Controversy in Palermo where the golden couple of the mafia families, formed by Tommaso Lo Presi known as “the big one” and his wife Teresa Martino, celebrated the anniversary of 25 years of marriage, last April 15th, in the church where today Giovanni Falcone, the judge killed by Cosa Nostra on 23 May 1992 together with his wife Francesca Morvillo and the escort agents, is buried. He was recently released from prison after years of detention for mafia and extortion, she was also convicted of mafia. Both chose to celebrate the religious rite in the San Domenico building. In the complex in which the church is located there is also the pantheon of illustrious Sicilians, from Giuseppe Pitrè to Giacomo Serpotta, which also houses the monumental tomb which has welcomed the remains of Giovanni Falcone since 2015. The Friar Prior, Father Sergio Catalano, made it known that he became aware of some information about the couple only by reading the news on Palermo Today. «The checks are not up to us – he adds – there are institutional bodies that have to do it». Lo Presti also left an offering at the church which Father Catalano says “will serve to do good to those in need”. The magistrate’s sister, Maria Falcone, intervened on the matter and said she was «indignant and saddened. It’s as if that mafioso had bullied Giovanni, but Giovanni from above doesn’t care about them”, she said to Republic.
The arrest of Lo Presti
After the ceremony in San Domenico the couple celebrated, within the time limits allowed to the special guard, in a villa also enlivened by the songs of two well-known neo-melodic artists. After the arrest of Lo Presti, 48 years old, in the Iago operation in 2014, investigators discovered the role of his wife which the judge who sentenced her described thus: «Teresa Marino during the period of her house arrest (in conjunction with her husband’s prison) received at her home all the prominent exponents of the Porta Nuova mafia district and gave them her own and her husband’s instructions and directives, sharing their criminal strategies. Furthermore, the mafia associates of the organization also turned to the woman to resolve issues and tensions within the association.”
