Recent homicides in Sicily point to Mafia turf war

ROME — The hit was classic mob. There were shots to the face and to the abdomen. The killers used a Lupara, a sawn-off shotgun that is the traditional weapon of choice for Mafia executions. The target was Giuseppe Lo Baido, 36. He was gunned down on July 13, near his house outside Palermo, Sicily.

The Italian police are not treating the Lo Baido case as just another mess to be scraped off the street in the heartland of the Cosa Nostra, the name for the Mafia's Sicilian branch. His was one of four recent killings. All of the victims were thought to be members of the Corleone family.

Some of Italy's Mafia prosecutors think the killings could be the start of a new internecine war. "The homicides of recent weeks may be a sign of a potential war between the families," said Maurizio De Lucia, the Palermo state prosecutor.