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Tomasso Buscetta, unlike Sammy the Bull Gravano had very different reasons for turning his back against the men to whom he once swore his fidelity. Many of his family were murdered in a Mafia war, this was the fuel behind the vendetta that would have major repercussions for the honoured society. Buscetta was extremely well regarded within the Mafia throughout Sicily. He was part of the Porta Nuova family, one of the many clans that resided in Palermo. Tomasso knew at an early age what he wanted from life, "I was already a Mafiosi even before I was made" he told Judge Falcone when he was debriefed in 1984. He ran errands for the Mafiosi as a teenager and in his early twenties he would be inducted formerly into the Mafia. Buscetta was very much an old style Mafiosi, passionately strict to his vow of omerta and living proof of what Cosa Nostra was all about. An incredibly vain man but exuding an air of respectability to anyone not aware of his mafia connection. He impressed many throughout the world of Cosa Nostra and his reputation reached almost mythic proportions, and not just in Sicily, across the Atlantic in America his name became known to many of the New York La Cosa Nostra.
TOMASSO BUSCETTA
Tomasso Buscetta also attended one of the most important Mafia summits of all time. When in 1957 bosses from America met with the Sicilian godfathers in a hotel in Palermo. Also in attendance were Lucky Luciano and Joe Bonanno who helped reshape the volatile Sicilian clans, laying foundations for a ruling commission that would be headed by the top bosses in Sicily. The Sicilian commission came to be known as the Cupola. The Cupola brought some unity to the extremely violent Sicilian clans. During the sixties Buscetta fled Sicily on a false passport and spent the next ten years between Canada, America and Brazil, where he operated a major drugs ring according to US law enforcement. He soon married a beautiful Brazilian girl, but when her entire family was arrested on drugs charges he was sent back to Sicily to serve his sentence for a murder that had been hanging over his head since 1968. In 1980 on release from prison he fled again back to his wife in Brazil, Buscetta remained out of internal Mafia politics in Sicily.
In 1982 Buscetta's two sons disappeared. The Sicilian authorities expected Buscetta to return like an avenging angel, but that didn't happen. The next time Buscetta returned to Sicily it would be under police escort. Arrested in Brazil Buscetta tried to commit suicide. But when this was unsuccessful he had no choice but to turn his back on the Mafia. Buscettas defection was easy for him to make as he could now avenge the murders of his children. He was debriefed by Giovanni Falcone, and over the next few months the two men would work up quite a relationship as Falcone was the only judge Buscetta really trusted. His testimony was vital for the magistrature in Sicily. Here for the first time was a man that had spent a lifetime within the Mafia. His knowledge became the intrinsic part of the maxi trial in 1984. He gave the authorities the first real look inside the Mafia. His knowledge would also give the magistrates the chance to build future maxi trials. After the first Maxi trial Tomasso Buscetta insisted that he be moved in to the witness protection program in the US as he didn't trust the Italian authorities to keep him safe.
While in the U.S he would also testify at the pizza connection case in New York. Where he testified against a huge drugs and money laundering ring. A case brought about by Rudy Giuliani the US Attorney in Manhattan, Tomasso Buscetta was the star witness.
The defence Lawyers working the case had a real tough task on their hands, as they tried to make Buscetta out to be a liar. But to no avail, they had no chance, his history within the mafia was too difficult to refute. In April 4th 2000, Buscetta died peacefully in the U.S knowing full well his debt to society had been fully repaid, as his knowledge on how the mechanics of the Mafia worked for years across two continents like a well oiled machine had been crucial in two major trials resulting in convictions of some very major figures within the Mafia.