Paolo Giaccone was a university professor of forensic medicine at the University of Palermo. Thanks to the innovative techniques he developed – which earned him recognition even from the U.S. FBI – he became a key reference for the Palermo Public Prosecutor's Office, which entrusted him with medical assessments and autopsy reports. He performed autopsies on Regional President Piersanti Mattarella, Judge Cesare Terranova, and Prosecutor Gaetano Costa, all murdered by the Mafia.

In December 1981, after a shootout in the streets of Bagheria that left four dead, he was assigned to analyze the case in order to identify the killer using forensic evidence. His fingerprint analysis linked the evidence from the crime scene to one of the hitmen of the "Corso dei Mille" Mafia clan. In an attempt to falsify the report, Giaccone began to receive all kinds of pressure from individuals connected to organized crime. He firmly rejected these threats, remaining loyal to his duty and strong moral principles.

He was murdered by a Cosa Nostra hitman on August 11, 1982, for refusing to falsify an expert report that would have acquitted the perpetrator of another Mafia killing in Bagheria, which had left four people dead in the street.