Voting Station

Salvatore Riina

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Outlaw

The Resume

    (November 16, 1930-November 17, 2017)
    Born in Corleone, Italy
    Became a fugitive after being indicted on murder charges (1970)
    Became head of the Corleonesi crime family (1974)
    Lead the Corleonesi during the Second Mafia War (1978-83)
    Family emerged as the dominant faction of the Sicilian Mafia
    Convicted in absentia of multiple crimes at the Maxi Trial of Italian Mafiosi (January 30, 1992)
    Arrested (January 15, 1993)
    Convicted on additional counts of murder
    Received 26 life sentences
    Died in a medically-induced coma in a prison hospital
    Nicknames included Toto ‘u Curtu (‘Toto the Short’), la Belva (‘the Beast’) and ‘il Capo dei Capi’ (‘the Boss of Bosses’)

Why he might be annoying:

    He performed his first hit for the Mafia at age nineteen.
    He ordered hits against high profile public officials, including judges, prosecutors and policemen, both to intimidate the authorities and to frame rival crime families (by carrying out the hits on their turf).
    He ordered as many as a thousand murders during the war to take control of the Sicilian Mafia.
    He considered children fair game, ordering the abduction, torture and murder of eleven-year-old Giuseppe Di Matteo, the son of an informant.
    After one of his underlings turned informant, he ordered a terrorist-style bombing attack against an express train, killing 17 people, to divert Italian security forces from investigating the Mafia (December 23, 1984).
    After his arrest, it was revealed that during his 23 years as a ‘fugitive,’ he had lived at a single address and had registered his four children at a local hospital under their real names, leading to questions about just how thoroughly the police had been searching for him.
    Six hours after his arrest, the police called off surveillance of his apartment; when the police returned 18 days later, the apartment had been completely emptied.
    He could give a heartfelt, tearful eulogy at the funeral of a man whose death he had ordered.

Why he might not be annoying:

    If the name of his birthplace looks familiar, it’s because Mario Puzo borrowed it for the central family in ‘The Godfather.’
    When he was thirteen, he became the head of the family when his father blew up himself (and Salvatore’s seven-year-old brother Francesco) by trying to open up an unexploded American bomb so he could sell the powder to hunters.
    His bloody tactics eventually backfired by causing enough public outrage to force the authorities to crack down on the Mafia.
    While imprisoned, he was allowed minimal contact with the outside world to prevent him from running his organization from behind bars.
    According to an informant, he was soft spoken and a dedicated family man.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 12 Votes: 41.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 87.50% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 63 Votes: 49.21% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 68 Votes: 57.35% Annoying