Lawyer says Toto Riina too ill to face 1984 massacre hearings

(ANSA) - Florence, December 9 - The lawyer for Mafia 'boss of bosses' Toto Riina said Tuesday that his client is too ill to face hearings for ordering the massacre of 16 people in a train bombing at Christmas 1984.
    Lawyer Luca Cianferoni said that he will make an unspecified request of the court, as it continues new hearings into the Rapido 904 case.
    Prosecutors in Florence earlier this year charged Riina with ordering the massacre aboard the Rapido 904 train on the Florence-Milan line after secret case files were declassified by Premier Matteo Renzi. Riina, 83, is already serving life sentences for his part in the extremely violent 1992 murders of anti-Mafia crusading magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino, among others.
    His lawyer told a court in November that he was preparing a request to transfer Riina to hospital from his imprisonment under the tough '41-bis' high-security prison regime for Italy's most dangerous criminals.
    Riina, who is serving out 12 life sentences, has had three heart bypasses and is said to be suffering from back and thyroid problems, as well as suspected prostate cancer.
    Nevertheless, magistrates say 'The Beast' still has a big say in running Cosa Nostra even though he has been in jail since 1993.