Sicilian mafia boss and ‘last godfather’ Matteo Messina Denaro ‘in coma’: Reports

Notorious Sicilian mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro who was arrested earlier this year after three decades on the run is said to be in a coma and no longer being fed, the Italian media reported, on Saturday (September 23). This comes months after the Italian police arrested the country’s most-wanted mafia boss in the Sicilian capital, Palermo.

About Messina Denaro’s health

The 61-year-old who has also been described as “the last godfather of the Sicilian mafia” was arrested back in January after he was caught outside a private clinic for cancer patients where he was receiving treatment under the fake name of Andrea Bonafede.

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It was later found that Messina Denaro has colon cancer and doctors say he will not recover. At his own request, life-sustaining measures have been discontinued, said the doctors from the hospital in the central Italian city of L’Aquila.

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Messina Denaro who has been accused of some of the most heinous crimes committed by the Sicilian mafia and is facing numerous life sentences was detained in a high-security jail in L’Aquila where he had earlier continued treatment in his cell, as per media reports.

However, in early August, Messina Denaro was moved to the inmate ward of the local hospital where his condition has declined in recent days. According to media reports, he is now in an “irreversible coma”.

The medics have stopped feeding him and he has asked not to be resuscitated, reported news agency AFP.

Italian mobster’s arrest

Messina Denaro was caught by the Italian anti-mafia police back in January and has been accused of some of the most heinous crimes committed by the Sicilian mafia including the alleged murder of a 12-year-old son of a mobster turned state witness, who was strangled and dissolved in acid.

ALSO READ |Sister’s coded note led to the arrest of Matteo Messina Denaro, Sicilian mafia’s ‘last godfather’

He came to be known as one of the most ruthless bosses of the Sicilian crime syndicate and was handed six life sentences over the years which includes his involvement in the murder of anti-Mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in 1992.

The 61-year-old reportedly became the “boss of bosses” following the death of Salvatore “The Beast” Riina in November 2022 and once even claimed that he could “fill a cemetery” with his victims.

He also faces a life sentence for his role in bomb attacks in Florence, Rome and Milan which killed at least 10 people.

(With inputs from agencies)

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