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The via D'Amelio bombing () was a
terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...
attack by the
Sicilian Mafia The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra (, ; "our thing"), also referred to as simply Mafia, is a secret society, criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century. Emerging as a form of ...
, which took place 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 ...
,
Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
, Italy, on 19 July 1992. It killed
Paolo Borsellino Paolo Emanuele Borsellino (; 19 January 1940 – 19 July 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
anti-Mafia The Antimafia Commission () is a bicameral commission of the Italian Parliament, composed of members from the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate of the Republic (Italy), Senate of the Republic. The first commission, formed in 1963, was established ...
Italian
magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...
, and five members of his
police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
escort: Agostino Catalano, Emanuela Loi (the first Italian female member of a police escort and the first to be killed on duty), Vincenzo Li Muli, Walter Eddie Cosina, and Claudio Traina. The so-called ''agenda rossa'', the red notebook in which Borsellino used to write down details of his investigations and which he always carried with him, disappeared from the site in the moments after the
explosion An explosion is a rapid expansion in volume of a given amount of matter associated with an extreme outward release of energy, usually with the generation of high temperatures and release of high-pressure gases. Explosions may also be generated ...
. A ''
carabinieri The Carabinieri (, also , ; formally ''Arma dei Carabinieri'', "Arm of Carabineers"; previously ''Corpo dei Carabinieri Reali'', "Royal Carabineers Corps") are the national gendarmerie of Italy who primarily carry out domestic and foreign poli ...
'' officer who was present when the explosion occurred reported he had delivered the notebook to Giuseppe Ayala, the first Palermo magistrate to arrive at the scene. Ayala, who said he had refused to receive it, was later criticized for saying escorts to anti-mafia judges should be reduced, despite evidence of further failed attempts to kill them in subsequent years.


Bombing

The
bombing A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechan ...
occurred at 16:58 on 19 July 1992, 57 days after the
Capaci bombing The Capaci bombing () was a terror attack by the Sicilian Mafia that took place on 23 May 1992 on Highway A29, close to the junction of Capaci, Sicily. It killed magistrate Giovanni Falcone, his wife Francesca Morvillo, and three police esco ...
, in which Borsellino's friend, anti-mafia magistrate
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 ...
, had been killed with his wife and police escort. The only survivor of Borsellino's escort in the bombing, Antonino Vullo, said the judge had stayed in his summer residence outside Palermo from 13:30 to around 16:00, when he and the escort drove to Via D'Amelio in the Sicilian capital, where he was to meet his mother. When they arrived, Vullo and the other agents noticed nothing unusual except some parked cars. The car in which Borsellino had been travelling exploded, along with one of the escort cars, while Vullo was sitting in a third car. The bomb, containing some of
TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...
, had been placed in a
Fiat 126 The Fiat 126 (Type 126) is a four-passenger, Rear-engine design, rear-engine, city car manufactured and marketed by Fiat over a twenty-eight year production run from 1972 until 2000, over a single generation. Introduced by Fiat in October 1972 at ...
. Normal procedure when Borsellino travelled was to clear the road of cars before his arrival, but this was not allowed by the administration of the ''
comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...
'' of Palermo, as reported by another anti-mafia judge,
Antonino Caponnetto Antonino Caponnetto (5 September 1920 – 6 December 2002) was an Italian Antimafia magistrate. Biography Caponnetto was born in Caltanissetta in 1920. His career began in 1954 in Florence, but he became famous only in 1983, after Rocco ...
.
Gaspare Spatuzza Gaspare Spatuzza (born 8 April 1964) is a Sicilian mafioso from the Brancaccio quarter in Palermo. He was an assassin for the brothers Filippo and Giuseppe Graviano who headed the Mafia family of Brancaccio. After the arrest of the Gravianos i ...
, a '' mafioso'' who later became a ''
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 ...
'', eventually revealed he had stolen the Fiat 126 on the orders of the Graviano and Brancaccio mafia clans. The bloodbath provoked outrage. The night after, protesters peacefully besieged the
prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin word, "''praefectura"'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain inter ...
of Palermo. Borsellino's funeral saw vehement protests by the crowd against the participants; the national police chief, Arturo Parisi, was struck while trying to escape. A few days later, ''questore'' (local police commander) Vito Plantone and ''prefetto'' Mario Jovine were transferred. The
chief prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the adversarial system, which is adopted in common law, or inquisitorial system, which is adopted in Civil law (legal system), civil law. The prosecution is the ...
of Palermo, Pietro Giammanco, resigned. Meanwhile, 7,000 soldiers were sent to Sicily to patrol roads and possible locations for attacks.


Aftermath

Borsellino used to carry a red notebook, the so-called ''agenda rossa'', in which he wrote down details of his investigations before making an official record in judicial reports. His colleagues were not given access to the ''agenda rossa''. Carabinieri officer Rosario Farinella said later that, after recovering the ''agenda rossa'' from the car, he gave it to Ayala. Ayala said he was staying in a hotel nearby and rushed to the place after hearing the explosion. He initially stumbled on the corpse of Borsellino without recognizing it, as the body of the dead judge was limbless. Ayala said "an officer in uniform" had offered him the notebook, but that he had refused it because he lacked authority. Carabinieri captain Arcangioli said he was not wearing uniform at the scene. In September 2005, Ayala changed his version, saying he took the ''agenda rossa'' while exploring the destroyed car and later gave it to a carabinieri officer who was there. Ayala's subsequent statements speak of an agent alternately in uniform and not in uniform. On 1 July 1992 Borsellino had held a meeting with
Nicola Mancino Nicola Mancino (born 15 October 1931) is an Italian politician who served as president of the Senate of the Republic (Italy), Senate of the Republic from 1996 to 2001. He was also president of Campania's regional parliament from 1965 to 1971, g ...
, who at the time had just been appointed
Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...
. Details of the meeting have never been disclosed, but it is likely that Borsellino had annotated them in his agenda. Mancino, however, always denied having met Borsellino. In a television interview of 24 July 2009, Ayala said, "Mancino himself told me that he had met Borsellino on 1 July 1992. Moreover, Mancino showed me his appointments book, with the name of Borsellino on it." Ayala repudiated this account in an interview in ''Sette'' magazine. A video showing Arcangioli holding the ''agenda rossa'' while inspecting the bombing area was aired in news on Italian state channel
Rai 1 Rai 1 () is an Italian free-to-air television channel owned and operated by state-owned public broadcaster RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana. It is the company's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship television channel and is known for broadcasting ...
in 2006. A personal diary in the possession of Borsellino's family has an annotation by the judge that reads: "1 July h 19:30 : Mancino". Vittorio Aliquò, another magistrate, later said he had accompanied Borsellino "up to the threshold of the minister's office".


