An Italian court handed a 14-year prison sentence to Rosalia Messina Denaro, sister of the infamous Sicilian crime boss Matteo Messina Denaro, for mafia association.
Arrested in 2023, Rosalia was suspected of playing a pivotal role in her brother’s criminal organisation.
The 69-year-old, who is also married to imprisoned mafioso Filippo Guttadauro, inadvertently assisted authorities in locating her elusive brother. This breakthrough came when police discovered a cryptic note she had concealed in the hollow rail of a chair at her home.
Initially appearing as a meaningless collection of words and symbols, the note was photographed and returned by officers, as detailed by the BBC. It also provided crucial insights into Matteo Messina Denaro’s health.
His arrest in January 2023 was triggered by his decision to seek cancer treatment at a Palermo clinic. He passed away a few months later in the inmate ward of L’Aquila hospital.
Rosalia, known as her brother’s confidante and “alter ego,” was the only family member privy to his cancer diagnosis before his death. Investigators believed she played a significant operational role in Cosa Nostra during her brother’s last years on the run. She was suspected of overseeing the clan’s finances and managing the pizzini network — a system of coded messages on paper that ensured secure communication between Matteo and his associates.
Rosalia’s daughter, Lorenza Guttadauro, is a lawyer who defended her uncle upon his arrest.
Cosa Nostra leader
Matteo Messina Denaro was notorious as one of Cosa Nostra’s most brutal leaders. Authorities had been scouring the Sicilian countryside for years, searching for his hideouts and monitoring his family and associates.
Considered “mafia nobility,” Denaro was convicted of numerous crimes, including the murders of anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in 1992, and the deadly bombings in Rome, Florence, and Milan in 1993. One of his life sentences was for the abduction and murder of a 12-year-old boy, the son of a witness in the Falcone case.
Having disappeared in 1993, Denaro remained a fugitive for 30 years as the Italian state intensified its crackdown on the Sicilian mafia. His capture was met with public celebration as passers-by cheered the security forces.
