The Cold Summer

by Gianrico Carofiglio

  9

  At 9.30 on 22 May 1992, in Bari, at the offices of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Carabinieri, Vito Lopez, whose particulars have already been stated in other documents, appears before the Public Prosecutor as represented by Assistant Prosecutor Gemma D’Angelo, assisted in the drafting of the current document by Sergeant Ignazio Calcaterra, and also in the presence, for the purposes of the investigation, of Captain Alberto Valente, Marshal Pietro Fenoglio and Corporal Antonio Pellecchia, all detectives in the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Carabinieri of Bari. Also present is Lopez’s defence lawyer, Avvocato Marianna Formica.

  QUESTION At the end of your previous statement, you hinted at the deterioration in your relationship with Grimaldi. Could you tell us the details?

  ANSWER As I said, I had become Grimaldi’s right-hand man. I was the only person he trusted, partly because over time there had been various problems within the group: some had been killed, some had been arrested; Grimaldi was afraid that certain others might be police informers and, generally, that his commanding position might be threatened. The more time passed, the more paranoid he became.

  QUESTION Who were the members of the group whom Grimaldi feared might be police informers?

  ANSWER Let us say that he was worried about a number of individuals, but without any real foundation. In reality, I believe he was losing faith in certain people and for that very reason hypothesized (often, I repeat, with no foundation) betrayals and informers. For example, he was obsessed with the people in Japigia. He had a competitive attitude towards their boss, Savino Parisi. He considered himself superior to him and suffered greatly from the fact that, in the newspapers and in the opinion of the law enforcement agencies, Parisi was considered more important. If he ever found out, or even only suspected, that any of his people had contacts with members of Parisi’s group, he immediately thought that it was a plot to oust him.

  QUESTION Was there any foundation to this idea?

  ANSWER As far as I know, Parisi had no interest in extending his influence over an area so far from the neighbourhood in which he is still the undisputed boss and where, as I believe you know, people come from all over the region and even from outside to stock up with drugs, because of the reasonable prices. Moreover, in many cases, he only imagined these contacts, which were for the most part nonexistent. It did happen that some of our people were acquainted or friendly with some of Parisi’s people, but, as far as I know, there was no sharing of criminal activities.

  QUESTION What about the idea that there were informers?

  ANSWER This had more foundation, although Grimaldi exaggerated it. He was obsessed with the idea of omertà, not just as a practical instrument to keep us safe from the activities of the law enforcement agencies, but also as a symbolic fact. It is not easy to explain but – this is something I understood as time passed – Grimaldi had and has delusions of grandeur. He likes to think that his organization is as important and respected as the great Mafia organizations in Sicily, Calabria or Naples. I have to say that not even at the height of my criminal career did I ever believe that things were like that. Ours was little more than a local organization, even though we liked to talk a lot about omertà, honour and affiliations. Anyway, Grimaldi, because of the obsession of which I have spoken, expected to exercise very strict control over his associates. A few days ago, I told you about the Curly episode, which was one of the first manifestations of this delusion.

  QUESTION Who else provided information to the law enforcement agencies, in Grimaldi’s opinion?

  ANSWER He had become obsessed with two men: Gaetano D’Agostino, known as Shorty, and Simone Losurdo, known as the Mosquito. One afternoon in March, he sent for me and told me that he needed to kill those two. He said, to be more specific, that he needed to kill them and make sure they disappeared, so that not even their own mothers could mourn these two snitches in a cemetery.

  QUESTION What did you reply?

  ANSWER I asked him why, even though I already knew of the rumours circulating about D’Agostino. He repeated that they were both lousy snitches, that they were talking to the police and that it was necessary to eliminate them in order to send a signal. Among other things, he added, he believed they were engaging in extortion without asking for authorization.

  QUESTION Whom should they have asked for authorization?

