Camorra believed to be behind local mayor's death

[thewestside]

Mayor Crime-Fighter Dies at Wheel of Car in Hail of Bullets
By NICK PISA
September 7, 2010

Detectives in Italy were last night investigating the Mafia style killing of a crime-fighting Italian mayor gunned down in a hail of bullets.
Angelo Vassallo, 57, died instantly after being shot nine times at close range by waiting killers as he drove home from a night out.

Mr Vassallo, a father of two, was hit while he was at the wheel of his silver Audi estate and TV footage showed police examining the bullet-ridden car.

The murder - the first of a political figure for several years - took place at the seaside resort of Pollica near Salerno in southern Italy.

Officials said that the local Mafia, known as the Camorra, were known to operate in the area and had begun to muscle in on the town's numerous businesses and construction projects.

Mr Vassallo, was described by local prosecutor Alfredo Greco, as a "man on the front line against crime" and he added how he had been tipped off by him off several times about organised crime activity.

Mr Greco said: "He had been increasingly worried over the last few weeks,'' but in a bizarre twist it also emerged that Mr Vassallo himself was under investigation for alleged extortion, embezzlement and conspiracy.

A prosecution source said: "This is a killing in true Camorra style - plenty of bullets. He was hit several times and he was probably already dead but the killers kept firing. Someone wanted to teach him a lesson.

"However at the same time he was also under investigation and so we are bearing in mind all possibilities and motives but at this stage there is not a particular one, although organised crime is highly likely.''

Mr Vassallo's body was found by his brother and his wife who had gone out to look for him and they found his car down a side road close to his home early yesterday.

Detectives said his killers had probably been waiting for him and that the Audi car was parked with the handbrake on, as if he had stopped because his path was blocked.

Mr Vassallo had been elected on an independent manifesto although he had close links to the Democratic Left and environmentalists

He was nicknamed the "fisherman-mayor'' because of his work at keeping the beaches and local waters clear from pollution and as a result thousands of tourists flood the area each summer.

Because of its popularity he had recently offered 150 tombs for sale to regular holidaymakers who wanted to be buried there, with the possibility of having a web cam on the resting place so loved ones could keep watch.

As news spread of the murder, local shops pulled down their shutters and, despite it still being peak season, the streets were eerily deserted with bars and restaurants also shut.

Pierluigi Bersani, secretary of the Democratic left party, said: "I express my shock at the killing of Angelo Vassallo.

http://news.scotsman.com/news/Mayor-cri ... 6516172.jp

[DJKMatt]

Of course Camorra is behind the death of Vassallo.
Camorra and 'Ndrangheta have both interest for the local dock,for drug traffic!

[OziHomie]

keep guessing ...

the penny dropped in mexico, columbia and many other places..

one day the world will change .. and the mafia will cease to exist and you street gangsters will be a footnote in historys pages too ..

for now.. u are the history of this world ..

as nature intended..

as dictated by the true masters ..

of good not evil ..

but who learnt sadly..

that evil was necessary .. to recast the darkest of shadows ..

that the weakest of humans .. forced upon all humanity ..

through their greed, bigotry, racism and vices..

be lead by the invisible hand .. that guides you through the trenches ..

in all wars sacrifices are made .. and we are all soldiers..

fighting an invisible war.. we dont even realise we have participated in ..

and the more relentless the dark shadow is cast over us..

the harder we are lead to fight .. the lower we sink ..

for it is our only option .. even if we arent aware ..

we have sunk so low ..

one day.. our footnote .. what we represent ..

the violence.. the senselessness .. the loss ..

will have been our only option .. our only vestige ..

even though it was aimless .. pointless.. senseless..

for we are all good in our hearts.. not one gangster is truly bad

i believe that !