The tragic death of a woman who testified against her mafia father after he murdered her mother

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It was a necklace that helped Denise Cosco identify her mother after she was murdered by her father and boyfriend.

Cosco, her father Carlo, and mother Lea Garofalo went on holiday together in November 2009 on what she thought was a chance for them to reconcile after Lea testified to authorities about her husband’s drug dealing for the Calabria ’Ndrangheta crime syndicate. But Carlo was in no mood to forgive. It would be another three years before Lea’s body was discovered.

“When they showed me the necklace among the remains of her charred bones, I knew immediately that it was hers and that she had given her life to save me,” Cosco later said. “I can never thank her for that.”

Like her mother, Cosco spent years hiding out under Italy’s witness protection program as a result of testifying against the mob. Both left the program frustrated with the Italian state.

And their connections did not end there. Most tragically of all, Lea was 35 when she died – the same age as Denise when she fell to her death from the apartment she shared with her husband and four-year-old son in Rome earlier this month.

Prosecutors are now trying to determine if the mafia was behind her death by “inciting” her apparent suicide. She left no note to explain her mindset.

The case has prompted renewed debate in Italy over the safety of those who enter the state witness program for mafia syndicates and the physical and psychological burden that weighs on anyone who dares to challenge the mafia’s code of silence.

Cosco spent six years living under an assumed identity created for her by the Italian state after testifying against her father and her then-boyfriend, Carmine Venturino, over the kidnapping, torture, dismemberment and murder of her mother in November 2009. Both were sentenced to life in prison, although Venturino’s term was later reduced.

Lea Garofalo’s murder was deemed a revenge attack after she testified against her husband, her brother and others about their alleged criminal drug dealing in Milan.

Her testimony, motivated by her desire to protect her daughter from growing up in a mafia family, made her one of Italy’s most celebrated “turncoats,” or state’s witnesses collaborating with authorities against organized crime. Since her murder, streets, parks and schools have been named after her in recognition of her courage.

Garofalo’s remains were found after Venturino admitted to involvement in both her murder and the concealment and burning of the body, eventually pointing authorities to the hiding place.

At her mother’s funeral in October 2013, Cosco, then 22, spoke from behind bulletproof glass and thanked her mother. “This is a very difficult day for me, but you gave me strength,” she said of her mother. “I will never stop thanking you.”

Garofalo and Cosco were among a scant few women who have chosen – or been able – to escape their crime families, albeit with inarguably detrimental results. Around 6,000 people are enlisted in Italy’s witness protection program, according to Italy’s Interior Ministry, but many face difficulty in staying protected.

Anti-mafia prosecutor Alessandra Cerreti, who has persuaded dozens of women to testify against crime families across all Italy’s crime syndicates, admits the risks are high.

Under Italian law, investigators have 180 days to work with the potential collaborators to determine if they are telling the truth or are instead actually still faithful to their crime families.

“We have a short period of time to understand the entire situation,” Cerreti told CNN, adding that there are often budget restrictions and a lack of corroborators, especially right after someone escapes the crime family.

Francesco Enriquez/IPA Agency/Sipa USA

If they are accepted into the program, protection is evaluated every four years to see if the turncoat is still cooperative, or if they have returned to the mafia family or simply disappeared. The collaborators are given a place to live, a false identity, a job and a life story that can be corroborated if anyone checks, but they live on very little money and rarely feel safe, Cerreti said.

Garofalo, who hid her daughter in convents and tiny towns around Italy until she left witness protection in 2009 – the year she was murdered – cited her reasons for departure as “financial hardship” and “the constant threat of being removed from protection” because the state was unable to corroborate any of the claims in her testimony due to the lack of other witnesses

Under Italian law, if a turncoat’s testimony cannot be corroborated, or if a threat is no longer perceived, the state removes protection.

“If we had more time, we could better protect those who do come forward, which would make it easier for others to do the same,” Cerreti said. “But it often feels as risky to flee as it does to stay.”

Cosco’s husband was home at the time she fell from the window and had been questioned but is not a suspect. It is unclear if he even knew she was under witness protection.

She was only referred to as Denise Cosco by authorities after she died on September 10, having spent four days in the hospital. Her father, speaking through his lawyer from prison, said the two had started to reconcile, Italian media reported, but no details of what that meant have yet emerged.

