Totò Riina
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Salvatore Riina (; 16 November 1930 – 17 November 2017), called (, Totò being the
diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...
of Salvatore), was an Italian mobster and chief 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 ...
, known for a ruthless murder campaign that reached a peak in the early 1990s with the assassinations of Antimafia Commission prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, resulting in widespread public outcry and a major crackdown by the authorities. He was also known by the nicknames ''la belva'' ("the beast") and ''il capo dei capi'' (Sicilian: '''u capu di 'i capi'', "the boss of bosses"). Riina succeeded Luciano Leggio as head of 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 ...
criminal organisation in the mid 1970s and achieved dominance through a campaign of violence, which caused police to target his rivals. Riina had been a fugitive since the late 1960s after he was indicted on a murder charge. He was less vulnerable to law enforcement's reaction to his methods, as the policing removed many of the established chiefs who had traditionally sought influence through
bribery Bribery is the Offer and acceptance, offering, Gift, giving, Offer and acceptance, receiving, or Solicitation, soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With reg ...
. In violation of established Mafia codes, Riina advocated the killing of women and children, and killed blameless members of the public solely to distract law enforcement agencies. Hit man Giovanni Brusca estimated he murdered between 100 and 200 people on behalf of Riina. Although this scorched-earth policy neutralized any internal threat to Riina's position, he increasingly showed a lack of his earlier guile by bringing his organisation into open confrontation with the state. As part of the Maxi Trial of 1986, Riina was sentenced to life imprisonment '' in absentia'' for Mafia association and multiple murder. After 23 years living as a fugitive, he was captured in 1993, provoking a series of indiscriminate bombings of art galleries and churches by his organisation. His lack of repentance subjected him to the stringent Article 41-bis prison regime until his death on 17 November 2017.


Early life and career

Riina was born on 16 November 1930, and raised in a poverty-stricken countryside house in
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 ...
, in the then- province of Palermo. In September 1943, his father Giovanni found an unexploded American bomb and attempted to open it to sell the powder and metal, but in doing so, set it off, killing himself and Riina's seven-year-old brother Francesco, while injuring his other brother Gaetano. At the age of 19, Riina was sentenced to a 12-year prison sentence for having killed Domenico Di Matteo in a fight; he was released in 1956. The head of the Mafia family in Corleone was Michele Navarra until 1958, when he was shot dead on the orders of Luciano Leggio, a ruthless 33-year-old Mafioso, who subsequently became the new
boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, a ...
. Together with Riina,
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 Bernardo Provenzano (who were three of the gunmen in Navarra's slaying), Leggio began to increase the power of 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 ...
.Profile: Bernardo Provenzano
, BBC News, 11 April 2006.
In the early 1960s, Leggio, Riina and Provenzano, who had spent the previous few years hunting down and killing dozens of Navarra's surviving supporters, were forced to go into hiding due to arrest warrants. Riina and Leggio were arrested and tried in 1969 for murders carried out earlier that decade. They were acquitted because of intimidation of the
jurors A jury is a sworn body of people (jurors) convened to hear evidence and render an impartial verdict (a finding of fact on a question) officially submitted to them by a court, or to set a penalty or judgment. Juries developed in England duri ...
and witnesses. Riina went into hiding later that year after he was indicted on a further murder charge and was to remain a fugitive for the next 23 years. In 1974, Leggio was captured and imprisoned for the 1958 murder of Navarra. Although Leggio retained some influence from behind bars, Riina was now the effective head of the Corleonesi. He also had close relations with the
'Ndrangheta The 'Ndrangheta (, , ) is a prominent Italian Mafia-type organized crime syndicate and secret society, criminal society based in the peninsular and mountainous region of Calabria and dating back to the late 18th century. It is considered one of ...
, the Mafia-type association in
Calabria , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...
. His "compare d’anello" (a kind of best man and trusted friend, typical of the Southern Italian tradition) at his wedding in 1974 was
Domenico Tripodo Domenico Tripodo (; − August 26, 1976) was an Italians, Italian criminal and a historical and charismatic boss of the 'Ndrangheta dominating the city of Reggio Calabria and the surrounding areas. Also known as Don Mico Tripodo he was one of the ...
, a powerful 'Ndrangheta boss and prolific cigarette smuggler.E ora la ’ndrangheta supera cosa nostra: Intervista a Enzo Ciconte
, Polizia e democrazia, November–December 2007
The Corleonesi's primary rivals were Stefano Bontade, Salvatore Inzerillo and Tano Badalamenti, bosses of various powerful Palermo Mafia families. Between 1981 and 1983, 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 ...
was instigated by Riina, and Bontade and Inzerillo, with many associates and members of both their Mafia and blood families, were killed. There were up to a thousand killings during this period as Riina and the Corleonesi, together with their allies, wiped out their rivals. By the end of the war, the Corleonesi were effectively ruling the Mafia, and over the next few years Riina increased his influence by eliminating the Corleonesi's allies, such as Filippo Marchese, Giuseppe Greco and
Rosario Riccobono Rosario Riccobono (February 10, 1929 in Palermo – November 30, 1982 in Palermo) was a member of the Sicilian Mafia. He was the boss of Partanna Mondello, a suburb of Palermo, his native city. In 1974 he became a member of the Sicilian Mafia ...
. In February 1980, Tommaso Buscetta fled to Brazil to escape the brewing Second Mafia War.


