From The Guardian:
Bernardo Provenzano, who has died aged 83 in a secure hospital, was the former boss of the Corleone clan, once the most vicious and voracious of the Sicilian mafia families. He had been imprisoned in solitary confinement since 2006, serving a number of life sentences for murder.
Provenzano was credited with rescuing Cosa Nostra after its disastrous war against the state, in which the mafia murdered lawyers, journalists, police, judges and politicians, incurring a backlash of mass arrests and huge financial losses. His predecessor at the head of the organisation, Totò Riina, had waged a bombing campaign from 1989 to 1993 in an attempt to force the government to repeal anti-mafia laws, dragging Cosa Nostra to the brink of annihilation. Provenzano’s strategy of halting the killing, which he considered bad for business, was key to the organisation’s survival.
Bernardo Provenzano, who has died aged 83 in a secure hospital, was the former boss of the Corleone clan, once the most vicious and voracious of the Sicilian mafia families. He had been imprisoned in solitary confinement since 2006, serving a number of life sentences for murder.
Provenzano was credited with rescuing Cosa Nostra after its disastrous war against the state, in which the mafia murdered lawyers, journalists, police, judges and politicians, incurring a backlash of mass arrests and huge financial losses. His predecessor at the head of the organisation, Totò Riina, had waged a bombing campaign from 1989 to 1993 in an attempt to force the government to repeal anti-mafia laws, dragging Cosa Nostra to the brink of annihilation. Provenzano’s strategy of halting the killing, which he considered bad for business, was key to the organisation’s survival.