A criminal investigation has been opened and Cosco’s phones and electronic devices have been sequestered to determine if she had been facing threats from anyone tied to the murder of her mother, or if the pressure, guilt and sadness of her complicated life had become too much.

Her lawyer, Enza Rando, who helped her testify against her father and boyfriend in 2009, told CNN the state was also to blame for not providing enough protection and support for those who cross crime gangs.

“The mafia kills in many ways. It kills by creating true monsters in the lives of those left behind,” Rando said. “

Agenzia Fotogramma/IPA Agency/Sipa USA

Cosco’s death has shaken anti-mafia investigators. Naples public prosecutor Nicola Gratteri, who has led hundreds of state informants away from their criminal families to collaborate with the courts, told reporters her death was a setback for the fight against organized crime and could make it even more challenging to get people to testify.

It has also rattled those who live under protection. Giuseppe Carini, who lives under an assumed identity as a witness in the murder of a Catholic priest who preached against the Sicilian Cosa Nostra in 1993, wrote in an open letter shared by his lawyer that Cosco had been let down by the “highest levels of the State and the government.”

“It has been said that witnesses of justice are courageous people, that Lea and Denise were courageous women and as such will never die, but we do not want gravestones or epitaphs carved in marble. Witnesses of justice have the sacrosanct right to live and to live a normal life,” he said.

After Cosco died, her aunt Marisa Garofalo posted a photo of her holding up a T-shirt bearing her late mother’s name.

Since she was living under a false identity when she died, only her trusted family members even knew what Cosco looked like. “Now I can show you your beautiful eyes,” her aunt wrote.

“No one will be able to decide for you anymore, you will no longer have to hide.”

埃马努埃莱·克雷马斯基/盖蒂图片社

正是这条项链帮助丹妮丝·科斯科在母亲被父亲和男友谋杀后认出了她。

2009年11月，科斯科、她的父亲卡洛和母亲莉娅·加罗法洛一起去度假，科斯科以为这是个和解的机会，此前莉娅曾向当局作证，指控她的丈夫为卡拉布里亚的恩德朗盖塔犯罪集团贩毒。但卡洛根本没有原谅的意思。又过了三年，莉娅的遗体才被发现。

“当他们在她烧焦的遗骸中给我看那条项链时，我立刻就知道那是她的，她为了救我献出了生命，”科斯科后来说道。“我永远也无法为此感谢她。”

和她母亲一样，科斯科也因为作证指控黑手党，在意大利证人保护计划下躲藏了多年。两人都对意大利政府感到失望，最终离开了该计划。

她们之间的联系并未就此结束。最令人痛心的是，莉娅去世时年仅35岁——与本月初在罗马与丈夫和四岁儿子合住的公寓坠楼身亡的丹妮丝年龄相同。

检方正在调查黑手党是否“唆使”她自杀，从而导致她死亡。她没有留下任何遗书解释自己的自杀动机。

该案件在意大利引发了关于黑手党集团国家证人计划参与者的安全问题，以及任何敢于挑战黑手党沉默法则的人所承受的身心负担的辩论。

科斯科在作证指控其父亲和当时的男友卡迈恩·文图里诺于 2009 年 11 月绑架、折磨、肢解并杀害其母亲后，意大利政府为她创建了一个假身份，科斯科随后以该身份生活了六年。两人均被判处终身监禁，尽管文图里诺的刑期后来被缩短。

莉亚·加罗法洛 (Lea Garofalo) 的谋杀案被认为是报复性袭击，此前她曾出庭作证指控她的丈夫、她的兄弟和其他人涉嫌在米兰进行毒品交易。

她作证的动机是为了保护女儿免受黑手党家庭的伤害，这使她成为意大利最著名的“叛徒”之一，即与当局合作打击有组织犯罪的证人。在她遇害后，为了表彰她的勇气，许多街道、公园和学校都以她的名字命名。

在文图里诺承认参与谋杀加罗法洛以及藏匿和焚烧尸体之后，加罗法洛的遗体被发现，文图里诺最终向当局指明了藏尸地点。

2013年10月，在母亲的葬礼上，当时22岁的科斯科隔着防弹玻璃向母亲致谢。“今天对我来说是非常艰难的一天，但您给了我力量，”她谈到母亲时说，“我将永远感激您。”

