Sicilian Mafia

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Lore & Background

Marchese's criminal career is primarily known through Vincenzo Sinagra, a common criminal turned informant. In 1981, Sinagra stole from a mafioso and was forced to work for the Corleonesi as a gofer alongside Marchese. Arrested on 11 August 1982 while attempting a contract killing, Sinagra became an informant after a year in custody, testifying at the 1986–87 Maxi Trial. He revealed that his specific job was holding victims' feet while Marchese strangled them with rope. The "Room of Death" served as a slaughterhouse for those blocking the Commission bosses. This violence defined the Second Mafia War until Marchese himself became a threat to Riina and Greco due to his violent nature.

In Their Own Story

Sometime in September 1982, Filippo Marchese was lured with a pretext to a warehouse by Salvatore Montalto. There, he met fellow killers Pino Greco, Giuseppe Giacomo Gambino, and Salvatore Cucuzza. They quickly grabbed and strangled him. His body was dissolved in acid, mirroring the fate of his own victims. To confuse his relatives and allies, Riina spread a rumor that Marchese had accidentally shot himself while cleaning a gun, necessitating a quiet burial. Although Salvatore Contorno learned of the murder during jail time, details only emerged after Cucuzza became a pentito. Pino Greco, one of Marchese's killers, was later executed in 1985 by his own men on Riina's orders.

Reader's Guide

The source details specific figures and fates within the Marchese network. Marchese received an in absentia life sentence at the 1987 Maxi Trial despite being dead. His nephew Giuseppe Marchese became a pentito in September 1992 after realizing Riina had betrayed him; both he and his brother Antonino had killed Vincenzo Puccio in 1989 on Riina's orders, though Riina later destroyed their alibi. Giuseppe Lucchese succeeded Puccio as boss of the Brancaccio-Ciaculli mandamento after Puccio was killed by Marchese's nephew in 1989 while Puccio was imprisoned. Gambino committed suicide in prison in 1996. Vincenza Marchese, niece of Filippo and wife of Leoluca Bagarella, disappeared; sources claim she either committed suicide due to shame over her brother's collaboration or died from clinical depression after miscarriages.

Did You Know?

• Vincenzo Sinagra claimed his job in the Room of Death was holding victims' feet while Marchese strangled them.
• As many as 100 people were killed in the Room of Death during the Second Mafia War (1981–82).
• Filippo Marchese was sentenced to life in absentia at the Maxi Trial in 1987, even though he had been dead since September 1982.
• Pino Greco, one of Marchese's killers, was executed by his own underboss Vincenzo Puccio and lieutenant Giuseppe Lucchese on Riina's orders in 1985.