Trial of Messina Denaro’s doctor, Bonafede cousins refuse to answer questions

Last Updated: May 13, 2024

Mafia, i magistrati portano nuovi elementi a carico del medico di Matteo Messina Denaro

The two cousins with the same name, Andrea Bonafede, both arrested on charges of aiding the boss Matteo Messina Denaro in evading capture, chose to invoke their right to remain silent during questioning by the Palermo District Attorney’s Office in the trial of former general practitioner Alfonso Tumbarello, 71 years old, from Campobello di Mazara, charged with external participation in a criminal association and falsification of public documents for issuing numerous certificates in the name of Bonafede Andrea, born in 1963, to allow the deceased Castelvetrano boss to receive medical treatment.

During a video conference from their respective prisons, the two cousins, after consulting with their lawyers over the phone, decided not to answer any questions. Andrea Bonafede, 55 years old, who used to collect the certificates on behalf of his cousin and accompanied the sick boss for medical tests in Marsala and later for hospitalization in Mazara del Vallo, stated that he would only speak if he could choose which questions to answer. The 60-year-old cousin, after admitting to providing his ID to Matteo Messina Denaro “for medical treatment,” asked if he could make spontaneous statements. However, the presiding judge, Vito Marcello Saladino, explained that their requests were not allowed by the laws governing the trial process.

Subsequently, an investigator, Carabinieri Ros lieutenant Fabio Fornara, testified about the investigations into former DC mayor of Castelvetrano Tonino Vaccarino’s attempts to contact Salvatore Messina Denaro, Matteo’s brother, through Dr. Tumbarello, the political relations between the two, and their Masonic affiliations, as well as their joint candidacy in support of Totò Cuffaro for the 2006 Regional Assembly elections.