Baldassare Di Maggio
Encyclopedia
Baldassare Di Maggio also known as Balduccio, is a member of the Mafia
, who became a government witness (pentito
). He helped the police to capture the head of Cosa Nostra, Totò Riina, and claimed that Riina respectfully kissed seven-time Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti
when they met in 1987.
, a town in the province of Palermo
and was initiated in 1981 in the local Mafia family, headed by Bernardo Brusca
. He was involved in the elimination of Rosario Riccobono
and 14 other men of Riccobono’s Mafia clan in November 1982 during the Second Mafia War
(In 2001, he received an 11 year prison sentence, which took into account his testimonies as government witness).
When the capo-famiglia of San Giuseppe Jato, Bernardo Brusca, a member of the Sicilian Mafia Commission
went to prison and his son Giovanni Brusca
was banished to Linosa
, Di Maggio became acting head of the family. However, when Giovanni Brusca returned in 1990, Di Maggio became an uncomfortable presence that needed to be eliminated. A peace meeting was convened by Riina, but Di Maggio did not trust the set-up, and fled Sicily for his life.
. He immediately admitted that he was a man of honour and told the police that he could help them find Totò Riina. Di Maggio was typical of the new generation of mafiosi who had become disillusioned with the domination of the Corleonesi
. He had risen within the organisation by committing countless murders for Riina and for the Mafia of San Giuseppe Jato.
Di Maggio, a former driver for Riina, was brought to Palermo to help a special team of the Carabinieri
to locate Riina and dismantle the protective structure the boss had created. Riina was arrested on January 15, 1993. Some, including Giovanni Brusca
, claim that Di Maggio’s lead was a cover for the fact that the perennial fugitive Bernardo Provenzano
had betrayed his former associate Riina.
Di Maggio also gave investigators important links about the killing of Antimafia judge Giovanni Falcone
.
where Totò Riina allegedly greeted the former Prime Minister with a "kiss of honour". He said in testimony to Palermo prosecutors: "I am absolutely certain that I recognized Giulio Andreotti because I saw him many times on television. I interpreted the kiss that Andreotti and Salvatore Riina exchanged as a sign of respect."
According to Di Maggio, the incident happened in September 1987 at the Palermo home of Ignazio Salvo, a high-ranking associate of Andreotti who was accused by informers of being one of the politician's main contacts with Cosa Nostra. "When we walked in, the people present were the Hon. Giulio Andreotti and the Hon. Salvo Lima," Di Maggio said. "They stood up and I shook their hand and kissed Ignazio Salvo. Riina, however, greeted with a kiss all three people."
Andreotti dismissed the charges against him as “lies and slander … the kiss of Riina, mafia summits … scenes out of a comic horror film.” Veteran journalist Indro Montanelli
doubted the claim, saying Andreotti "doesn't even kiss his own children." Di Maggio's credibility had been shaken in the closing weeks of the Andreotti trial when he admitted killing a man while under state protection.
Appeal court judges rejected Di Maggio’s testimony about the kiss of respect.
in the area San Giuseppe Jato
, Altofonte
and San Cipirello
in cooperation with other pentiti
such as Santo Di Matteo
and Gioacchino La Barbera
. Although key witnesses in several important trials under way, they recommenced their criminal activities and avenge atrocities by the Bruscas carried out on their family members. On October 14, 1997, Di Maggio was rearrested.
Di Maggio claimed he was encouraged by investigators to chase and help capture Brusca. The affair created a scandal in Italy and damaged the government witness programme and the trial against Andreotti. Di Maggio, who had received a US$ 300,000 ‘bonus’ under the witness-protection program, had his benefits stripped away. In April 2002, Di Maggio received a life sentence for the killings he committed while being in the witness protection programme.
“We obviously give votes to politicians of our choice and after making an agreement with them, but they have to do what we say, otherwise we break their horns,” he said. “Politicians’ behaviour might sometimes give rise to ‘disappointments,’ but their function was particularly important for Cosa Nostra and, hence, there was an ‘obligation’ for all men of honour to vote for the Christian Democrats
.”
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
, who became a government witness (pentito
Pentito
Pentito designates people in Italy who, formerly part of criminal or terrorist organizations, following their arrests decide to "repent" and collaborate with the judicial system to help investigations...
). He helped the police to capture the head of Cosa Nostra, Totò Riina, and claimed that Riina respectfully kissed seven-time Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti is an Italian politician of the now dissolved centrist Christian Democracy party. He served as the 42nd Prime Minister of Italy from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1992. He also served as Minister of the Interior , Defense Minister and Foreign Minister and he...
when they met in 1987.
