Mafia boss of bosses Totò Riina died at 3:37 on Friday in a special section for inmates at Parma hospital. He had turned 87 on Thursday. Riina, who was still considered head of Cosa Nostra despite spending 24 years under the 41 bis tough jail regime, had been in a coma since the second of two recent operations and had been badly ill for a long time. Justice Minister Andrea Orlando had given the OK for Riina's children to visit him on his death bed, but they did not make it in time before he passed away.
Nicknamed The Beast for his ferocity, he was serving life for a slew of crimes including the assassinations of anti-Mafia magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino 25 years ago.
Other infamous assassinations were those of Carabinieri General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, who had recently appointed prefect of Palermo, in 1982; and of Sicilian Governor Piersanti Mattarella, the brother of Italian President Sergio Mattarella, in 1980. In July a Bologna court rejected a petition from Riina's lawyers for his punishment to be deferred and a related request for him to be released to house arrest due to his poor health.
In June the supreme Court of Cassation said Riina was entitled to a dignified death and instructed a detention review court to say whether he should be freed, sparking protests from the relatives of his many victims. After visiting him, the chair of the parliamentary anti-mafia commission, Rosy Bindi, said his conditions were better than they would be if he were sent home.
Riina was arrested in January 1993 after 24 years as a fugitive.
Many institutional figures warned against dropping the guard against the Mafia following his death.
Cosa Nostra is still a big threat, Bindi said Friday. "The end of Riina is not the end of the Sicilian Mafia, which remains a highly dangerous criminal system," said Bindi.
"Totò Riina was the bloody, undisputed leader of the Cosa Nostra that staged bombings.
"That Mafia was defeated before his death thanks to the tough commitment of the institutions and the sacrifice of so many courageous, just men". The Italian Bishops Conference (CEI) on Friday ruled out the possibility of a public funeral being held for Riina. "A public funeral is unthinkable," said CEI Spokesman Father Ivan Maffeis.
"I remind everyone that the pope has excommunicated the mafiosi.
"The condemnation of the Italian Church regarding this phenomenon is unequivocal. "The Church does not substitute the judgment of God, but we cannot confuse consciences".
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