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Police are investigating the fatal shooting of a 71 -year -old Mafia chief on a highway near Grenoble in Southeast France.
Jean-Pierre Maldera, described by the French media as a “godfather” of the local mafia in the 1980s, was persecuted in his car and shot while traveling on the A41 highway on Wednesday morning.
The shooters fled the scene and the burned remains of the Renault Megane stolen car they were driving were found in a large parking lot, shortly after.
His death arrives ten years after the disappearance of his younger brother, Robert Maldera, another chief of the mafia, according to the reports, nicknamed “The Madman” by members of Grenoble’s criminal underworld.
The regional newspaper Daashiné Libéré reported that Maldera left the BMW that drove and tried to escape on foot through the highway.
He was persecuted and killed by the assailants in the attack that involved three or four armed men, local media said.
According to reports, they have used a military degree weapon, such as a Kalashnikov rifle, to carry out the murder.
It is reported that Maldera was a key figure in the so-called mafia group of “Italo-Genoblois” during the 1980s and 1990s, along with his brother Robert.
In 2004, the couple was convicted of a series of crimes linked to organized crime, although they were released the following year due to an administrative error, according to the French media.
However, this was not the first time that Maldera was convicted. It had a value sheet that went back to the 1970s, according to the French regional media France 3.
But Maldera seemed to opt for a quieter life after his release from prison in the early 2000s, and the AFP news agency reported that the authorities did not hear from him again until his shooting this week.
It is not clear if Maldera was still involved in criminal activity at the time of his death.
His brother Robert disappeared in 2015 at the age of 55.
He disappeared after attending a meeting on the outskirts of Grenoble. His car was discovered two months later in a nearby parking lot.
A source that had investigated the Maldera brothers told France 3 that Jean-Pierre had been the brain behind his schemes, while Robert had been the strength.
