THE SUN
HAVING betrayed the sacred Mafia vow of silence to testify and go on the run, Lea Garofalo’s decision to reunite with her mobster husband Carlo Cosco was always going to be dangerous.
During their time apart he had charmed her on dates with promises of reconciliation and forgiveness for the sake of their daughter Denise, before they set off on a family holiday to Milan
But by the fourth day of the trip, Lea, 35, had been kidnapped, tortured and killed by Carlo’s hitmen, who then dissolved her corpse in 50 litres of acid in a rural warehouse.
The chilling tale is recounted in new Disney+ crime drama The Good Mothers, based on the true stories of the fearless women who tried to topple Italy’s most dangerous Mafia clan.
It was adapted from British journalist Alex Perry’s book of the same name, which tells of the courage and grisly fates of those who were trapped in the ’Ndrangheta, one of the most fearsome Mafia crime syndicates.
Alex tells The Sun: “The ’Ndrangheta is like a cult.
“If you’re going to turn against it you’re betraying everyone you’ve ever known and your closest family.
“The courage of these women is two-fold. For one, it’s what you’re risking.
“Women are executed for being unfaithful — and even the thought of being unfaithful.
“On top of that, your reward is very often a lonely life.