Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro is one of the strategists and masterminds behind the '92 massacres

 Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro is one of the strategists and masterminds behind the '92 massacres, along with the rest of the "Super Cosa," that small group of men under Totò Riina's command who planned and organized the attacks, starting from the first meetings in October 1991.

This was confirmed on the 31st anniversary of the Via D'Amelio massacre by the life sentence verdict from the Caltanissetta Court of Appeals.

Messina Denaro's Role - There are specific facts that outline Matteo Messina Denaro's role as a strategist during the season of massacres. The first summit to decide on the initiation of the attacks took place in Castelvetrano at the end of 1991. Cosa Nostra boss Totò Riina sent him to Rome to attempt the assassination of Giovanni Falcone. Then came the order, the judge had to be killed in Sicily, with the "big hit." Less than two months later, Paolo Borsellino and his bodyguards were killed.

Messina Denaro was thus at the heart of the death strategy devised by Cosa Nostra, and he is considered one of the masterminds and instigators of those attacks. The panel, presided over by Judge Maria Carmela Giannazzo, granted the request made by the prosecutors Antonino Patti, Fabiola Furnari, and Gaetano Bono.

The Verdict Reasons - The Messina Denaro that emerges from the prosecution's case is different. Not just a boss conducting business, enjoying luxury, and having relationships with women, but a bloodthirsty individual who killed dozens of innocent people – a true mastermind, able to influence the country's democratic life. Our investigation on Tp24 focuses on his connections with other families and mafiosi, the disputes, and mafia wars leading up to the decision to attack the State and its representatives Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino in 1992, and the assaults on the artistic and cultural heritage in 1993.

New Mystery on Via D'Amelio and the Misdirection of the Massacre – Meanwhile, concerning Messina Denaro's conviction, there are already two levels of judgments confirming him as the mastermind behind the 1992 massacres, after the ones in 1993. In the investigation into the misdirection of the Via D'Amelio massacre, aside from the mystery of the famous red agenda, where Paolo Borsellino noted his work ideas, now the records of incoming calls on Borsellino's cellphone are missing from the case files. The case was concluded on July 12, 2022. The situation is now reconstructed, as reported by the Sole 24 Ore, in the final part of the motivations of the sentence, in which two policemen from the investigative team "Falcone-Borsellino" were sentenced for the crime of favoritism, and a third officer was acquitted.

The Testimony of Genchi - The judges of the Caltanissetta court write that the disappearance of this record "undoubtedly removed important investigative leads." The court learned about the disappearance from the testimony of Gioacchino Genchi, who was part of the team led by Arnaldo La Barbera during the initial investigations into the massacre. He later left the police force and became a consultant for various prosecutors. His work was surrounded by strong controversy, but Genchi was ultimately exonerated. During the hearing on January 11, 2019, Genchi said he reported the anomaly and requested the files of the phone records from the SCO, the central anticrime service of the police, which had acquired the call data. "You acquired it under the delegation of the Caltanissetta prosecutor. The prosecutor ordered you to send it to us. Can you tell me where this data is?," Genchi asked. He added, "The incoming phone traffic on Borsellino's cellphone has disappeared." Genchi also pointed out references to that phone traffic in an information report from the "Falcone-Borsellino" team, showing contact on April 19, 1992, between prosecutor Giovanni Tinebra and Borsellino, who was heading to Leonardo da Vinci airport after a meeting in Rome with the pentito Gaspare Mutolo. At one point, it was suggested that the files had been corroded by humidity.