Mafia boss was suffering from cancer.

Messina Denaro, 61, had been suffering from colon cancer and was transferred last month from L'Aquila high-security jail to a prison wing at the city's San Salvatore hospital after his condition deteriorated.

The Cosa Nostra godfather was arrested on 16 January at a private health clinic in Palermo where he had been receiving treatment for cancer.

He had been hiding in plain sight for decades, under the false name of Andrea Bonafede, and after his arrest police discovered his hideout in Campobello di Mazara, a small town in western Sicily.

Messina Denaro was transferred to L'Aquila prison where he was placed under the tough 41-bis regime which his lawyers argued was "completely incompatible" with his condition.

He underwent intestinal surgery on 8 August at San Salvatore after being moved there under tight security and was initially kept in intensive care before being moved to a cell in the hospital.

Messina Denaro was tried and sentenced to life in jail in absentia in 2002 over dozens of murders, including the 1992 killing of anti-mafia judges Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino.