Baldassare Di Maggio

Baldassare Di Maggio (born November 19, 1954 in San Giuseppe Jato ), called "Balduccio", was head of the San Giuseppe Jato family and a leading member of the Sicilian mafia . Baldassare Di Maggio played an important role as " Pentito " in the Maxi trial against the Mafia. He helped with his statement that incriminating material could be found against Salvatore Riina . In 1987 Riina Giulio Andreotti is said to have kissed three times on the cheek, which showed that the politician was deeply involved with the Mafia.

Life

Di Maggio was born in San Giuseppe Jato in the province of Palermo and was initiated in 1981 by the local Mafia family under the direction of Bernardo Brusca . In November 1982, during the Second Mafia War, he was involved in the elimination of Rosario Riccobono and 14 other men from the Riccobonos mafia clan on the La Favarella estate, which was owned by Michele Greco . In 2001, he received only an 11-year prison sentence because his statements as a government witness were taken into account. When the Capomafia of the San Giuseppe Jato family, Bernardo Brusca, a member of the Sicilian Mafia Commission , was imprisoned and his son Giovanni Brusca was banished to Linosa , Di Maggio became the acting head of the family. When Giovanni Brusca returned in 1990, Di Maggio presented an undesirable person who had to be eliminated. Riina called a peace meeting, but Di Maggio suspected a trap and fled Sicily fearing for his life .

Di Maggio was arrested on January 8, 1993 in the Piedmontese town of Borgomanero near Novara for illegally possessing weapons. He immediately admitted that he was a man of honor ("uomo d'onore") and offered the police his help to find Totò Riina. Di Maggio was typical of a new generation of the Mafia who at some point became disillusioned with the Corleonesi tyranny . He had ascended within this organization, committing countless murders for Riina and the San Giuseppe Jato Mafia. Di Maggio, former driver of Riina, was brought to Palermo to help a special team of the Carabinieri locate Riina and break through the protective structure created by the Capo di tutti Capi. Riina was arrested on January 15, 1993. Some people, including Giovanni Brusca, claimed that Di Maggio's leadership was a cover for the fact that long-time refugee Bernardo Provenzano had betrayed his former associate, Riina. Di Maggio also gave investigators important links regarding the murder of anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone .

Di Maggio claimed to have been present at a mafia meeting with Giulio Andreotti, at which Totò Riina allegedly greeted the former Prime Minister with an "kiss of honor" . He told the Palermo Public Prosecutor: “I am absolutely sure that I recognized Giulio Andreotti because I saw him many times on TV. I interpreted the kiss that Andreotti and Salvatore Riina exchanged as a sign of respect. ”According to Di Maggio, the incident occurred in September 1987 at the home of Ignazio Salvo in Palermo, a senior Andreotti official who was accused by informants to be the main contacts of the politician with the Cosa Nostra. “When we entered, those present for the honors of Giulio Andreotti and Salvo Lima were present. They got up and I shook her hand and kissed Ignazio Salvo. However, Riina greeted all three people with a kiss. "Andreotti dismissed the charges against him as" lies and slander ... the kiss of Riina, Mafia summit ... scenes from a comic horror film ". Veteran journalist Indro Montanelli doubted the claim, saying that Andreotti doesn't even kiss his own children. Di Maggio's credibility had been shaken in the final weeks of the Andreotti trial when he admitted to killing a man under state protection. The appeals court judges rejected Di Maggio's testimony about the kiss of respect.

swell

Notes and individual references

1. ↑ Riccobono and eight of his family members are said to have been strangled after a feast on the La Favarella estate near Croceverde-Giardini and their corpses as Lupara Bianca were then either dissolved in acid or fed to pigs

literature

• John Dickie: Cosa Nostra. A story of the Sicilian Mafia . London. 2004. Coronet. ISBN 0-340-82435-2 .

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