The mafia boss was long seen as Italy’s most wanted fugitive. He was sentenced to life in absentia for numerous murders and bombings. He was held responsible, among other things, for the murder of investigating judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in 1992.
Both were murdered by explosives in Sicily within a few months. His wife and three bodyguards were also killed in the attack on Falcone’s car on the road to Palermo airport.
According to his doctors, Messina Denaro has undergone two surgeries since his arrest in January, the last in August. His health deteriorated in recent days and on Friday evening his doctors announced that he had suffered a hemorrhage and had fallen into a coma from which he would not wake up. He himself had requested not to be kept alive artificially.