Antonio Pignataro, a former leading figure in Campania's organized crime and a central figure in the Nuova Famiglia, the Camorra cartel that opposed Raffaele Cutolo's Nuova Camorra Organizzata in the 68s, has died at the age of 80.
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The former boss passed away yesterday afternoon at 13:15 pm in Scalea, Calabria, where he was under house arrest for health reasons, as part of a proceeding by the Catanzaro District Anti-Mafia Directorate related to alleged drug trafficking between Calabria and Campania.
The crime that shocked Italy: the death of Simonetta Lamberti
The name of Antonio Pignataro is inextricably linked to the tragic murder of Simonetta Lamberti, the 11-year-old girl killed on May 29, 1982 in an ambush in Vietri sul Mare. The target of the attack was the victim's father, Judge Alfonso Lamberti, then on the front lines in the fight against the Camorra.
Simonetta was hit by bullets while traveling in the car with her father, in what was one of the most painful and symbolic pages in Italian criminal history.
Pignataro, although not the material perpetrator of the crime, was involved in the ambush. Only thirty years later, in 2012, he decided to collaborate with the Anti-Mafia Prosecutor's Office of Salerno: "I did it out of remorse," he declared, revealing the identity of the instigators and killers, now deceased.
He was sentenced to 30 years in prison and sent a public letter, with an appeal to young people: "Stay away from this life that brings only destruction."
A criminal record spanning decades
“Zu Antonio”, as he was known in the environment, boasted a past marked by numerous definitive convictions for Camorra crimes. From the years of the New Camorra to the most recent anti-mafia investigations, his name has been cited several times in DIA reports as an influential figure in the criminal geography of the Salerno area, particularly in Nocera Inferiore and in the entire area of Agro nocerino-sarnese.
The return to favour and the new legal troubles
Despite his long judicial record, Pignataro returned to the news in 2017, when he was arrested on charges of political-mafia electoral exchange during the municipal elections in Nocera Inferiore. According to the DDA, he had made an agreement with some candidates: votes in exchange for building favors. After two convictions in the first and second instance, he was acquitted by the Court of Appeal of Naples for lack of evidence.
In 2023, a new chapter: he ended up under house arrest again as part of an investigation by the Catanzaro Anti-Mafia, which considered him a mediator between the Campania clans and the Calabrian narcos in a drug trafficking ring. The trial was still ongoing at the Paola Court.
The reactions
Upon hearing the news of his death, Rosaria Schifani, Simonetta Lamberti's mother, declared: "May God forgive him and help his children." A phrase that summarizes the human and symbolic weight of a criminal affair that lasted over forty years and that deeply marked the history of justice and the Camorra in Campania.
With the passing of Antonio Pignataro, another chapter of the old Camorra closes: that of historic feuds, of high-profile murders and of bosses who then went from silence to collaboration. A controversial figure, between the darkness of a past marked by blood and the fragile light of a repentance that came too late.
Article published on 16 April 2025 - 15:24
