THE GODFATHER

Mid 1950's

Joins the Corleonisi (a Mafia family from the village of Corleone) in his late teens and sides with Luciano Leggio in a fight with mob boss Michele Navarra.

1958
murdered Michele Navarra.
(the then head of Corleonisi, Luciano Liggio made as the new godfather)

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Michele Navarra

(car pumped with 112 bulletholes)

Luciano Leggio (Liggio)

1963
On the run for arrest warrant on murder of Navarra's men.

1974

Leggio jailed, leaving Toto Riina in charge of the Corleonisi, with Provenzano as his right-hand man

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1981-82

Bloody Mafia war leaves more than 1000 dead. The Corleonisi become Sicily's top Mafia family.

early 90's
kidnap a child & melted in a vat of acid.

1992
bomb killed 2 judges, Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.
(bombing anti-mafia prosecutor)

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The aftermath of the bomb attack that killed Giovanni Falcone, his wife and three bodyguards

Crackdown

Giovann Falcone and his colleague Paolo Borsellino were making good progress in their war against the Mafia, which naturally meant they were under the constant threat of death. They also felt that they were being hampered by colleagues and superiors, some of whom were in the pay of the Mafia.
On May 23, 1992, Falcone, his wife and three bodyguards were massacred by a bomb planted under the highway outside of Palermo. A few weeks later Borsellino and five of his bodyguards were killed by a car bomb. Both attacks were ordered by Riina and carried out by his many assassins. The public were outraged, both at the Mafia and also the politicians who they felt had failed to adequately protect Falcone and Borsellino, and the Italian government arranged for a massive crackdown of the Mafia

1993
sicily toto riina arrested, placing provenzano at the top of criminal empire. Provenzano takes over as the Sicilian Mafia's "capo di tutti capi" (Boss of Bosses) when Riina is sent to prison for life.

Salvatore Riina's ID Card from 1955.

His height is listed as 1.58 m (5 ft 2), hence his nickname Shorty

1995

One of Riina's deputies, Leoluca Bagarella, was netted in 1995.

1996

Giovanni Brusca, whose specialities were making bombs and dissolving his enemies in acid, was caught.

2003
underwent surgery in a private clinic near Marseilles in France under the name of Gaspare Troia.

2005
Italian authorities present a new computed-generated image of how they thought the elderly Provenzano looked like then.

11th April 2006
Captured "the godfather". Police arrest Provenzano three kilometres from the town of his birth after following couriers delivering laundry from his wife's home, a nearby farmhouse.

Luck runs out

Meanwhile, Provenzano adopted an almost feline caution, shunning the telephone and issuing orders through small, hand-delivered notes - "pizzini" - and revealing his whereabouts to only a handful of associates.

Provenzano was hiding in this hut near Corleone
Since taking the leadership, he is even said to have communicated with his wife and two sons in Corleone via pizzini - avoiding the dangerous holiday visits risked by other mafiosi.
During this time, there were persistent rumours that he had died - a claim repeated by his lawyer only last month.
But anti-Mafia prosecutors insisted he was still alive - and pointed to DNA evidence they say they uncovered after Provenzano visited a French clinic for treatment in 2003.
Provenzano's aura of invulnerability is now dashed. The old untouchable now faces the rest of his life in jail.

THE PROSECUTION

Magistrates like Grasso and Sabella (above) are the true heirs of the judges that The Tractor slew

Magistrates like Grasso and Sabella, and top policemen like Renato Cortese and his feline accomplice, are the true heirs to the slain judges. They know that the show may be temporarily over for the Corleonesi, but the Mafia is far from beaten. It is now involved in a global business, particularly through new affiliates such as the United Holy Crown (Sacra Corona Unita) of eastern Italy which appears to run half the crime scene of the Balkans, ranging from drugs to arms, vice, immigrants, human parts and toxic waste.
Part of The Tractor's legend was that he was at heart a Sicilian peasant who wanted to do good for his people, just as the counsel of one of his predecessors, Michele Greco, claimed to me his client was "what you English would call a gentleman farmer".

His hideout was a shepherd’s hut, but Provenzano should have been high on the Forbes Rich List

Italian and international press reports suggest he stuck to the old fare of protection, land and cattle deals, and huge development rackets - but however expansive these were, they wouldn't account for an estimated fortune of around 10 billion euros.
He may have walked and talked like a Corleonesi peasant, and made his hideout in a shepherd's hut, but by rights Bernardo Provenzano should have been high on the Forbes Rich List during his last years on the run.

THE MURDER GALLERY

CLICK HERE

THE BOSSES' & DEPUTIES

CLICK HERE