1
00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:08,000
[rotor blades whirring]

2
00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:11,760
[seagulls squawking]

3
00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:34,280
[man speaking Italian] At the end
of my shift, around 1:50 p.m...

4
00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:44,120
I left the precinct...

5
00:00:45,440 --> 00:00:47,920
in a Fiat Panda, whose brake pads

6
00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:51,800
had to be changed,
so I had to drive slowly.

7
00:00:57,120 --> 00:00:58,880
When I got to the seafront...

8
00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:06,200
I heard the roar of a car engine
that was speeding up.

9
00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:10,840
It was not coming towards me

10
00:01:11,320 --> 00:01:13,120
but from behind.
I heard the car approaching.

11
00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:20,440
The driver was Matteo Messina Denaro.

12
00:01:23,760 --> 00:01:29,240
A man greeted me with a shotgun.

13
00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:32,480
He leaned out of the window and shot me.

14
00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:39,400
As I was shot, I felt the blood
running down my face.

15
00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:43,800
Instinctively, I crouched.

16
00:01:44,520 --> 00:01:45,360
I stopped.

17
00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:49,240
They stopped too, a few meters ahead.

18
00:01:50,800 --> 00:01:53,960
So, I got out of the car,
took my gun, and shot them.

19
00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:58,520
This time, the man with the Kalashnikov
fired in bursts.

20
00:01:58,600 --> 00:02:00,600
[indistinct chatter]

21
00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:06,480
Thank goodness, or thank fate, he stopped.

22
00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:08,920
They looked at me and then left.

23
00:02:13,560 --> 00:02:17,920
[reporter speaking Italian] Do you think
this attack may be linked to your work?

24
00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:23,920
[speaking Italian]
The precinct deals with the Mafia,

25
00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:28,640
drugs, minor or major drugs.
It does a lot of things.

26
00:02:32,920 --> 00:02:35,760
[speaking Italian]
Matteo Messina Denaro is

27
00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:38,440
the most wanted fugitive in Cosa Nostra.

28
00:02:42,320 --> 00:02:44,480
[man speaking Italian]
He once said to me,

29
00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:48,240
"With all the corpses I left behind,
I could have a private cemetery."

30
00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:56,920
[speaking Italian] He would get
to the place where his target was.

31
00:02:57,080 --> 00:02:59,720
As if it were nothing, he'd take his gun
and shoot. Boom, boom.

32
00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:05,480
[speaking Italian] Matteo Messina Denaro
helped everybody to set

33
00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:08,480
the country on fire back in those years.

34
00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:16,880
[man speaking Italian] How Messina Denaro
has managed to remain free

35
00:03:17,440 --> 00:03:19,960
is a million-dollar question.

36
00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:00,640
[reporter 1 speaking Italian]
Matteo Messina Denaro, the last godfather

37
00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:05,080
at the top of the black list
of the most dangerous fugitives...

38
00:04:07,640 --> 00:04:09,680
[reporter 2 speaking Italian]
The Cosa Nostra boss,

39
00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:11,520
who has been a fugitive since '93...

40
00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:14,320
[reporter 3 speaking Italian]
Still today, Messina Denaro is a ghost.

41
00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:35,320
[seagulls squawking in the distance]

42
00:04:46,560 --> 00:04:48,360
[police siren wailing]

43
00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:59,480
[man speaking Italian] I've been under
government protection since 2007...

44
00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:07,040
because I've received death threats.

45
00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:22,560
I'm Lirio Abbate, and I've been
investigating the Mafia for 28 years.

46
00:05:31,280 --> 00:05:34,280
In the '80s,

47
00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:37,480
you were aware that

48
00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:40,920
the area was completely handled
by the Mafia.

49
00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:42,280
[scooter engine revs]

50
00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:47,600
[Lirio speaking Italian]
Everything that was going on there

51
00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:49,400
was managed by the Mafia,

52
00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:53,240
from the economy
to entrepreneurship to politics.

53
00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:17,360
The control of the organization called,
as we found out later, Cosa Nostra,

54
00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:22,400
landed in the hands of Salvatore Riina.

55
00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:32,280
He is an animal,
responsible for thousands of murders...

56
00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:42,440
who became the supreme leader
of this organization that everyone feared.

57
00:06:45,400 --> 00:06:48,880
What followed were days of terror.

