Pasquale Barra is a former Italian Camorrista who was a senior member and hitman for the Nuova Camorra Organizzata

Nuova Camorra Organizzata

The Nuova Camorra Organizzata was an Italian Camorra criminal organization founded in the late 1970s by a Neapolitan Camorrista, Raffaele Cutolo, in the region of Campania. It was also known by the initials NCO...

 (NCO), a Camorra

Camorra

The Camorra is a Mafia-type criminal organization, or secret society, originating in the region of Campania and its capital Naples in Italy. It is one of the oldest and largest criminal organizations in Italy, dating to the 18th century.-Background:...

 organization in Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

. Barra has the distinction of being the first NCO member to become a 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...

, when he decided to collaborate with Italian Justice in 1982.

Barra sported numerous nicknames, both self-appointed and those given to him. The first one was "'o Sturiente" (The Student), which was given to him by Cutolo during his years as a student in Ottaviano. Then there was his public nickname, "'o Nimale" (The Animal), which was allegedly given to him by the Italian media. The third one was "Alias", a self-appointed war name.

Association with the NCO

A native of Ottaviano

Ottaviano

Ottaviano is a comune in the Province of Naples in the Italian region Campania, located about 20 km east of Naples and is located in the Vesuvian Area. Ottaviano was in Roman times a hamlet of houses within a vast estate belonging to the gens Octavia, Augustus's family...

, the same village near Naples where Neapolitan crime boss, Raffaele Cutolo

Raffaele Cutolo

Raffaele Cutolo is an Italian crime boss and the charismatic leader of the Nuova Camorra Organizzata , an organisation he built to renew the Camorra. Cutolo has a variety of nicknames including "'o Vangelo" , "'o Principe" , "'o Professore" and "'o Monaco"...

 was born, Barra was the first and most devoted member of Cutolo's gang ever since they were both teenagers. At 6'3 iches tall, he was physically impressive with a lean and athletic build. When Cutolo set up the NCO at their hometown on October 24, 1970, Barra became his second in command and immediately took charge of reinforcing all intimidation, extortion and racketeering activities within their territory. He became a full-time killer for the organization, favoring the use of knives and butchery tools over guns and automatic weapons to carry out his hits.

Relationship with Raffaele Cutolo

The relationship between Barra and Cutolo had always been a close one. From the very beginning, Barra had been a faithful follower of Cutolo whom he practically revered. Moreover, being a more practical and ordinary man, he was able to muffle some of the more extreme features of Cutolo's behavior and reveal them to the other people who would have otherwise been simply too scared to approach Cutolo. Barra was in fact the de-facto link between Cutolo and other NCO members, bridging Cutolo's charisma with a more practical vision of life. As such, Cutolo greatly appreciated Barra's role within the organization.

For instance, when Cutolo purchased a 16th century castle in Ottaviano which had previously belonged to the Medici dynasty, he had a special postcard of the castle printed with the caption "Castello Mediceo, private property of R. Cutolo and P. Barra." His great admiration for Barra was expressed in a poem entitled "N'omme 'e Camorra" (A man of the Camorra) which was written by him for Barra's birthday.

Chief of Ottaviano

During the period between 1976 and 1983, when the NCO had total control over Ottaviano and the Neapolitan hinterland, Barra ruled this town of 200,000 inhabitants as his own personal fiefdom, ruling on every aspect of the town's activities, from illegal businesses such as prostitution

Prostitution

Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...

, gambling

Gambling

Gambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods...

 and extortion

Extortion

Extortion is a criminal offence which occurs when a person unlawfully obtains either money, property or services from a person, entity, or institution, through coercion. Refraining from doing harm is sometimes euphemistically called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime...

 to more respectable businesses. The NCO even had their own men inside the city council. When Barra's younger brother was shot in the knee-caps by a rival gang, they were able to find him a job inside City Hall, after having provided him with a governmental pension for an alleged permanent infirmity.

War with the Nuova Famiglia

Barra's arrest in 1979 did not diminish his influence inside and outside of prison. On the contrary, he established himself as the second in command of the organizational executive board inside the cielo scoperto (i.e., the prison penitentiary system). When the NCO began its long standing war against the rival Camorra clans, particularly the newly formed Nuova Famiglia

Nuova Famiglia

The Nuova Famiglia was an Italian Camorra criminal organization created in the 1980s to face Raffaele Cutolo's Nuova Camorra Organizzata....

, he decided to primarily concentrate on the killing of rivals inside the prison system. It was during this time that the media started calling him "the killer of the prisons," and he acquired the nickname "'o Nimale" (The Animal), due to the utmost cruelty and pitiless way in which he killed his enemies. His many murder convictions earned him a life sentence from the Italian court.

He pursued his newly appointed mission with a fervent religious zeal and he became almost suicidal in his attempts to eliminate his adversaries. He never worried about getting caught. In fact, some of his letters sent to other members of the NCO attest to his thirst for blood. He once wrote to Marco Medda, an NCO board executive: "Brother, I beg you to give a kiss to our Prince (Cutolo). I am doing all I can to get transferred to Napoli to kill some of these scumbags, and I will perform one of my best dramas: they must pay, understand?"

In another letter to Cutolo's sister, Rosetta, he used even stronger words while describing about his project: "My dearest comare, regarding this crawling vermin (the traitors), be confident. I will give you full satisfaction. I was so nervous that my own liver rotted because i did not have a chance yet to meet and greet these scumbags. I am telling you: be calm. I will take care of them with the help of the people who love the prince (Cutolo) for life and death."

When one of Cutolo's major enemies was arrested, Barra wrote directly to Cutolo: "My dearest compare, you have heard about the arrest of that big don. He peed in his pants because he thought that he got caught by the men of the Prince. Now tell me how these people think that they can survive, and anyway I am waiting to cross the paths of some of these conspirators, because I want to show them how much Alias is worth. Be calm, they will pay with their last drop of blood."

Killing rivals

In just a couple of years Barra had amassed an impressive list of killings, the most famous of which were the three deadly assaults that occurred during the 1980 Irpinia earthquake

1980 Irpinia earthquake

The 1980 Irpinia earthquake took place in the Irpinia region in Southern Italy on Sunday, November 23, 1980. Measuring 6.89 on the Richter Scale, the quake, centered on the village of Conza, killed 2,914 people, injured more than 10,000 and left 300,000 homeless. It is known in Italy as Terremoto...

. During the night of November 18, 1980, an earthquake of 6.8 on the Richter scale hit Naples and the Campania

Campania

Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...

 region. In the Poggioreale

Poggioreale

Poggioreale is a small town and comune in Sicily, Italy, set on the Belice valley, which administratively belongs to the province of Trapani....

 prison, the confusion and terror were magnified by the feeling of being entrapped. In order to avoid panic and a greater disaster, the prisoners were allowed to go to the jail courtyard presumed to be safer from collapsing buildings. However, this decision made by the prison authorities had an unintended consequence. The courtyard soon became a battlefield. Old rancors, impending vendettas and gang feud's exploded and were resolved in the bloodiest ways. Among many assassinations, Barra personally killed three rival NF members. These hits as well as many others greatly increased Barra's prestige and standing among the other NCO members.

Murder of Francis Turatello

However, it was another murder which would eventually lead to his downfall and subsequent defection from the NCO. On August 17, 1981, under Cutolo's orders Barra organized an ambush to kill Milanese crime boss and Cosa Nostra associate, Francis Turatello

Francis Turatello

Francesco Turatello was an important Italian crime figure, and mob boss who operated during the seventies mainly in the city of Milan. He was popularly known by his pseudonym Francis Turatello...

 aka "Faccia D'Angelo" (Angel Face) in the courtyard of Bad'e Carros, the high security prison in Nuoro

Nuoro

Nuoro is a city and comune in central-eastern Sardinia, Italy, situated on the slopes of the Monte Ortobene. It is the capital of the Province of Nuoro. With a population of 36,443 Nuoro is a city and comune (municipality) in central-eastern Sardinia, Italy, situated on the slopes of the Monte...

, Sardinia

Sardinia

Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...

. Barra was assisted in the murder by two well known Sicilian assassins, Vincenzo Andraus and Antonino Faro. Turatello was unable to escape the ambush. Barra and Andraus held Turatello, while Faro stabbed him sixty times. In the ensuing confusion from the attack, Andraus was also wounded and would later receive minor surgery in the prison infirmary. After Turatello was dead, Faro disemboweled and chewed Turatello's intestines, then spat it out as a sign of contempt.

