Palermo famous for its citrus fruit groves, where he was born. His nickname was "Ci ...
who had come all the way from Venezuela. Greco had come to subscribe to Buscetta's theory about how the
First Mafia War The Ciaculli massacre on 30 June 1963 was caused by a car bomb that exploded in Ciaculli, an outlying suburb of Palermo, killing seven police and military officers sent to defuse it after an anonymous phone call. The bomb was intended for Salvat ...
began.Dickie, ''Cosa Nostra'', p. 328 During a peace negotiation with other senior mafiosi, Cavataio pulled out a map of Palermo on which had written down the names of all the known mafiosi of Palermo and marked their territories. He used this map as a visual aid to describe how he wanted the Palermo families to be reorganized. The other mafiosi in the meeting were outraged that Cavataio had drawn that map, for if it fell into the hands of the police, it would have made the Mafia extremely vulnerable. There was a strict prohibition in the Mafia against writing incriminating information on paper. In his memoir, the mafioso
Antonino Calderone Antonino Calderone (October 24, 1935January 10, 2013) was a Sicilian Mafioso who turned state witness (''pentito'') in 1987 after his arrest in 1986. Antonino was born in Catania, the brother of Giuseppe Calderone, the boss of the local Mafia. ...
claimed that this map sealed Cavataio's fate.


Killed by the Mafia

Cavataio and three of his men were killed on 10 December 1969 in the Viale Lazio – a modern street in the smart new northern area of
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 ...
– by a Mafia hit squad including
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 ...
,
Calogero Bagarella Calogero Bagarella (; January 14, 1935 – December 10, 1969) was an Italian criminal and member of the Sicilian Mafia. He was from the town of Corleone and belonged to the Mafia clan of Corleonesi. Biography Calogero Bagarella was born in Corleo ...
(an elder brother of
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 ...
the brother-in-law of
Totò 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 ...
),
Emanuele D'Agostino Emanuele is the Italian form of Manuel. People with the name include: * Carlo Emanuele Buscaglia (1915–1944), Italian aviator * Emanuele Basile (1949–1980), captain of Carabinieri * Emanuele Belardi (born 1977), Italian football player * Ema ...
and
Gaetano Grado Gaetano Grado (born in Palermo, 8 March 1943) is an Italian mafioso from Palermo, Sicily. He was a member of the Santa Maria di Gesù family under Stefano Bontade until his arrest, after which he became a justice collaborator. Biography Gaetano ...
of
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 ...
's Santa Maria di Gesù Family, and
Damiano Caruso Damiano Caruso (born 12 October 1987) is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI WorldTeam . Caruso was also the 2008 under-23 Italian national champion for the road race. He competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics, i ...
, a soldier of
Giuseppe Di Cristina Giuseppe Di Cristina (April 22, 1923 – May 30, 1978) was a powerful Sicilian Mafia, mafioso from Riesi in the province of Caltanissetta, Sicily, southern Italy. Di Cristina, nicknamed “la tigre’’ (the tiger), was born into a traditional ...
, the Mafia boss of
Riesi Riesi is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Caltanissetta in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about south of Caltanissetta. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 11,678 and an area of .All d ...
. Provenzano a giudizio per la strage di Viale Lazio
, Antimafia 2000, March 28, 2007
The attack is known as the
Viale Lazio massacre The Viale Lazio massacre on 10 December 1969 was a settling of accounts in the Sicilian Mafia. Mafia boss Michele Cavataio and three men were killed in the Viale Lazio in Palermo, Sicily, by a Mafia hit squad. The bloodbath marked the end of a ' ...
(Lazio Street Massacre). The killers entered the office of the construction company of
Girolamo Moncada Girolamo is an Italian language, Italian variant of the name Hieronymus. Its English language, English equivalent is Jerome (given name), Jerome. It may refer to: * Girolamo Cardano (1501–1576), Italian Renaissance mathematician, physician, ast ...
, the builder who had been connected with
Angelo La Barbera Angelo La Barbera (; July 3, 1924 – October 28, 1975) was a powerful member of the Sicilian Mafia. Together with his brother Salvatore La Barbera he ruled the Mafia family of Palermo Centro. Salvatore La Barbera sat on the first Sicilian Mafia C ...
and now with Cavataio. Cavataio was able to shoot and kill
Calogero Bagarella Calogero Bagarella (; January 14, 1935 – December 10, 1969) was an Italian criminal and member of the Sicilian Mafia. He was from the town of Corleone and belonged to the Mafia clan of Corleonesi. Biography Calogero Bagarella was born in Corleo ...
and wound Caruso before Provenzano killed him with a Beretta 38/A submachine gun and earned himself a reputation as a Mafia killer with the attack. However, according to one of the participants who turned government witness in 1999,
Gaetano Grado Gaetano Grado (born in Palermo, 8 March 1943) is an Italian mafioso from Palermo, Sicily. He was a member of the Santa Maria di Gesù family under Stefano Bontade until his arrest, after which he became a justice collaborator. Biography Gaetano ...
, it was Provenzano who messed up the attack, shooting too early. In the office 108 bullets had been fired. Grado said he helped organise the hit and witnessed the murders first hand. "Everybody was scared of Cavataio," according to Grado, a cousin of the pentito
Salvatore Contorno Salvatore Contorno (; born 28 May 1946), called Totuccio, is a former member of the Sicilian Mafia who turned into a state witness (''pentito'') against Cosa Nostra in October 1984, following the example of Tommaso Buscetta. He gave detailed acco ...
. All the mafia soldiers sent to kill Cavataio "were veterans," Grado said. "We all had already murdered at least 10 people." The composition of the hit squad, according to Buscetta, was a clear indication that the killing had been sanctioned collectively by all the major Sicilian Mafia families: not only did it include Calogero Bagarella from Corleone, and a member of Stefano Bontate's family in Palermo, but also a soldier of Giuseppe Di Cristina's family on the other end of Sicily in Riesi. The Viale Lazio bloodbath marked the end of a ‘pax mafiosa’ that had reigned since the
Ciaculli Massacre The Ciaculli massacre on 30 June 1963 was caused by a car bomb that exploded in Ciaculli, an outlying suburb of Palermo, killing seven police and military officers sent to defuse it after an anonymous phone call. The bomb was intended for Salvator ...
until the end of the Trial of the 114.


