Mafia hitman Stefano Ganci died
in the prison wing of a Parma hospital in late December, Italian
police said on Wednesday.
Ganci, 55, reportedly died of a heart attack.
The trusted killer of bloody late boss of bosses Totò Riina,
Ganci was serving life in the Emilian city.
Among his victims were top Sicilian judge Rocco Chinnici, and
deputy Palermo police chief Ninni Cassarà.
He was also part of the Cosa Nostra hit squad that blew up
magistrate Paolo Borsellino two months after the murder of his
friend and colleague Giovanni Falcone.
Riina died on November 17 in the same special section for
inmates at Parma hospital, having turned
He had turned 87 on Thursday.
Riina, who was still considered head of Cosa Nostra despite
spending 24 years under the 41 bis tough jail regime, had been
in a coma since the second of two operations and had been badly
ill for a long time.
Nicknamed The Beast for his ferocity, he was serving life for
a slew of crimes including the assassinations of anti-Mafia
magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino 25 years ago.
Other infamous assassinations were those of Carabinieri
General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, who had recently appointed
prefect of Palermo, in 1982; and of Sicilian Governor Piersanti
Mattarella, the brother of Italian President Sergio Mattarella,
in 1980.
photo: Riina's arrest in January 1993
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