Among the two Sicilian hitmen, Barra had come to know Faro well. Faro and Andraus were from Catania

Catania

Catania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.Catania is known to have a seismic history and...

, Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

. Faro was 28 years old at the time of Turatello's murder and by then, had already been convicted of five murders. Barra once wrote to Cutolo about him: "Catania, with its sons, must be hugged by the prince." The murder resulted in the two assassins being more loyal to Cutolo than to anyone else. By involving both Faro and Andraus in the murder, Barra hoped to share responsibility with the Sicilian Mafia over the murder. The rationale for this was that the Mafia would never allow a killing of which it did not approve.

Downfall

However, the two assassins were from an Eastern Sicilian family headed by Giuseppe Calderone

Giuseppe Calderone

Giuseppe “Pippo” Calderone was an influential Sicilian mafioso from Catania. He became the ‘secretary’ of the interprovincial Sicilian Mafia Commission, formed around 1975 on his instigation. Its purpose was to coordinate the provincial Mafia commissions and avoid conflicts over public contracts...

, not involved with the ruling corporate group of the Sicilian Mafia based in Western Sicily. As a result, the whole plot backfired. Turatello had close and powerful contacts within the Sicilian Mafia. Frank Coppola, a powerful Gambino family

Gambino crime family

The Gambino crime family is one of the "Five Families" that dominates organized crime activities in New York City, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the Mafia . The group is named after Carlo Gambino, boss of the family at the time of the McClellan hearings in 1963...

 figure in New York city

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, was his godfather and Luciano Liggio, the head 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...

 faction of the Sicilian Mafia had himself put Turatello in charge of all drug trade in the region of Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

.

They took Turatello's murder as an insult to their honor and reacted angrily. They held Cutolo responsible for the murder and threatened to immediately retaliate against him. Faced with certain defeat against the Mafia, with threats against
his life already carried out, Cutolo chose to dissociate himself from the murder.

Through his sister, Cutolo told the Sicilians that he had never wanted Turatello killed and that Barra had acted out on his own. He claimed that Barra was in fact, a former friend who had turned into a crazed out of control assassin. Moreover, he promised to collaborate with them in taking care of Barra. Barra was not only left alone to fend off the reprisals of the Sicilians, but now he also had to watch out against violent attacks from the other NCO members.

Becoming a Pentito

Barra had barely escaped two attacks and was completely stressed out by being on the lookout 24 hours a day. He avoided contact with everyone and chose to prepare his own tea and coffee, while carrying a knife carefully hidden in his anus at all times. Following this betrayal by Cutolo and his abandonment by the NCO, Pasquale Barra decided to become a pentito. From his cell in the local penitentiary in Foggia

Foggia

Foggia is a city and comune of Apulia, Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known as the "granary of Italy".-History:...

, Barra summoned Judge Apperti to inform him of his decision to collaborate with the Justice Department on October 18, 1982, thus becoming the first NCO member to become an informant.

In exchange for greater protection, Barra decided to reveal details of NCO murders, and went on to testify against Cutolo and numerous NCO members during the three year long Maxi Trial

Maxi Trial

The Maxi Trial was a criminal trial that took place in Sicily during the mid-1980s that saw hundreds of defendants on trial convicted for a multitude of crimes relating to Mafia activities, based primarily on testimony given in as evidence from a former boss turned informant...

s which resulted from the NCO's crackdown in 1983. Barra's testimony along with those of Giovanni Pandico

Giovanni Pandico

Giovanni Pandico is a former Italian Camorrista who was a member of the Nuova Camorra Organizzata , a Camorra organization in Naples. Pandico rose to become one of Camorra boss, Raffaele Cutolo's underwriters within the organization. After twelve years of imprisonment, he decided to collaborate...

, Pasquale D'Amico

Pasquale D'Amico

Pasquale D'Amico is a former Italian Camorrista who was a senior member of the Nuova Camorra Organizzata , a Camorra organization in Naples. His nickname was "'o Cartunaro" . D'Amico defected from the NCO and subsequently became a pentito in 1983. Among the pentiti, D'Amico was one of the highest...

, Mario Incarnato, etc. were found reliable and convincing enough to become a significant factor in the convictions of more than 800 defendants. However, many of the pentiti's allegations were proved to be fabrications and several of the convicted defendants were released.