Caltanissetta judge dismisses 1992 mafia-contracts massacre inquiry against unknown persons

Dismissal of the 1992 massacre inquiry

Judge Santi Bologna of the Caltanissetta court accepted the petition submitted in April 2026 by Chief Prosecutor Salvatore De Luca and Deputy Prosecutor Pasquale Pacifico to close the mafia-contracts inquiry. The 644-page ruling dismisses the case against unknown persons examining whether the handling of public procurement files influenced the 1992 bombings at Capaci and via D'Amelio. Those attacks killed judges Giovanni Falcone, Francesca Morvillo, Paolo Borsellino, and their police escorts. Prosecutors had compiled a 400-page dossier to determine whether external figures participated in planning or executing the assassinations. Judge Bologna concluded that after more than thirty years, available evidence fails to identify specific perpetrators or establish grounds for prosecution.

The acquired elements do not allow the registration of any subject and consequently do not allow the formulation of any reasonable prediction of conviction.

Hostile climate at the Palermo prosecution office

The ruling examined the working conditions inside the Palermo prosecutor's office between 1990 and 1992, when Falcone and Borsellino investigated ties between organised crime and public tenders. Judge Bologna recognised that both magistrates worked in an isolated, adversarial environment during that period. The decision noted a significant gap in professional capacity between the two assassinated judges and contemporary colleagues handling related files. Despite documenting these internal tensions, the court found no independent evidence showing that judicial or political figures colluded in the bombings.

The analysis conducted, while evidencing the hostile and marginalising climate in which judges Falcone and Borsellino found themselves operating within the Palermo Prosecutor's Office in the 1990–1992 two-year period, did not allow the identification of any independently persuasive evidentiary element that could lead to specific individuals among magistrates or political-business figures.

Judicial findings on Scarpinato's conduct

The dismissal order contained critical findings regarding Senator Roberto Scarpinato, a former anti-mafia prosecutor who serves on the Parliamentary Antimafia Commission. Judge Bologna cited wiretap recording 2594 from 18 January 2024, which documented Scarpinato discussing and previewing questions with former magistrate Gioacchino Natoli prior to a commission hearing. The ruling characterised Scarpinato's actions as misleading efforts to align testimonies. The judge also identified contradictions in Scarpinato's historical accounts regarding discussions with Borsellino about the contracts dossier. In a 1999 deposition, Scarpinato recounted speaking with Borsellino once, whereas in two 2021 court appearances, including the 18 October 2021 hearing in the Aliprandi plus one trial, he claimed two separate conversations took place.

Parallel inquiries and commission reactions

A separate investigation remains open against former magistrates Gioacchino Natoli and Giuseppe Pignatone. Investigators examine allegations that both men obstructed the Carabinieri ROS contracts dossier to shield mafia-linked entrepreneurs, an offence of aggravated aiding of Cosa Nostra that is now statute-barred. Natoli also faces an active charge of calumny. Inquiries had examined whether Borsellino's interest in public tender corruption prompted the mafia's decision to assassinate him in July 1992. Members of the Antimafia Commission stated that the 644-page ruling provides documented evidence to guide parliamentary reviews into the events surrounding the 1992 massacres.