加罗法洛和科斯科是极少数选择（或能够）逃离犯罪家族的女性，尽管她们的逃离无疑带来了不利后果。据意大利内政部统计，约有6000人被纳入意大利证人保护计划，但许多人难以继续受到保护。

反黑手党检察官亚历山德拉·切雷蒂 (Alessandra Cerreti) 曾说服数十名女性出庭作证，指控意大利所有犯罪集团的犯罪家族。她承认，这样做风险很高。

根据意大利法律，调查人员有 180 天的时间与潜在的合作者合作，以确定他们是否在说真话，或者实际上是否仍然忠于他们的犯罪家族。

“我们只有很短的时间来了解整个情况，”切雷蒂告诉 CNN，并补充说，通常会有预算限制和缺乏证人，尤其是在有人逃离犯罪家族之后。

Francesco Enriquez/IPA Agency/Sipa USA

如果他们被纳入该计划，保护措施将每四年进行一次评估，以确定叛徒是否仍然合作，或者是否已经重返黑手党家族，又或者就此销声匿迹。切雷蒂说，这些合作者会获得住所、假身份、工作以及一份可以核实的人生经历，但他们的生活拮据，很少感到安全。

加罗法洛将女儿藏匿在意大利各地的修道院和小镇，直到2009年离开证人保护计划——那一年她被谋杀——她给出的离开理由是“经济困难”和“不断面临被取消保护的威胁”，因为由于缺乏其他证人，国家无法证实她证词中的任何说法。

根据意大利法律，如果叛徒的证词无法得到证实，或者威胁不再存在，国家将取消对其的保护。

“如果我们有更多时间，就能更好地保护那些挺身而出的人，这样其他人也更容易这样做，”塞雷蒂说。“但逃跑往往感觉和留下一样危险。”

科斯科的丈夫事发时在家，她从窗户坠落时，他的丈夫也接受了警方问询，但并非嫌疑人。目前尚不清楚他是否知道科斯科正处于证人保护计划之下。

她于9月10日去世，此前在医院接受了四天的治疗。去世后，当局只称她为丹妮丝·科斯科。据意大利媒体报道，她的父亲通过狱中的律师表示，两人已经开始和解，但和解的具体细节尚未公布。

警方已展开刑事调查，并扣押了科斯科的手机和电子设备，以确定她是否曾受到与她母亲谋杀案有关的任何人的威胁，或者她复杂的生活所带来的压力、内疚和悲伤是否已经让她不堪重负。

她的律师恩扎·兰多 (Enza Rando) 曾于 2009 年帮助她出庭指控她的父亲和男友，她告诉 CNN，该州也应受到谴责，因为它没有为那些与犯罪团伙作对的人提供足够的保护和支持。

“黑手党杀人的方式有很多种。它会在幸存者的生活中制造真正的恶魔，”兰多说道。

Agenzia Fotogramma/IPA Agency/Sipa USA

科斯科的死讯震惊了反黑手党调查人员。那不勒斯检察官尼古拉·格拉特里曾带领数百名线人脱离犯罪家族，与法院合作。他告诉记者，科斯科的死对打击有组织犯罪来说是一次挫折，而且可能会使获取证词变得更加困难。

这也让那些受到保护的人感到不安。朱塞佩·卡里尼（Giuseppe Carini）以证人身份生活在1993年西西里黑手党主神父科萨·诺斯特拉（Cosa Nostra）遇害案中，他在一封由其律师转载的公开信中写道，科斯科（Cosco）被“国家和政府最高层”辜负了。

“有人说，正义的见证者都是勇敢的人，莉娅和丹妮丝是勇敢的女性，因此她们将永垂不朽，但我们不希望她们被刻上大理石墓碑或墓志铭。正义的见证者拥有神圣不可侵犯的生命权，他们也应该过上正常的生活，”他说。

Cosco去世后，她的姑姑Marisa Garofalo发布了一张照片，照片中她举着一件印有她已故母亲名字的T恤。

由于她去世时一直使用假身份，只有她信任的家人才知道科斯科的真容。“现在我可以让你看看你美丽的眼睛了，”她的姑姑写道。

“以后没有人能替你做决定了，你也不用再躲躲藏藏了。”