Paolo Borsellino - First Mafia Investigations

First Mafia Investigations

Neither Borsellino nor Falcone had intended to get involved in the struggle against the Mafia. They were assigned cases involving the Mafia that continued to expand and became disturbed by what they discovered. They saw colleagues murdered fighting the Mafia and it became increasingly impossible to turn back.

One of his accomplishments included the arrest of six Mafia members in 1980 including Leoluca Bagarella the brother-in-law of Mafia boss Salvatore Riina. His close co-investigator, the Carabinieri captain Emanuele Basile, was murdered by the Mafia the same year. Borsellino was assigned to investigate the murder and became a special target when he signed the arrest warrant for Francesco Madonia on a charge of ordering the murder of Basile. He was assigned police protection.