Giovanni Falcone, (May 18, 1939, Palermo – May 23, 1992, Capaci), was an Italian magistrate who specialised in prosecuting mafia crimes.

His life story is quite similar to that of his closest friend Paolo Borsellino. Both shared provenance from a rather poor area of Palermo, had careers as Anti-mafia magistrates, and equally sad fates: both were killed (less than two months apart) in particularly audacious bomb attacks in 1992.

Falcone was one of the major organizers of the Maxi Trial that began February 10, 1986 and finished December 16, 1987. Of 474 Mafiosi members originally charged, 360 were convicted of serious crimes, including 119 in absentia. One of the most important factors in the trial was the testimony of Tommaso Buscetta, the first ever Sicilian Mafioso to become an informant. It was Falcone to whom Buscetta preferred to speak when giving up the secrets of the Mafia, as Buscetta later claimed that, whilst other magistrates and detectives patronized him, Falcone treated him with respect.

Falcone was killed with his wife Francesca Morvillo (herself a magistrate) and three policemen: Rocco Di Cillo, Antonio Montinaro, Vito Schifani, in Capaci on the motorway between Palermo International Airport and the city of Palermo on May 23, 1992. The car in which he was travelling was blown up by a bomb that had been placed in trenches dug by the side of the road. When passing over the bomb, Falcone was driving his car at an estimated speed of nearly 160 km/h.

The murder was organized by Salvatore Riina in revenge for Falcone's conviction of dozens of mobsters in the Maxi-Trials. In the major crackdown against the Mafia following Falcone and Borsellino's deaths, Riina was arrested and is now serving life for sanctioning the murders of both magistrates as well as many other crimes. Another mafioso convicted of the murder of Falcone is Giovanni Brusca, one of Riina's associates who admitted to being the one who actually detonated the explosives.

Palermo airport is now also known by the name Falcone-Borsellino Airport in honor of Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino. A memorial by local sculptor Tommaso Geraci can be found there.

The story is documented in the movie Excellent Cadavers.

Bibliography

• Claudio Fava, Cinque delitti imperfetti: Impastato, Giuliano, Insalaco, Rostagno, Falcone, Mondadori, 1994
• Fondazione Giovanni Falcone, Giovanni Falcone: interventi e proposte (1982 – 1992) F. Patroni Griffi, Sansoni, 1994
• Lucio Galluzzo, Obiettivo Falcone, Pironti, 1992
• Francesco La Licata, Storia di Giovanni Falcone, Rizzoli, 1993
• Saverio Lodato, Ho ucciso Giovanni Falcone: la confessione di Giovanni Brusca, Mondadori, 1999
• Giammaria Monti, Falcone e Borsellino: la calunnia il tradimento la tragedia, Editori Riuniti, 1996
• Marcelle Padovani e Giovanni Falcone, Cose di Cosa Nostra, Rizzoli, Milano 1991
• Luca Rossi, I disarmati: Falcone, Cassarà e gli altri, Mondadori, 1992
• Raoul Muhm , Gian Carlo Caselli : Il ruolo del Pubblico Ministero - Esperienze in Europa ; Die Rolle des Staatsanwaltes - Erfahrungen in Europa ; Le role du Magistrat du Parquet - Expériences en Europe ; The role of the Public Prosecutor - Experiences in Europe ; Vecchiarelli Editore Manziana (Roma) 2005, ISBN 88-8247-156 - X

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