Matteo Messina Denaro
Matteo Messina Denaro (Italian pronunciation: [matˈtɛːo mesˈsiːna deˈnaːro]; Sicilian: Matteu Missina Dinaru; 26 April 1962 – 25 September 2023), also known as Diabolik (from the Italian comic book character), was a Sicilian Mafia boss from Castelvetrano. He was considered to be one of the new leaders of the Sicilian mob after the arrests of Bernardo Provenzano on 11 April 2006 and Salvatore Lo Piccolo in November 2007. The son of a Mafia boss, Denaro became known nationally on 12 April 2001 when the magazine L'Espresso put him on the cover with the headline: Ecco il nuovo capo della Mafia ("Here is the new Mafia boss").
Matteo Messina Denaro | |
|---|---|
Messina Denaro in a 1993 photograph for his driver's license | |
| Born | 26 April 1962 Castelvetrano, Sicily, Italy |
| Died | 25 September 2023 (aged 61) |
| Other names | Diabolik U Siccu ("The Skinny") |
| Occupation | Mafia boss |
| Criminal status | Deceased (imprisoned from 2023) |
| Children | 1 |
| Allegiance | Cosa Nostra |
| Conviction(s) | Mafia association Multiple murders |
| Criminal charge | Mafia association Multiple murders |
| Penalty | Life imprisonment (in absentia) |
Messina Denaro became a fugitive on the most wanted list in 1993; according to Forbes in 2010, he was one of the ten most wanted and powerful criminals in the world. With the deaths of Bernardo Provenzano in 2016 and Salvatore Riina in 2017, Messina Denaro was seen as the unchallenged boss of all bosses within the Mafia. After 30 years on the run, he was arrested on 16 January 2023 near a private clinic in Sicily's capital, Palermo, where he was reportedly undergoing chemotherapy under a false name. Messina Denaro died in a prison hospital on 25 September 2023 after falling into an irreversible coma at the age of 61, after receiving treatment for colon cancer.