Viale Lazio trials

In September 1972, the trial for the Viale Lazio massacre took place; 24 defendants had been rounded up. Filippo and Angelo Moncada, the builder's sons, were at first imprisoned on suspicion of being part of the plot. In hospital, where he was interned for his gunshot wounds, Fillippo started talking about his father's meetings with notorious mafiosi, and described how Cavataio had gradually become the real boss in Moncada's firm. For the Moncada brothers to ‘talk’ was big news in Sicily. They were released from prison, but their father was placed in custody together with 24 alleged participants in the Viale Lazio massacre who had been rounded up on the evidence given by the two brothers. The final verdict of the jury at the first trial was that no evidence could be substantiated to prove that any of the 24 defendants had been directly responsible for the Viale Lazio massacre. Many appeals would follow. In 2007,
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
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 ...
went on trial for their role in the Viale Lazio Massacre that resulted in Cavataio and his men's deaths. Riina is accused of ordering the massacre and Provenzano is accused of taking part in it.Mafia bosses Provenzano, Riina back on trial
, Khaleej Times, May 28, 2007
In April 2009, nearly 40 years after the attack, they were both sentenced to life imprisonment.
The Straits Times, April 29, 2009


References


Sources


Relazione sull’infiltrazione mafiosa nei Cantieri Navali di Palermo
Commissione parliamentare d’inchiesta sul fenomeno della mafia, 26 gennaio 1998. * Caruso, Alfio (2000). ''Da cosa nasce cosa. Storia della mafia del 1943 a oggi'', Milan: Longanesi *Dickie, John (2004).
Cosa Nostra. A history of the Sicilian Mafia
', London: Coronet, *Longrigg, Clare (2008). ''Boss of Bosses. How Bernardo Provenzano Saved the Mafia'', London: John Murray, *Schneider, Jane T. & Peter T. Schneider (2003).
Reversible Destiny: Mafia, Antimafia, and the Struggle for Palermo
', Berkeley: University of California Press *Servadio, Gaia (1976), ''Mafioso. A history of the Mafia from its origins to the present day'', London: Secker & Warburg * Stille, Alexander (1995). ''
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 ...
. The Mafia and the Death of the First Italian Republic'', New York: Vintage {{DEFAULTSORT:Cavataio, Michele 1929 births 1969 deaths Gangsters from Palermo Sicilian Mafiosi Mafiosi murdered by the Corleonesi Sicilian Mafia Commission People murdered in Italy Deaths by firearm in Italy