  ANSWER Grimaldi. Or at least they should have told me or another of Grimaldi’s lieutenants, Capocchiani or Vito Pastore, and then waited for us to talk to Grimaldi and give them the go-ahead. I have to say, however, that the matter of the extortion was conjecture on Grimaldi’s part, and when I asked him to clarify for me how he had reached this hypothesis he replied that he knew and that was it. He had got himself into a real temper, something which had been happening with increasing frequency. I told him that we could kill D’Agostino, even though the increase in the number of murders would lead to an increased presence of the law enforcement agencies on our territory and make things more difficult for us. But there was nothing on Losurdo, and it seemed to me absurd to kill him simply on the basis of conjecture. I should make it clear that I had a personal relationship with Losurdo that led me to defend him.

  QUESTION What are you referring to?

  ANSWER Losurdo and I shared a passion for dogs. He had a pair of Alsatians. When they had puppies, he gave me one and we had got into the habit of taking our dogs together out into the country to let them run about and to train them. Often, when I had to be away for a few days, Losurdo would go to my place, collect my dog and take it out with his. Partly for this reason, it could be said that Losurdo and I were friends. In fact, I was much fonder of him than of almost anybody else in the group.

  QUESTION How did Grimaldi react when you told him that it was not right to kill Losurdo?

  ANSWER He said: all right, for now we will kill that piece of shit D’Agostino. Then we shall see if anything comes out about the Mosquito.

  QUESTION How long after this dialogue was D’Agostino killed?

  ANSWER A few weeks later.

  QUESTION Who took care of it?

  ANSWER The men involved were Mario Abbinante, known as Little Mario, and Cosimo Lacoppola, known as Snowy because of his dandruff. They shot D’Agostino as he was on his way to police headquarters, where he had to report regularly because he was under special surveillance. They went there on an Enduro motorcycle and used a revolver. Little Mario was the one who fired the shot. Snowy was driving the bike and had another gun with him, a 7.65, I think, although it was not used. I believe no cartridges were found at the scene of the crime. These things were all reported to me by Grimaldi soon after the killing took place and after the two men involved had told him everything.

  QUESTION We will talk in greater detail about this episode later. For now, tell us about the disappearance of Simone Losurdo.

  ANSWER It happened when I had left for Milan, where I was supposed to be collecting a consignment of cocaine, the purchase of which we had negotiated with the people from Cerignola – of whom I have already spoken – who had direct contact with Colombia.

  QUESTION Was it normal for you to be involved with transporting drugs?

  ANSWER Grimaldi usually sent me when there were important consignments. In this case, we needed to collect five kilos of cocaine, which was why I did not suspect a thing. I was in the car, near Ancona perhaps, when my wife called me and said that Losurdo’s wife had called her. She was worried because her husband had not come home the previous evening. This sometimes happened but, like almost all of us, Losurdo usually warned her if he had to be away. His wife was very worried because he had not even come back the following morning and could not be reached on his mobile phone.

  QUESTION What did you do then?

  ANSWER I asked if they had checked the little colonial house that Losurdo had in the country between Molfetta and Bisceglie, where he kept the dogs and which we used as a storehouse for stolen goods. For example, we once hid there a batch of forms
for identity cards, stolen from the printworks in Foggia; another time, the contents of numerous safe-deposit boxes from a major robbery from the vault of the BNL bank in Reggio Calabria.

  QUESTION What did your wife do?

  ANSWER She called me back an hour later and told me that they had gone together to check the house. Losurdo was not there, but the most worrying thing was that the dogs were not there either.

  QUESTION What did this mean?

  ANSWER Losurdo might have gone away without warning because he had some important business to attend to, or it might have been something to do with a woman. In itself, his disappearance was unusual, but not inexplicable and not necessarily alarming. It had happened before, although rarely. If, however, not even the dogs were there, it became much more difficult to hypothesize that Losurdo had gone away because of some unexpected engagement. If he had done that, he would not have taken the dogs with him.

  QUESTION What did you think at that point?

  ANSWER I was very worried. So I called Grimaldi. He did not reply immediately, and when he did I asked him in an angry tone what was going on. He was strangely agitated, to the extent that I thought he was under the influence of cocaine. He told me not to worry, to do what I had set out to do, and that when I returned he would explain everything.