Mafia leadership


Allegations of political influence

Prior to Riina's faction becoming the dominant force on the island, the Sicilian Mafia were based in Palermo, where they controlled large numbers of votes, enabling mutually beneficial relationships with local political figures such as mayors of Palermo
Vito Ciancimino Vito Alfio Ciancimino (; 2 April 1924 – 19 November 2002) was an Italian politician close to the Mafia leadership who became known for enriching himself and his associates by corruptly granting planning permission. An abrasive personality, h ...
and
Salvatore 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'' ...
. Ciancimino, who was born in
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 ...
, corruptly allowed untrammelled property development on the well-known valley known as the "Golden Bowl" ('' Conca d'Oro''), amassing a vast fortune in the process. Lima granted a valuable monopoly concession on tax collection to Mafia businessman
Ignazio Salvo Ignazio () is a masculine Italian given name. Notable people with the name include: Arts *Ignazio Collino (1736–1793), Italian sculptor *Ignazio Fresu (born 1957), Italian sculptor *Ignazio Gardella (1905–1999), Italian architect and designer ...
, and was instrumental in Rome-based
Giulio Andreotti Giulio Andreotti ( , ; 14 January 1919 – 6 May 2013) was an Italian politician and statesman who served as the 41st prime minister of Italy in seven governments (1972–1973, 1976–1979, and 1989–1992) and leader of the Christian Democra ...
becoming a force in national politics. In his turn, Salvo acted as financier to Andreotti. These connections caused some to suspect that Riina had forged similar links with Andreotti, although the courts acquitted Andreotti of associations with the Mafia after 1980. Baldassare Di Maggio alleged that Riina met with the then Prime Minister Andreotti at Salvo's home and greeted him with a "kiss of honour"Stille, ''Excellent Cadavers'', p. 392Andreotti and Mafia: A Kiss Related
, The New York Times, 21 April 1993
Le dichiarazioni di Baldassare Di Maggio
in Sentenza Andreotti
Andreotti dismissed the charges against him as "lies and slander … the kiss of Riina, mafia summits … scenes out of a comic horror film". Veteran journalist Indro Montanelli doubted the claim, saying Andreotti "doesn't even kiss his own children"., ''Time'', 3 June 1996 Di Maggio's credibility had been shaken in the closing weeks of the Andreotti trial, when he admitted killing a man while under state protection.La confessione di Balduccio: "Ho ucciso anche da pentito"
, ''La Repubblica'', 4 October 1999
Appellate court judges rejected Di Maggio's testimony.Andreotti escapes conviction
, BBC News, 25 July 2003
, ''The Independent'', 26 July 2003


Strategy of violence

Whereas his predecessors had kept a low profile, leading some in law enforcement to question the very existence of the Mafia, Riina ordered the murders of judges, policemen and prosecutors in an attempt to terrify the authorities. A law to create a new offence of Mafia association and confiscate Mafia assets was introduced by Pio La Torre, secretary of the Italian Communist Party in Sicily, but it had been stalled in parliament for two years. La Torre was murdered on 30 April 1982. In May 1982, the Italian government sent Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, a general of the Italian Carabinieri, to Sicily with orders to crush the Mafia. However, not long after arriving, on 3 September 1982, he was gunned down in the city centre with his wife, Emanuela Setti Carraro, and his driver bodyguard, Domenico Russo. In response to public disquiet about the failure to effectively combat the organisation Riina headed, La Torre's law was passed ten days later.Inside The Mafia
, National Geographic Channel, June 2005.
On 11 September 1982, Buscetta's two sons from his first wife, Benedetto and Antonio, disappeared, never to be found again, which prompted his collaboration with Italian authorities. This was followed by the deaths of his brother Vincenzo, son-in-law Giuseppe Genova, brother-in-law Pietro and four of his nephews, Domenico and Benedetto Buscetta, and Orazio and Antonio D'Amico. Buscetta was arrested in Sao Paulo, Brazil once again on 23 October 1983, and extradited to Italy on 28 June 1984. Buscetta asked to talk to the anti-Mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, and began his life as an informant, referred to as a '' pentito''.


Christmas Massacre

Buscetta was the first high-profile Sicilian Mafioso to become an informant; he revealed that the Mafia was a single organisation led by a Commission, or ''Cupola'' (Dome), thereby establishing that the top tier of Mafia members were complicit in all the organisation's crimes. Buscetta helped judges Falcone and Paolo Borsellino achieve significant success in the fight against organized crime that led to 475 Mafia members indicted, and 338 convicted in the Maxi Trial. In an attempt to divert investigative resources away from Buscetta's key revelations, Riina ordered a terrorist-style atrocity in the form of the 23 December 1984 Train 904 bombing; 17 people were killed and 267 wounded in the Apennine Base Tunnel. It became known as the "Christmas Massacre" (Strage di Natale) and was initially attributed to political extremists. It was only several years later, when police stumbled on explosives of the same type as used in Train 904 while searching the hideout of Giuseppe Calò, that it became apparent that the Mafia had been behind the attack.Rapido 904: "Un intreccio tra mafia, camorra e politica"
, ''Il Fatto Quotidiano'', 27 April 2011


