Vito Vitale

Salvatore "Vito" Vitale (; born 20 June 1959, in Partinico), also known as Fardazza, is a member of the Sicilian Mafia. For a while he was considered the heir of Totò Riina and was closely connected to Leoluca Bagarella.

Mafia career Vitale was born in Partinico (Palermo Province). He was the youngest of three brothers. His brothers Leonardo (27.10.1955) and Michele Vitale (21.05.1957) are mafiosi as well. His first arrest was for stealing vegetables, a rather trivial crime for a future mafia boss. On 18 May 1985, an arrest warrant was issued for arms trafficking. After the arrest of his brother Leonardo Vitale, Vito became the head of the family. The boy was finally strangled on the orders of Giovanni Brusca. Subsequently, the body was dissolved in a barrel of acid to destroy the evidence.

According to his sister, the pentita Giusy Vitale, some "young turks" within Cosa Nostra wanted to set aside Bernardo Provenzano in 1998. Next to Vitale they were Giovanni Brusca, Domenico Raccuglia and Matteo Messina Denaro. The younger bosses wanted to take strategic decisions without the prior consent of Provenzano. They told him to "go home and take care of your family".

Arrest On 28 September 1997, he was stopped and held under observation but managed to escape before he was arrested. He was finally arrested on 14 April 1998. When he was transferred by the police from the police station to prison, they were assaulted by screaming and kicking Vitale blood-family members, including his wife Maria Lo Baido and three of his four children.

Sister takes over After the arrest of all the Vitale brothers, their sister Giuseppa Vitale took over. Giusy as she is called, was arrested in June 1998 and became a state witness (pentita) in 2005. She gave testimony about her role as family boss, including how she helped Leonardo to organise "a number of murders" from behind bars. Her brother Leonardo, after learning that his sister started to collaborate with Italian justice, said at a trial: "We disown her whether she's living or dead - and we hope it's the latter, and as quickly as possible."

In October 2005, Vitale's rival Maurizio Lo Iacono was shot in Partinico in his car by two men on a scooter with a sawn-off shotgun and a .38 pistol. Lo Iacono died in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. Lo Iacono, released from jail only a couple of months ago, was probably killed because he was attempting to take over the affairs of Vito Vitale. Police speculate that the murder had been ordered by Domenico Raccuglia, who sided with the Vitale clan.