He was long considered Italy’s most wanted mafia boss. Now Matteo Messina Denaro has died of cancer at the age of 61 in a prison clinic in the central Italian city of L’Aquila.
The Italian news agency ANSA announced this on Monday morning. The boss of the Sicilian Cosa Nostra was only arrested in mid-January after thirty years on the run.
Life support measures stopped
At the time, he wanted to be treated for his colon cancer in a private clinic in the Sicilian capital Palermo under an assumed name. The criminal’s health had deteriorated drastically in recent days.
On Friday evening, the treating doctors announced that Messina Denaro had fallen into an irreversible coma from which he would not wake up. At his own request, life support measures were stopped.
Dozens of murders committed
As a member of Cosa Nostra, Messina Denaro is said to have committed or organized dozens of murders, including the fatal bombings of mafia hunters Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, which made headlines around the world in 1992. Since his arrest, he has undergone two surgeries, the most recent in August. He also received chemotherapy. According to reports in the Italian media, the family was able to say goodbye to him in recent days.
Source: Krone
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