Assassination of Falcone and Borsellino

As part of the Maxi Trial, Riina was given two life sentences ''in absentia''. Riina pinned his hopes on the lengthy appeal process that had frequently set convicted mafiosi free, and he suspended the campaign of murders against officials while the cases went to higher courts. When the convictions were upheld by the
Supreme Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case, they only interpret the relevant law. In this they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In th ...
in January 1992,Giovanni Falcone, Paolo Borsellino and the Procura of Palermo
, Peter Schneider & Jane Schneider, May 2002, essay is based on excerpts from Chapter Six of Jane Schneider and Peter Schneider, Reversible Destiny: Mafia, Antimafia and the Struggle for Palermo, Berkeley: U. of California Press
the council of top bosses headed by Riina reacted by ordering the assassination of
Salvatore 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'' ...
(on the grounds that he was an ally of Giulio Andreotti), and Giovanni Falcone. On 23 May 1992, Falcone, his wife
Francesca Morvillo Francesca Laura Morvillo (; 14 December 1945 – 23 May 1992) was an Italian magistrate, wife of Giovanni Falcone and victim of the Sicilian Mafia. On May 23, 1992, she and her husband were killed in a Capaci bombing. Biography Born in Paler ...
and three police officers died in the Capaci bombing on highway A29 outside Palermo. Two months later, Borsellino was killed along with five police officers in the entrance to his mother's apartment block by a
car bomb A car bomb, bus bomb, lorry bomb, or truck bomb, also known as a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device (VBIED), is an improvised explosive device designed to be detonated in an automobile or other vehicles. Car bombs can be roughly divided ...
in via D'Amelio. Both attacks were ordered by Riina.
Ignazio Salvo Ignazio () is a masculine Italian given name. Notable people with the name include: Arts *Ignazio Collino (1736–1793), Italian sculptor *Ignazio Fresu (born 1957), Italian sculptor *Ignazio Gardella (1905–1999), Italian architect and designer ...
, who had advised Riina against killing Falcone, was himself murdered on 17 September 1992. The public was outraged, both at the Mafia and also the politicians who they felt had failed adequately to protect Falcone and Borsellino. The Italian government arranged for a massive crackdown against the Mafia in response.


Claims of negotiations with the government

Giovanni Brusca later claimed that Riina had told him that after the assassination of Falcone, Riina had been in negotiations with the government. Former interior minister
Nicola Mancino Nicola Mancino (born 15 October 1931) is an Italian politician. He was President of the Senate of the Republic from 1996 to 2001. He was also president of Campania's regional parliament from 1965 to 1971, governor of Campania from 1971 to 1972 ...
said this was not true. In July 2012, Mancino was ordered to stand trial on charges of withholding evidence about alleged 1992 talks between the Italian state and the Mafia.Italy: Ex-interior minister implicated in mafia negotiations
, AND Kronos International, 25 July 2012
Some prosecutors have theorized that Borsellino's murder was connected to the alleged negotiations. In 1992, Carabinieri Colonel Mario Mori met with
Vito Ciancimino Vito Alfio Ciancimino (; 2 April 1924 – 19 November 2002) was an Italian politician close to the Mafia leadership who became known for enriching himself and his associates by corruptly granting planning permission. An abrasive personality, h ...
, who was close to Riina's lieutenant Bernardo Provenzano. Mori was later investigated on suspicion of posing a danger to the state after it was alleged he had taken a list of Riina's demands that Ciancimino had passed on. Mori maintained his contacts with Ciancimino were aimed at combating the Mafia and catching Riina, and there had been no list. Mori also said Ciancimino had disclosed little beyond implicitly admitting he knew Mafia members, and that key meetings were after Borsellino's death.


Capture

Riina reprimanded
Balduccio Di Maggio Baldassare Di Maggio (San Giuseppe Jato, November 19, 1954), also known as Balduccio, was a member of the Mafia, who became a government witness (''pentito'' - repentant). He helped the police to capture the head of Cosa Nostra, Totò Riina, and cla ...
, an ambitious mafioso who had left his wife and children for a mistress, telling him he would never be made a full boss. Knowing Riina would order the death of subordinates whom he considered unreliable, Di Maggio fled Sicily and collaborated with the authorities. At the entrance to a complex of villas where a wealthy businessman who acted as Riina's driver lived, Di Maggio identified Riina's wife. On 15 January 1993, Carabinieri arrested Riina at his villa in Palermo. He had been a fugitive for 23 years.Italy Arrests Sicilian Mafia's Top Leader
, ''The New York Times'', 16 January 1993


