Oct 16 2007
Mafia murder witness found dead
Police in Italy have confirmed that a key witness in a Mafia murder case has committed suicide by hanging himself.
Bruno Piccolo had helped identify the men who are currently on trial for the murder of a politician in 2005.
Mr Piccolo was a member of the ‘Ndrangheta, or Calabrian mafia, who had been disowned by his family after his co-operation with the police.
The ‘Ndrangheta shot into the limelight after six of its members were massacred in Duisburg, Germany, in August.
‘Shameful one’
The lifeless body of 30-year-old Bruno Piccolo was found in a secret flat where he had lived under police protection.
Mr Piccolo’s evidence was crucial to the probe into the murder of a Calabrian politician, Francesco Fortugno, in southern Italy.
He was shot dead in Mr Piccolo’s home town of Locri - exactly two years ago.
Mr Fortugno’s local cafe was frequented by many local mafia bosses, and Mr Piccolo had helped identify the men who ordered and carried out the murder.
Though the state guaranteed him police protection, Mr Piccolo paid a high price for his co-operation.
His family cut all ties with him, and in his home town he was called l’Indegno, or the shameful one.
That sense of isolation and fear for the future took its toll.
Mr Piccolo’s story gives some idea of why the ‘Ndrangheta, a group still based on blood ties, has such a small share of Italy’s Mafia informers.
Mafia murder witness found dead - By Frances Kennedy - BBC News, Rome - Last Updated: Tuesday, 16 October 2007, 14:52 GMT 15:52 UK - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7047307.stm
Mafia turncoat found hanged
Rome - A mafia turncoat who was a key witness in an investigation in the 2005 murder of a top official in Italy’s southern Calabria region has been found hanged, authorities said on Tuesday.
Bruno Piccolo’s body was found on Monday in a house in Francavilla a Mare, a town about 200 kilometres north-east of Rome.
Piccolo’s body was found one day before the second anniversary of the October 16, 2005 murder of Francesco Fortugno, deputy president of Calabria’s regional parliament.
Authorities believe Piccolo - who left what was described as a suicide note - killed himself, the ANSA news agency reported.
No details on the contents of the note were immediately available.
On Tuesday dozens of people, including schoolchildren, officials and politicians, paid homage to Fortugno with a march through the streets of Locri, the Calabrian town where he was gunned down in what investigators described as a mob-style execution.
In a March 2006 swoop police arrested several alleged members of the Cordi family - a leading clan of the ‘Ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia - including the suspected boss and another man believed to have pulled the trigger in Fortugno’s killing.
Piccolo who owned a Locri bar frequented by Cordi members began informing police on their activities after his arrest on gun trafficking charges.
His evidence was instrumental in the arrest of Fortugno’s alleged killers, prosecutors said.
The slaying of Fortugno, a centre-left politician known for his appeals to young Calabrians to fight the mafia, shocked Italy and triggered an unprecedented campaign by authorities against the ‘Ndrangheta.
Since 1995, over 30 town councils in Calabria, which forms the toe of boot-shaped Italy, have been dissolved because they were deemed to be under ‘Ndrangheta control.
Sapa-DPA - Published on the Web by IOL on 2007-10-16 14:09:29 - Independent Online - http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=24&art_id=nw20071016140929686C911807
