Chief of staff of Italian Air Force General Enzo Vecciarelli visits the ancient theatre of Taormina, near Messina, in Sicily, South Italy, during a site inspection for the G7. Photo / AP
Just days before US President Donald Trump and other leaders arrive in Sicily for the G7 summit, an alleged mafia don was shot dead in broad daylight on the gritty streets of Palermo.
Giuseppe Dainotti, regarded as a senior godfather in Sicily's Cosa Nostra mafia, died today after two men
riding a motorbike drew up alongside him and shot him in the head, the Daily Telegraph reports.
The killing bore all the hallmarks of a professional mafia hit. Police believe he was killed by rivals within Cosa Nostra, possibly over a drug turf war, amid reports that he had been a "dead man walking" for at least a year.
It was the first killing of an alleged mafia boss in Sicily for three years. The 67-year-old was riding a bicycle when he was shot dead.
"I heard two gun shots. It was about 7.50am," said a local woman. "I thought they were fireworks at first - people round here let them off at all times. I looked outside and I saw a man lying on the ground, losing blood from his head. There was no one else around. As soon as I realised that a murder had been committed I was terrified."