Terror attacks

After Riina was captured in January 1993, numerous terror attacks were ordered as warning to its members to not turn state's witness, but also in response for the overruling of the Article 41-bis prison regime.The Olive Tree of Peace: The massacre in via dei Georgofili
, The Florentine, 24 May 2012)
On 14 May 1993, television host
Maurizio Costanzo Maurizio Costanzo (born 28 August 1938) is an Italian television host, journalist, screenwriter and film director. Biography Costanzo began his career as a journalist, first as a contributing writer to ''Paese Sera'' and then as managing editor ...
, who had expressed delight at the arrest of Riina, was almost killed by a bomb as he drove down a Rome street; 23 people were injured. The explosion was part of a series. Less than a fortnight later, on 27 May, a bomb under the Florence Torre dei Pulci killed five people: Fabrizio Nencini and his wife Angelamaria; their daughters, nine-year-old Nadia and two-month-old Caterina; and Dario Capolicchio, aged 20. Thirty-three people were injured. Attacks on art galleries and churches left ten dead and many injured, causing outrage among Italians. Some investigators believed that most of those who carried out murders for Cosa Nostra answered solely to Leoluca Bagarella, and that consequently Bagarella actually wielded more power than Bernardo Provenzano, who was Riina's formal successor. Provenzano reportedly protested about the terroristic attacks, but Bagarella responded sarcastically, telling Provenzano to wear a sign saying "I don't have anything to do with the massacres".


Further controversies

Giovanni Brusca—one of Riina's hitmen who personally detonated the bomb that killed Falcone, and later became an informant after his 1996 arrest – has offered a controversial version of the capture of Totò Riina: a secret deal between Carabinieri officers, secret agents and Cosa Nostra bosses tired of the dictatorship of the Corleonesi. According to Brusca, Bernardo Provenzano "sold" Riina in exchange for the valuable archive of compromising material that Riina held in his apartment in Via Bernini 52 in Palermo.Schneider & Schneider, ''Reversible Destiny'', p. 156Lodato, ''Ho ucciso Giovanni Falcone'', pp. 135–37 The Carabinieri's ROS ('' Raggruppamento Operativo Speciale'') persuaded the Palermo Public Prosecutor's Office not to immediately search the Riina's apartment, and then abandoned surveillance of the apartment after six hours leaving it unprotected. The apartment was only raided 18 days later but it had been completely emptied. According to the Carabinieri commanders the house was abandoned because they didn't consider it to be important and they actually never told the prosecutor to be willing to maintain the surveillance during the following days. This version of Riina's arrest has been denied by Carabinieri commander, general (at the time deputy head of the ROS). Mori, however, confirmed that channels of communication were opened with Cosa Nostra through
Vito Ciancimino Vito Alfio Ciancimino (; 2 April 1924 – 19 November 2002) was an Italian politician close to the Mafia leadership who became known for enriching himself and his associates by corruptly granting planning permission. An abrasive personality, h ...
– a former mayor of Palermo convicted for Mafia association – who was close to the Corleonesi. To sound out the willingness of Mafiosi to talk, Ciancimino contacted Riina's private doctor, . When Ciancimino was informed that the goal was to arrest Riina, he seemed unwilling to continue. At this point, the arrest and cooperation of Balduccio Di Maggio led to the arrest of Riina. In 2006, the Palermo Court acquitted Mario Mori and Captain "Ultimo" () – the man who arrested Riina – of the charge of consciously aiding and abetting the Mafia. According to an FBI memo revealed in 2007, leaders of the Five Families voted in late 1986 on whether to issue a contract for the death of then U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York
Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani (, ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 107th Mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney General from 1981 to 198 ...
. Heads of the Lucchese, Bonanno, and
Genovese Genovese is an Italian surname meaning, properly, someone from Genoa. Its Italian plural form '' Genovesi'' has also developed into a surname. People * Alfred Genovese (1931–2011), American oboist * Alfredo Genovese (born 1964), Argentine ar ...
families rejected the idea, though Colombo and Gambino leaders, Carmine Persico and
John Gotti John Joseph Gotti Jr.Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 25–26 (, ; October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002) was an American gangster and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. He ordered and helped to orchestrate the murder of Gambino boss ...
, encouraged assassination. In 2014, it was revealed by former
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 ...
member and informant,
Rosario Naimo Rosario Naimo (born August 18, 1945 in Palermo) is a member of the Sicilian Mafia, also known as Saro or Saruzzo. He was seen as an important go-between for the Sicilian and American Mafia, closely related with the Gambino crime family. He is a man ...
, that Riina had ordered a murder contract on Giuliani during the mid-1980s. Riina allegedly was suspicious of Giuliani's efforts prosecuting the American Mafia and was worried that he might have spoken with Italian anti-mafia prosecutors and politicians, including Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, who were both murdered in 1992 in separate car bombings. According to Giuliani, the Sicilian Mafia offered $800,000 for his death during his first year as mayor of New York in 1994. In November 2009, – the son of Vito Ciancimino – said that Provenzano betrayed the whereabouts of Riina. Police sent maps of Palermo to Vito Ciancimino. One of these was delivered to Provenzano, then a mafia fugitive. Ciancimino said the map was returned by Provenzano, who indicated the precise location of Riina's hiding place.Boss Riina 'betrayed' by Provenzano
, ANSA, 5 November 2009
Italy: Top Mafia fugitive 'betrayed' by boss
, Adnkronos International, 5 November 2009