58
00:06:49,360 --> 00:06:53,400
Every single day, people were shot dead.

59
00:06:56,920 --> 00:06:59,480
And you would find someone

60
00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:04,520
whose head had been chopped off,
left on a car seat.

61
00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:09,080
Or others who had been disfigured.

62
00:07:11,840 --> 00:07:13,960
[indistinct chatter]

63
00:07:19,880 --> 00:07:23,760
Matteo Messina Denaro
was born into a mafioso family.

64
00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:26,960
And he would flaunt the fact that

65
00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:31,440
people knew he was from the Mafia
and they had to fear him.

66
00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:36,160
[lady shouts]

67
00:07:37,200 --> 00:07:40,240
He killed a pregnant woman

68
00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:44,000
just because she was the girlfriend
of someone he hated.

69
00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:49,400
The Messina Denaro's Mafia family

70
00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:53,040
is and was very important
in the Trapani region.

71
00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:58,240
His father was a Mafia boss.

72
00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:42,960
[man speaking Italian]
I am a friend of Matteo Messina Denaro.

73
00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:52,360
My name is Giuseppe Fontana.

74
00:08:52,640 --> 00:08:56,560
I was released in 2012,
after 18 long years in jail.

75
00:08:57,040 --> 00:08:58,600
[door lock clicking]

76
00:09:08,200 --> 00:09:10,920
Don Ciccio,
Matteo Messina Denaro's father,

77
00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,240
was one of those who were supposed to die.

78
00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:21,440
Totò Riina replaced
all the bosses of the provinces...

79
00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:24,120
by having them killed.

80
00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:29,360
I don't know the exact reason why,
but he was pardoned.

81
00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:38,080
And, out of gratitude,
he entrusted his son to Totò Riina.

82
00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:47,240
At that point,
he became his favorite godson.

83
00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:54,040
[Lirio speaking Italian]
Matteo did his training under Riina.

84
00:09:54,120 --> 00:10:00,480
As a young man, he would follow
the older killers and mafiosi...

85
00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:04,920
and was a proper criminal pupil.

86
00:10:17,480 --> 00:10:21,280
[man speaking Italian] Messina Denaro
would commit murder, extortion,

87
00:10:21,360 --> 00:10:25,400
anything that had to be done.
He was a soldier like me.

88
00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:29,440
Riina was the one who gave the orders.

89
00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:35,960
I am Santino Di Matteo,
ex-mafioso and a cooperating witness.

90
00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:41,120
I never say where I live.

91
00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:43,880
Fewer people know, the better, right?

92
00:10:47,560 --> 00:10:52,880
You have to face the fear.
You have to live with it.

93
00:11:16,840 --> 00:11:18,600
[birds chirping]

94
00:11:18,680 --> 00:11:22,920
They had us running from one place
to another to commit murders.

95
00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:30,320
That's what we did from the '80s to 1992.

96
00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:32,640
And so, little by little...

97
00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:36,000
at some point, we came to meet,

98
00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:38,400
uh, Messina Denaro.

99
00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:42,480
That night we met in Alcamo.

100
00:11:43,040 --> 00:11:44,640
We went to a farm...

101
00:11:45,840 --> 00:11:48,080
because we had to commit a murder.

102
00:11:50,600 --> 00:11:52,880
I think we did a double murder together.

103
00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:55,040
We killed both father and son.

104
00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:08,840
Messina Denaro took his gun out
and fired. Boom, boom.

105
00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:15,360
So we shot these two people.

106
00:12:15,440 --> 00:12:19,160
And, very calmly, we delivered the bag
with our weapons.

107
00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:23,200
Then we just went back to Alcamo.
Like it was nothing,

108
00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:26,440
we went to a cafe for breakfast.

109
00:12:29,760 --> 00:12:34,040
He was a guy who didn't scare easily.
He was a full-fledged mafioso.

110
00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:55,920
I saw him like a cold, cool agent,
you know, like 007.

111
00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:58,800
Who goes home, listens to classical music,

112
00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:03,480
uh, drinks his wine,
and then maybe decides to kill off...

113
00:13:05,320 --> 00:13:06,560
two hundred enemies,

114
00:13:06,920 --> 00:13:11,880
uh, in a strategical and smart way,
obviously.

115
00:13:14,960 --> 00:13:18,840
[reporter] When Mafia hit men strike,
it's usually with a gun and a silencer.

