Benedetto Santapaola, known as "Nitto", one of the historical figures of the Catania mafia, has died at the age of 87. He had been under the strict 41-bis isolation regime since May 1993 and was imprisoned in the Opera prison. He spent his last days in the penitentiary ward of the San Paolo hospital in Milan, where he had been transferred from his cell.
For 33 years in prison, Santapaola never spoke about the secrets he held: about his economic empire and, above all, about his connections with powerful and "untouchable" figures in Catania and throughout Sicily. Sentenced to 18 life sentences, he continued to present himself as a "victim of the penitent", as he once declared in a court trial.
Known as "the hunter", in the 70s and 80s he was both a bloodthirsty and a successful entrepreneur. In 1978, he officially owned a well-known car dealership in Catania, where the inauguration was attended by high-ranking figures of the city, including the prefect, the police chief and the archbishop. In reality, he had already established ties with the Corleonese, who would take control of Cosa Nostra.
Journalist Giuseppe Fava was among the first to publicly denounce the connections and the power system that revolved around Santapaola. He was murdered in 1984, an assassination ordered by the boss himself, according to investigations.
Santapaola was convicted as one of the masterminds of the Capaci and Via D'Amelio massacres. He had asked Totò Riina to kill his rival Alfio Ferlito; in the assassination attempt of 16 June 1982, three carabinieri and a young driver who were transporting the prisoner were also killed.
After 11 years on the run, he was arrested in 1993 on a farm near Catania. From that day on, he chose silence, never cooperating with justice. Even after his imprisonment, his family and economic network in Catania continued to be active, according to anti-mafia investigations.
"Santapaola took the secrets of that system of power, perfect and shameful, with him to the grave," declared Claudio Fava, the son of the murdered journalist.
Investigations into his connections and influence are still ongoing by the Catania anti-mafia prosecutor's office.