  QUESTION What did you reply to that?

  ANSWER I got very angry and told him again that I wanted to know what had happened and that if he did not answer me I would turn back. Grimaldi said that everything was all right, but it was not a good idea to talk on the telephone – it was not yet clear if and how mobile phones could be tapped – and repeated that when I got back he would explain everything.

  QUESTION What did you do?

  ANSWER I was tempted to turn back, but I had already passed Bologna. So I decided to collect the cocaine as quickly as possible and then come straight back, travelling by night if I had to.

  QUESTION Was anyone with you on this mission?

  ANSWER Yes, a young man named Marino Demattia was with me. I was his godfather, having affiliated him as a camorrista and then promoted him to the rank of sgarrista.

  QUESTION So this Demattia answered to you and not to Grimaldi?

  ANSWER Not exactly. I was his godfather and his superior, so he answered to me, but Grimaldi being the boss, it was obvious that he also answered to him. If Grimaldi ordered him to do something, he would have to do it.

  QUESTION And if you did not agree, could you have forbidden Demattia – or any of your godsons – to obey Grimaldi?

  ANSWER No, Grimaldi was everybody’s boss, even mine. Naturally, over time, I had gained a position of importance in the group and it could be said that I was the de facto deputy, even though there were others of the same rank as me, that is, the Santa. I was therefore entitled to challenge his choices and could raise objections to what he was planning to do. If, however, the argument continued, the last word was always his.

  QUESTION One thing I forgot to ask you: what rank is Grimaldi?

  ANSWER Grimaldi has the fifth rank, that is, the Vangelo. As far as I know, in the whole of Apulia only Giosuè Rizzi and Pino Rogoli, whom I have already mentioned, are definitely higher in rank, that is, the sixth or even the seventh. It is likely there are a few others, and I have no idea what the situation is in Salento. I have to add that there exists a kind of regime of secrecy when it comes to the higher ranks, who are known only to those of the same rank. What we knew was that Grimaldi was lower in rank only to the supreme bosses and to the Calabrians from whom they had drawn their legitimacy.

  QUESTION How many santistas are there in Società Nostra?

  ANSWER There were four of us at that time: Vito Pastore, Michele Capocchiani, Nicola Maselli, who had moved somewhere near Turin some time previously, and myself.

  QUESTION Let us return to your journey to Milan to acquire the cocaine from the Cerignola people.

  ANSWER I got to Rozzano. A dispatch rider was waiting for me at a petrol station just outside the town and led me to an area on the outskirts that I do not think I would be able to find again. The exchange took place in the garage of a very large apartment block with a portico. The same dispatch rider took me out of town and we got straight back into our own car to drive back to Bari.

  QUESTION What time was it?

  ANSWER It was late afternoon. We drove all night, taking turns, and got to Bari in the morning.

  QUESTION On the way back, were you in contact with anyone? Your wife, Grimaldi, Losurdo’s wife, or any members of the organization?

  ANSWER I spoke to my wife. She confirmed that there was no trace of Losurdo. She even asked me if his wife should report him missing. I told her to wait until I got back. When I arrived, the first thing I did was go and hide the cocaine I had collected in Rozzano. I should point out that I did this after dropping Demattia at his home.

  QUESTION Why?

  ANSWER Because I had decided to hide the cocaine in a secret place known only to me. I was afraid – and my fears would turn out to be well founded – that the situation might come to a head. I did not want to hand the cocaine over to Grimaldi, thinking that it might finance a possible conflict.

  QUESTION So at that moment you had already decided to start a war with Grimaldi?

