Messina Denaro is accused of being a ruthless assassin whose violence fuelled the bloody reputation of the Cosa Nostra Mafia. “With the people I have killed myself, I could fill a cemetery,”
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he is said to have boasted. The phrase is impossible to confirm but speaks to the legend that surrounds him. Known as “Diabolik” after an Italian comic character, he was the undisputed leader of the Cosa Nostra in the western Sicilian province of Trapani. But his power extended farther, including to Sicily’s capital, Palermo, where he was arrested.
Messina Denaro is a fan of Rolex watches, designer clothes, comic books, and video games and has a reputation as a playboy. He was once featured on an Italian magazine cover in dark glasses, looking like a rock star, but his list of victims is long and the crimes he is accused of are horrific. His father, Don Ciccio, was the head of the local clan, and his godfather, who attended his baptism, was also a member of the mob. His first run-ins with the law began in 1989 when he took part in a bloody struggle between two clans.
He was accused that year of murdering Nicola Consales, a hotel owner who complained to an employee of always having “these little mafiosos under our feet”. Unfortunately, the employee was Messina Denaro’s mistress.