Mario Francese was the first journalist to report that a peasant from Corleone named Salvatore Riina had become the head of the "new mafia." A crime reporter for the Giornale di Sicilia, he carried out his work in an atmosphere of isolation, uneasy caution, and resistance even within his own newspaper. In that environment, Francese moved without hesitation, driven by the pride of his profession and the authenticity of his sources.

Everyone in the newsroom knew of his determination, precision, and the extraordinary civic commitment with which he uncovered and explored the most complex and significant mafia-related events of the 1970s. In his journalistic investigations, Mario Francese lucidly traced the rise of Cosa Nostra’s control by the Corleonesi and provided a thoroughly documented account of the dealings behind the construction of the Garcia Dam. Land deals, area speculation—he foresaw a new frontier, a kind of El Dorado, long before judicial investigations caught up.

Mario Francese was married, had four children, and was 54 years old when he was heading home after a day’s work. “Men of Colorado, I greet you and I’m off,” was his customary farewell to colleagues before stepping out of the newsroom.

He was murdered by the mafia in Palermo, shot on his doorstep, on January 26, 1979. According to investigations and trials, the killer who pulled the trigger was Leoluca Bagarella, a boss from Corleone. The murder was both a vendetta against a journalist who dared to speak out and a chilling warning to the entire press.