30 Facts About Tommaso Buscetta

Tommaso Buscetta became one of the first of its members to turn informant and explain the inner workings of the organization.

Tommaso Buscetta became disillusioned with the Mafia after the murders of several of his family members, and in 1984, decided to cooperate with the authorities.

Tommaso Buscetta entered the Witness Protection Program in the United States, where he remained until his death in 2000.

Tommaso Buscetta was born on 13 July 1928, in Palermo, Sicily, the youngest of 17 children; his father was a glazier.

Tommaso Buscetta was raised in Kalsa, a poverty-stricken area of Palermo, which he escaped by getting involved with crime at a young age.

Tommaso Buscetta first became involved with the Sicilian Mafia in 1945, and in the following years, he became a full-fledged member of the Porta Nuova mandamento, where he worked mostly in cigarette smuggling.

Tommaso Buscetta married his first wife Melchiorra Cavallaro in 1944 and had three children.

Tommaso Buscetta married his second wife Vera Girotti in 1966 and had one child.

Tommaso Buscetta fled to Switzerland, Mexico, Canada, and finally, the United States.

In 1968, Tommaso Buscetta was convicted in absentia by an Italian court of two murders related to the Ciaculli Massacre.

On 25 August 1970, Tommaso Buscetta was arrested in Brooklyn, New York, but was released on 4 December 1970.

Tommaso Buscetta moved to Brazil, having undergone plastic surgery and vocal cord surgery, he set up a drug trafficking network, but on 3 November 1972, was arrested by the Brazilian military government, and subsequently extradited to Italy exactly one month later where he began a ten-year sentence at Palermo's Ucciardone prison for drug trafficking, reduced to eight years after appeal.

Tommaso Buscetta was later transferred to the Le Nuove prison in Turin.

The war subsequently led to the deaths of many of Tommaso Buscetta's allies, including Stefano Bontade.

Tommaso Buscetta was arrested again in Sao Paulo, Brazil on 23 October 1983.

Tommaso Buscetta was extradited to Italy on 28 June 1984, where he attempted suicide by ingestion of barbiturates; when that failed, he decided that he was utterly disillusioned with the Mafia.

Tommaso Buscetta asked to talk to the anti-Mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, and began his life as an informant, referred to as a pentito.

Tommaso Buscetta revealed information to Falcone for 45 days, explaining the inner workings and hierarchical structures of Cosa Nostra including the Sicilian Mafia Commission, that, until then, were unclear because of the strict code of silence.

Tommaso Buscetta refused to speak with Falcone of the political ties of Cosa Nostra because, in his opinion, the state was not ready for statements of that magnitude, and proved to be quite general on that subject.

Tommaso Buscetta testified in the Pizza Connection Trial, which took place in 1985 in New York and saw defendants Gaetano Badalamenti and other Sicilian-American mafiosi accused of drug trafficking.

Tommaso Buscetta testified in 1986 at the largest trial against the Mafia in history, the Maxi Trial in Palermo, arising from the statements made to Falcone.

Tommaso Buscetta helped judges Falcone and Paolo Borsellino achieve significant success in the fight against organized crime, which led to 475 Mafia members indicted and 338 convicted; those sentences were upheld in 1992.

Tommaso Buscetta was one of the main witnesses of the trials against Andreotti for mafia association and for the Pecorelli murder.

In court, Tommaso Buscetta elaborated in great detail the hidden exchanges that linked politicians and the Mafia.

Tommaso Buscetta died of cancer on 2 April 2000, aged 71, having lived out most of his life in hiding with his third wife and family in Florida, United States, under false names.

Tommaso Buscetta was buried under a false name in North Miami, Florida.

Tommaso Buscetta was played by F Murray Abraham in the 1999 film Excellent Cadavers.

Tommaso Buscetta was played by Vincent Riotta in the 2007 mini-series Il Capo dei Capi.

Tommaso Buscetta was portrayed by Sergio Vespertino in the 2016 Italian TV series The Mafia Kills Only in Summer.

Tommaso Buscetta was portrayed by Pierfrancesco Favino in the 2019 film The Traitor, directed by Marco Bellocchio and selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.