Benedetto Spera
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Benedetto Spera
Benedetto Spera (; born July 1, 1934) is a member of the Sicilian Mafia and the boss of the Belmonte Mezzagno Mafia family and the ''mandamento'' of Misilmeri in the province of Palermo, Sicily, southern Italy. He was convicted ''in absentia'' for the killing of the two prominent anti-mafia judges Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone, receiving life sentences. Spera was born in Belmonte Mezzagno, near Palermo. His first conviction in the 1950s was for illegally pasturing his sheep. Later, he made a lot of money from the skimming of public works contracts.Palermo, arrestato Spera boss di Belmonte
La Repubblica, January 30, 2001 Spera was a member of the

Andrea Manciaracina
Andrea Manciaracina (; born April 7, 1962), sometimes spelled Mangiaracina, is a member of Sicilian Mafia. He was born in Mazara del Vallo in the province of Trapani. He was initiated in Cosa Nostra in 1985 or 1986. In 1992, after the arrest of Mariano Agate, he became ''reggente'' (regent) of the '' mandamento'' of Mazara del Vallo, a position he shared with Vincenzo Sinacori. According to Sinacori, who became a pentito in 1996 and started to collaborate with Italian justice, it had been Cosa Nostra boss Totò Riina who favoured the nomination of Manciaracina. His father Vito Manciaracina had been a front man for one of Riina's companies. Father and son Manciaracina were among the few who knew how to reach the fugitive Riina. (Vito Manciaracina was initiated in 1989 and arrested on May 27, 2001
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Living People
Related categories * :Year of birth missing (living people) / :Year of birth unknown * :Date of birth missing (living people) / :Date of birth unknown * :Place of birth missing (living people) / :Place of birth unknown * :Year of death missing / :Year of death unknown * :Date of death missing / :Date of death unknown * :Place of death missing / :Place of death unknown * :Missing middle or first names See also * :Dead people * :Template:L, which generates this category or death years, and birth year and sort keys. : {{DEFAULTSORT:Living people 21st-century people People by status ...
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1934 Births
Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strikes Nepal and Bihar with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''), killing an estimated 6,000–10,700 people. * January 26 – A 10-year German–Polish declaration of non-aggression is signed by Nazi Germany and the Second Polish Republic. * January 30 ** In Nazi Germany, the political power of federal states such as Prussia is substantially abolished, by the "Law on the Reconstruction of the Reich" (''Gesetz über den Neuaufbau des Reiches''). ** Franklin D. Roosevelt, President of the United States, signs the Gold Reserve Act: all gold held in the Federal Reserve is to be surrendered to the United States Department of the Treasury; immediately following, the President raises the statutory gold price from ...
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Mezzojuso
Mezzojuso ( Sicilian: ''Menzijusu'' or ''Menziuso'', Arbëreshë: ''Munxifsi'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Palermo in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 3,003 and an area of .All demographics and other statistics: Italian statistical institute Istat. Mezzojuso borders the following municipalities: Campofelice di Fitalia, Cefalà Diana, Ciminna, Godrano, Marineo, Villafrati. History Mezzojuso means in Arabic: “Manzil Yusuf” (منزل يوسف) which translates in English to “Houses or ‘hamlet’ of Joseph”. It could also be translated into Italian, meaning "Halfway down" because the town is located halfway down the hill. A small Saracen (Arab) settlement from about A.D. 10th Century, passed into Norman hands in 1091. Then the Christian population erected the small church of ''S. Maria delle Grazie''. The town and all the neighboring area was granted by the Norm ...
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Caccamo
Caccamo ( Sicilian: ''Càccamu'') is a town and ''comune'' located on the Tyrrhenian coast of Sicily in the Metropolitan City of Palermo. History The official founding of Caccamo was not until 1093, when the Normans started to build the castle on a rocky spur overlooking a cliff, Castello di Caccamo. The castle itself is actually now being slowly converted into a museum. On the ground level of the castle is a restaurant "A Castellana". Submerged within the Rosamarina lake is a stone bridge built in 1307 on the road that once linked the town with Palermo. The city contains an attractive 11th-century cathedral, which was remodeled in 1477 and 1614. On the side of the cathedral are two churches. The Chiesa dell'Anime del Purgatorio ''(Church of the Souls of Purgatory)'' features some stucco work in the eastern end and an 18th-century organ. In the downstairs are catacombs where the skeletons of a number of townspeople lie in niches along the wall, a burial practice that lasted f ...
