BIRTH(+)FACT(᙮)DEATH(-)

39th year  -  N° 328                 Saturday, 23 November 2024         Antwerpen		
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Friday 23rd of March 1973

51 years ago



32-year-old Mafia pentito Leonardo Vitale walks into a police station and declares that he was a member of the Mafia and confessed to various acts of extortion, arson and two homicides in Palermo, Sicilia, Italy.

Vitale's case came to trial in 1977. His testimony lead to a number of alleged mobsters being indicted but all were acquitted when their defence lawyers cast doubt on Vitale's mental state by pointing out his self-mutilation and other odd habits. In the end only Vitale and his mafioso uncle were imprisoned and Vitale spent most of his time in a mental asylum.