116
00:13:20,400 --> 00:13:22,680
But not in Palermo, Sicily, today.

117
00:13:24,680 --> 00:13:26,680
[siren wailing]

118
00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:33,920
The weapon there was a bomb
estimated at one ton of explosives.

119
00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:37,480
The target: Italy’s top
anti-mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone.

120
00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:41,840
He and at least six others were killed
when their convoy was blown up.

121
00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:52,800
[reporter speaking Italian]
...dramatic scenes, scenes of war.

122
00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:11,120
[reporter] Judge Paolo Borsellino
was killed yesterday,

123
00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:14,320
less than two months
after judge Giovanni Falcone.

124
00:14:15,120 --> 00:14:18,920
They were Italy's
top anti-Mafia investigators.

125
00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:21,640
[indistinct chatter]

126
00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:33,360
[Lirio speaking Italian]
Judges Falcone and Borsellino

127
00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:37,000
were the enemies of Cosa Nostra.
They were the ones

128
00:14:37,080 --> 00:14:40,360
{\an8}who orchestrated the first big trial
against Cosa Nostra.

129
00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:45,640
They're the ones
who hurt the Mafia the most.

130
00:14:49,120 --> 00:14:51,840
[crowd shouting and screaming]

131
00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:08,120
[Lirio speaking Italian]
Matteo Messina Denaro was part

132
00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:13,000
of a very restricted, private board
that Riina used to plan

133
00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,240
Falcone and Borsellino's assassinations.

134
00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:19,320
[indistinct chatter]

135
00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:23,760
[man speaking Italian]
We pay our last respects.

136
00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:27,800
With this Christian rite of farewell

137
00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:31,480
we express our love...

138
00:15:31,720 --> 00:15:34,160
[Lirio speaking Italian]
I remember the funerals.

139
00:15:34,240 --> 00:15:35,520
[organ playing]

140
00:15:37,160 --> 00:15:40,440
The people were angry.

141
00:15:44,080 --> 00:15:45,720
That's what... [chuckles]

142
00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:52,720
You realize you're living
in the Mafia's territory.

143
00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:54,800
[organ continues playing]

144
00:15:57,840 --> 00:16:01,600
[woman speaking Italian] ...I'm the widow
of Officer Vito Schifani, my Vito.

145
00:16:03,760 --> 00:16:08,280
I'm addressing the people from the Mafia
because they are here.

146
00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:12,360
You can be forgiven.

147
00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:15,440
I forgive you,
but you need to get on your knees.

148
00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:18,880
If you have the courage to change.

149
00:16:18,960 --> 00:16:20,680
[crying]
But they won't change.

150
00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:23,560
-[crowd applauding]
-[man speaking Italian indistinctly]

151
00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:26,360
If you have the courage...

152
00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:30,280
...to change. Change.

153
00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:39,800
[crying] They don't want to change.
They won't change.

154
00:16:40,160 --> 00:16:42,440
[man and woman
speaking Italian indistinctly]

155
00:16:50,520 --> 00:16:55,560
The Falcone and Borsellino attacks
changed Italian history.

156
00:17:20,320 --> 00:17:23,360
[man speaking Italian]
It's the worst time, not just for Sicily

157
00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:24,560
but for all of Italy.

158
00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:26,240
[police siren wailing]

159
00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:27,480
I was 30 years old.

160
00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:29,200
Barely.

161
00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:36,280
I'm Massimo Russo.

162
00:17:36,360 --> 00:17:41,840
I'm a prosecuting magistrate. From 1991
to 2007, I worked on Cosa Nostra.

163
00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:42,880
[speaking indistinctly]

164
00:17:42,960 --> 00:17:46,200
[Massimo speaking Italian] I went after
fugitive Messina Denaro Matteo.

165
00:17:48,720 --> 00:17:51,200
I had five bodyguards at some point.

166
00:17:51,280 --> 00:17:56,840
We were getting into uncharted territory

167
00:17:56,920 --> 00:17:58,800
and an extremely dangerous situation.

168
00:17:59,360 --> 00:18:02,360
But we can also say
that we had some great victories.

169
00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:15,680
[speaking Italian]
I have to give you some good news.

170
00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:18,440
-[man in crowd shouts]
-[woman in crowd speaks up]

171
00:18:18,520 --> 00:18:22,200
Finally, the government
and civil society could see

172
00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:24,120
what kind of monster,

173
00:18:24,320 --> 00:18:27,360
uh, we had in our country.

