Cosa Nostra boss of bosses
Totò Riina is close to death, sources said on Thursday.
The Mafia chief, who turned 87 Thursday, has been in a coma
for days in ward for inmates at Parma hospital after two
operations.
He has been badly ill for some time.
Riina was arrested in January 1993 after 24 years as a
fugitive.
Nicknamed The Beast for his ferocity, he is serving life for
a slew of crimes including the assassinations of anti-Mafia
magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino 25 years ago.
Another infamous assassination was that of Carabinieri
General Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, who had recently appointed
prefect of Palermo, in 1982.
In July a Bologna court rejected a petition from Riina's
lawyers for his punishment to be deferred and a related request
for him to be released to house arrest due to his poor health.
As a result, Riina stayed under the hard 41bis jail regime
at a special section for prisoners of the Parma hospital.
In June the supreme Court of Cassation said Riina was
entitled to a dignified death and instructed a detention review
court to say whether he should be freed, sparking protests from
the relatives of his many victims.
After visiting him, the chair of the parliamentary anti-mafia
commission, Rosy Bindi, said his conditions were better than
they would be if he were sent home.
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