Investigations and sentences

In July 2007, the prosecutor's office in
Caltanissetta Caltanissetta (Sicilian language, Sicilian: ''Cartanissètta)'' is an Italian comune with a population of 58,012 inhabitants, serving as the capital of the Province of Caltanissetta, free municipal consortium of Caltanissetta in Sicily. The earl ...
opened an investigation into the possible involvement of agents from
SISDE Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Democratica (Intelligence and Democratic Security Service), was the domestic intelligence agency of Italy. With the reform of the Italian Intelligence Services approved on 1 August 2007, SISDE was repl ...
, Italy's civil intelligence service, in the massacre. At the same time, a letter from Borsellino's brother Salvatore was published. Entitled ''19 luglio 1992: Una strage di stato'' ("19 July 1992: A state massacre"), the letter supports the hypothesis that Minister of the Interior Mancino knew the reasons for the magistrate's assassination. Salvatore Borsellino wrote: Investigations held by police telecommunications expert Gioacchino Genchi attested the presence of an undercover SISDE installation in Castello Utveggio, an
Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...
castle on Monte Pellegrino, a mountain overlooking Palermo and Via D'Amelio. This was discovered by analyzing the phone calls of mafia boss Gaetano Scotto, who called a SISDE phone in the castle. Scotto's brother Pietro had done maintenance work on phone lines in Via D'Amelio; it was later discovered that Pietro had tapped Borsellino's mother's phone to obtain confirmation of Borsellino's arrival before the massacre. All trace of SISDE disappeared from Castello Utveggio immediately after the assassination. Mafia boss
Totò Riina Salvatore Riina (; 16 November 1930 – 17 November 2017), called Totò ( sicilian 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 with ...
spoke about the presence of the Italian intelligence service on Monte Pellegrino on 22 May 2004, in the trial relating to the
Via dei Georgofili bombing The via dei Georgofili bombing (Italian: ''Strage di via dei Georgofili'') was a terrorist attack carried out by the Sicilian Mafia on 27 May 1993 outside the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy in retaliation for the arrest of Mafia boss Salvatore ...
. In an interview on the Italian state TV documentary show ''La storia siamo noi'' (History is Us), Borsellino's widow said he, in the days before the massacre, had her close the shutters on the windows because "they can observe us from Castello Utveggio". The first investigations led to the arrest of Vincenzo Scarantino on 26 September 1992, accused by ''pentiti'' of having stolen the car used in the explosion. Scarantino later became a ''pentito'' himself. The magistrates also discovered the phone of Borsellino's mother had been tapped. A first trial for the massacre ended on 26 January 1996, with Scarantino sentenced to 18 years in prison, while Giuseppe Orofino, Salvatore Profeta and Pietro Scotto, those who prepared the bomb and intercepted the phone, were sentenced to life imprisonment. Scotto and Orofino were acquitted on appeal. A second trial was started in 1999 after Scarantino changed his statements; this time, Salvatore Riina, Pietro Aglieri,
Salvatore Biondino Salvatore may refer to: * Salvatore (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * "Salvatore", a song by Lana Del Rey, on her 2015 album ''Honeymoon'' * Salvatore (band), a Norwegian instrume ...
, Carlo Greco,
Giuseppe Graviano Giuseppe Graviano (; 30 September 1963) is an Italian mafioso from the Brancaccio quarter in Palermo. He also was one of the men of the death squad that murdered Salvatore Contorno's relatives. He is currently serving several life sentences. He ...
, Gaetano Scotto and Francesco Tagliavia were sentenced to life imprisonment. A third trial in 2002 involved 26 other mafia bosses who had been involved in the massacre in various ways, ending with life sentences for
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 ...
, Pippo Calò, Michelangelo La Barbera,
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.
, Domenico Ganci,
Francesco Madonia Francesco "Ciccio" Madonia (; 31 March 1924 – 13 March 2007) was the Mafia boss of the San Lorenzo-Pallavicino area in Palermo. In 1978 he became a member of the Sicilian Mafia Commission. Madonia became the unquestioned patriarch of the Resut ...
, Giuseppe Montalto, Filippo Graviano, Cristoforo Cannella, Salvatore Biondo, and another Salvatore Biondo. In 1992, the Italian political world was shaken by the ''
Mani Pulite (; ) was a nationwide judicial investigation into political corruption in Italy held in the early 1990s, resulting in the demise of the First Italian Republic and the disappearance of many political parties. Some politicians and industry leade ...
'' (clean hands)
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
scandal, after which most of the parties that had been the traditional political supporters of the mafia would disappear. In 2009, Massimo Ciancimino, son of the mafioso former mayor of Palermo
Vito Ciancimino Vito Alfio Ciancimino (; 2 April 1924 – 19 November 2002) was an Politics of Italy, Italian politician close to the Mafia leadership who became known for enriching himself and his associates by corruptly granting planning permission. An abra ...
, said the Italian establishment and the mafia had been negotiating a pact in those days. Among other things, the agreement would involve the creation of a new party,
Forza Italia (FI; ) was a centre-right liberal-conservative political party in Italy, with Christian democratic,Chiara Moroni, , Carocci, Rome 2008 liberalOreste Massari, ''I partiti politici nelle democrazie contempoiranee'', Laterza, Rome-Bari 2004 (esp ...
, with the help of founder
Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...
's chief collaborator,
Marcello Dell'Utri Marcello Dell'Utri (born 11 September 1941) is a former Italian politician. He is best known for being a senior advisor to former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, of whom he became a secretary in his early 20s and since the 1970s had worked for ...
, who was later convicted of allegiance to the mafia. After the new revelations, Sicilian attorneys started new investigations based on the hypothesis that Borsellino knew of the negotiations between the mafia, SISDE and senior politicians, and that he was assassinated because of this knowledge. The existence of negotiations between Italian institutions and the Sicilian mafia was confirmed in 2012 by Caltanissetta prosecutor Nico Gozzo as "by now an established fact". The prosecutor in
Caltanissetta Caltanissetta (Sicilian language, Sicilian: ''Cartanissètta)'' is an Italian comune with a population of 58,012 inhabitants, serving as the capital of the Province of Caltanissetta, free municipal consortium of Caltanissetta in Sicily. The earl ...
reopened investigations after
Gaspare Spatuzza Gaspare Spatuzza (born 8 April 1964) is a Sicilian mafioso from the Brancaccio quarter in Palermo. He was an assassin for the brothers Filippo and Giuseppe Graviano who headed the Mafia family of Brancaccio. After the arrest of the Gravianos i ...
, a Mafia killer who became a 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 ...
) in 2008, admitted he stole the
Fiat 126 The Fiat 126 (Type 126) is a four-passenger, Rear-engine design, rear-engine, city car manufactured and marketed by Fiat over a twenty-eight year production run from 1972 until 2000, over a single generation. Introduced by Fiat in October 1972 at ...
used for the car bomb in the Via D’Amelio attack. His admission contradicted the declarations of Vincenzo Scarantino, who had confessed earlier to stealing the car and whose testimony was the main evidence in previous trials. When confronted with Spatuzza’s statement, Scarantino admitted that he had repeated what some investigating officers had forced him to tell the magistrates.Police Officers Investigated for Misdirecting Inquiries into Borsellino Killings
, Corriere della Sera, 29 July 2009
Spatuzza's declaration led to the re-opening of the trial on Borsellino’s murder, which had been concluded in 2003.Si riapre il caso Borsellino
, La Stampa, 14 July 2009
Spatuzza claims that his boss,
Giuseppe Graviano Giuseppe Graviano (; 30 September 1963) is an Italian mafioso from the Brancaccio quarter in Palermo. He also was one of the men of the death squad that murdered Salvatore Contorno's relatives. He is currently serving several life sentences. He ...
, told him in 1994 that future prime minister
Silvio Berlusconi Silvio Berlusconi ( ; ; 29 September 193612 June 2023) was an Italian Media proprietor, media tycoon and politician who served as the prime minister of Italy in three governments from 1994 to 1995, 2001 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011. He was a mem ...
was bargaining with the Mafia, concerning a political-electoral agreement between Cosa Nostra and Berlusconi’s party
Forza Italia (FI; ) was a centre-right liberal-conservative political party in Italy, with Christian democratic,Chiara Moroni, , Carocci, Rome 2008 liberalOreste Massari, ''I partiti politici nelle democrazie contempoiranee'', Laterza, Rome-Bari 2004 (esp ...
, in exchange for certain guarantees – such as to stop the 1993 Mafia bomb terror campaign, to force state institutions to moderate their crackdown against the Mafia after the murders of Antimafia magistrates Falcone and Borsellino. Berlusconi had entered politics and won his first term as prime minister in 1994. Berlusconi's right-hand man
Marcello Dell'Utri Marcello Dell'Utri (born 11 September 1941) is a former Italian politician. He is best known for being a senior advisor to former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, of whom he became a secretary in his early 20s and since the 1970s had worked for ...
was the intermediary, according to Spatuzza. Dell'Utri has dismissed Spatuzza's allegations as "nonsense".Lawyer rejects turncoat's claims linking Berlusconi to mafia
, Adnkronos International, 23 October 2009
Mafia witness 'boasted of links to Silvio Berlusconi'
, BBC News, 4 December 2009

, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 4 December 2009
Spatuzza's assertions back up previous statements of the pentito
Antonino Giuffrè Antonino "Nino" Giuffrè (; born 21 July 1945) is an Italian former mafioso who later became a justice collaborator. The head of the mandamento of Caccamo, he was the second-highest ranked member of Cosa Nostra. He became one of the most importa ...
, who said that the Graviano brothers were the intermediaries between Cosa Nostra and Berlusconi. Cosa Nostra decided to back Berlusconi's Forza Italia party from its foundation in 1993, in exchange for help in resolving the Mafia's judicial problems. The Mafia turned to Forza Italia when its traditional contacts in the discredited
Christian Democrat Christian democracy is an ideology inspired by Christian ethics#Politics, Christian social teaching to respond to the challenges of contemporary society and politics. Christian democracy has drawn mainly from Catholic social teaching and neo ...
party proved unable to protect its members from the rigours of the law.Berlusconi implicated in deal with godfathers
''The Guardian'', 5 December 2002
"The statements given by Spatuzza about prime minister Berlusconi are baseless and can be in no way verified," according to Berlusconi’s lawyer and MP for the People of Freedom party (''Il Popolo della Libertà'', PdL), Niccolò Ghedini. The alleged negotiations between Dell'Utri and the Mafia followed an earlier attempt with
Vito Ciancimino Vito Alfio Ciancimino (; 2 April 1924 – 19 November 2002) was an Politics of Italy, Italian politician close to the Mafia leadership who became known for enriching himself and his associates by corruptly granting planning permission. An abra ...
, the local political link for the Corleonesi clan, who supposedly had contacted government officials after the killing of Falcone to negotiate a stop to the killing spree. Borsellino apparently had been informed of the machinations.Italy: Ex-interior minister implicated in mafia negotiations
, AND Kronos International, 25 July 2012