174
00:18:27,480 --> 00:18:30,840
He was identified and caught.

175
00:18:30,920 --> 00:18:32,440
[indistinct chatter]

176
00:18:33,320 --> 00:18:36,720
[speaking Italian]
Riina Salvatore has been arrested

177
00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:40,200
this morning by the carabinieri
in Palermo.

178
00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:48,680
The Italian police dealt a significant
blow against the Mafia today

179
00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:51,400
with the arrest
of Salvatore "Totò" Riina.

180
00:18:52,280 --> 00:18:54,120
The alleged boss of bosses.

181
00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:00,080
Riina, a fugitive from justice
for 20 years...

182
00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:04,200
[Massimo speaking Italian]
So, six months after Riina's arrest,

183
00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:07,440
for the first time, the attention shifts 

184
00:19:07,520 --> 00:19:09,800
to Matteo Messina Denaro.

185
00:19:14,920 --> 00:19:17,440
In that moment, he becomes a fugitive.

186
00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:22,200
Obviously, all kinds of strategies
are employed in order to catch him.

187
00:19:31,800 --> 00:19:34,920
In 1996, we have an idea

188
00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:38,920
of where Matteo Messina Denaro is.

189
00:19:47,720 --> 00:19:49,720
{\an8}POLICE

190
00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:55,960
[man speaking Italian]
It was 1996, I remember well.

191
00:20:06,160 --> 00:20:09,240
A patrol car stopped a vehicle
and inspected it.

192
00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:16,320
During the search,
they found a plastic container,

193
00:20:16,400 --> 00:20:21,440
which had dozens and dozens of pizzini.

194
00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:26,680
Pizzini are the letters

195
00:20:27,200 --> 00:20:34,160
that fugitives used to communicate
with the acolytes in their Mafia family.

196
00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:40,920
The analysis of a pizzino signed "Mari"...

197
00:20:43,160 --> 00:20:47,000
led the State Police
to easily identify Maria Mesi.

198
00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:54,200
It referred to a location

199
00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:55,960
where the two lovers,

200
00:20:56,040 --> 00:20:59,600
the woman and the fugitive
Matteo Messina Denaro, 

201
00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:01,160
used to meet.

202
00:21:13,560 --> 00:21:15,600
However, 

203
00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:21,720
we were not able
to find that secret location.

204
00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:28,640
But in May 1996...

205
00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:34,760
a patrol reported the presence of a woman.

206
00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:45,120
She was walking around suspiciously
in the streets of Aspra.

207
00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:46,600
She was disguised.

208
00:21:50,320 --> 00:21:56,760
This figure wore a cape, a hat,
a pair of glasses, and a neck tube.

209
00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:01,240
So, we couldn't figure out who she was.

210
00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:07,120
But what got us excited is that
somebody said, "Wait a minute."

211
00:22:09,040 --> 00:22:14,280
As the feminine figure
approached Milwaukee Street,

212
00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:19,880
she started taking off her hat,
her glasses, and her neck tube.

213
00:22:20,200 --> 00:22:22,400
That's when the police officer said,

214
00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:23,800
"It's Maria Mesi."

215
00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:37,000
[Giuseppe speaking Italian]
He was a true gentleman of a past time.

216
00:22:37,080 --> 00:22:41,080
He managed to court a woman

217
00:22:42,360 --> 00:22:47,280
in a romantic and tempting way.

218
00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:51,640
He was a handsome Mediterranean man.

219
00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:53,920
He was a charming man.

220
00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:58,320
He had a very... peculiar gaze.

221
00:22:58,840 --> 00:23:00,560
You've never seen his eyes.

222
00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:05,080
He's a bit cross-eyed.

223
00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:07,600
But his eyes had...

224
00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:10,000
a feline look.

225
00:23:18,600 --> 00:23:22,120
[Carmelo speaking Italian] We'd discovered
where the meetings happened.

226
00:23:22,200 --> 00:23:27,000
{\an8}That was the hideout where those two,
Maria Mesi and Matteo Messina Denaro...

227
00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:31,520
used to meet.

228
00:23:35,800 --> 00:23:37,800
[dogs barking]

229
00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,840
At that point, we had to be sure.

