Woman hired Sicilian mafia hitmen to kill ex-lover, say police

Alleged killers and woman, 64, arrested after discovery of man’s body in cement wall

Lorenzo Tondo in Palermo
Sat 9 Mar 2019 15.50 GMT

A 64-year-old woman allegedly hired four Sicilian mafia henchmen to murder her ex-lover who had stolen her jewels, according to police. The killers, all Sicilians, carried out their order by walling the man in cement while he was still alive.

The victim, named as Lamaj Astrid, a 41-year-old Albanian national, disappeared without a trace in 2013. Six years later, an investigation in Sicily by anti-mafia prosecutors in Caltanissetta province led to the discovery of his corpse walled in a concrete pillar in a villa in Senago, a few kilometres from Monza on the mainland.

The man’s body was found in January while the villa was being renovated, but the authorities only disclosed the news on Friday.

The four alleged killers, who were arrested in Sicily, were linked to a powerful mafia family from Riesi, in Caltanissetta. They are accused of murder and concealing a corpse. After learning of the discovery of the body of her ex-lover, the woman reportedly attempted to flee via Genoa airport. Police arrested her before she could leave.

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