A gangster who committed 150 murders and dissolved a child’s body in acid has said he “regrets” his crimes.
Notorious Sicilian mafia figure Giovanni Brusca has described himself as a “monster” in a new book due to be published on Thursday.
Brusca, 67, known as “the pig”, was arrested in 1996. He was given a reduced sentence of 30 years and released five years early for good behaviour. He was given accommodation in a secret location and a compensation of 1,000 euros a month.
Among his victims was anti-mafia prosecutor Giovanni Falcone, whom he killed after detonating half a tonne of explosives under a road in Capaci, near Palermo, as his car was passing by.
He also ordered the strangulation of 12-year-old Giuseppe Di Matteo, the son of a traitorous mobster.
Sicilian mafia boss Giovanni Brusca, who committed more than 150 murders, has admitted to being a “monster”
The boy was kidnapped and, after being held for two years, was murdered and his body dissolved in acid.
Brusca was interviewed while still in prison in Rome by anti-mafia volunteer and parish priest Don Marcello Cozzi for the new book, titled Someone Like That, the Times reported.
Referring to Di Matteo’s murder, Brusca said he knew there was “no forgiveness” for such a crime, although he admitted that “he is often accused of not showing remorse outwardly.”
In the book, he also reflects on the raid on his childhood home and how he viewed Cosa Nostra’s most fearsome boss, Totò Riina, as “God on earth.”
Anti-mafia police escort Brusca to prison in Palermo. The mafia fugitive was sentenced to 30 years in prison but was released five years early for good behaviour in 2021
Brusca also admits he owes his early release to his victim Falcone, who helped secure shorter sentences for mob fugitives.
The author, Mr Cozzi, said that while he expected to see “the Capaci monster” in Brusca, he was struck by the mobster’s “everyday normality” and insisted he is “haunted by his past”.
In writing what he calls a “psychological portrait,” Cozzi said he wanted to “look the mafia in the face,” an organization he says cannot be seen “from the outside.”
His work has generated a mixed response from the press; La Repubblica wrote that the families of Brusca’s victims had “the right not to forgive”.
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