(ANSA) - Palermo, November 17 - Mafia boss of bosses Totò Riina died at 3:37 on Friday in a special section for inmates at Parma hospital. 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 recent operations. 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.
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.
Mafia boss of bosses Totò Riina dead
Cosa Nostra chief was 87