Prison

Riina was held in a maximum-security prison in Parma with limited contact with the outside world in order to prevent him from running his organization from behind bars. Over US$125,000,000 in assets were confiscated from Riina, and his vast mansion was also acquired by the crusading anti-Mafia mayor of Corleone in 1997. The mansion was subsequently converted into a police office and opened in 2015. In total, Riina was given 26 life sentences and served his sentence in solitary confinement. In mid-March 2003, he underwent surgery for heart problems and in May of the same year he was admitted to a hospital in
Ascoli Piceno Ascoli Piceno (; la, Asculum; dialetto ascolano: Ascule) is a town and ''comune'' in the Marche region of Italy, capital of the province of the same name. Its population is around 46,000 but the urban area of the city has more than 93,000. Geo ...
due to a heart attack. Later that September, he was again hospitalized for heart problems. In 2006, he was transferred to the Opera prison in Milan and, again due to heart problems, was admitted to the San Paolo hospital in Milan. On 4 March 2014, he was hospitalized again. On 31 August 2014, newspapers reported that in November of the previous year, Riina was also threatening against
Luigi Ciotti Luigi Ciotti OMRI (born in Pieve di Cadore ( province of Belluno), September 10, 1945), is an Italian priest belonging to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Turin, deeply involved in the fight against illegality and organized crime such as the Mafi ...
. In 2017, Riina's lawyers applied to the Bologna Surveillance Court for the deferral of the sentence to
house arrest In justice and law, house arrest (also called home confinement, home detention, or, in modern times, electronic monitoring) is a measure by which a person is confined by the authorities to their residence. Travel is usually restricted, if all ...
, submitting the precarious state of health of Riina as a reason. On 19 July, the Tribunal denied this request.


