Notorious Mafia Boss Who Ran Criminal Empire From Prison Found Dead In Cell

NOTORIOUS Mafia Boss Who Ran A Criminal Empire From Prison Found Dead In His Cell

Raffaele Cutolo, the notorious mafia boss who ran a criminal empire from his prison cell, was found dead in his cell in Parma prison on Wednesday, February 17, aged 79, after suffering from pneumonia.

Cutolo, known as ‘The Professor’, had spent most of his adult life in prison, first sentenced after committing his first murder in 1963, to 24 years in Poggioreale prison in Naples.

While doing his first sentence he challenged the then head of the Camorra crime family, Antonio Spavone, to a duel, and when he never turned up, Cutolo arranged for one of his friends to blast him in the face with a shotgun, which gained him the respect of senior, more powerful inmates, as a force to be reckoned with.

With Spavone gone, Cutolo then set up the New Organised Camorra (NCO) with a group of trusted innmates, who once released, would carry out his orders on the outside.

This new, powerful gang, boasted an estimated 10,000 members at the height of its power, and a conflict with the original Camorra was responsible for hundreds of murders, for which Cutolo received an extra four life sentences.

Speaking to The Guardian, Isaia Sales, a professor of the history of the mafia at the Suor Orsola Benincasa University of Naples, said, “Cutolo turned the Camorra into a mass organisation, inciting young people to violence”.

He added, “Many bosses have commanded from prison, but they were already Mafiosi when they entered. Cutolo entered prison as an ordinary criminal and from there founded one of the most powerful criminal organisations in the world”.

_______________________________________________________

Thank you for taking the time to read this news article “Notorious Mafia Boss Who Ran Criminal Empire From Prison Found Dead In Cell”.

For more UK daily news, Spanish daily news and, Global news stories, visit the Euro Weekly News home page.