Giovanni Falcone - Maxi Trial

Maxi Trial

The Antimafia pool laid the groundwork for the Maxi Trial against the Sicilian Mafia at the preliminary investigative phase. Following Chinnici’s murder in July 1983, Antonino Caponnetto headed the pool. Salvatore "Toto" Riina ordered the murder of Falcone, the decision was taken over an objection by Ignazio Salvo who had had argued Falcone was best neutralized through political machinations. Falcone's friend, Antonio Cassara, who headed the police squad hunting fugitives was murdered in 1985. Falcone led the prosecution for the trial, which began 10 February 1986, and ended on 16 December 1987. Of the 474 Mafiosi members originally charged, 360 were convicted of serious crimes, including 119 in absentia.

One of the most important factors in the trial was the testimony of Tommaso Buscetta, the first ever Sicilian Mafiosi boss to become an informant (pentito). His assertion that the Mafia was not a collection of separate gangs but a single organisation led some magistrates and detectives to question his credibility. After an interview, Falcone became convinced that Buscetta was genuine and treated him with respect. Buscetta's key revelation was that a governing council, known as the Commission or Cupula headed a unified structure, thereby establishing that the top tier of Mafia members were complicit in all the organisation's crimes. This premise became known as the Buscetta theorem.