Death
The Maxi trial sentences being upheld by the Supreme Court were a blow to the Mafia's prestige. The council of top bosses headed by Riina reacted by ordering the assassination of Salvatore Lima (on the grounds that he was an ally of Giulio Andreotti), and Falcone. Lima was shot dead on March 12, 1992.
Giovanni Brusca was tasked with killing Falcone. Riina wanted the murder carried out in Sicily in a demonstration of Mafia power, he instructed that the attack should be on a stretch of coastal motorway Falcone had to use to get from the airport on his visits. A half-ton of explosives was placed in a culvert under the motorway between Palermo International Airport and the city of Palermo (38°10′58″N 13°14′41″E / 38.18278°N 13.24472°E / 38.18278; 13.24472). Brusca's men carried out test drives, using flashbulbs to simulate detonating the blast on a speeding car, a concrete structure was specially created and destroyed in an experimental explosion to see if the bomb would be powerful enough. Leoluca Bagarella assisted at the scene during preparations.
Brusca detonated the device by remote control on 23 May 1992. Giovanni Falcone, his wife Francesca Morvillo and police officers Rocco Dicillo, Antonio Montinaro and Vito Schifani were killed in the blast. The explosion was so powerful that it registered on local earthquake monitors. Riina reportedly threw a party, toasting Falcone's death with champagne, according to the pentito Salvatore Cancemi.
Thousands gathered at the Basilica of San Domenico for the funerals which were broadcast live on national TV, all regular television programs were suspended. Parliament declared a day of mourning. 57 days later his colleague Paolo Borsellino died in another bombing, along with 5 police officers: Agostino Catalano, Walter Cosina, Emanuela Loi, Vincenzo Li Muli and Claudio Traina.
In the major crackdown against the Mafia following Falcone and Borsellino's deaths, Riina was arrested on January 15, 1993, and is now serving a life sentence for sanctioning the murders of both magistrates as well as many other crimes. Another Mafioso convicted of the murder of Falcone is Giovanni Brusca, also known as lo scannacristiani (the people slaughterer). He was one of Riina's associates who admitted to being the one who 'detonated the explosives.
Palermo International Airport has been named Falcone-Borsellino Airport in honor of the two judges and hosts a memorial of the pair by the local sculptor Tommaso Geraci. Falcone was posthumously awarded the Train Foundation's Civil Courage Prize, which recognizes "extraordinary heroes of conscience".
Read more about this topic: Giovanni Falcone
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