Messina Denaro had a Facebook and Instagram profile: it was the doctor Francesco Averna

The Cosa Nostra boss appeared on social media as a doctor graduated from Milan and living in Sicily named Francesco Averna. A way to continue his inaction and at the same time live in broad daylight without arousing suspicion. As his profile photo he had put a little dog with a handkerchief around its neck. It is another of the discoveries of the ROS carabinieri and the Palermo prosecutor’s office after the arrest of the super fugitive, which took place on 16 January last year.

Matteo Messina Denaro alias Francesco Averna

Francesco Averna was a doctor, single, with 60 followers and no personal photos. On Facebook and Instagram he appeared as a graduate of Bocconi University in Milan. As his profile photo he had put the face of a little white dog with a handkerchief around its neck in the foreground. In total he had 5 friends on social media, including several traders from Campobello di Mazara, where he lived. On Instagram, however, F.Averna followed 447 profiles and had 63 followers. A young man who works in a pizzeria in the center, writes Repubblica, admitted that he often saw him ordering pizza and drinks but that he had never imagined that he could be the boss of Cosa Nostra. The owner of another clothing store, however, denied having ever seen him, even though he is among Averna’s followers.

The investigations

With this fake profile on social networks, another piece is added in the investigations conducted by the prosecutor Maurizio de Lucia and the deputyPaolo Guido. A long and complex research, aimed at discovering the protections that the godfather of Cosa Nostra had during his hiding. The Boss was active on the two social profiles with a name invented from scratch, he did not make public posts, but used private messaging a lot. Already in 2013, the searches for Messina Denaro had led investigators to the Facebook trail where the boss communicated with his sister Anna Patrizia, alias Lucilla on social media.