Mafioso
Di Maggio was born in San Giuseppe JatoSan Giuseppe Jato
San Giuseppe Jato is a village in the Province of Palermo in Sicily, southern Italy.The village sits in a hilly region of Palermo's hinterland, 31 km from the Sicilian capital.-History:...
, a town in the province of Palermo
Province of Palermo
The Province of Palermo is a province in the autonomous region of Sicily, a major island in Southern Italy. Its capital is the city of Palermo. The Province of Palermo has 82 comuni , 1,239,272 inhabitants, and is 4,992 km² .-External links:...
and was initiated in 1981 in the local Mafia family, headed by Bernardo Brusca
Giovanni Brusca
Giovanni Brusca is a former member of the Sicilian Mafia. He murdered the anti-Mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone in 1992 and once stated that he had committed between 100 and 200 murders but was unable to remember the exact number...
. He was involved in the elimination of Rosario Riccobono
Rosario Riccobono
Rosario Riccobono was a member of the Sicilian Mafia. He was the boss of Partanna Mondello, a suburb of Palermo, his native city...
and 14 other men of Riccobono’s Mafia clan in November 1982 during the Second Mafia War
Second Mafia War
The Second Mafia War was a conflict within the Sicilian Mafia, mostly taking place in the early 1980s. As with any criminal organization, the history of the Sicilian Mafia is replete with conflicts and power struggles, and the violence that results from them, but these are generally localised and...
(In 2001, he received an 11 year prison sentence, which took into account his testimonies as government witness).
When the capo-famiglia of San Giuseppe Jato, Bernardo Brusca, a member of the Sicilian Mafia Commission
Sicilian Mafia Commission
The Sicilian Mafia Commission, known as Commissione or Cupola, is a body of leading Mafia members to decide on important questions concerning the actions of, and settling disputes within the Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra...
went to prison and his son Giovanni Brusca
Giovanni Brusca
Giovanni Brusca is a former member of the Sicilian Mafia. He murdered the anti-Mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone in 1992 and once stated that he had committed between 100 and 200 murders but was unable to remember the exact number...
was banished to Linosa
Linosa
Linosa is one of the Pelagie Islands in the Sicily Channel of the Mediterranean Sea. It is a frazione of the comune of Lampedusa e Linosa, part of the province of Agrigento, Sicily, Italy. It has a population of 450 inhabitants.-Geography:...
, Di Maggio became acting head of the family. However, when Giovanni Brusca returned in 1990, Di Maggio became an uncomfortable presence that needed to be eliminated. A peace meeting was convened by Riina, but Di Maggio did not trust the set-up, and fled Sicily for his life.
Capture of Riina
Di Maggio was arrested on January 8, 1993, in the northern city NovaraNovara
Novara is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With c. 105,000 inhabitants, it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is an important crossroads for commercial traffic along the routes from Milan to Turin...
. He immediately admitted that he was a man of honour and told the police that he could help them find Totò Riina. Di Maggio was typical of the new generation of mafiosi who had become disillusioned with the domination of the Corleonesi
Corleonesi
The Corleonesi is the name given to a faction within the Sicilian Mafia that dominated Cosa Nostra in the 1980s and the 1990s. It was called the Corleonesi because its most important leaders came from the town of Corleone, first Luciano Leggio and later Totò Riina, Bernardo Provenzano and Leoluca...
. He had risen within the organisation by committing countless murders for Riina and for the Mafia of San Giuseppe Jato.
Di Maggio, a former driver for Riina, was brought to Palermo to help a special team of the Carabinieri
Carabinieri
The Carabinieri is the national gendarmerie of Italy, policing both military and civilian populations, and is a branch of the armed forces.-Early history:...
to locate Riina and dismantle the protective structure the boss had created. Riina was arrested on January 15, 1993. Some, including Giovanni Brusca
Giovanni Brusca
Giovanni Brusca is a former member of the Sicilian Mafia. He murdered the anti-Mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone in 1992 and once stated that he had committed between 100 and 200 murders but was unable to remember the exact number...
, claim that Di Maggio’s lead was a cover for the fact that the perennial fugitive Bernardo Provenzano
Bernardo Provenzano
Bernardo Provenzano is a member of the Sicilian Mafia and is suspected of having been the head of the Corleonesi, a Mafia faction that originated in the village of Corleone, and de facto capo di tutti capi of the entire Sicilian Mafia until his arrest in 2006.His nickname is Binnu u tratturi...
had betrayed his former associate Riina.
Di Maggio also gave investigators important links about the killing of Antimafia judge Giovanni Falcone
Giovanni Falcone
Giovanni Falcone was an Sicilian/Italian prosecuting magistrate born in Palermo, Sicily. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Mafia in Sicily...
.
