Three coasts

There were three men named Marino, on both sides of the Leggio-Navarra war in Corleone. One is related to two Mafia bosses.

In my first post on the relations among defendants at the 1969 Corleonesi trial, I focused on the Leggio-Riina connections. Another set of defendants with a common surname are the Marinos, whose paternal lines I’ve traced to three different couples who lived in the 1600s. One of these are the ancestors of both Dr. Navarra and of Toto Riina.

In Italian, “marino” refers to the sea or the coast. The triangular island of Sicily has three coastlines, with the closest to Corleone being to the north. In mountainous, inland Corleone, the name “Marino” suggests an origin elsewhere, on one of those coasts. It’s not yet known where the family got their name, when they came to Corleone, or even if they share a common ancestor.

Of the men named Marino who were involved in the Leggio-Navarra war of the 1950s, there were associates of both cosci. I’ve traced their roots to three different men who lived in Corleone in the 1600s. Of two of their families, little is known, but the third is rich in mafia connections.

Some background on the war: Luciano Leggio was recruited by Dr. Michele Navarra in 1945. By that time, he’d already served a six month prison sentence for murder, when he was still a teenager. He was imprisoned again in the late 1940s, where he met Toto Riina, who would become his criminal accomplice back in Corleone.

Leggio is described as an arrogant and volatile man. The kidnapping and murder of the trade unionist Placido Rizzotto, which Leggio was seen participating in, happened in broad daylight, yet Leggio was acquitted twice in the murder. He was clearly already a powerful mafioso when he began building a close group of associates who were loyal to him alone, and not to Navarra.

In 1956, Leggio’s men (sometimes called the “cosca leggiana” or the Liggiani) went to war against the Navarriani. An attempt was made on Leggio’s life two years later, which he escaped with slight injury. He retaliated, killing the brothers Marco and Giovanni Marino, and Pietro Maiuri, another associate of Navarra, on 6 September 1958.

The assassinated brothers are identified as the sons of Paola Pomilla in Zingales’ book on the life of Bernardo Provenzano. Paola is the wife of Salvatore Marino: they married in 1924. Marco is named after his paternal grandfather, and so is presumably the elder. I’ve traced the brothers’ male line back to (Carlo Marino‘s parents) their fifth great grandparents Antonino and Rosa, who I estimate were born around 1651.

Two of Leggio’s men were also named Marino, Bernardo and Leoluca. Because they appear at Bari, their birthdates and parents’ names are known from the trial record. They’re of no known relation to one another, or to the brothers from the navarriana cosca.

As part of the violence of Leggio’s war for dominance of the mafia in Corleone, one of his targets was Francesco Paolo Streva, Dr. Navarra’s fearsome, ambidextrous hit man. Bernardo Marino was one of the assassins. Streva’s face was disfigured, according to the farmer who found his body, and a finger from Streva’s left hand was removed. Bernardo is named in connection with the top members of Luciano Leggio’s cosca, including Bernardo Provenzano, Calogero Bagarella, Salvatore Riina, and Leggio himself. I’ve traced Bernardo Marino’s male line back to his fifth great grandparents (Onofrio Marino‘s parents) Antonino and Anna, who I estimate were born around 1668.

Leoluca Leggio, who was on trial at Bari with three of his brothers, his father, and his uncle, is Toto Riina’s third cousin. (The large Leggio family, of which there were so many members on trial, and Luciano Leggio, their leader, do not have a common ancestor, going back at least five generations.) Riina would take over from Leggio, upon his arrest.

There is no known relation between the brothers who were killed on Luciano Leggio’s orders, and his brother in law, Leoluca Marino. Marino was a defendant at Bari along with his wife, Carmela Leggio, the sister of the boss. Marino’s parents were first cousins, once removed. (Endogamy is very common among mafia families.) I’ve traced Leoluca’s paternal line back to his fifth great-grandparents, Nunzio Marino and his wife, Maria, who I estimate were born around 1649. Through Nunzio, Leoluca Marino is also related to Toto Riina: they are sixth cousins, once removed.

Nunzio is also the ancestor of fourth cousins Michele Navarra and Toto Riina. One of Nunzio’s twice great grandchildren was Maria Marino, who married Puntillo, an associate of Rapanzino. Another is Lucia Marino, who married Gioachino Riina: they are the third great grandparents of Toto Riina. Nunzio Marino is the sixth-great grandfather of both Toto Riina, who took over leadership from Luciano Leggio, and of Dr. Navarra, their murdered rival.

 

Sources

Attilio Bolzoni and Francesco Viviano. “Provenzano fantasma di Corleone che da 40 anni vive in latitanza.” Published in La Repubblica 17 September 2003. Accessed http://www.repubblica.it/2003/i/sezioni/cronaca/provenzano/provenzano/provenzano.html 16 June 2016.

Luciano Leggio entry on Wikipedia. Accessed http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luciano_Leggio 16 June 2016.

Leone Zingales. Provenzano: Il Re di Cosa Nostra. Pellegrini Editore, 2001.