List of trials

*In 1992, Riina was sentenced '' in absentia'' to life imprisonment together with the
Francesco Madonia Francesco Madonia (March 31, 1924 – March 13, 2007) was the Mafia boss of the San Lorenzo-Pallavicino area in Palermo. In 1978 he became a member of the Sicilian Mafia Commission. ''Ciccio'' Madonia became the unquestioned patriarch of the Resu ...
, for the murder of police captain Emanuele Basile. *In 1993, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for ordering the 1989 murders of the boss
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 ...
and his brother Pietro. *In 1994, he was sentenced to another life sentence for the murder of Pietro Buscetta, brother-in-law of pentito Tommaso Buscetta. *In 1995, he was sentenced to another life sentence for the murder of Lieutenant Colonel Giuseppe Russo, together with Bernardo Provenzano, Michele Greco and Leoluca Bagarella. *The same year, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders of commissioners
Giuseppe Montana Giuseppe Montana, (; Agrigento, 8 October 1951 – Santa Flavia, 28 July 1985), was an Italian policeman assassinated by the Cosa Nostra. Life Commissioner of the Judicial police of Palermo, he was chief of the new created ''Sezione Catturandi'', ...
and
Ninni Cassarà Antonino "Ninni" Cassarà (; 7 May 1947 – 6 August 1985) was an Italian policeman assassinated by the Cosa Nostra. Life Born in Palermo on 7 May 1947, he was Commissioner in Reggio Calabria and then in Trapani, where he learned about Giov ...
, together with Michele Greco, Bernardo Brusca,
Francesco Madonia Francesco Madonia (March 31, 1924 – March 13, 2007) was the Mafia boss of the San Lorenzo-Pallavicino area in Palermo. In 1978 he became a member of the Sicilian Mafia Commission. ''Ciccio'' Madonia became the unquestioned patriarch of the Resu ...
and Bernardo Provenzano. *The same year, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murders of Piersanti Mattarella, Pio La Torre, Rosario di Salvo and Michele Reina, together with Michele Greco, Bernardo Brusca, Bernardo Provenzano, Giuseppe Calò, Francesco Madonia and Nenè Geraci. *In 1995, in the trial for the murder of General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa,
Boris Giuliano Giorgio Boris Giuliano (; October 22, 1930 – July 21, 1979) was a police chief from Palermo, Sicily. He was the head of Palermo's Flying Squad. He was killed by the Sicilian Mafia while investigating heroin trafficking and money laundering. N ...
, and
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 ...
, Riina was sentenced to life imprisonment together with Bernardo Provenzano, Giuseppe Calò, Bernardo Brusca, Francesco Madonia, Nenè Geraci and
Francesco Spadaro Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name "Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include: People with the given name Francesco * Francesco I (disambiguation), sever ...
. *In 1996, he was again sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of judge Antonino Scopelliti together with the bosses Giuseppe Calò, Francesco Madonia, Giuseppe Giacomo Gambino, Giuseppe Lucchese, Bernardo Brusca, Salvatore Montalto, Salvatore Buscemi, Nenè Geraci and Pietro Aglieri. *In 1997, in the trial for the Capaci bombing in which the judge Giovanni Falcone, his wife
Francesca Morvillo Francesca Laura Morvillo (; 14 December 1945 – 23 May 1992) was an Italian magistrate, wife of Giovanni Falcone and victim of the Sicilian Mafia. On May 23, 1992, she and her husband were killed in a Capaci bombing. Biography Born in Paler ...
and their escort of Antonio Montinaro, Vito Schifani and Rocco Di Cillo, lost their lives, Riina was sentenced to life imprisonment together with the bosses Bernardo Provenzano,
Pietro Aglieri Pietro Aglieri (; born 9 June 1959) is a Sicilian mafioso from the Guadagna neighbourhood of Palermo. He is known as ("The Little Gentleman") for his relatively sophisticated education and refined manners. He had a classical education and studi ...
, Bernardo Brusca, Giuseppe Calò,
Raffaele Ganci Raffaele Ganci (4 January 1932 – 3 June 2022) was a member of the Mafia in Sicily from the Noce neighbourhood in Palermo. He was considered to be the right-hand man of Cosa Nostra boss Totò Riina and sat on the Sicilian Mafia Commission.
, Nenè Geraci,
Benedetto Spera Benedetto Spera (; born July 1, 1934) is a member of the Sicilian Mafia and the boss of the Belmonte Mezzagno Mafia family and the '' mandamento'' of Misilmeri in the province of Palermo, Sicily, southern Italy. He was convicted ''in absentia' ...
,
Nitto Santapaola Benedetto Santapaola (; born 4 June 1938), better known as Nitto, is a prominent mafioso from Catania, the main city and industrial centre on Sicily's east coast. His nickname is ''il cacciatore'' (the hunter), because of his passion for shooting ...
, Salvatore Montalto,
Giuseppe Graviano Giuseppe Graviano (; September 30, 1963) is an Italian Sicilian Mafia, mafioso from the Brancaccio quarter in Palermo. He also was one the men of the death squad that murdered Salvatore Contorno's relatives. He is currently serving several life se ...
,
Matteo Motisi Matteo is the Italian form of the given name Matthew. Another form is Mattia. The Hebrew meaning of Matteo is "gift of god". Matteo can also be used as a patronymic surname, often in the forms of de Matteo, De Matteo or DeMatteo, meaning " escen ...
and Matteo Messina Denaro. *The same year, in the trial for the murder of Judge
Cesare Terranova Cesare Terranova (; 25 August 1921 – 25 September 1979)
Centro Studi Giuridici e So ...
, Riina received another life sentence along with Michele Greco, Bernardo Brusca, Giuseppe Calò, Nenè Geraci, Francesco Madonia and Bernardo Provenzano.Ecco chi uccise Terranova
, Corriere della Sera, 4 June 1997
*In 1998, he was sentenced to life imprisonment together with the boss Mariano Agate for the murder of judge Giangiacomo Ciaccio Montalto. *The same year, in the trial for the murder of the politician
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'' ...
, he was sentenced to life imprisonment together with Francesco Madonia, Bernardo Brusca, Giuseppe Calò,
Giuseppe Graviano Giuseppe Graviano (; September 30, 1963) is an Italian Sicilian Mafia, mafioso from the Brancaccio quarter in Palermo. He also was one the men of the death squad that murdered Salvatore Contorno's relatives. He is currently serving several life se ...
, Pietro Aglieri, Salvatore Montalto, Giuseppe Montalto, Salvatore Buscemi, Nenè Geraci, Raffaele Ganci, Giuseppe Farinella,
Benedetto Spera Benedetto Spera (; born July 1, 1934) is a member of the Sicilian Mafia and the boss of the Belmonte Mezzagno Mafia family and the '' mandamento'' of Misilmeri in the province of Palermo, Sicily, southern Italy. He was convicted ''in absentia' ...
, Antonino Giuffrè,
Salvatore Biondino Salvatore may refer to: * Salvatore (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name * "Salvatore" (song), by Lana Del Rey, 2015 * Salvatore (band), a Norwegian instrumental rock band * '' Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams' ...
,
Michelangelo La Barbera Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...
, Simone Scalici, while Salvatore Cancemi and Giovanni Brusca were sentenced to 18 years in prison and the collaborators of Justice Francesco Onorato and Giovan Battista Ferrante (who confessed to the crime) were sentenced to 13 years as material perpetrators of the ambush. In 2003, the Cassation annulled the sentence to life imprisonment for Pietro Aglieri, Giuseppe Farinella, Giuseppe Graviano and Benedetto Spera. *In 1999, he was sentenced to life imprisonment as principal for the
Via D'Amelio massacre The via D'Amelio bombing ( it, Strage di via D'Amelio) was a terrorist attack by the Sicilian Mafia, which took place in Palermo, Sicily, Italy, on 19 July 1992. It killed Paolo Borsellino, the anti-mafia Italian magistrate, and five members of ...
, in which the judge Paolo Borsellino and five of his escorts lost their lives (Emanuela Loi, Agostino Catalano, Vincenzo Li Muli, Walter Eddie Cosina and Claudio Traina), together with
Pietro Aglieri Pietro Aglieri (; born 9 June 1959) is a Sicilian mafioso from the Guadagna neighbourhood of Palermo. He is known as ("The Little Gentleman") for his relatively sophisticated education and refined manners. He had a classical education and studi ...
,
Salvatore Biondino Salvatore may refer to: * Salvatore (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name * "Salvatore" (song), by Lana Del Rey, 2015 * Salvatore (band), a Norwegian instrumental rock band * '' Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams' ...
,
Carlo Greco Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to: *Carlo (name) *Monte Carlo *Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia *A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Char ...
,
Giuseppe Graviano Giuseppe Graviano (; September 30, 1963) is an Italian Sicilian Mafia, mafioso from the Brancaccio quarter in Palermo. He also was one the men of the death squad that murdered Salvatore Contorno's relatives. He is currently serving several life se ...
,
Gaetano Scotto Gaetano (anglicized ''Cajetan'') is an Italian masculine given name. It is also used as a surname. It is derived from the Latin ''Caietanus'', meaning "from ''Caieta''" (the modern Gaeta). The given name has been in use in Italy since medieval p ...
and
Francesco Tagliavia Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name "Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include: People with the given name Francesco * Francesco I (disambiguation), sever ...
were sentenced to life imprisonment. *In 2000, he was sentenced to life imprisonment together with
Giuseppe Graviano Giuseppe Graviano (; September 30, 1963) is an Italian Sicilian Mafia, mafioso from the Brancaccio quarter in Palermo. He also was one the men of the death squad that murdered Salvatore Contorno's relatives. He is currently serving several life se ...
, Leoluca Bagarella and Bernardo Provenzano for the 1993 bombings including Via dei Georgofili, in Florence. *In 2002, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of judge Alberto Giacomelli. *The same year, Provenzano was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of judge
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 ...
together with the bosses Salvatore Riina, Raffaele Ganci, Antonino Madonia, Salvatore Buscemi, Nenè Geraci, Giuseppe Calò, Francesco Madonia, Salvatore and Giuseppe Montalto, Stefano Ganci and Vincenzo Galatolo. *The same year, Riina was sentenced to life imprisonment together with
Vincenzo Virga Vincenzo Virga (; born 11 September 1936 in Erice, Province of Trapani) is the boss of the Trapani Mafia family and '' mandamento'' since 1982, when the previous boss, Salvatore Minore, was murdered. Virga is currently in prison, he was sentenced ...
for the
Pizzolungo massacre The Pizzolungo Bombing was a car-bomb attack on 2 April 1985 undertaken by the Sicilian Mafia in order to kill Carlo Palermo, a magistrate in Pizzolungo, Sicily. Palermo had been investigating an international drug and arms trafficking network in ...
, in which Barbara Rizzo and her six-year-old twin sons, Salvatore and Giuseppe Asta, died. *In 2009, he received another life sentence together with Bernardo Provenzano for 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 ' ...
and the death of
Michele Cavataio Michele Cavataio (18 March 1929 – 10 December 1969), also known as ''Il cobra'' (The cobra) was an Italian mobster and powerful member of the Sicilian Mafia. He was the boss of the Acquasanta mandamento in Palermo and was a member of the first S ...
. *In 2010, he was given another life sentence, together with Giuseppe Madonia, Gaetano Leonardo and Giacomo Sollami, for the murder of Giovanni Mungiovino, a politician who opposed the Corleonesi mafia, killed in 1983, Giuseppe Cammarata, killed in 1989, and Salvatore Saitta, killed in 1992. *The same year he was sentenced to life imprisonment together with Bernando Provenzano and Giuseppe Calò over the
San Giovanni Gemini San Giovanni Gemini ( Sicilian: ''San Giuvanni'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about north of Agrigento. History Originally, the town was called ...
massacre during 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 ...
, when gunmen acting on Riina's orders killed the Mafia boss Gigino Pizzuto as well as two innocent bystanders, Michele Ciminnisi and Vincenzo Romano. *In 2012, he was given another life sentence for the 1992 murder of Alfio Trovato in Milan.