230
00:23:48,920 --> 00:23:55,480
And the only way to be sure
was to enter the apartment

231
00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:59,080
and install some wiretaps.

232
00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:08,520
We finally managed
to enter that apartment.

233
00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:16,760
[man speaking Italian]
Aspra is the only place we can be sure

234
00:24:16,840 --> 00:24:20,480
the fugitive has spent time,
where we found traces of his presence.

235
00:24:30,320 --> 00:24:32,800
I'm Lieutenant Colonel Rocco Lo Pane

236
00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:35,520
from the Anti-Mafia
Investigation Directorate.

237
00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:37,840
[birds chirping and squawking]

238
00:24:43,760 --> 00:24:48,120
On the second floor of this building,
there was a small apartment 

239
00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:51,040
that was occupied
by Matteo Messina Denaro.

240
00:24:55,840 --> 00:25:00,080
In that hideout,
we found some personal effects,

241
00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:02,400
gold jewelry, a puzzle...

242
00:25:04,120 --> 00:25:09,720
cigarettes of the same brand
Matteo Messina Denaro was known to smoke.

243
00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:13,200
We found an Austrian sauce...

244
00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:17,360
which he had a passion for.

245
00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:19,600
And video games.

246
00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:26,120
We knew he had a passion
for Super Mario.

247
00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:38,960
We could feel the breath of the fugitive.

248
00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:46,680
[Rocco speaking Italian]
We decided to install some wiretaps

249
00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:51,320
and wait for the fugitive to come back,
so we could arrest him.

250
00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:56,360
[Carmelo speaking Italian]
We tapped phone lines.

251
00:25:56,440 --> 00:26:01,440
We set up cameras
and deployed a large number of forces.

252
00:26:01,960 --> 00:26:03,400
Time passed by.

253
00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:06,600
Weeks, months.

254
00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:11,600
All we could do was wait.

255
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:19,480
He knew that if they ever found him...

256
00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:23,520
they would kill him.

257
00:26:28,440 --> 00:26:30,320
I'm also sure

258
00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:34,640
that he arranged

259
00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:41,760
his hideout in such a way
that if they were to come for him,

260
00:26:42,480 --> 00:26:45,840
I think he'd just have a button to push
to blow them all up.

261
00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:54,520
Matteo Messina Denaro never went back

262
00:26:55,040 --> 00:27:00,840
to that apartment to meet Maria Mesi.

263
00:27:21,840 --> 00:27:23,840
He's very cautious

264
00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:26,720
{\an8}and is not the kind of fugitive
who hides

265
00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:31,680
in basements or underground bunkers.

266
00:27:41,840 --> 00:27:46,520
He's well-versed in how to flee and
getting his accomplices to cover for him.

267
00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:02,720
[radio chatter in Italian]

268
00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:05,800
[man 1 over radio]
They called me from Rome.

269
00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:07,760
They have to get some money out
without problems.

270
00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:09,080
[man 2 over radio] How much?

271
00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:10,520
[man 1 over radio] €20,000,000.

272
00:28:11,880 --> 00:28:15,560
[Massimo speaking Italian]
Many people, through the wiretaps,

273
00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:19,440
{\an8}refer to him with veneration.

274
00:28:19,720 --> 00:28:25,080
{\an8}"We need to worship the Sicilian."
The Sicilian is Messina Denaro's nickname.

275
00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:31,640
"I would like to see The Sicilian
even just for a moment."

276
00:28:32,120 --> 00:28:34,440
This expression of extreme

277
00:28:34,520 --> 00:28:39,520
adulation explains why the arrest
of Matteo Messina Denaro is so difficult.

278
00:28:56,560 --> 00:29:00,240
No mafioso has had contact
with him directly

279
00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:02,360
for a very long time.

280
00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:09,120
Therefore, nobody can recognize him.

281
00:29:14,040 --> 00:29:18,440
ANTI-MAFIA INVESTIGATION DIRECTORATE

282
00:29:22,160 --> 00:29:25,840
And all of that makes him elusive.

283
00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:35,280
[Rocco speaking Italian] When it comes
to Messina Denaro, we don't have anything

284
00:29:36,520 --> 00:29:40,000
written by him nor the sound of his voice

285
00:29:41,200 --> 00:29:44,680
to help us confirm his identity.

286
00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:51,600
We believe that
the scorched earth approach,

287
00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:58,200
for such a clever, expert,
cautious fugitive, is the best strategy.

