"Benedetto Nitto Santapaola, a Sicilian mafia boss and one of the most dangerous figures in Italian criminal history, has died aged 87. Santapaola, who was widely believed to have been the architect of a campaign of bloodshed that scarred Italy in the 1980s and 1990s, died on Monday in a Milan prison where he was serving multiple life sentences."
"Among the atrocities attributed to him was the bombing at Capaci in May 1992, an attack that killed the anti-mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone, his wife, Francesca Morvillo, and three of his bodyguards, and sent shockwaves through a country locked in a bitter struggle with organised crime."
"In 2003, Santapaola was convicted of ordering the 1984 murder of the investigative journalist Giuseppe Fava, who had exposed his criminal empire and political ties. Fava was shot five times in his car in Catania after he had gone to a theatre to watch his niece perform."
Benedetto Nitto Santapaola, a prominent Sicilian mafia boss, died at age 87 in a Milan prison where he was serving multiple life sentences. He was considered one of the most dangerous figures in Italian criminal history and a key architect of violent campaigns during the 1980s and 1990s. Based in Catania, Santapaola controlled much of eastern Sicily and was allied with major mafia leaders Toto Riina and Bernardo Provenzano. He was attributed with orchestrating the 1992 Capaci bombing that killed anti-mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone, his wife, and three bodyguards. Arrested in 1993 after over a decade as a fugitive, Santapaola was convicted in 2003 of ordering the 1984 murder of investigative journalist Giuseppe Fava, who had exposed his criminal operations.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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