Rita Atria

Rita Atria (Italian pronunciation: [ˈriːta ˈaːtrja]; September 4, 1974 − July 26, 1992) was a witness and key collaborator in a major Mafia investigation in Sicily. She died by suicide in July 1992, a week after Cosa Nostra killed prosecutor Paolo Borsellino, with whom she had been working.

Family background

Rita was born into a Mafia family in Partanna, Sicily. In 1985, at the age of 11, she lost her father, Vito, a shepherd, who was shot dead by a hit man from a rival Mafia family. Her brother, Nicola, vowed to avenge his father and probably knew the identity of the person who had killed him.

After her father's death, Rita became closer to her brother and his wife, Piera Aiello. Since her brother was also a Mafioso, Rita was privy to detailed information on the doings of the Mafia in Partanna. At some point, she also dated a boy who also had a role in the criminal underworld. In June 1991, the Mafia killed Nicola Atria. A month later her brother’s widow, Piera Aiello, went to the police and told them what she knew, thus initiating her collaboration with the judicial authorities.

Anti-mafia testimony

In November 1991, at the age of 17, Rita decided to follow in her sister-in-law's footsteps, hoping to obtain justice for these murders from the legal system. The first person she gave her testimony to was magistrate Paolo Borsellino, who took her under his wing much like a paternal figure. She gave Borsellino the names of bosses in the most powerful families and disclosed information about the war between the Mafia families of Partanna, in which 30 people died. She also disclosed the names of the men who had killed her father and brother.