288
00:30:02,880 --> 00:30:04,880
[police siren wailing]

289
00:30:12,040 --> 00:30:15,640
We've been arresting and convicting

290
00:30:15,720 --> 00:30:19,480
all the people who were close
to Matteo Messina Denaro.

291
00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:24,560
We've been eliminating from the equation
all the people

292
00:30:24,640 --> 00:30:27,280
the fugitive can still count on.

293
00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:36,000
We're isolating him.

294
00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:38,480
Even physically.

295
00:30:40,320 --> 00:30:42,040
We're draining his finances.

296
00:30:43,840 --> 00:30:45,600
We're literally starving him.

297
00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:51,120
[police sirens wailing]

298
00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:01,600
I personally arrested
Patrizia Messina Denaro.

299
00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:03,640
His sister.

300
00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:13,640
Patrizia Messina Denaro
had played a critical role as a link

301
00:31:14,720 --> 00:31:18,120
between her brother
and the criminal organization.

302
00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:24,520
We went to her place at night.

303
00:31:25,400 --> 00:31:30,760
She actually opened the door,
we didn't need to break it down.

304
00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:35,360
What struck us was a painting.

305
00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:40,480
Andy Warhol-style portraits
of her brother.

306
00:31:45,080 --> 00:31:47,000
She didn't say a word.

307
00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:51,040
She just showed us her brother's picture

308
00:31:51,920 --> 00:31:53,880
and said she would never betray him.

309
00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:02,160
Patrizia Messina Denaro was convicted
for associating with the Mafia.

310
00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:03,920
She got a 14-year sentence

311
00:32:04,280 --> 00:32:08,520
that she's still serving
in a maximum-security prison.

312
00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:15,360
She gave us the silent treatment,

313
00:32:15,960 --> 00:32:18,640
which is typical of Mafia ladies.

314
00:32:20,000 --> 00:32:22,000
[police sirens wailing]

315
00:32:22,080 --> 00:32:25,760
How could the investigations
go forward and fight

316
00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:32,360
{\an8}Cosa Nostra's military structure,
masterminds, and organization,

317
00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:38,680
if there had not been
someone inside to reveal

318
00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:42,000
names, actions, and projects?

319
00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:43,560
[bird squawking]

320
00:32:48,160 --> 00:32:49,840
In the last 30 years

321
00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:53,360
{\an8}of fighting the Mafia,

322
00:32:53,640 --> 00:32:56,680
{\an8}there are a little more
than a dozen collaborators.

323
00:32:58,400 --> 00:32:59,520
[dog barking]

324
00:32:59,600 --> 00:33:03,280
[Santino speaking Italian] Messina Denaro
and I know each other since the '90s.

325
00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:07,880
I was arrested in 1993.

326
00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:09,960
On June 4th...

327
00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:18,880
I decided to cooperate
because during our frequent meetings...

328
00:33:20,840 --> 00:33:24,480
the investigators would tell me,
"Santino, help us stop their war machine."

329
00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:27,120
So, I made a decision.
One day, I said, "I'll help you."

330
00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:36,480
I think a few days later they called me

331
00:33:36,560 --> 00:33:39,920
and said, "Listen,
they've kidnapped your son."

332
00:33:58,520 --> 00:34:00,320
The worst example...

333
00:34:02,320 --> 00:34:05,080
is the kidnapping
of the young Di Matteo...

334
00:34:07,200 --> 00:34:13,240
who was guilty of being
the son of a cooperating witness.

335
00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:39,520
The boy was kidnapped
at the end of a riding lesson.

336
00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:50,360
They sent me a picture

337
00:34:50,680 --> 00:34:55,320
and Giuseppe's t-shirt. Later on,
they sent the picture to the newspapers.

338
00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:01,160
Of course, it hurts.
If I think about my son in that picture...

339
00:35:02,840 --> 00:35:04,320
They wanted to silence me.

340
00:35:05,440 --> 00:35:09,960
If you see the pictures of Giuseppe
riding a horse, he has a huge smile.

341
00:35:12,400 --> 00:35:14,680
That smile, it was Giuseppe.

342
00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:17,680
As good as gold.

343
00:35:22,160 --> 00:35:25,040
[Rocco speaking Italian]
He was kept in different places.

344
00:35:26,440 --> 00:35:31,440
Sometimes in houses,
sometimes in underground bunkers.

