'World's Most Wanted': Sicilian Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro involved in many bombings on the run since 1993
Matteo Messina Denaro, is an infamous Sicilian Mafia boss who is accused of the deaths of over 50 people and being involved a number of bombings in the Via dei Georgofili in Florence, Via Palestro in Milan, Piazza San Giovanni in Laterano and Via San Teodoro in Rome, after his mentor, mafia boss Salvatore Riina, was arrested by the police.
His life is the subject of the final episode of Netflix's true-crime docuseries, 'World's Most Wanted'. Messina Denaro once famously claimed, "I filled a cemetery all by myself". He was also called Diabolik and was born in Castelvetrano, Sicily, on April 26, 1962. He belonged to a very powerful and well-respected Mafia family and became known nationally on April 12, 2001, when the magazine L'Espresso put him on the cover with the headline: 'Ecco il nuovo capo della Mafia' which means "Here is the new head of the Mafia", or "Here is the new Mafia boss."
He was considered to be one of the new leaders of Cosa Nostra after the arrest of Bernardo Provenzano on April 11, 2006, and the arrest of Salvatore Lo Piccolo in November 2007. At the age of 14, he is believed to have shot his first gun and by the age of 18, he had already committed his first murder.
Unlike mafia bosses like Riina or Bernardo Provenzano who claim to adhere to conservative family values, Denaro enjoyed being a womanizer and with his good looks, it was not difficult for him to score girls. Being a playboy, settling down never suited his lifestyle and hence there is no publicly known wife of Denaro. He did, however, have a daughter out of wedlock, which was highly unusual for Italian mafias.
With an estimated net worth of £2.5 billion ($2.9 billion) Denaro lives life king size. He enjoys driving an expensive Porsche sports car, wears a Rolex Daytona watch, Ray Ban sunglasses, and fancy clothes from Giorgio Armani and Versace. He also enjoyed playing computer games with his favorite being the Super Mario.
After 1993, Denaro went into hiding and has never been caught since. On May 6, 2002, Denaro was sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment for his role in the terrorist attacks. Although a number of his close acquaintances have betrayed him and cooperated with the authorities, as shown in the documentary, the mafia boss has evaded arrest. It is believed that he has a good relationship with both Provenzano and the Graviano clans, and hence, he might be hiding with either of their families.
Even when his sister Patrizia Messina Denaro was taken into police custody, she gave the authorities the silent treatment and has refused to cooperate with the police on her brother's whereabouts. She was arrested on suspicion of helping her brother evade capture. An investigator said of Patrizia: "She is aggressive, determined and happy to use her surname to scare extortion victims. It was her first arrest, and although she didn't say much, she was defiant and communicated with her eyes, which is a Sicilian thing."
'World's Most Wanted': A six-part Netflix docuseries whose each installment fixates on a different fugitive, is a true-crime effort premiering August 5.