On 23 May 1992 , Falcone , his wife and three bodyguards were killed by a bomb planted under the highway outside of Palermo . Giovanni Brusca later claimed that ' boss of bosses ' Salvatore Riina had told him that after the assassination of Falcone , there were indirect negotiations with the government . Former interior minister Nicola Mancino later said this was not true . In July 2012 , Mancino was ordered to stand trial on charges of withholding evidence on 1992 talks between the Italian state and the Mafia and the killings of Falcone and Borsellino . Some prosecutors have theorized that Borsellino was killed because he had found out about the negotiations
killed by a bomb
Capaci bombing
Paolo Borsellino