Daughter who testified against mafia father in mother's murder case dies, believed suicide

Denise Cosco, the woman who once testified in court against her own father over the killing of her mother in a notorious mafia case, has died in what is believed to be suicide. She was found critically injured on Sunday and later died in a hospital in Rome.

Her mother, Lea Garofalo, was murdered in 2009 after turning state's witness against the 'Ndrangheta crime clan in southern Italy. Garofalo became a nationally recognised symbol of resistance against organised crime. Denise died at 35 — the same age her mother was when she was killed.

The murder itself was especially brutal: her father, Carlo Cosco, lured Garofalo to a meeting where she was strangled, her body then dismembered and burned. For years, Denise refused to accept her father's claim that her mother had simply abandoned the family for a new life abroad. Eventually, a statement from one of the killers led police to recover bone fragments and a necklace, which Denise identified. At a public funeral in 2013, she spoke of her mother's courage in standing up for justice.

At her father's trial, Denise testified from behind a screen, describing herself as a proud witness for justice and saying she needed inner freedom to rebuild her life. Her father and three accomplices are already serving life sentences.

Those who knew Denise say that, like her mother, she lived for years under a protected new identity, but continued to struggle with mental health issues and addiction. In recent years she had reconnected with her imprisoned father, reflecting how difficult it is to fully break family ties within organised crime networks, according to anti-mafia campaigners. Prosecutors have now launched an investigation into whether anyone incited her suicide and have seized her phone for analysis. Friends and supporters planned to gather in Milan to remember her, near the site where her mother was abducted.