Camorra informer: "Michele Senese ordered the killing of Antonio Moccia from prison."

Afragola – Notes from prison with orders to manage loan sharking and drug trafficking in Afragola and kill rival Antonio Moccia.

This is how Cosimo Nicolì, a collaborator with the Senese clan, describes his criminal connection with boss Michele Senese, known as 'o pazz, who was yesterday issued a prison warrant at the request of the Rome Anti-Mafia Directorate (DDA) for the murder of Fabrizio Piscitelli, aka Diabolik, the drug trafficker and Lazio ultra killed in Rome on August 7, 2019.

Cosimo Nicolì, from Ciro Contini's 'Rinnegati' group, is collaborating with the justice system.

Nicolì, a prominent figure in the Neapolitan criminal scene – part of the 'Rinnegati' Camorra group led by Ciro Contini, nephew of boss Eduardo Contini (aka 'o romano) who was close to the Senese family – reveals, in addition to the gang's dealings, the role of Michele 'o pazz in the criminal underworld of his hometown: Afragola.

"Michele Senese's orders were given from prison via notes, delivered to Enzo (his son, ed.) or to his wife via shoes. The notes contained his father's orders addressed to his wife and, predominantly, to Angelo Senese. Because there, the one who handles the most serious matters is Angelo Senese," Cosimo Nicolì told prosecutors from the Rome Anti-Mafia District Attorney's Office.

The plan to kill Antonio Moccia: the notes and phone calls from prison to Cosimo Nicolì.

In the March 20, 2023, report, the cooperating witness recounts that after being released from prison in 2020, he went to Afragola and was suddenly called by his wife, who informed him that she had a message to deliver from Eugenio Conocchia, Michele Senese's errand boy, who was then in prison. The message was precise: "Kill Antonio Moccia."

The informer recounts that, through the intermediary, he received orders from the boss to approach Moccia and kill him. This was a plot to avenge Antonio Gaglione, a Marcianise native, Michele Senese's brother-in-law, who had been targeted by the Moccias. The plan was for Nicolì to travel to Afragola in June 2020, staying in a villa already prepared by Franco Giglio, introducing himself as Michele Senese's nephew.

But the approach and murder of Antonio Moccia failed. Nicolì revealed that the Senese boss controlled everything that happened outside from prison: "Always through notes. Always talking to his wife and son, Chell's only conversations with his wife and son. Raffaellina knew everything Michele Senese did: life, death, and miracles."

The cooperating witness: "He kept calling me about Moccia, but I was working independently on drugs and loan sharking."

Senese, the informer reveals, had called him throughout 2020 to get information on the preparations for Antonio Moccia's murder, and in the meantime had given him carte blanche to manage drug trafficking and loan sharking in his hometown: "He called me on the phone, which we had two small disposable phones, always about Antonio. He would say next to me: 'How are things going?' 'And things with Antonio? What's he doing?' I would say: 'Uncle, everything's fine, we're seeing, don't worry.' My wife was using the phone; I never had it. When it was, my wife would answer and then pass it to me. The only thing he wanted was to kill Antonio Moccia, and he had little interest in anything I did. In fact, he supported me in everything."

The drug dealing centers in Afragola managed on behalf of Michele Senese

According to the Roman Anti-Mafia Directorate (DDA) and his own revelations, Cosimo Nicolì had taken over all the drug dealing hubs in Afragola on behalf of Michele Senese, until he was forced to leave the city in September 2020: "I took out all the drug hubs in Afragola. I wanted to rebuild them my way, but I wasn't able to because the time was short."

Repentant Nicolì: "Michele Senese is the Hitler of 2021. He feigned insanity, and Semeraro did it to him because it was incompatible with prison."

When asked by prosecutors about Michele Senese's criminal profile, the cooperating witness describes him as a ruthless man whose name strikes fear in everyone, even hardened criminals. He then mentions the nickname he's known by in the criminal world: 'o pazz' (the crazy man). "When you mention the name Michele Senese, people get scared... even the bosses, big bosses, when you talk about Michele Senese... the clock stops," says Cosimo Nicolì. "He fought the war with those who... with the Magliulos in Afragola who would leave the dead outside the door when he killed them. Michele Senese is a criminal, he's Hitler, let's say, from 2021. Don't look at him like that, Michele Senese with the short guy [even though he's small]. Everyone's afraid of Michele Senese. Never say 'o Pazz' (the crazy guy)."

The cooperating witness reveals the origin of the boss's nickname: "He's not the crazy one, mind you. If we talk about Michele Senese, he's 'o Micciariell', it's another nickname, not 'o Pazz'; 'o Pazz' is 'o frate, Antonio Senese.' Then they gave him the name 'o Pazz' because he acted like he was crazy [because he pretended to be crazy], he talked to himself, and Semeraro did something that was incompatible with the prison regime and put himself in a clinic."