Editing Giovanni Falcone (section)

== Death ==
{{main|Capaci bombing}}
[[File:Falcone Denkmal.jpg|thumb|Giovanni Falcone Monument in Capaci]]
[[File:Maria Falcone and Robert Swan Mueller.jpg|thumb|[[Robert Mueller]] presents Maria Falcone with a smaller version of a plaque that honours the life of her brother and will hang in the newly dedicated [[Giovanni Falcone Gallery]] at [[FBI]] Headquarters.]]
[[File:Giovanni Falcone Peschiera.jpg|thumb|A monument in commemoration of Falcone in [[Peschiera del Garda]], representing the mangled car in which he was [[Capaci bombing|assassinated]] by the Mafia.]]

The Maxi trial sentences being upheld by the Supreme Court were a blow to the Mafia's prestige. The council of top bosses headed by Riina reacted by ordering the assassination of [[Salvatore Lima]] (on the grounds that he was an ally of [[Giulio Andreotti]]), and Falcone. Lima was shot dead on 12 March 1992.

[[Giovanni Brusca]] was tasked with killing Falcone. Riina wanted the murder carried out in Sicily in a demonstration of Mafia power; he instructed that the attack should be on [[Autostrada A29 (Italy)|Highway A29]], which Falcone had to use to get from the airport to his home on his weekly visits.<ref>Follain, ''Vendetta'', p. 58-60</ref> Four hundred kilograms (881 lbs.) of explosives were placed in a [[culvert]] under the highway between [[Palermo International Airport]] and the city of [[Palermo]], 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.<ref>Follain, ''Vendetta'', p. 74</ref>

Brusca detonated the device by remote control from a small outbuilding on a hill to the right of the highway on 23 May 1992. Giovanni Falcone, his wife [[Francesca Morvillo]] and police officers Rocco Dicillo, Antonio Montinaro and Vito Schifani were killed in the blast. The explosion was so powerful that it registered on local earthquake monitors. Riina reportedly threw a party, toasting Falcone's death with [[champagne]], according to the [[pentito]] [[Salvatore Cancemi]].<ref name="stille">Stille, ''Excellent Cadavers'', pp. 404–05</ref>

Thousands gathered at the [[San Domenico, Palermo|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.<ref name="Inside The Mafia" /> His colleague [[Paolo Borsellino]] was killed in [[Massacre of Via D'Amelio|another bombing]] 57 days later, along with five police officers: Agostino Catalano, Walter Cosina, Emanuela Loi, Vincenzo Li Muli, and Claudio Traina.<ref name="stille372">Stille, ''Excellent Cadavers'', p. 372</ref>

In the major crackdown against the Mafia following Falcone and Borsellino's deaths, Riina was arrested on 15 January 1993, and was serving a life sentence, until his death in 2017, for sanctioning the murders of both magistrates as well as many other crimes.<ref name=nyt>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02EFDF143AF934A1575AC0A961958260  "24 Top Mafia Figures Get Life Sentences in Sicily"], The New York Times, 27 September 1997</ref> Brusca, also known as ''lo scannacristiani'' (the people slaughterer), was convicted of Falcone's murder. He was one of Riina's associates and admitted to detonating the explosives.<ref name=gua141004>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/oct/14/italy.johnhooper Sicilian mafia killer's days out of jail provoke fury] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118035925/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/oct/14/italy.johnhooper |date=18 January 2017 }}, The Guardian, 14 October 2004</ref> Dozens of mafiosi were sentenced to life imprisonment for their involvement in Falcone's murder.<ref name=erg>{{Cite web |url=http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1997/09/27/strage-di-capaci-24-ergastoli.html?ref=search |title=STRAGE DI CAPACI, 24 ERGASTOLI - La Repubblica.it<!-- Titolo generato automaticamente --> |date=27 September 1997 |access-date=2017-07-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304133658/http://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/1997/09/27/strage-di-capaci-24-ergastoli.html?ref=search |archive-date=2016-03-04 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Reports in May 2019 indicated that a Cosa Nostra insider revealed that [[John Gotti]] of the [[Gambino crime family]] had sent one of their explosives experts to Sicily to work with the [[Corleonesi Mafia clan]] to help plan the bombing that would kill Falcone.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/05/22/american-mafia-sent-explosives-expert-help-sicilian-mob-assassinate/|title=American mafia 'sent explosives expert' to help Sicilian mob assassinate crusading investigator|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=22 May 2019|access-date=22 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190522164959/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/05/22/american-mafia-sent-explosives-expert-help-sicilian-mob-assassinate/|archive-date=22 May 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Legacy ===

[[Palermo Airport|Palermo International Airport]] has been named ''Falcone-Borsellino Airport'' in honour of the two judges and hosts a memorial of the pair by the local [[sculpture|sculptor]] [[Tommaso Geraci]]. Monuments commemorating Falcone and the other victims of the [[Capaci bombing]] were placed around Italy, including in [[Peschiera del Garda]]. Falcone was posthumously awarded the [[Train Foundation]]'s [[Civil Courage Prize]], which recognises "extraordinary heroes of conscience".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.civilcourageprize.org/honorees.htm |title=Honorees |year=2010 |publisher=Civil Courage Prize |access-date=26 May 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213021844/http://www.civilcourageprize.org/honorees.htm |archive-date=13 February 2012 }}</ref> A monument to Falcone stands also at the FBI's National Academy in Virginia to honour his contributions to the "Pizza Connection" case.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2006/may/falcone_051706|title=A Partnership is Born|year=2006|publisher=[[FBI]]|access-date=22 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128071417/http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2006/may/falcone_051706|archive-date=28 January 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>