Police fear end of six-year Mob truce after shooting in Sicily
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The murder of the cousin of a Mafia turncoat has raised fears in Sicily that the Mob is back in business.
Rosario Scarantino was shot five times in the face on a quiet street in Palermo on Saturday. Scarantino was both cousin and brother-in-law to the Mafia supergrass Vincenzo Scarantino, the Mafia informer who gave the police details of the spectacular assassination in 1992 of anti-Mob prosecutor Paolo Borsellino, naming himself as one of those involved.
In the 1980s, as authorities began clamping down on the Mafia with a series of so-called "maxi-trials", the Sicilian capital often rang with the sound of gunfire as relatives of betrayed mafiosi took revenge.
Detectives who have tapped the mob's phone conversations say a truce was then imposed from the top because many cases are still going through the courts. It was expected to end when the Court of Cassation, Italy's highest appeal court, delivers its verdict.
If that was the plan, the bosses with grudges against supergrasses appear to have jumped the gun. But other explanations for the killing are also on offer. One rumour is that the victim had passed important information to the police leading to the arrest of one Giuseppe Urso, sentenced to life for his part in Borsellino's murder. Those close to Urso, according to this theory, have taken revenge. Pietro Grasso, public prosecutor of Palermo, said: "It's an alarming event, above all for the manner in which it was carried out."
Vincenzo Scarantino, 35, has twice made confessions which he twice retracted. After the second time he was expelled from the supergrass protection programme, and is serving time in a jail in northern Italy.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments