Messina Denaro – the “last godfather”

Cosa Nostra’s last “secret-keeper” is believed to hold the key to some of the most heinous crimes perpetrated by the Sicilian Mafia
   

Apr 26, 1962: Matteo Messina Denaro – known as “Diabolik” – born in Castelvetrano, Sicily,
to head of local Mafia
  
1980: Denaro believed to have carried out first killing, aged 18

1992: Involved in murders of anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino (above). Subsequent crackdown leads to arrest of Salvatore Riina (right), undisputed “boss of bosses”

1993: Denaro held responsible for bombings in Rome, Florence and Milan that kill 10 people in bid to force end to government war on Mafia

Nov 1993: 12-year-old son of mafioso-turned-state witness kidnapped, tortured for two years and killed. Denaro later found guilty of involvement
  
Denaro, in hiding, continues to issue orders. Police rely on digital composites to reconstruct appearance (above centre)
    
 
2002: Sentenced to life in jail in absentia for dozens of murders
  
2013: Arrest of sister Patrizia and several other associates leaves Denaro increasingly isolated
  
2016: Mafia head Bernardo Provenzano dies in prison – Denaro seen as unchallenged boss of bosses
  
Jan 16, 2023: Messina Denaro detained in private clinic in Palermo, where he is receiving treatment for cancer under fake name


Sources: Reuters, BBC, AP, AFP 
Pictures: Newscom, Getty Images 
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