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Antonino Giuffrè
Antonino "Nino" Giuffrè (; born 21 July 1945) is an Italian mafioso from Caccamo in the Province of Palermo, Sicily. He became one of the most important Mafia turncoats after his arrest in April 2002. Giuffrè was known in Mafia circles as ("Small Hand"), because his right hand was crippled by polio. Other sources claim he lost his hand in a hunting accident."Mafia, preso Giuffrè, fedelissimo di Provenzano"
''''. 17 April 2002.
Giuffrè was trained as an agricultural sciences specialist. His rise in the Mafia ran parallel to the ascension of the Corleonesi clan headed by

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Trapani
Trapani ( , ; scn, Tràpani ; lat, Drepanum; grc, Δρέπανον) is a city and municipality (''comune'') on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the main gateway to the nearby Egadi Islands. History Drepana was founded by the Elymians to serve as the port of the nearby city of Eryx (present-day Erice), which overlooks it from Monte Erice. The city sits on a low-lying promontory jutting out into the Mediterranean Sea. It was originally named ''Drépanon'' from the Greek word for "sickle", because of the curving shape of its harbour. Carthage seized control of the city in 260BC, subsequently making it an important naval base, but ceded it to Rome in 241BC following the Battle of the Aegates in the First Punic War. Two ancient legends relate supposed mythical origins for the city. In the first legend, Trapani stemmed from the sickle which fell from the han ...
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Vincenzo Virga
Vincenzo Virga (; born 11 September 1936 in Erice, Province of Trapani) is the boss of the Trapani Mafia family and '' mandamento'' since 1982, when the previous boss, Salvatore Minore, was murdered. Virga is currently in prison, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for ordering the Pizzolungo bombing among other crimes. Biography Virga was one of the trusted men of Bernardo Provenzano and considered to be his financial brain. He was one of the members of the directorate that ruled Cosa Nostra, which was established by Provenzano after the arrest of Totò Riina. It consisted of about four to seven people who met infrequently, only when necessary, when there were strategic decisions to be made. Among the other members were Salvatore Lo Piccolo; Antonino Giuffrè from Caccamo; Benedetto Spera from Belmonte Mezzagno; Salvatore Rinella from Trabia; Giuseppe Balsano from Monreale; Matteo Messina Denaro from Castelvetrano; and Andrea Manciaracina from Mazara del Vallo. Oliva & Palazz ...
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Castelvetrano
Castelvetrano ( scn, Castiḍḍuvitranu) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Trapani, Sicily, southern Italy. The archeological site of Selinunte is located within the municipal territory. The municipality borders with Campobello di Mazara, Mazara del Vallo, Menfi, Montevago, Partanna, Salemi and Santa Ninfa. History The first recorded mentions of Castelvetrano in the historical record date back to the 12th and 13th centuries. By the 15th century, records exist of a federation of local cities which includes Castelvetrano. The church of St. John, outside the city walls, dates back to this period and was founded in 1412. Economy The economy is based predominantly on farming, with the cultivation of vines and olive trees being the main focus. Woodworking (mainly furniture) is also an important sector. Both Valle del Belìce olive oil and Nocellara del Belice DOP table olives have a protected status in the European Union. Main sights The center of Castelvetr ...
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Matteo Messina Denaro
Matteo Messina Denaro (; born 26 April 1962), also known as ''Diabolik'', is a Sicilian Mafia boss. He got his nickname from the Italian comic book character of the same name. He is considered to be one of the new leaders of Cosa Nostra after the arrest of Bernardo Provenzano on 11 April 2006, and the arrest of Salvatore Lo Piccolo in November 2007. Messina Denaro became known nationally on 12 April 2001 when the magazine ''L'Espresso'' put him on the cover with the headline: ''Ecco il nuovo capo della Mafia'' ("Here is the new head of the Mafia", or "Here is the new Mafia boss"). He has been a fugitive on the most wanted list since 1993 and according to ''Forbes magazine'' he is among the ten most wanted criminals in the world.
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Monreale
Monreale (; ; Sicilian: ''Murriali'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Palermo, in Sicily, southern Italy. It is located on the slope of Monte Caputo, overlooking the very fertile valley called ''"La Conca d'oro"'' (the Golden Shell), a production area of orange, olive and almond trees, the produce of which is exported in large quantities. The town, which has a population of approximately 39,000, is about inland (south) of Palermo, the regional capital. Monreale forms its own archdiocese and is home to Monreale Cathedral, a historical Norman-Byzantine cathedral, one of several buildings named in a UNESCO World Heritage Site, a group of nine inscribed as Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalù and Monreale. History After the occupation of Palermo by the Arabs (the Emirate of Sicily), the Bishop of Palermo was forced to move his seat outside the capital. The role of a cathedral was assigned to a modest little church, ''Aghia Kiriaki'', ...
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