Tommaso Buscetta: the “boss of two worlds” who revealed the secrets of Cosa Nostra to magistrates

Tommaso Buscettaborn in Palermo in 1928 and died in Miami in 2000, was a mafia boss and collaborator of justice. It began criminal career as a young manalternating periods of stay in Sicily with experiences in Argentina, Brazil and the United States. He therefore earned the nickname “boss of the two worlds“. Close to the defeated faction in the second mafia war, he suffered heavy retaliation from the Corleonesiwho killed numerous of his relatives. The boss took revenge, they become the first and most important collaborator of justice Cosa Nostrarevealing to the judiciary how the organization worked. His statements made it possible to make numerous arrests and they were at the basis of the Palermo maxitrial. Buscetta lived in a protected location in the United States until 2000, when he died of cancer at age 71, under an assumed name.

Who was Tommaso Buscetta: the beginning of his criminal career

Tommaso Buscetta was born in Palermo on 13 July 1928. He belonged to a family of glassmakers and was the last of 17 siblings.

From a young age he showed a propensity for crime. During World War II (when the sale of many products was rationed), he was involved in crimes related to black market and counterfeiting of ration cards. In 1943 though fought against the Germans in Naples. Returning to Palermo, he got married at just 17 years old after a “fuitina” with his girlfriendMelchiorra Cavallo. The following year he was “officially” affiliated with Cosa Nostra. He began to be called “Don Masino” and treated with deference. However, he also tried to work as a glassmaker and was first employed in a company in Turin and later, upon returning to Palermo, in his father and brothers’ company. Between 1948 and 1952 he lived in Argentina and Brazilwhere he opened appreciated crystal factories.

The rise in Cosa Nostra, the fugitive and the arrest

In 1952 Buscetta returned to Palermo and inaugurated a glassworks in Termini Imerese together with one of his brothers. However, he also resumed his place in Cosa Nostra, dealing with cigarette smuggling in the boss’s service Gaetano Filippone. Buscetta was also one of the main supporters of foundation of the commissionthat is, the body, composed of the main bosses, responsible for coordinating illegal activities. The commission was established in 1957but “Don Masino” did not become part of it. Instead, it was highlighted how ruthless killer and was involved in the first mafia warwhich took place between 1962 and 1963.

Having become a fugitive, he took refuge abroad: first in Switzerland, then in Canada and the United States, where he opened a pizzeria. His main occupation, however, was drug trafficking. He was in one complicated position also from a personal point of view, because he had two familiesone unaware of the existence of the other: one together with his lover Vera Girotti, with whom he had had a daughter, and the other with his wife, who had given him four children. In the late 1960s he also began a relationship with another woman, Maria Cristina de Almeida Guimaraeswho will become his third wife and will be by his side until his death.

In 1968 Buscetta was convicted in absentia to 10 years of imprisonment in the trial against the mafia celebrated in Catanzaro (he was one of the few defendants convicted). Nonetheless, he continued to manage his trade and stayed in Sicily several times under a false name. In the 1972 he was arrested in Brazil and extradited to Italy, where he served eight of the ten years in prison that had been inflicted on him.

The second mafia war and the extermination of relatives

Buscetta was released from prison in 1980. In the same period the second mafia warduring which i Corleonesiled by Totò Riina, exterminated the rival families. Buscetta did not personally participate in the war, but, being very close to the defeated factions, in particular to the families Goodness and Inzerilloentered the sights of the Corleonesi. They couldn’t eliminate him because he was in Brazil, but between 1982 and 1984 they killed numerous of his relatives: two children (missing and never found), a brother, a son-in-law, a brother-in-law and four grandchildren.

In 1983 the Brazilian police managed to arrest Buscetta. Taken to Brasilia prison, the boss was joined by Giovanni Falconewho intended to convince him to collaborate with the justice system. The boss was hesitant and, while he was being extradited to Italy, attempted suicide ingesting poison. Arrived in Italy, Buscetta decided to collaborate: it was the only way to take revenge on the Corleonesi. The boss he did not consider himself a repentant and he believed he was still a “man of honor”; according to him, it was Riina who betrayed Cosa Nostra, transforming it into an organism at his personal service, very different from what it originally was. Also for this reason, it would be more correct to speak of “collaborator of justice”, given that Buscetta decided to collaborate with the judiciary without actually regretting his criminal life.

The revelations to Falcone and the maxi-trial that began in 1986

Starting in July 1984, Buscetta was repeatedly questioned by Falconeto whom he revealed in detail the functioning of the Sicilian mafia. At the time the judiciary and the police they knew very little of the mafia and were even unaware of the name, Cosa Nostra, with which the members called the organization. Buscetta explained how the organization was structured, what the families were, how the dome worked; it also shed light on main murders accomplished up to that point and on the role of the Corleonesi in the mafia war. According to Falcone, the repentant provided the judiciary with a language to understand a then unknown world. Buscetta, however, refused to make revelations about the relationship between the mafia and politicsclaiming that he would not be believed.

His revelations, although partial, constituted a turning point in the fight against the mafia. The judiciary was able to issue hundreds of arrest warrants. Furthermore, on the basis of the revelations of Buscetta and other repentants, between 1986 and 1992 the maxiprocesswhich allowed the conviction of numerous mafiosi. Buscetta was called to testify during the first degree hearing and, in a climate of great tension, confirmed the statements made to Falcone during the preliminary investigation phase.

The last years and death of Buscetta

After the maxi trial, Buscetta lived in one protected location in the United States. In 1992, after the Capaci and Via D’Amelio massacres, it was decided to do so too political revelations and accused Salvo Lima and Giulio Andreotti of collusion with the mafia (Andreotti was tried and acquitted, but it was found that he had had relations with mafia members). Buscetta also made headlines for one interview given in 1994 to the journalist Ennio Remondino and why in 1995 he took part in one cruise in the Mediterraneanwhich he was forced to stop when he was recognized by a journalist. He lived in the United States until 2000, when he died due to cancer.

His character appears in numerous films and television series dedicated to Cosa Nostra. Furthermore, the 2019 film is dedicated to his life The traitordirected by Marco Bellocchio, in which the boss is played by Pierfrancesco Favino.