Leoluca Bagarella
| Leoluca Bagarella | |
|---|---|
| Born |
February 3, 1942 Corleone, Sicily, Italy |
| Occupation | Mafioso |
| Criminal charge |
* Mafia Association * Multiple murder |
| Criminal penalty |
Life imprisonment ( multiple life sentences related to different homicides and mass murders ) |
| Criminal status | Imprisoned since 1995 |
| Allegiance | Corleonesi |
| Conviction(s) | Mafia Association, Multiple murder |
Leoluca Bagarella (born February 3, 1942, Corleone) is an Italian criminal and member of the Sicilian Mafia. He is from the town of Corleone. Following Salvatore Riina's arrest in early 1993, Bagarella is believed to have taken over a section of the Corleonesi, rivalling Riina's putative successor, Bernardo Provenzano. On June 24, 1995, Bagarella was arrested, having been a fugitive for four years.
Bagarella sided with Luciano Leggio in the late 1950s. Bagarella became the brother-in-law of Salvatore Riina in 1974. Bagarella was an important boss of the Corleonesi and trusted by Riina who had become overlord of the Sicilian Mafia.
Bagarella killed police chief Boris Giuliano as well as a nephew of Tommaso Buscetta, one of many of Buscetta's relatives to die since he betrayed the Mafia. Two of Bagarella's brothers were also Mafiosi; his elder brother, Calogero Bagarella, was shot dead on December 10, 1969, in the Viale Lazio in Palermo, during a shootout with rival mafioso Michele Cavataio and his men, known as the Viale Lazio massacre. A second brother, Giuseppe, was murdered in prison in 1972. Bagarella's own wife, Vincenza Marchese, was the sister of Giuseppe Marchese and the niece of Filippo Marchese, a notorious killer and high-ranking member of the Corleonesi.
The powerfully built Bagarella modelled himself on the eponymous character of The Godfather, when he married the attractive niece of a boss he had the movie theme played at a lavish reception.
Tommaso Buscetta, a Mafia boss who turned state witness, knew Bagarella in prison back in the 1970s and had the following to say about Bagarella: "I prefer not to speak about him, I think he doesn't belong to the human species...in prison everybody feared him. I remember we stayed three months together in the prison infirmary and the only words he told me were good morning and good evening." Buscetta said Bagarella had mental problems and has been involved in possibly 300 murders.
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