Raffaele Cutolo - Personality

Personality

Cutolo thought of himself as a predestined man with supernatural powers, able to heal the wounded and raise the dead. Various psychiatric examinations assessed him to be a psychotic, an hysteric and a megalomaniac. He thought that he had been sent to earth to save the Neapolitan people:

“I saw four knights with lance and buckler, black capes around their shoulders. They saw me and smiled. At that moment I understood that I was given the task of rebuilding the Camorra on new and more efficient bases, so that the tradition of our fathers would not be lost. I am the reincarnation of the most glorious moments of the Neapolitan past, I am the messiah for the suffering prisoners, I dispense justice, I am the only real judge who takes from the usurers and gives the poor. I am the true law, I do not recognize the Italian justice,” he said during a trial in 1980.

During a psychiatric evaluation, Cutolo claimed to have revived his aunt when he was eighteen. One night she had entered into what had appeared to be an irreversible coma. Cutolo went close to her and said: "Get up! We don't have the money for your funeral." She then got up. According to Adriano Baglivo of the Corriere della Sera, the old lady came back to consciousness due to the emergency care of a physician familiar with her history of catatonic attacks. However, for Cutolo this episode assumed the character of a miracle and sign of his inner powers.

When Valerio Fioravanti, a Neo-fascist and fellow Poggioreale inmate serving time for political terrorism asked Cutolo the reason for his charisma, he replied: "Naples is divided into lords and beggars. If i have charisma, it is because i can offer a prompt promotion from the second category to the first one".

In prison, Cutolo was the object of numerous fan mails from youth who were impressed with his achievements as well as his ability to outsmart the system. Generally viewing themselves as marginal and exploited, they were attracted by his notoriety, flamboyant personality and charisma. For instance, a letter by two teenage girls from Acerra which were intercepted by prison authorities read as follows:

"Seeing that it is difficult for us to find somebody who can understand, and having watched your interview on television, we thought of explaining our situation to you, a person whom we truly admire... We don't like this society and soon we will go to Milan and we will live there and become successful, giving a lesson to the people of this dirty country."

During an interview with the media, Cutolo reminisced about his life:

"I don’t regret anything about my life. Crime is always a wrong move. It’s true. However, we live in a society that is worse than criminality. Better to be crazy than to be a dreamer. A crazy man can be returned to reason. For a dreamer, he can only lose his head. A camorrista must be humble, wise and always ready to bring joy where there is pain. Only thus will he become a good camorrista before God. I am far from being a saint. I’ve made people cry, and I’ve done harm to those who wanted to harm me, making me cry. A camorrista is one who declares himself by his life style. He who errors dies."