Francesca Laura Morvillo (; 14 December 1945 – 23 May 1992) was an Italian

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

, wife of Giovanni Falcone and victim of the

Sicilian Mafia The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra (, ; "our thing"), also referred to as simply Mafia, is a secret society, criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century. Emerging as a form of ...

. On 23 May 1992, she, her husband and three police officers on their security detail were killed in the Capaci bombing.

Biography

Born in Palermo on 14 December 1945, on 26 June 1967 she graduated in Law at the University of Palermo, attaining the highest academic honours. Her thesis was entitled "Rule of Law and Security Measures", and it achieved the award "Giuseppe Maggiore" for the best thesis in criminal law for the academic year 1966/1967. She joined the judiciary as had her brother Alfredo, and father Guido—assistant prosecutor in Palermo. Her career included practising as a judge in the Agrigento court; as Deputy Public Prosecutor at the Juvenile Court of Palermo; as Director of the Court of Appeal of Palermo; and as a member of the Commission for Competitive Entry into the magistracy. Appointed Professor of Law, Francesca Morvillo also studied at the Faculty of Medicine of the

University of Palermo The University of Palermo () is a public university, public research university in Palermo, Italy. It was founded in 1806, and is currently organized in 12 Faculties. History The University of Palermo was officially founded in 1806, although it ...

, specialising in pediatric legal issues. In 1979, her first marriage ended in divorce. Francesca Morvillo then met Giovanni Falcone, an investigating judge in the court of Palermo. They were married in a private ceremony in May 1986 by Mayor Leoluca Orlando.

Death

Giovanni Brusca was tasked with killing her husband Giovanni Falcone. Salvatore Riina wanted the murder carried out in Sicily in a demonstration of

Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

power; he instructed that the attack should be on Highway A29, which Falcone had to use to get from the airport to his home on his weekly visits. 1000 kilograms of explosives were placed in a

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe (fluid conveyance), pipe, reinforced concrete or other materia ...

under the highway between Palermo International Airport and the city of

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

, near the town of Capaci. Brusca's men carried out test drives, using flashbulbs to simulate detonating the blast on a speeding car, and a concrete structure was specially created and destroyed in an experimental explosion to see if the bomb would be powerful enough. Leoluca Bagarella assisted at the scene during preparations. Brusca detonated the device by remote control from a small outbuilding on a hill to the right of the highway on 23 May 1992. Falcone, along with Morvillo and police officers Rocco Di Cillo, Antonio Montinaro and Vito Schifani were killed in the blast. She is the only woman magistrate murdered in Italy. Thousands gathered at the Church of Saint Dominic for the funerals which were broadcast live on national TV. All regular television programs were suspended. Parliament declared a day of mourning.Inside The Mafia
National Geographic Channel, June 2005. Her husband's colleague Paolo Borsellino was killed in another bombing 57 days later, along with five police officers: Agostino Catalano, Walter Cosina, Emanuela Loi, Vincenzo Li Muli, and Claudio Traina.Stille, ''Excellent Cadavers'', p. 372

References

* Francesca Morvillo on Italian Wikipedia
Falcone Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morvillo, Francesca 1945 births 1992 deaths Jurists from Palermo University of Palermo alumni Deaths by car bomb in Italy Academic staff of the University of Palermo People murdered in Sicily Italian murder victims Assassinated Italian judges 20th-century Italian judges People murdered by the Sicilian Mafia 20th-century Italian women People murdered by the Corleonesi