‘King of Rome’: Scandal over mafia funeral, complete with petals dropped by helicopter

Romans aghast at a spiralling mafia probe have new reason for outrage - the Hollywood-style funeral of a purported local crime boss, replete with a gilded, horse-drawn carriage, flower petals tossed from a helicopter and the theme music from “The Godfather” playing outside the church.

Hundreds of tearful mourners paid their final respects to Vittorio Casamonica, 65, at the San Giovanni Bosco church on Rome’s outskirts on Thursday. Police identified him as a leader of the Casamonica clan active in the southwest part of the capital but said he was “on the margins” of organised crime and hadn’t emerged as a suspect in recent mafia investigations.

“You conquered Rome, now you’ll conquer paradise,” read a banner affixed to the entrance of the church. “King of Rome,” read another, featuring Casamonica’s image, the Colosseum and St Peter’s Basilica.

Mayor Ignazio Marino called Rome’s prefect demanding to know how such a scene could have taken place and tweeted that it was “intolerable that funerals are used by the living to send mafia messages.”

The parish priest, the Reverend Giancarlo Manieri, said he had no control over what happened outside the church and that inside, the funeral was celebrated normally, the ANSA news agency reported.

Lawmakers expressed outrage at the scene, which played out on TV newscasts all afternoon and evening: Six black horses pulling an antique, black-and-gold carriage to a stop in front of the church as a band played the soulful tunes of “The Godfather”, and mourners tossing bouquets of flowers as the casket was carried into the church.