Mafia hit man apologizes; Italians indignant at his release

One of Italy’s most notorious mobsters-turned-informants has been released from prison, generating indignation among Italians

ROME -- The release from prison of one of Italy’s most notorious mobsters-turned-informants generated more indignation Thursday, even after he was shown in an old jailhouse interview apologizing to his many victims for his role in “this factory of death.” Giovanni Brusca, 64, got out of prison this week after serving 25 years of a life term for some of Cosa Nostra’s most heinous crimes. They include the 1992 car bomb slaying of Italy’s leading anti-Mafia prosecutor and the 1996 kidnapping and murder of the 11-year-old son of a Mafia turncoat. The boy's strangled body was dissolved in a vat of acid. Brusca reportedly admitted to participating in some 150 homicides as the right-hand man to Cosa Nostra’s “boss of bosses,” Salvatore “Toto” Riina, who died in prison in 2017. Given the gravity of Brusca’s crimes, his early release repulsed many Italians and prompted calls to reform laws that allow for reduced sentences for mafiosi who break the mobster “omerta,” or wall of silence, and cooperate with investigators. But others, including the slain prosecutor’s sister, defended it as a necessary way to entice mafiosi to collaborate with the justice system.