Abandoned by friends and family , both Rita and Piera Aiello had turned to Borsellino for emotional support . They referred to him as " Uncle Paolo " and phoned him whenever they needed him . He visited them whenever he was in Rome , even after they had finished their depositions . Borsellino used to pinch Rita on the cheek and poked fun at her tough , streetwise behaviour , calling her a " mafiosa with a skirt . " On July 19 , 1992 , a Mafia bomb killed Borsellino , less than two months after his colleague Giovanni Falcone had been killed . Rita wrote in her diary : " You have died for what you believed in , but without you , I too am dead . " A week later Rita locked herself into the apartment and wrote a note , which said : " I am devastated by the killing of Judge Borsellino . Now there 's no one to protect me , I 'm scared and I ca n't take it any more . " Then she threw herself out of the window
killed
Capaci bombing
Rita Atria