Santo Di Matteo
Encyclopedia
Mario Santo Di Matteo also known as Mezzanasca, is a member of the Mafia
from the town of Altofonte
in the province of Palermo
, Sicily
.
Santo Di Matteo took part in the killing of Antimafia judge Giovanni Falcone
on May 23, 1992, near Capaci
. After his arrest on June 4, 1993, he became the first of Falcone's assassins to become a government witness – a pentito
. He revealed all the details of the assassination: who tunnelled beneath the motorway, who packed the 13 drums with TNT and Semtex
, who hauled them into place on a skateboard, and who pressed the button.
In retaliation the Mafia kidnapped Di Matteo’s 11-year-old Giuseppe Di Matteo on November 23, 1993, to force him to retract his testimony. The boy was told that they were taking him to see his father, who was in hiding. Instead they held the boy for 26 months, during which they tortured him and sent grisly photos to his father to force him to retract his testimony. Di Matteo made a desperate trip to Sicily to try to negotiate his son's release. On January 11, 1996 after 779 days, the boy was finally strangled on the orders of Giovanni Brusca
. Subsequently the body was dissolved in a barrel of acid to destroy the evidence.
Di Matteo once had to face Brusca, in court. Bursting into tears Di Matteo told the judge: "I guarantee my collaboration but to this animal I guarantee nothing. If you leave me alone with him for two minutes I'll cut off his head." The confrontation nearly got violent, if not for the guards who restrained Di Matteo.
In October 1997, the pentito Di Matteo was rearrested. Although a key witness in several important trials under way, he had returned home to recommence his criminal activities and avenge atrocities carried out on family members.
Under the terms of his deal Di Matteo is not entitled to police protection. However, instead of going into hiding, he returned to his wife, father and house in Altofonte
, a village in the mountains just south of Palermo
, the Sicilian capital. His protection is an iron gate and two dogs. Di Matteo took up his normal life. He strolled into the main square, took a coffee, read the paper. Everybody recognised him, but few returned his greetings. Anyone living in Sicily knows well that whoever betrays Cosa Nostra is a dead man walking.
Before his arrest Di Matteo already had become hesitant about the violent strategy of the Corleonesi
. In their testimonies Di Matteo and another pentito Salvatore Cancemi
described the victory celebration that followed the Capaci bombing. Totò Riina ordered French champagne and while the others toasted Cancemi and Santo Di Matteo looked at one another and exchanged a gloomy assessment of Riina and their future: "This cuckold will be the ruin of us all."
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
from the town of Altofonte
Altofonte
Altofonte is a comune in the Province of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about 9 km southwest of Palermo....
in the province of Palermo
Province of Palermo
The Province of Palermo is a province in the autonomous region of Sicily, a major island in Southern Italy. Its capital is the city of Palermo. The Province of Palermo has 82 comuni , 1,239,272 inhabitants, and is 4,992 km² .-External links:...
, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
.
Santo Di Matteo took part in the killing of Antimafia judge Giovanni Falcone
Giovanni Falcone
Giovanni Falcone was an Sicilian/Italian prosecuting magistrate born in Palermo, Sicily. From his office in the Palace of Justice in Palermo, he spent most of his professional life trying to overthrow the power of the Mafia in Sicily...
on May 23, 1992, near Capaci
Capaci
Capaci is a town and comune in the Province of Palermo in Sicily, Italy.In 2004 the commune was inhabited by 10,129 people, with the density of 1,688.2 people per square kilometer....
. After his arrest on June 4, 1993, he became the first of Falcone's assassins to become a government witness – a pentito
Pentito
Pentito designates people in Italy who, formerly part of criminal or terrorist organizations, following their arrests decide to "repent" and collaborate with the judicial system to help investigations...
. He revealed all the details of the assassination: who tunnelled beneath the motorway, who packed the 13 drums with TNT and Semtex
Semtex
Semtex is a general-purpose plastic explosive containing RDX and PETN. It is used in commercial blasting, demolition, and in certain military applications. Semtex became notoriously popular with terrorists because it was, until recently, extremely difficult to detect, as in the case of Pan Am...
, who hauled them into place on a skateboard, and who pressed the button.
Killing of son
Giovanni Brusca
Giovanni Brusca is a former member of the Sicilian Mafia. He murdered the anti-Mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone in 1992 and once stated that he had committed between 100 and 200 murders but was unable to remember the exact number...
. Subsequently the body was dissolved in a barrel of acid to destroy the evidence.
Di Matteo once had to face Brusca, in court. Bursting into tears Di Matteo told the judge: "I guarantee my collaboration but to this animal I guarantee nothing. If you leave me alone with him for two minutes I'll cut off his head." The confrontation nearly got violent, if not for the guards who restrained Di Matteo.
In October 1997, the pentito Di Matteo was rearrested. Although a key witness in several important trials under way, he had returned home to recommence his criminal activities and avenge atrocities carried out on family members.
Release
In March 2002 Di Matteo was released early, in return for cooperating with magistrates. Di Matteo was released along with four others convicted of killing Falcone. Their release has outraged relatives of the victims, who say the pentito system is allowing hardened hitmen to get away with murder.Under the terms of his deal Di Matteo is not entitled to police protection. However, instead of going into hiding, he returned to his wife, father and house in Altofonte
Altofonte
Altofonte is a comune in the Province of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about 9 km southwest of Palermo....
, a village in the mountains just south of Palermo
Palermo
Palermo is a city in Southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Province of Palermo. The city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence; it is over 2,700 years old...
, the Sicilian capital. His protection is an iron gate and two dogs. Di Matteo took up his normal life. He strolled into the main square, took a coffee, read the paper. Everybody recognised him, but few returned his greetings. Anyone living in Sicily knows well that whoever betrays Cosa Nostra is a dead man walking.
Before his arrest Di Matteo already had become hesitant about the violent strategy of the Corleonesi
Corleonesi
The Corleonesi is the name given to a faction within the Sicilian Mafia that dominated Cosa Nostra in the 1980s and the 1990s. It was called the Corleonesi because its most important leaders came from the town of Corleone, first Luciano Leggio and later Totò Riina, Bernardo Provenzano and Leoluca...
. In their testimonies Di Matteo and another pentito Salvatore Cancemi
Salvatore Cancemi
Salvatore Cancemi was a member of the Sicilian Mafia. He would be the first member of the Sicilian Mafia Commission that turned himself in voluntarily and became a pentito, a collaborator with the Italian judicial authorities...
described the victory celebration that followed the Capaci bombing. Totò Riina ordered French champagne and while the others toasted Cancemi and Santo Di Matteo looked at one another and exchanged a gloomy assessment of Riina and their future: "This cuckold will be the ruin of us all."