Boss of Bosses (43 page)

This chapter is based largely on the letters from Provenzano to his lieutenants. Some of these letters were explained by Giuffré and admitted as evidence in the trial known as Grande Mandamento, Milan, 8—9 February 2007. Prestipino and Palazzolo,
Il codice Provenzano
, offers a valuable interpretation of the letters between Provenzano and his closest advisers. Lipari’s letters to Provenzano are filed with the investigation into Lipari’s role, Tribunale di Palermo.

Other letters are contained in the report on the collaboration between the
mafioso
Gino Ilardo and Colonel Michele Riccio of the carabinieri special organized crime division (Raggruppamento Operativo Speciale or ROS), Rome, 30 July 1996. The letter to Salvatore Genovese is filed with the Grande Oriente investigation, Tribunale di Palermo.

Salvo Palazzolo and Ernesto Oliva,
Bernardo Provenzano: il ragioniere di Cosa Nostra
, offers a fascinating account of Provenzano’s new strategy. Another account of Provenzano’s
modus operandi
is contained in the testimony of the collaborator Nino Giuffré, reported in the arrest warrant for Angelo
Tolentino and forty-nine others, operation Grande Mandamento, Tribunale di Palermo, 2004. For more detail on Provenzano’s leadership style and tactics I have also drawn on Nino Giuffré’s testimony in the trial of Giuseppe Biondolillo and others, 16 October 2002.

Provenzano’s security preoccupation was described in the testimony of Nino Giuffré in the Talpe or ‘Moles’ trial (Michele Aiello and others), Tribunale di Palermo, 8 March 2005. Letters demonstrating Provenzano’s humble rhetoric are contained in the testimony of Nino Giuffré, trial of Salvatore Umina and others, application for arrest warrant, Tribunale di Palermo.

Provenzano’s leadership strategy was discussed in author interviews with anti-Mafia chief Pietro Grasso in Rome, assistant prosecutor Nino Di Matteo in Palermo, and with assistant prosecutor Michele Prestipino, who has worked closely on Nino Giuffré’s collaboration, basing much of his prosecutorial work on the
pizzini
. Provenzano’s revolutionary use of pen and paper to communicate with his captains was described in an author interview with carabinieri general Angiolo Pellegrini, Rome.

Provenzano’s extreme caution was described in the testimony of Giovanni Brusca in the trial of Castello Simone and five others, Tribunale di Palermo, and in Giovanni Brusca, interviewed by Saverio Lodato,
Ho ucciso Giovanni Falcone
. Teresa Principato and Alessandra Dino,
Mafia Donna
, contains an illuminating account of the mafioso’s religion.

Salvo Lima’s attitude to Cosa Nostra was revealed in Siino’s testimony to the trial of former prime minister Giulio Andreotti, reported by ANSA on 18 December 1997.

The substance of the alleged support for Forza Italia by Provenzano and Cosa Nostra families across Sicily is contained in the sentence against Marcello dell’Utri and Gaetano Cinà, in a chapter titled. ‘La stagione politica’, Tribunale di Palermo, December 2004. These allegations are substantially repeated and expanded in the testimony of Nino Giuffré in the ‘Talpe’ trial
(Michele Aiello and others), Milan, 8 March 2005, and in the arrest warrant for Onofrio Morreale, as well as in the trial named Grande Mandamento, Milan, 9 February 2007.

Accounts of meetings and alleged promises are based on the report on the collaboration between the mafioso Gino Ilardo and Colonel Michele Riccio of the carabinieri special organized crime division (Raggruppamento Operativo Speciale or ROS), Rome, 30 July 1996.

The most comprehensive work on the collaboration between politicians and Cosa Nostra is contained in Lirio Abbate and Peter Gomez,
I complici
. The account of the corruption behind the development of the commercial centre in Villabate is based on an author interview with Nino Di Matteo, Palermo, as well as details in
I complici
, as above.

The Sicilian separatist movement is described in Sandra Rizza and Giuseppe Lo Bianco,
Il gioco grande
. Giuffré’s sensational revelations about meetings with representatives of Forza Italia were reported in
La Repubblica
(4 December 2002). Alessandro Stille,
Excellent Cadavers
, describes the way Cosa Nostra replaced ‘tame’ politicians with their own people. The descriptions of Mandalà’s indiscretions are based on Prestipino and Palazzolo,
Il codice Provenzano
. The Sicilian public health crisis was reported in
The Guardian
(1 January 2007).

The account of Spera’s arrest is based on an author interview with police agent Bloodhound, who was one of the arresting officers. The search of the surrounding area was discussed in an interview with General Angiolo Pellegrini.

Tolentino and Episcopo’s conversations, recorded by the police, are reported in Enrico Bellavia and Silvana Mazzocchi,
Iddu
.

The battle for control of Belmonte Mezzagno is described in Prestipino and Palazzolo,
Il codice Provenzano
, and in Palazzolo and Oliva,
Bernardo
Provenzano: il ragionere di Cosa Nostra
. Prestipino and Palazzolo also give an account of the battle for Agrigento.

Legal documents

Testimony of Nino Giuffré, in the Grande Mandamento trial, Milan, 8—9 February 2007.

Testimony of Nino Giuffré, ‘Talpe’ trial (Michele Aiello and others) Milan, 8 March 2005.

Letter from Provenzano admitted in evidence in the trial of Bernardo Provenzano and others, Milan, 10 February 2007.

