Police investigating a murderous mafia boss have found posters of Al Pacino as the Godfather and Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker in the apartment where he is thought to have lived before his arrest.

Matteo Messina Denaro, formerly Italy’s most wanted man, was detained in the Sicilian capital Palermo on 16 January after 30 years on the run as he was going to a private hospital for cancer treatment.

Italian police also said they found a loaded Smith & Wesson .38 caliber special revolver, and a package with a further 20 rounds of the same bullets in the same apartment.

As well as the Godfather and Joker movie posters, officers’ footage showed the boss had a picture of a lion on his living room wall, while a calendar featuring a scantily-clad woman was found hanging in a small room he used as a personal gym.

Everyday items such as an ironing board and a drying rack were also found, along with perfumes and designer clothes.

The apartment where Messina Denaro was believed to be living in the months before he was detained, was in a modest building in Campobello di Mazara, a few miles away from his home town of Castelvetrano.

He was living a “regular” life there, including going to the supermarket, according to magistrates.

Matteo Messina Denaro: Man whose identity was used by prolific mafia boss arrested in Sicily

Who is mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro? ‘Last godfather’ represented ‘all the secrets of Cosa Nostra’

Italy’s most wanted mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro arrested, police say

Read more:
What next for the mafia?
‘Last godfather’ represented ‘all the secrets of Cosa Nostra’
Man whose identity was used by prolific mafia boss arrested in Sicily

Messina Denaro, 60, is being held in a high-security jail near the central Italian city of l’Aquila, where he will be under tough restrictions aimed at preventing mobsters from running criminal activities from prison.

He was sentenced in absentia in 2020 to a life term for his role in the 1992 murders of anti-mafia prosecutors Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.

Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts

He also faces a life sentence for his role in bomb attacks in Florence, Rome and Milan which killed 10 people the following year.

Messina Denaro is also accused of being solely or jointly responsible for numerous other murders in the 1990s.

Related posts:

Alleged drug kingpin told to hand himself in after being tricked into spreading fake phone app Sri Lanka cargo ship disaster: Large oil spill visible in satellite images Russian submarine test fires hypersonic Tsirkon cruise missile that ‘could travel up to 6,900mph’ ‘Doug’ the mutant spud could be world’s heaviest potato at nearly 8kg Hundreds of thousands probably died due to ‘bad behaviour’ over Oxford vaccine, says scientist Sleeping for an extra hour every night can help you lose weight, study finds ‘They beat us really cruelly’ – Protesters injured as Sri Lankan forces raid camp outside president’s office Former Irish soldier who joined Islamic State is jailed Passenger plane crashes into Lake Victoria as it was landing at airport ‘Historic’ moment as climate compensation to be discussed at UN talks for first time Friend and star of The Crown, Khalid Abdalla, calls for British-Egyptian activist’s release Police arrest president of Peru after Congress votes to remove him from power