The policy of Maio led to a general conspiracy, and in November 1160 Maio was murdered in Palermo by Matthew Bonello, leader of the Sicilian nobles.
After the assassination of Maio, the royal palace was stormed by two of the king's own relatives: his illegitimate half-brother Simon, whom he had dispossessed of Taranto early in his reign and his bastard nephew Tancred, the count of Lecce.