This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/17/toto-riina-sicilian-mafia-boss-of-bosses-dies-cosa-nostra-italy

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 1 Version 2
Toto Riina, Sicilian mafia's ‘boss of bosses’, dies at 87 Toto Riina, Sicilian mafia's ‘boss of bosses’, dies at 87
(about 5 hours later)
Former “boss of bosses” Toto Riina, one of the most feared Godfathers in the history of the Sicilian mafia, has died in hospital while serving multiple life sentences as the mastermind of a bloody strategy to assassinate Italian prosecutors and law enforcement officers trying to bring down the Cosa Nostra. The former “boss of bosses” Toto Riina, one of the most feared godfathers in the history of the Sicilian mafia, has died in hospital while serving multiple life sentences for masterminding a bloody strategy to murder Italian prosecutors and law enforcement officers trying to bring down the Cosa Nostra.
Riina, who is thought to have ordered more than 150 murders, had been in a medically induced coma after his health deteriorated after two operations for cancer. Riina, who is thought to have ordered more than 150 murders, had been in a medically induced coma after his health deteriorated following two operations for cancer.
He died in the prisoners’ wing of a hospital in Parma in northern Italy just before 4am on Friday, a day after he turned 87, according to the country’s main dailies and Ansa news agency. He died in the prisoner wing of a hospital in Parma, in northern Italy, just before 4am local time on Friday, a day after he turned 87, according to the country’s main dailies and the Ansa news agency.
Nicknamed “The Beast” because of his cruelty, Salvatore “Toto” Riina led a reign of terror for decades after taking control of Cosa Nostra, the island’s powerful organised crime group, in the 1970s. Nicknamed “the Beast” because of his cruelty, Salvatore “Toto” Riina led a reign of terror for decades after taking control of the Cosa Nostra in the 1970s.
He notoriously ordered the murder of a 13-year old boy who was kidnapped in an attempt to stop his father from revealing mafia secrets. The boy was strangled and his body dissolved in acid. When a fellow mafiosi turned state witness, Riina ordered the deaths of 11 of his relatives in retaliation.He notoriously ordered the murder of a 13-year old boy who was kidnapped in an attempt to stop his father from revealing mafia secrets. The boy was strangled and his body dissolved in acid. When a fellow mafiosi turned state witness, Riina ordered the deaths of 11 of his relatives in retaliation.
Prosecutors accused Riina, who was captured in 1993 after a tipoff from a rival, of masterminding a strategy, carried out over several years, to assassinate Italian prosecutors, police officials and others who were going after Cosa Nostra when he allegedly held the helm as the so-called boss of bosses. Prosecutors accused Riina, who was captured in 1993 after a tipoff from a rival, of masterminding a strategy, carried out over several years, to assassinate Italian prosecutors, police officials and others who were going after the Cosa Nostra when he allegedly held the helm as the so-called boss of bosses.
The deadly campaign ultimately backfired on Cosa Nostra and after bombs killed Italy’s two leading anti-mafia magistrates, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, two months apart in 1992, the state stepped up its crackdown on Sicily’s mafiosi. The campaign ultimately backfired. After bombs killed Italy’s two leading anti-mafia magistrates, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, two months apart in 1992, the state stepped up its crackdown on Sicily’s mafiosi.
Riina was captured in a Palermo apartment six months after Borsellino and his police escorts were killed by a car bomb. A native of Corleone, a Sicilian hilltop town near Palermo and a mafia stronghold, he refused to collaborate with law enforcement after his capture. Riina was captured in a Palermo apartment six months after Borsellino and his police escorts were killed. He refused to collaborate with law enforcement after his capture.
In July, a court denied a request by Riina’s family to transfer the convicted mobster to house arrest because of his ailing health. In July, a court denied a request by Riina’s family to transfer him to house arrest because of his failing health. Doctors said at the time that the former boss was “lucid”. He had been caught on a wiretap this year saying he “regrets nothing … They’ll never break me, even if they give me 3,000 years” in jail.
Doctors said at the time that the former boss was “lucid”. He had been caught on a wiretap this year saying he “regrets nothing … They’ll never break me, even if they give me 3,000 years” in jail.
“God have mercy on him, as we won’t,” an association for victims told the Fatto Quotidiano daily.“God have mercy on him, as we won’t,” an association for victims told the Fatto Quotidiano daily.
Riino, the son of a poor farmer, was born on 16 November 1930 in Corleone, which would become synonymous with the mafia thanks to Francis Ford Coppola’s popular Godfather film trilogy. “Riina’s death marks the end of an era,” said Federico Varese, a mafia expert at Oxford. “You can compare him to Pablo Escobar. Both launched a direct attack against the state and that created a backlash. Because ultimately a democratic state can be stronger than the mafia and – with a lot of pain – the state succeeded in putting huge pressure on the Cosa Nostra.”
He was young when his father and a brother were blown up trying to extract gunpowder from an unexploded American bomb in 1943. By the time he was 19, he had killed his first victim. The Sicilian mafia is far weaker today than it was, experts say, and – under intense pressure from Italian police and prosecutors – has been unable to regroup and reorganise despite attempts by Riina to lead the organisation from his prison cell in Parma.
Riino started out as a foot soldier to boss Luciano Leggio before moving up through the ranks, going on the run in 1969 but continuing to lead first the Corleone clan then the entire mafia from his hiding place. The son of a poor farmer, Riina was born on 16 November 1930 in Corleone, a Sicilian hilltop town near Palermo that would become synonymous with the mafia thanks to Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather film trilogy.
Riina’s family had been given permission by Italy’s health ministry on Thursday for a rare visit to say goodbye. On Friday a Corleone priest said he agreed with church authorities in Palermo who had determined that Riina would not be given a church funeral.
“You’re not Toto Riina to me, you’re just my dad. And I wish you happy birthday, Dad, on this sad but important day. I love you,” one of his sons Salvatore wrote on Facebook. “I can understand the suffering of Riina’s family with this loss. But he was the head of the the mafia and no sign of redemption ever came from him. That’s why I agree with the church with the decision of not celebrating his funeral,” said Don Luca Leone, a priest in the church of San Leoluca.
Agence France-Presse and Associated Press contributed to this report It was a sign of how much the church’s relationship with the mafia has changed, particularly since the election of Pope Francis, a tough critic of organised crime.
Since the end of the second world war, the church had been accused of pandering to the mafia. In 1974, Father Agostino Coppola, a parish priest in Cinisi, Sicily, secretly celebrated the marriage of Toto Riina while he was on the run.
Riino was young when his father and a brother were blown up trying to extract gunpowder from an unexploded American bomb in 1943. By the time he was 19 he had killed his first victim.
Riino started out as a foot soldier under boss Luciano Leggio before moving up through the ranks, going on the run in 1969 but continuing to lead first the Corleone clan and then the entire mafia from his hiding place.
Riina’s relatives were given permission by Italy’s health ministry on Thursday for a rare visit to say goodbye.
“You’re not Toto Riina to me, you’re just my dad. And I wish you happy birthday, Dad, on this sad but important day. I love you,” one of his sons, Salvatore, wrote on Facebook.
Agence France-Presse and Associated Press contributed to this report.