On May 23, 1992, in Italy, we discuss politics and cycling. The presidential elections, to give the country Cossiga’s successor, have been dragging on for ten days now. The parliamentary rift is giving birth to chaos and little synthesis. The name of Giulio Adreotti is mentioned, but the recent stories of the Cosa Nostra – with the murder of his friend Salvo Lima – create a certain embarrassment around the name of the Christian Democrat leader.
On the streets of the Giro d’Italia, on the other hand, there is rooting for Claudio Chiappucci from Uboldo (Va), who tries to compete for the pink jersey against a formidable cyclist: the Spanish Miguel Indurain.
Only a few minutes to 5 pm when a Sisde jet (a secret service plane) lands at Punta Raisi airport, a few kilometers from Palermo, carrying the magistrate Giovanni Falcone.
It comes from Rome, like every weekend. Falcone is keen to spend the weekend in Palermo. There are three armored Fiat Croma waiting for him: one white, one brown and one blue. The magistrate drives the white car. Beside him his wife Francesca Morvillo. The driver, Giuseppe Costanza, occupies the back seat.
The brown Croma is instead driven by the police officer, Vito Schifani. Beside him his colleague Antonio Montinaro, and behind Rocco Dicillo. Finally, the blue Fiat Croma hosts Paolo Capuzza, Gaspare Cervello and Angelo Corbo.
Leaving the Punta Raisi airport, the cars line up: the car with Giovanni Falcone on board is in the middle, preceded by the one driven by Vito Schifani. They take the A29 motorway towards Palermo.
At that same moment, a mafioso from Altofonte named, Gioacchino La Barbera, follows the three Fiat Croma and remains in telephone contact with Giovanni Brusca and Antonino Gioè, two leading exponents of the Cosa Nostra, who observe the motorway from a hill.
It is 5:58 pm when the phone call between La Barbera and Brusca is interrupted. A few seconds pass and a section of the A29 motorway is disintegrated by the explosion 1000 kg of TNT placed inside drums, in a drainage tunnel under the motorway. To operate the remote control is Giovanni Brusca.
The explosion hits the brown Fiat Croma with Vito Schifani, Antonio Montinaro and Rocco Dicillo on board, throwing it about ten meters away, onto a garden of olive trees that runs along the highway. The three die instantly.
The car with Falcone on board is struck with a graze, but ends up against the pile of debris raised by the explosion. The third Fiat Croma, the blue one, is the least affected, and this will save the lives of the three occupants.
Rescues are triggered within a few minutes. Giovanni Falcone is still alive and is transported to the civic hospital of Palermo. But his conditions are desperate. The judge friend, Paolo Borsellino, immediately arrives at his bedside. Falcone never regains consciousness, and his heart stops beating at 7:05 pm, after numerous resuscitation attempts. He dies in the arms of Borsellino.
Three hours later, at 10 pm, Francesca Morvillo also dies, while the doctors subject her to a desperate operation to tear her from death. Giuseppe Costanza, on the other hand, remains miraculously alive.
For the whole of Italy, that day that began with the hopes for Claudio Chiappucci at the Giro, ends in a fatal way with the images of the Capaci massacre that go around the world.