Antonino "Ninni" Cassarà (; May 7, 1947 – August 6, 1985) was an Italian policeman killed by

Cosa Nostra The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra (, ; "our thing"), also referred to as simply Mafia, is a criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century. Emerging as a form of local protect ...

Life

Born in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , 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 province. The ...

on May 7, 1947, he was Commissioner in

Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria (; ), commonly and officially referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the List of cities in Italy, largest city in Calabria as well as the seat of the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria. As ...

and then in

Trapani Trapani ( ; ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') with 54,887 inhabitants, on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the mai ...

, where he learned about

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 ...

. He was then promoted and sent to Palermo where he served as deputy chief of the Judicial police. In 1982 he worked on the streets of Palermo together with the agent Calogero Zucchetto, in the context of Cosa Nostra's inquiries. On one of these occasions Cassarà and Zucchetto recognized the two top killers Pino Greco and Mario Prestifilippo, but they could not arrest them because they fled. Among the numerous operations he took part in, many of which together with Commissioner Giuseppe Montana, there is the famous Pizza Connection operation in collaboration with U.S. police forces. Cassarà was a close associate of Giovanni Falcone and the so-called Antimafia pool of the Republic Prosecutor's Office of Palermo, and his investigations contributed to the groundwork of the first

Maxi Trial The Maxi Trial () 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 Court of Cassati ...

. Married and father of three children, he was killed by the Mafia in 1985, at the age of 38.

Death

On the afternoon of August 6, 1985, he was returning to his home in ''Viale della Croce Rossa'' 81 in

in an Alfa Romeo Alfetta together with two escort officers. As he walked out the escort car and reached the front door of his home, a group of

hitmen Contract killing (also known as murder-for-hire) is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or people. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of compensation, monet ...

armed with

AK-47 The AK-47, officially known as the Avtomat Kalashnikova (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is an assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms designer Mikhail Kala ...

rifles and

Submachine guns A submachine gun (SMG) is a magazine-fed automatic carbine designed to fire handgun cartridges. The term "submachine gun" was coined by John T. Thompson, the inventor of the Thompson submachine gun, to describe its design concept as an automa ...

, headed by Giuseppe Greco, Antonino Madonia and Giuseppe Giacomo Gambino, opened fire from the windows of an apartment building next to his home killing Cassarà and another officer while the second survived the ambush by hiding under the car. Police officer Roberto Antiochia, (aged 23 years old), which had just come out of the car to open the door for Cassarà, was instantly struck by the gunshots and fell in front of the entrance door dying immediately. Natale Mondo, the second escort police officer (who was behind the wheel of the car), remained unharmed by succeeding in taking cover under the car (he was later killed in another ambush on January 14, 1988). Cassarà, was hit by the killers almost simultaneously with Antiochia and died inside the entrance hall in the arms of his wife Laura, who saw the ambush with their daughter from the balcony of their home. Antonino Cassarà is buried in the Sant'Orsola Cemetery in Palermo. After the assassination (or in the meanwhile) his notebook, which was assumed to contain important information, disappeared from his office. On February 17, 1995, the tribunal of Palermo sentenced life imprisonment to five members of the ''Cupola'' ( Totò Riina, Bernardo Provenzano,

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 b ...

, Bernardo Brusca and Francesco Madonia) in connection of the crime.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cassarà, Ninni Italian police officers 1947 births 1985 deaths People murdered by the Corleonesi

Life

Death

See also

References