, by
Marco Travaglio Marco Travaglio (; born 13 October 1964) is an Italian journalist, writer, and pundit. Since 2015, he has been the editor-in-chief of the independent daily newspaper '' Il Fatto Quotidiano''. Travaglio began his journalistic career in the lat ...
, on Beppe Grillo's blog, August 2010
Two former colleagues of Borsellino have told investigators about a meeting with Borsellino in Palermo shortly before his death during which he broke down in tears saying, "A friend has betrayed me, a friend has betrayed me." "My brother's death was a State murder," Paolo's brother Salvatore Borsellino claims. "My brother knew about the negotiations between the Mafia and the state, and this is why he was killed."A Mafia Boss Breaks Silence on an Assassination
, ''Time'', 3 August 2009
On 20 October 2020,
Matteo Messina Denaro Matteo Messina Denaro (; 26 April 1962 – 25 September 2023), also known as ''Diabolik'' (from the Italian comic book character), was an Italian mafia boss from Castelvetrano. He was considered to be one of the new leaders of the Cosa Nostra a ...
was sentenced to life imprisonment by the
Corte d'Assise The () is an Italian court composed of two professional, stipendiary judges or ; and six lay judges or , who are selected from the people. The has jurisdiction to try all crimes carrying a maximum penalty of 24 years in prison or more. Thes ...
for having been one of the instigators of the Via D'Amelio bombing. After his capture in January 2023, the sentence was confirmed on 18 July 2023.


See also

*
Capaci bombing The Capaci bombing () was a terror attack by the Sicilian Mafia that took place on 23 May 1992 on Highway A29, close to the junction of Capaci, Sicily. It killed magistrate Giovanni Falcone, his wife Francesca Morvillo, and three police esco ...
, 1992 terrorist attack in which magistrate
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 ...
was assassinated


References


Sources

* {{Mafia 1992 murders in Italy 1990s trials 2000s trials 20th century in Sicily 20th-century mass murder in Italy Car and truck bombings in Italy False flag operations History of Palermo History of the Sicilian Mafia Car and truck bombings in 1992 1992 protests July 1992 crimes July 1992 in Europe Mass murder in 1992 Protests in Italy Murder in Sicily Murder trials Organized crime events in Italy Trials in Italy Violent non-state actor incidents in Italy Terrorist incidents in Europe in 1992 Terrorist incidents in Italy in the 1990s