Thread by @NickWhithorn

21 July 1979, Boris Giuliano is killed by Leoluca Bagarella, shot in the back 7 times in the caffetteria Lux in Palermo. Head of the Flying Squad, he is noted for his innovative investigation methods & successful cooperation with US authorities in fighting the mafia [Thread]>> 1

Born in Piazza Armerina (Sicily) in 1930, Giuliano spends part of his childhood in Libya, where his naval officer father is stationed. In 1941, the family moves to Messina, where he obtains his Law Degree in 1956. He enters the Police in 1962 & Palermo Flying Squad in 1963 >> 2

In 1976, he takes over as Head of the Palermo Flying Squad from Bruno Contrada, who later joins the Secret Service & is accused of misdirecting investigations into the via D'Amelio bombing, which kills Paolo Borsellino. In 2007, he is jailed for 10 years for mafia collusion >> 3

Giuliano leads investigations into the disappearance of journalist Mauro De Mauro, the affairs of banker Michele Sindona & drug trafficking between the US & Sicily ("Pizza Connection"). In this he is helped by his fluent English & studies at the FBI National Academy >> 4

When the Flying Squad arrests Antonino Gioè & Antonino Marchese in 1979, discovering a flat hiding arms, heroin & false documents, the Corleonesi decide that he has become too much of a problem for their operations and decide to eliminate him >> 5

On the day he is murdered, Giuliano is carrying two pistols. He is known to be expert in their use, thus Bagarella (Totò Riina's brother-in-law) shoots him in the back, ensuring he has no opportunity to defend himself >> 6

Almost certainly, the murder of Carabinieri Captain Emanuele Basile (photo) in Monreale on 4 May 1980 is linked to Giuliani's killing as the former was investigating the latter's Murder and was just days away from completing his dossier for Paolo Borsellino on the case >> 7

Giuliano's murder forms one of the elements in the Palermo maxi-trial against Cosa Nostra between February 1986 & December 1987. This trial, followed by two appeals, results in the convictions of 7 members of the "cupola" of Cosa Nostra for ordering Giuliano's death >> 8

The 7 are: Totò Riina, Bernardo Provenzano, Michele Greco, Francesco Madonia, Giuseppe Calò, Bernardo Brusca & Nenè Geraci. In a separate trial, in 1995, Leoluca Bagarella (photo) is convicted of materially carrying out the murder >> 9

Bagarella is serving life imprisonment under strict art.41bis prison régime. Among others, he has been convicted for his part in the murders of journalist Mario Francese, Judge Giovanni Falcone & 14-year-old Giuseppe Di Matteo, who was strangled & his body dissolved in acid >>10

In the maxi-trial indictment Borsellino wrote "if other organs of State had followed Boris Giuliano's example of intelligent investigation ... the mafia would not have grown so powerful, and many murders, including that of Giuliano himself, would not have been committed" >> 11

Boris Giuliano
b. 22 October 1930, Piazza Armerina
d. 21 July 1979, Palermo