  ANSWER Not exactly. I wanted to confront him, talk to him, demand an explanation. Before anything else, I wanted to ask him if he was responsible for Losurdo’s disappearance. I was almost certain he was, but I wanted him to confirm it. Once I had clarified that, if he convinced me that the elimination had been unavoidable – providing me with evidence of incorrect conduct by Losurdo – I would accept it as a natural consequence of the application of the organization’s rules. If, on the other hand, I was convinced that the elimination of Losurdo had been an abuse of power, I was aware of the fact that the situation might deteriorate. For a war, arms and money would be necessary, so the cocaine I had hidden might be useful to me.

  QUESTION Where did you hide it?

  ANSWER In the same place as the arms I led you to.

  QUESTION What did you do then?

  ANSWER I went to see Losurdo’s wife, in the hope of obtaining some useful information. But she was very agitated, almost hysterical. She kept repeating that her husband had been murdered, that she had known it would end like this. Then I went to the farmhouse where Losurdo kept his dogs to see if there were any traces of violence.

  QUESTION Were there any?

  ANSWER No. I made a rapid search of the surroundings and found nothing. So I decided to go and see Grimaldi.

  QUESTION Did you call him before you went to see him?

  ANSWER No. I had stopped trusting him, and it seemed to me more prudent to go to him without warning him in advance.

  QUESTION What were you afraid of?

  ANSWER Nothing specific, but I had become very mistrustful and acted accordingly. So I went to Grimaldi’s house, knocked at the door and told him that we should go and have a coffee. Out in the street, I asked him what had happened to Losurdo.

  QUESTION What did he say?

  ANSWER All he said in reply was to ask me the whereabouts of the cocaine I had collected in Rozzano. I told him it was safe, and asked him again what had happened to Losurdo. At that point we had an argument, because he wanted me to go and get the cocaine and move it to the place previously arranged: the garage of a man without a criminal record, where we kept narcotics and weapons under secure conditions. He asked me in an angry tone why I had not already taken it there. I replied that I had had the impression I was being followed by the police, that I had shaken off the car that had appeared to be following me and that I had hidden my car with the cocaine in a warehouse in the industrial area.

  QUESTION But that was not true.

  ANSWER No, it was not. As I explained, I had put the cocaine in that particular hiding place, but naturally I had no intention of telling Grimaldi. Such a decision would have seemed a declaration of mistrust and war. The atmosphere of our conversation wa
s very tense from the start, but I was anxious for it not to deteriorate, at least not before I had found out what had happened to Losurdo. I assured him that once I knew that, I would go and get the car and the cocaine and take them to the place agreed upon. Grimaldi calmed down, or perhaps pretended to, and gave me something of an explanation.

  QUESTION What did he tell you?

  ANSWER He said Losurdo had been killed. When I asked him why, he told me that Losurdo had on several occasions bought drugs from Albanian traffickers without informing him and above all without paying the share owing to the group for activities carried out independently.

  QUESTION How much was this share?

  ANSWER There was no fixed percentage. Let us say it depended on the kind of activity and how much it was worth. For drug-related activities it was ten per cent.

  QUESTION How had Grimaldi found out about the things he attributed to Losurdo?

  ANSWER He did not tell me. He said only that he was sure the information was correct, that there was no doubt, and that the only thing to do was kill him. Someone who behaves in that way, breaking the rules of allegiance, was capable of anything.

  QUESTION And what did you reply?

  ANSWER That in my opinion the person who had told him these things was simply someone who was putting on the tragedy.

  QUESTION What does “putting on the tragedy” mean?

  ANSWER Saying things that are not true, or only partly true, with the aim of manipulating the other person and stirring up trouble.

  QUESTION Who did you think had “put on the tragedy” and accused Losurdo unjustly?

  ANSWER Actually, I did not have a clear idea. Mine was an angry reaction to the confident tone with which Grimaldi asserted that Losurdo had done incorrect things. I was well aware – and still am – of how rumours circulate and how easy it is to believe them. Anyway, I dropped the question of the validity of the accusations against Losurdo and asked Grimaldi why he had acted when I had been away. He replied very honestly that he knew I was against the elimination of Losurdo and that was why he had decided to act when I was away. His honesty on this point left me speechless for a few moments. It was then that he told me about the dogs.