The truth of the cold
Raffaella Fanelli interviews Maurizio Abbatino
- The Magliana gang still exists.
- It survives through people who were not part of the gang, but who came into contact with us. For many, the Magliana gang has been a good guarantee. Maurizio Abbatino
With an afterword by Otello Lupacchini and an insert of unpublished photos
"They have already ordered my death..." Maurizio Abbatino speaks and recounts what he has seen and experienced firsthand. Years of crimes, of revenge, of unchallenged power over Rome and beyond. Italian mysteries, from the Pecorelli murder to the assassination of Aldo Moro and the disappearance of Emanuela Orlandi.
Protagonist of a bloody season that marked the blackest history of our country; founder and leader, with Franco Giuseppucci, of the Magliana gang, Abbatino is the last survivor of an organization that for years moved arm in arm with the secret services, the Mafia and Freemasonry.
In these pages he recounts the genesis of the gang, its early actions, the conquest of the city, the arrests, the protections in prison and outside, and the investigation that began more than two decades ago from his confessions. It can be considered the prologue to Mafia capitale: "Last names return, a method is seen again ... Enough to think that the trajectories of the old criminal group have not come to an end," said the current head of the Rome Public Prosecutor's Office, Giuseppe Pignatone.
In the book flows the history of Italy as seen through the eyes of a bloodthirsty criminal who had other bloodthirsty criminals arrested. Many of them returned free. He has not. He awaits, he says, his execution. "I'm back where it all began. Because this is where it must end. "Maurizio Abbatino, leader and founder of the Magliana gang, is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence and is under house arrest for health reasons. In September 2015, he was ousted from the protection program and a number of guarantees and protections obtained after his decision to cooperate with justice were cancelled. Abbatino's cooperation spanned the 1990s and the following decade only to be interrupted in 2010. His testimony enabled the trial that put the historic core of the gang behind bars. His revelations have carried weight in major trials, from the murder of journalist Mino Pecorelli to the death of Roberto Calvi. Abbatino's story has been immortalized in a bestselling novel by Giancarlo De Cataldo (Romanzo criminale, Einaudi 2002), in film, and in a successful television series.