Marriage and family

Salvatore Riina married (sister of
Calogero Calogero (from the el, καλόγερος, kalógeros, a familiar term for a monk) is common given name and family name, and a place name of Italian origin. Variants *(Masculine): Calocero **(Hypocoristic): Calò, Gero, Gerino *Feminine: Ca ...
and Leoluca Bagarella) in 1974, and they had four children—two sons and two daughters. His sons, Giovanni and Giuseppe, followed in their father's footsteps and were imprisoned. In November 2001, a court in Palermo sentenced 24-year-old Giovanni to life in prison for four murders. He had been in police custody since 1997.Mafia suspects held in 'Godfather' town
, BBC News, 5 June 2002
According to
Antonio Ingroia Antonio Ingroia (born 31 March 1959) is an Italian lawyer, ex magistrate, politician and leader of Civil Revolution, with Luigi de Magistris, the mayor of Naples. Ingroia is also the director of a United Nations investigation against narcotraff ...
, one of the prosecutors of the (DDA) of Palermo, Giovanni is among the possible leading figures in the Sicilian Cosa Nostra after the arrest of Provenzano in 2006 and
Salvatore Lo Piccolo Salvatore Lo Piccolo (; born 20 July 1942), also known as "the Baron" (), is a Sicilian '' mafioso'' and one of the most powerful bosses of Palermo, Sicily. Lo Piccolo rose through the ranks of the Palermo mafia throughout the 1980s and he becam ...
in 2007, but still too young to be recognized as the leading boss of the organisation.Lo Piccolo, il fautore della strategia della “rimmersione”
, Intervista ad Antonio Ingroia, Antimafia Duemila n. 56, Anno VII° Numero 5 – 2007
On 31 December 2004, Riina's youngest son, Giuseppe, one of those taken into custody in June 2002, was sentenced to 14 years for various crimes, including Mafia association, extortion and
money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdictions ...
. He was found to have established Mafia-controlled companies to hide money from protection rackets, drug-trafficking and tenders for public building contracts on the island. In 2006, the council of Corleone created T-shirts reading ''I love Corleone'' in an attempt to dissociate the town from its infamous Mafiosi, but a brother-in-law of one of Riina's daughters began an attempt to sue the Corleone mayor by claiming the Riina family owned the copyright to the phrase.


