Camilla Jessen
Giovanni Brusca, once one of Italy’s most feared mafia killers, is now a free man.
One of the bloodiest figures in the history of the Sicilian mafia, Giovanni Brusca, has officially completed his sentence and is now living as a free man under a new identity.
Brusca, who confessed to more than 150 murders, including the 1992 assassination of anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, was released after serving 25 years in prison and an additional four years on parole.
His sentence was reduced due to his decision to cooperate with Italian justice—ironically, through a law introduced by Falcone himself to encourage mafia members to become state witnesses.
Now 68 years old, Brusca remains in witness protection, living far from Sicily and under a new name.
This was reported by Digi24.
The Man Behind Falcone’s Death
On May 23, 1992, Italy was shaken by the Capaci massacre, where Judge Giovanni Falcone, his wife Francesca Morvillo, and three police officers were killed by a massive roadside bomb.
It was Brusca, then a close ally of Cosa Nostra boss Salvatore “Toto” Riina, who admitted to pressing the button that detonated 500 kilograms of explosives beneath a highway near Palermo.
The murder marked a turning point in Italy’s war against organized crime, triggering widespread outrage and prompting a strengthened crackdown on the mafia.
Brusca was arrested in 1996 and quickly turned informant.
His confessions helped authorities uncover deep connections between the mafia and elements of the state, shedding light on internal Cosa Nostra operations and unresolved crimes.
A Legacy of Brutality
Known by the nicknames Scannacristiani (“The Christian Killer”) and ‘U Verru’ (“The Pig”), Brusca’s crimes extended far beyond the Falcone assassination.
Among the most horrific was the murder of 13-year-old Giuseppe Di Matteo, the son of a mafia informant.
The boy was kidnapped in 1993 and held for more than two years before being strangled and dissolved in acid—a punishment meant to silence his father.
Despite his brutal past, Brusca’s cooperation with authorities triggered a reduction in his sentence, a clause allowed under Italy’s “pentiti” (repentant) law.
“This news hurts me, but it’s the law—a law my brother wanted, and that must be respected,” said Maria Falcone, sister of the slain judge and a prominent anti-mafia activist, speaking after Brusca was released from prison in 2021.
A Law That Binds Justice
Brusca’s release has reignited debate in Italy about justice and morality. While his testimony helped dismantle parts of the Cosa Nostra network, many feel his freedom comes at too high a price.
Still, supporters of the pentiti system argue that without figures like Brusca turning state witness, major breakthroughs in the fight against organized crime would have been impossible.
For now, Giovanni Brusca remains under protection, living out his final years far from the island where his crimes were committed—his fate, in a bitter twist of history, shaped by the law authored by the man he killed.