Bernardo Provenzano
Bernardo Provenzano (born January 31, 1933) is a member of the Sicilian Mafia (Cosa Nostra) and is suspected of being the head of the Corleonesi, a Mafia Family from the village of Corleone, and de facto capo di tutti capi (Boss of Bosses) of the entire Sicilian Mafia until his arrest in 2006 after more than four decades on the run.
His nickname is Binnu u tratturi (Sicilian for "Bennie the tractor") because, in the words of one informant, 'he mows people down'. Another nickname is The Accountant due to his apparently subtle and low-key approach to running his crime empire, at least in contrast to some of his more violent predecessors.
Biography
Early years
He was raised in Corleone and joined the Italian Mafia in his late teens. At the time, Michele Navarra was the head of the Corleonesi, but Provenzano became close to Luciano Leggio, a young and ambitious mobster. Navarra and Leggio went to war against each other in the mid-1950s.
In September 1958, Provenzano was one of the fourteen gunmen who backed up Leggio in the ambush and murder of Michele Navarra. Leggio subsequently became the head of the Family. Over the next five years, Provenzano helped Leggio hunt down and kill many of Navarra's surviving supporters. On September 10, 1963 an arrest warrant was issued against Provenzano for the murder of one of Navarra's men. Provenzano went on the run along with most of the rest of the Corleonesi.
Leggio went to prison for murder in 1974, effectively leaving Totò Riina in charge. Provenzano became the second in command of the Corleonesi, Riina's right-hand-man.
During Riina's time as godfather, Provenzano was believed to operate behind the scenes, dealing with the financial side of the criminal enterprises that he and Riina orchestrated, particularly heroin trafficking. It is not known to what extent that he participated in the Mafia war of 1981/82, initiated by Riina, which left over a thousand Mafiosi dead and resulted in the Corleonesi becoming the dominant Mafia Family in Sicily.
Elevation to Godfather
Toto Riina was arrested in January 1993 and subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment for ordering dozens of murders, including the two high-profile bombings that killed judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. Falcone and Borsellino had been in charge of the Maxi Trial in the mid-1980s. Provenzano was also convicted of the same murders, in absentia.
It was not immediately clear that Provenzano had succeeded Riina. He hadn't been publicly seen since 1963, and when his wife and two grown sons came out from hiding in 1992, many then suspected that Provenzano was dead, from natural causes or otherwise. Informants subsequently claimed otherwise, saying that after Riina's arrest in 1993, Provenzano became the boss of the Corleonesi. It is said that two other mobsters, Leoluca Bagarella and Giovanni Brusca, challenged his leadership, but, even if they succeeded, they were both captured and imprisoned in 1995 and 1996 respectively.
Under Provenzano leadership, the Mafia became less bloodthirsty and more efficient. Provenzano is reported to have tried to arbitrate between rival mafia factions competing for business, and steered away from the attacks on high-profile figures that were hardening public opinion against the Mafia and provoking police to respond. He was a careful operator, who took few overt risks, revealing his whereabouts to only a handful of associates. He shunned the telephone and issued orders and communications (even to his family) through small, hand-delivered notes— "pizzini".
Curiously many of the notes from Provenzano that police have intercepted sign off with religious blessings, such as one that concluded "May the Lord bless and protect you." Coincidentally, according to mob godmother-turned-informant Giuseppina Vitale, Provenzano then appeared at a 1992 Cosa Nostra summit meeting dressed in the purple robes of a Catholic bishop [1].
Evasion and Capture
Provenzano was a fugitive from the law from the time of his indictment for murder in 1963 until his arrest in 2006. It is theorized that he was on the run longer than any other criminal, an unparalleled 43 years. Until his arrest, the only known photographs of him were taken during the 1950s. The authorities had reportedly been 'close' to capturing him for the last decade of his time on the run, though those who believed it was impossible for one man to remain undetected for such a long time under normal circumstances, especially on a relatively small island like Sicily, theorized that 'Uncle Bernie', as he is known to his friends, had a tacit understanding with the Italian authorities, under which he was not harassed. Indeed, the fact that his predecessor, Totò Riina, was finally arrested at his home address after supposedly being 'on the run' for nearly twenty years, lent credence to this theory.
There is proof that in 2002 he traveled to France, despite being a fugitive, and underwent a surgical operation in Marseille for a prostate tumor, even being reimbursed by the Italian National Health Care system. DNA evidence subsequently confirmed his presence at the surgery in question.
On January 25, 2005, police raided various homes in Sicily and arrested forty-six Mafia suspects believed to be helping Provenzano elude the authorities [2]. Although they did not catch the elusive Mafia boss himself, investigators nonetheless unearthed evidence that 72-year-old Provenzano was still very much alive and in control of the Mafia, in the form of his cryptic handwritten notes, his preferred method of giving orders to his men. Two months later another raid, which netted over eighty Mafiosi took place, although yet again Provenzano was not amongst those captured. [3] However, Mafia informers said Provenzano moved between farmhouses in the region every two or three nights to evade capture. Tracing him was difficult because the authorities did not have an up-to-date photograph with which to identify him. The nearest likeness in their possession was a computer-generated image that attempted to predict the effects of aging on a photograph of Provenzano as a younger man.
Provenzano was finally captured on April 11, 2006 by the Italian police near his home town, Corleone. [4] A spokesman for the Palermo police, Agent Daniele Macaluso, said Provenzano had been arrested during the morning near Corleone, 37 miles south of Palermo and was being driven back to the Sicilian capital. [5][6]Italian language newslink The police were able to pinpoint Provezano's exact location by the simplest of connections; they tracked a delivery of clean laundry from his family to the farmhouse he was hiding out in. His arrest briefly pushed the climax of Italy's general election from the main headlines on Italian news stations.
After initially denying it, Provenzano admitted his identity, but has reportedly said little else since his arrest. A trial is not necessary as he has already been convincted in absentia of many murders, including those of Falcone and Borsellino, and has many life sentences to serve.
It is alleged that, pre-empting his arrest, he has already named his successor, his former rival Matteo Messina Denaro [7] [8]
In May 2, 2006, he appeared via a video-link from his jail in a trial concerning Mafia murders committed in Italy in the 1980s. He was being held in isolation at a high security jail in Terni, central Italy. Mr Provenzano was shown on screen in the court alongside the man accused of being his predecessor as Mafia boss, Toto "The Beast" Riina. As part of the tough prison regime reserved for Mafia convicts, he is under constant video surveillance and is only allowed contact with his lawyer.
It is believed that he was succeeded by Nino Rotolo, Provenzanos former doctor Antonino Cinà and Franco Bonura who were captured by the police on June 20, 2006 together with 45 other members of the Mafia.
See also
References
- Alexander Stille, Excellent Cadavers (1995), Vintage, ISBN 0099594919
- John Dickie, Cosa Nostra (2004), Coronet, ISBN 0340824352
External links
- Template:It icon A biography of Provenzano
- Provenzano at Gangsters Inc.
- The Guardian: Gangster No 1, April 24, 2001
- Time Europe Magazine: Sicily's Invisible Man, August 29, 2004
- Profile from the BBC, April 11, 2006