Death

Riina died on 17 November 2017, one day after his 87th birthday, while in a medically induced coma after two operations in the prison unit of the Maggiore Hospital in Parma. The specific cause of death was not revealed. At the time of his death, he was still considered to be the head of the Cosa Nostra according to a magistrate. Riina was refused a public funeral by the church and Archbishop
Michele Pennisi Michele Pennisi (born 23 November 1946) is an Italian Archbishop of the Catholic Church in Sicily, and a noted opponent of the Sicilian Mafia. He served as Archbishop of Monreale from 8 February 2013 to 28 April 2022. Following reorganisation o ...
; he was privately buried in his hometown of Corleone.


In popular culture

*''Ultimo'', a 1998 TV miniseries by Stefano Reali, inspired by the 1995 book by Maurizio Torrealta, ''Ultimo – Il capitano che arrestò Totò Riina'' In this film, the character of Salvatore Partanna, Mafia boss inspired by Riina, is played by Victor Cavallo; *''
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 ...
'', a 1999 film by
Ricky Tognazzi Ricky Tognazzi (born Riccardo Tognazzi; ; 1 May 1955) is an Italian actor and film director. He has appeared in 50 films and television shows since 1963. His film '' The Escort'' was entered into the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. In 1991, he won t ...
. Riina is played again by Victor Cavallo; *'' Il Capo dei Capi'', a 2007 TV series by
Enzo Monteleone Enzo Monteleone (born 13 April 1954 in Padova, Italy) is an Italian film director and screenwriter. Career Enzo Monteleone made his professional debut as a screenwriter with the screenplay of ''Hotel Colonial'', an Italian-American co-prod ...
and Alexis Sweet where Riina is played by Claudio Gioè *''L'ultimo dei Corleonesi'', a 2007 TV film, directed by Alberto Negrin, where he is played by Marcello Mazzarella *'' Il Divo'', a 2008 film by Paolo Sorrentino where Riina is played by Enzo Rai *''
The Mafia Kills Only in Summer (film) ''The Mafia Kills Only in Summer'' ( it, La mafia uccide solo d'estate) is a 2013 Italian comedy-drama film. It marked the directorial debut of the TV satirist Pif. The Italian Senate President and former anti-mafia magistrate Pietro Grasso refe ...
'', a 2013 film by Pif where Riina is played by Antonio Alveario *''Boris Giuliano – Un poliziotto a Palermo'', a 2016 TV miniseries by
Ricky Tognazzi Ricky Tognazzi (born Riccardo Tognazzi; ; 1 May 1955) is an Italian actor and film director. He has appeared in 50 films and television shows since 1963. His film '' The Escort'' was entered into the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. In 1991, he won t ...
where Riina is played by Alfredo Lo Bianco *''
The Mafia Kills Only in Summer (TV series) ''The Mafia Only Kills in Summer'' () is an Italian 2016 television series written by Pif, directed by Luca Ribuoli, produced and broadcast by RAI. Based on the homonym 2013 film, also directed by Pif, it was first aired on Rai 1 from 21 Novemb ...
'', TV series of 2016 by Luca Ribuoli where Riina is played by Domenico Centamore *'' The Traitor'', film of 2019 by Marco Bellocchio where Riina is played by Nicola Calì In 2009, it was reported that Riina and Provenzano had
fan clubs A fans club is an organized group of fans, generally of a celebrity. Most fans clubs are run by fans who devote considerable time and resources to support them. There are also "official" fan clubs that are run by someone associated with the per ...
set up on their behalf on Facebook, including "Totò Riina, the Real Boss of Bosses" and "Fans of Totò Riina, a Misunderstood Man".
Rita Borsellino Rita Borsellino (; 2 June 1945 – 15 August 2018) was an Italian Sicilian anti-Mafia activist, politician and, between 2009 and 2014, a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Democratic Party. Early life Borsellino was born in Pale ...
, sister of Sicilian Mafia victim Paolo Borsellino, was one of a number of high-profile Italians who condemned the idolization of Mafiosi, comparing the sites to those "that laud Hitler or Nazism".


References


Bibliography

* *Follain, John (2012). ''Vendetta: The Mafia, Judge Falcone and the Quest for Justice'', London: Hodder & Stoughton, * * (1999). ''Ho ucciso Giovanni Falcone: la confessione di Giovanni Brusca'', Milan: Mondadori *Schneider, Jane T. & Peter T. Schneider (2003). ''Reversible Destiny: Mafia, Antimafia, and the Struggle for Palermo'', Berkeley: University of California Press * *


External links


Lo «sbarco» di Totò Riina a Palermo
La Sicilia, 23 October 2005
BBC report on Riina's participation in a prison hunger strike
16 July 2002 * , short clip of Riina in court {{DEFAULTSORT:Riina, Salvatore 1930 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Italian criminals Capo dei capi Corleonesi Fugitives Fugitives wanted by Italy Italian crime bosses Italian people convicted of manslaughter Italian people convicted of murder People convicted of murder by Italy Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Italy Prisoners who died in Italian detention Sicilian Mafia Commission Sicilian Mafiosi sentenced to life imprisonment