The “kiss of honour”
Di Maggio claimed to have been present at a Mafia meeting with Giulio AndreottiGiulio Andreotti
Giulio Andreotti is an Italian politician of the now dissolved centrist Christian Democracy party. He served as the 42nd Prime Minister of Italy from 1972 to 1973, from 1976 to 1979 and from 1989 to 1992. He also served as Minister of the Interior , Defense Minister and Foreign Minister and he...
where Totò Riina allegedly greeted the former Prime Minister with a "kiss of honour". He said in testimony to Palermo prosecutors: "I am absolutely certain that I recognized Giulio Andreotti because I saw him many times on television. I interpreted the kiss that Andreotti and Salvatore Riina exchanged as a sign of respect."
According to Di Maggio, the incident happened in September 1987 at the Palermo home of Ignazio Salvo, a high-ranking associate of Andreotti who was accused by informers of being one of the politician's main contacts with Cosa Nostra. "When we walked in, the people present were the Hon. Giulio Andreotti and the Hon. Salvo Lima," Di Maggio said. "They stood up and I shook their hand and kissed Ignazio Salvo. Riina, however, greeted with a kiss all three people."
Andreotti dismissed the charges against him as “lies and slander … the kiss of Riina, mafia summits … scenes out of a comic horror film.” Veteran journalist Indro Montanelli
Indro Montanelli
Indro Montanelli was an Italian journalist and historian, known for his new approach to writing history in books such as History of the Greeks and History of Rome....
doubted the claim, saying Andreotti "doesn't even kiss his own children." Di Maggio's credibility had been shaken in the closing weeks of the Andreotti trial when he admitted killing a man while under state protection.
Appeal court judges rejected Di Maggio’s testimony about the kiss of respect.
Vendetta
Di Maggio, while in the witness protection programme, moved back to his hometown in 1995 and started a vendetta against his enemy Giovanni BruscaGiovanni Brusca
Giovanni Brusca is a former member of the Sicilian Mafia. He murdered the anti-Mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone in 1992 and once stated that he had committed between 100 and 200 murders but was unable to remember the exact number...
in the area San Giuseppe Jato
San Giuseppe Jato
San Giuseppe Jato is a village in the Province of Palermo in Sicily, southern Italy.The village sits in a hilly region of Palermo's hinterland, 31 km from the Sicilian capital.-History:...
, Altofonte
Altofonte
Altofonte is a comune in the Province of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about 9 km southwest of Palermo....
and San Cipirello
San Cipirello
San Cipirello is a comune in the Province of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about 25 km southwest of Palermo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 5,201 and an area of 20.9 km².San Cipirello borders the following municipalities: Monreale, San Giuseppe Jato....
in cooperation with other pentiti
Pentito
Pentito designates people in Italy who, formerly part of criminal or terrorist organizations, following their arrests decide to "repent" and collaborate with the judicial system to help investigations...
such as Santo Di Matteo
Santo Di Matteo
Mario Santo Di Matteo , also known as Mezzanasca, is a member of the Mafia from the town of Altofonte in the province of Palermo, Sicily....
and Gioacchino La Barbera
Gioacchino La Barbera
Gioacchino La Barbera is a member of the Mafia who became a pentito. He was one of the key witnesses in the trial against the killers of Antimafia judge Giovanni Falcone....
. Although key witnesses in several important trials under way, they recommenced their criminal activities and avenge atrocities by the Bruscas carried out on their family members. On October 14, 1997, Di Maggio was rearrested.
Di Maggio claimed he was encouraged by investigators to chase and help capture Brusca. The affair created a scandal in Italy and damaged the government witness programme and the trial against Andreotti. Di Maggio, who had received a US$ 300,000 ‘bonus’ under the witness-protection program, had his benefits stripped away. In April 2002, Di Maggio received a life sentence for the killings he committed while being in the witness protection programme.
Mafia and politics
Di Maggio made several declarations on the relation between the Mafia and politics. According to Di Maggio, Riina “personally told me more than once that it is not possible for a politician, at any level, to become a man of honour. It is not even possible for a man of honour to start a political career. On the basis of this rule, which was expressed to me in categorical terms, there is a substantial contempt on the part of Cosa Nostra towards politicians, who are not regarded as serious enough to become part of the organisation.”“We obviously give votes to politicians of our choice and after making an agreement with them, but they have to do what we say, otherwise we break their horns,” he said. “Politicians’ behaviour might sometimes give rise to ‘disappointments,’ but their function was particularly important for Cosa Nostra and, hence, there was an ‘obligation’ for all men of honour to vote for the Christian Democrats
Christian Democracy (Italy)
Christian Democracy was a Christian democratic party in Italy. It was founded in 1943 as the ideological successor of the historical Italian People's Party, which had the same symbol, a crossed shield ....
.”