Mario Francese
| Mario Francese | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
February 6, 1925 Siracusa, Italy |
| Died |
January 26, 1979 (aged 53) Palermo, Italy |
| Cause of death | Killed by the Sicilian Mafia |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Occupation | Journalist |
| Known for | Investigative journalism |
Mario Francese (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmaːrjo franˈtʃeːze]; February 6, 1925 – January 26, 1979) was an Italian crime reporter of the Giornale di Sicilia. He was the first journalist to expose the role of Toto Riina and the Corleonesi within the Sicilian Mafia, and because of this he was killed on January 26, 1979. After 22 years, in 2001, those who had decided to eliminate him were convicted.
Born in Syracuse, Sicily, he moved to Palermo to finish school. In the 1950s Francese got his first job as a journalist at the Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata (ANSA). Shortly afterwards, he was hired by the newspaper La Sicilia in Catania as a correspondent with the task of writing about crime and judicial affairs. As he was looking to improve his financial situation, in 1957 he accepted a job as head of the press office at the regional administration of Sicily.
Thanks to his improved financial situation, he decided to marry Maria Sagona in 1958. Soon, however, he resigned from his second job at ANSA and started to collaborate with the Giornale di Sicilia, the main newspaper of Palermo. He was appointed to cover crime and judicial affairs and became one of the best experts on the Mafia. After some time, however, he was forced to make a choice between his job at the Sicilian regional administration and the one at the Giornale di Sicilia. In 1968, he chose to become a professional journalist.
At the Giornale di Sicilia he began to take care of all crime reporting, from the Ciaculli massacre to the murder of Carabinieri Colonel Giuseppe Russo. By digging in the intrigues connected with the construction of the Garcia dam, he also was the first to understand the strategic evolution and the new interests of the Mafia of Corleone and their spread to Palermo. Francese looked into the connections of the Corleonesi, businessmen and politicians in relation with public contracts. He was the only journalist to interview Ninetta Bagarella, the wife of Salvatore Riina.
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