345
00:35:34,120 --> 00:35:39,240
But when he went through Messina Denaro,
he went through hell.

346
00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:47,680
[Rocco speaking Italian]
He was tied up with ropes and chains.

347
00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:53,200
They took out the anger they had

348
00:35:53,880 --> 00:35:56,800
for the father on the kid

349
00:35:57,680 --> 00:36:00,520
because his father was cooperating.

350
00:36:01,720 --> 00:36:04,200
My son was kept
in conditions which were...

351
00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:07,120
inhuman.

352
00:36:08,040 --> 00:36:11,680
He spent 779 days in hell.

353
00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:26,960
[birds squawking and chirping]

354
00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:40,120
[Santino speaking Italian] They were
trying to silence me by any means.

355
00:36:42,760 --> 00:36:46,080
But I told them they couldn't stop me.

356
00:36:51,040 --> 00:36:55,720
In the end, they killed him.
He was strangled and dissolved in acid.

357
00:36:57,240 --> 00:37:00,400
You know what I mean? I don't know...

358
00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:03,320
When I think about it,
I can hardly believe it.

359
00:37:08,640 --> 00:37:11,880
To me, Messina Denaro is a beast.

360
00:37:22,680 --> 00:37:23,520
I think...

361
00:37:23,960 --> 00:37:27,160
{\an8}he can no longer get out of the hole

362
00:37:27,640 --> 00:37:31,400
{\an8}he's hiding in,

363
00:37:32,840 --> 00:37:36,280
because he doesn't trust anyone.

364
00:37:40,160 --> 00:37:41,760
His right-hand man betrayed him.

365
00:37:42,240 --> 00:37:44,400
Another one betrayed him too.

366
00:37:44,480 --> 00:37:48,000
Cooperating witness Cimarosa
did a lot of damage to his family.

367
00:37:59,880 --> 00:38:04,160
[Rocco speaking Italian]
Cimarosa Lorenzo was the only relative

368
00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:08,120
of the Messina Denaros who cooperated
with the justice system.

369
00:38:09,640 --> 00:38:13,760
The fugitive had entrusted
very important tasks to Cimarosa.

370
00:38:13,960 --> 00:38:19,640
Cimarosa represented Denaro
in meetings with other mafiosi.

371
00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:25,800
Cimarosa received the money
the other Mafia families

372
00:38:25,880 --> 00:38:29,040
paid to Matteo Messina Denaro.

373
00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:40,880
[man speaking Italian]
I'm the proud son of a Mafia traitor.

374
00:38:44,640 --> 00:38:46,760
For the first time, 

375
00:38:46,960 --> 00:38:51,320
the wall of silence within
the Messina Denaro family was breached.

376
00:38:57,680 --> 00:38:59,200
My name is Giuseppe Cimarosa,

377
00:38:59,960 --> 00:39:03,360
and I'm related
to the Messina Denaro family.

378
00:39:07,600 --> 00:39:09,840
{\an8}The night my father was arrested,

379
00:39:09,920 --> 00:39:13,640
he immediately asked
to cooperate with the magistrates.

380
00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:18,640
Everyone was taken aback because
nobody could've ever predicted that

381
00:39:19,200 --> 00:39:21,360
a member of the Messina Denaro family

382
00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:24,480
would start cooperating.

383
00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:33,200
But he wanted to get rid of that burden.
And the only way was to open up and talk.

384
00:39:36,080 --> 00:39:38,440
My father has already died
of natural causes.

385
00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:48,360
He knew the people, he knew the facts.

386
00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:54,440
He told the magistrates
everything he knew.

387
00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:14,440
After my father's cooperation,

388
00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:17,960
our lives changed
and became a living hell.

389
00:40:22,280 --> 00:40:25,120
I was out of town for work
and received the news

390
00:40:25,800 --> 00:40:27,920
that my father's grave
had been desecrated,

391
00:40:28,240 --> 00:40:33,400
the headstone had been destroyed,
the angel statue had been torn off.

392
00:40:38,720 --> 00:40:40,960
They offered us a protection program,

393
00:40:41,960 --> 00:40:45,080
which we didn't accept, because

394
00:40:45,160 --> 00:40:50,440
we'd have to move to another city,
change our name, live who knows where.

395
00:40:50,520 --> 00:40:52,600
It was too high a price to pay.