Letter from Provenzano to Brusca filed with Grande Oriente investigation, Tribunale di Palermo.

Press reports

Interview with Simone Provenzano in
L’Espresso
magazine (22 June 2000).
La Stampa
(1 February 2001).

The letters from Saveria to her husband, and from Angelo and Paolo Provenzano to their father, were confiscated during the arrest of Benedetto Spera and filed with prosecution papers in Palermo (corte di assise di Palermo, processo contro Benedetto Spera ed altri).

The account of the relationship between Provenzano and his family members is based on an author interview with police chief Giuseppe Gualtieri, Trapani. Angelo Provenzano was interviewed by a reporter from the ANSA news agency, 31 May 2002.

The account of life in Corleone is based on an author interview with Pippo Cipriani, former mayor of Corleone.

Legal documents containing background on the families include Giuffré‘s testimony in the Grande Mandamento trial, 8—9 February 2007. The police interception of Salvo Riina’s conversation is transcribed in the Richiesta per
l’applicazione di misure cautelari nei confronti di Riina Giuseppe Salvatore ed altri, DDA Palermo.

Accounts of the Provenzano family’s life were given in
La Repubblica
(23 June 1996, 13 December 2000, 14 February 2001).

Analyses of family life are contained in Tommaso Buscetta, interviewed by Saverio Lodato,
La mafia ha vinto,
and Teresa Principato and Alessandra Dino,
Mafia donna.
Provenzano’s letter to Brusca is filed with the Grande Oriente investigation, Palermo.

The events described in this chapter are based on Giuffré’s testimony and letters from Provenzano submitted as evidence in the ‘Talpe’ trial of Michele Aiello and others, Tribunale di Palermo, 8—9 March 2005. The memorandum of the chief prosecutor in the same trial was also very useful.

I draw extensively on Nino Giuffré’s testimony in the trial of Giuseppe Biondolillo and others, Tribunale di Termini Imerese, 16 October 2002. The descriptions of Provenzano’s secret meetings and security measures come from Giuffré’s testimony in the trial of Carmelo Umina and others, Tribunale di Palermo, and from the introduction to the arrest warrant in the trial of Bernardo Provenzano and others (Grande Mandamento), Tribunale di Palermo. From the same document I draw on the chapter on ‘The Position of Benedetto Spera and Bernardo Provenzano’.

The police’s near-miss with Provenzano is based on police records contained in an account in
Iddu,
by Enrico Bellavia and Silvana Mazzocchi. The conversation between Lipari and his family members is contained in Prestipino and Palazzolo,
Il codice Provenzano.
The account of the bugging of Guttadauro’s house is contained in Lirio Abbate and Peter Gomez,
I complici.

Chief anti-Mafia prosecutor Pietro Grasso gave an interview to the author about the political significance of these events.

Chief prosecutor Pietro Grasso and assistant prosecutor Michele Prestipino travelled together to Marseille on the trail of Provenzano. They both talked to the author about this part of the investigation.

Ciccio Pastoia’s assertions about his relationship with Provenzano are contained in the ‘Grounds for Arrest’ in the Grande Mandamento investigation, Tribunale di Palermo.

Francesco Campanella’s account of his work on the faked ID card, with other details of his friendship with Nicola Mandalà, is contained in Ordinanza Applicativa della Custodia Cautelare for Onofrio Morreale and others, Tribunale di Palermo, June 2006.

The request for chicory and other matters are contained in letters from Provenzano to Giuffré, Grande Mandamento trial.

The plot to kill Geraci is also recounted in detail in papers relating to the Grande Mandamento investigation, and was also described in an author interview with chief prosecutor Pietro Grasso.

Lipari’s arrangements are found in Prestipino and Palazzolo,
Il codice Provenzano.
The letter from Matteo Messina Denaro to Provenzano of 6 February 2005 is also quoted in
Il codice Provenzano.
Buscetta’s account of the stress of life on the run comes from Saverio Lodato,
La Mafia ha vinto.
An article in
La Repubblica
(30 January 2003) describes Provenzano’s compulsive behaviour, based on his letters.

A full account of the Villabate Mafia’s activities can be found in Lirio Abbate and Peter Gomez,
I complici.
Salvo Palazzolo and Ernesto Oliva,
Bernardo Provenzano: il ragioniere di Cosa Nostra,
also contains documentation of Michele Aiello’s activities in private health. The police transcripts of conversations about the identikit image are reported in Enrico Bellavia and Silvana Mazzocchi,
Iddu.

The last major push to capture Provenzano was described to the author by the agent Bloodhound, by chief anti-Mafia prosecutor Pietro Grasso and by police chief Giuseppe Gualtieri. I also interviewed assistant prosecutor Marzia Sabella about the investigation. Alfonso Sabella talked to the author about Provenzano’s record as Mafia boss in the latter stages.

Renato Cortese’s account of the investigation and arrest are contained in Enrico Bellavia and Silvana Mazzocchi,
Iddu.
The police record of the conversation between Provenzano’s brothers is also reported in
Iddu.
The Lipari family’s troubles are reported in Prestipino and Palazzolo,
Il codice Provenzano.
Rotolo’s conversations secretly recorded by police and Provenzano’s correspondence about the return of the
scappati
are also contained in
Il codice Provenzano.
The conversation between Angelo and Paolo Provenzano intercepted by the police is reported in Lirio Abbate and Peter Gomez,
I complici.
The transcripts are filed with the inquiry into Riina’s capture, Tribunale di Palermo.