Benedetto Santapaola, notorious Italian mafia boss, dies in prison aged 87

The Guardian World

by Lorenzo Tondo in Palermo

March 3, 2026

Cosa Nostra leader, who controlled most of eastern Sicily, dies while serving multiple life sentences for murder Benedetto “Nitto” Santapaola, a Sicilian mafia boss and one of the most dangerous figures in Italian criminal history, has died aged 87. Santapaola, who was widely believed to have been the architect of a campaign of bloodshed that scarred Italy in the 1980s and 1990s, died on Monday in a Milan prison where he was serving multiple life sentences. An autopsy has been ordered. Continue reading...

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Originally published on The Guardian World on 3/3/2026