396
00:40:53,080 --> 00:40:55,080
[door opens and closes]

397
00:41:00,360 --> 00:41:02,920
I fear for my family, for my mother.

398
00:41:11,000 --> 00:41:13,320
[speaking Italian]
Pour me some water in that glass.

399
00:41:25,000 --> 00:41:26,000
That's good.

400
00:41:32,840 --> 00:41:37,320
You walk on the streets and people
look at you and talk behind your back.

401
00:41:37,400 --> 00:41:41,480
They point at you,
they won't talk to you anymore.

402
00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:44,840
You're isolated.

403
00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:54,920
Unfortunately, you can't choose
your family. I wish we could.

404
00:42:01,520 --> 00:42:03,480
Uh, but with these people...

405
00:42:05,440 --> 00:42:06,680
there's no other way.

406
00:42:07,120 --> 00:42:08,320
You can't say no.

407
00:42:09,560 --> 00:42:13,040
[journalist speaking Italian]
Who said so? What are you talking about?

408
00:42:13,120 --> 00:42:16,920
I'm talking about the Mafia in general,
about this whole situation.

409
00:42:17,400 --> 00:42:19,960
[Giuseppe speaking Italian]
Mom, you knew who they were. 

410
00:42:20,040 --> 00:42:21,120
[speaking Italian] Yes--

411
00:42:21,200 --> 00:42:24,240
You must tell her. I can't say I knew
and then you say you didn't.

412
00:42:24,320 --> 00:42:26,880
She's asking if you knew
who the Messina Denaros were.

413
00:42:26,960 --> 00:42:30,120
You knew they were in the Mafia.
I mean, everyone knew, and you didn't?

414
00:42:31,400 --> 00:42:33,160
-Dad is dead.
-It's hard!

415
00:42:33,240 --> 00:42:34,800
He sacrificed his life for this.

416
00:42:34,880 --> 00:42:36,120
-He's dead.
-Giuseppe!

417
00:42:36,200 --> 00:42:38,960
You must talk about the Messina Denaros,
not about the Mafia.

418
00:42:39,040 --> 00:42:42,040
-Because you look scared.
-Giuseppe.

419
00:42:42,560 --> 00:42:43,880
I'm not scared.

420
00:42:51,040 --> 00:42:52,600
I'm not scared, Giuseppe.

421
00:42:54,320 --> 00:42:55,720
[horse snorting]

422
00:42:58,240 --> 00:43:00,880
Today, Matteo Messina Denaro is

423
00:43:02,920 --> 00:43:09,320
[clicks tongue] the last, most important
Cosa Nostra fugitive boss.

424
00:43:11,280 --> 00:43:15,320
If he is still a fugitive,
Cosa Nostra is still alive.

425
00:43:16,200 --> 00:43:18,440
[brass band playing]

426
00:43:22,080 --> 00:43:24,440
[rattling]

427
00:43:30,480 --> 00:43:34,520
He obviously still keeps
huge secrets to himself,

428
00:43:34,600 --> 00:43:41,560
uh, and the story he embodies
will probably end with his arrest.

429
00:43:50,760 --> 00:43:52,760
[brass band continues playing]

430
00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:07,320
[Santino speaking Italian]
Today, the only move he could make

431
00:44:07,640 --> 00:44:09,560
would be to collaborate with the State.

432
00:44:14,560 --> 00:44:17,360
It’s the only thing he can do.
There is no other way.

433
00:44:17,960 --> 00:44:21,200
They need to lock him up
and throw away the key.

434
00:44:24,880 --> 00:44:26,880
[brass band continues playing]

435
00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:30,880
[bird squawking]

436
00:44:36,200 --> 00:44:38,800
[Lirio speaking Italian]
Within Cosa Nostra,

437
00:44:39,000 --> 00:44:40,640
there are Greek tragedies.

438
00:44:40,720 --> 00:44:42,920
Every single boss has his own,

439
00:44:43,000 --> 00:44:46,120
from the first betrayal
to the final arrest.

440
00:44:49,560 --> 00:44:55,040
Time will show that
the investigative efforts were right.

441
00:44:58,040 --> 00:45:01,000
I think we will catch him.

442
00:45:01,360 --> 00:45:06,240
I can't predict when and how, though.

443
00:45:07,040 --> 00:45:09,120
But we'll surely look for him.