Baldassare Di Maggio (San Giuseppe Jato, 19 November 1954), also known as Balduccio, was a member of the Mafia, who became a government witness (pentito - repentant).
Di Maggio was born in San Giuseppe Jato, a town in the province of Palermo and was initiated in 1981 in the local Mafia family, headed by Bernardo Brusca.
Some, including Giovanni Brusca, claim that Di Maggio's lead was a cover for the fact that the perennial fugitive Bernardo Provenzano had betrayed his former associate Riina.
[4] Di Maggio claimed to have been present at a Mafia meeting with Giulio Andreotti where Totò Riina allegedly greeted the former Prime Minister with a "kiss of honour".
"[7][8] According to Di Maggio, the incident happened in September 1987 at the Palermo home of Ignazio Salvo, a high-ranking associate of Andreotti who was accused by informers of being one of the politician's main contacts with Cosa Nostra.
"[7] Andreotti dismissed the charges against him as "lies and slander ... the kiss of Riina, mafia summits ... scenes out of a comic horror film.
"[9] Di Maggio's credibility had been shaken in the closing weeks of the Andreotti trial when he admitted killing a man while under state protection.
Although key witnesses in several important trials were under way, they recommenced their criminal activities and avenge atrocities by the Bruscas carried out on their family members.