Woman who refused to sell her land to Italian mafia was ‘killed and fed to the pigs’

The woman's body was allegedly ground up and fed to pigs

Credit: ANN WANG /REUTERS 

A businesswoman who refused to sell her land to the mafia in southern Italy was kidnapped, murdered and fed to pigs after her body was ground up in a threshing machine, an informant has told Italian investigators.

Maria Chindoma, 44, the mother of three small children, disappeared five years ago from her home near Vibo Valentia in Calabria — the home turf of the ruthless ‘Ndrangheta mafia.

She had been in dispute with an alleged mafia boss, who had put pressure on her to sell him her land.

She steadfastly refused and disappeared on the night of May 6, 2016. Her car was later found with traces of blood and strands of hair on the front seat.

The suspect was arrested in 2019 in connection with her disappearance but was later released from custody because of a lack of evidence.

The investigation is still ongoing.

Now a mafia pentito, or informer, has told Italian authorities that Mrs Chindoma was kidnapped, killed and ground up in some sort of threshing machine.

Her remains were then fed to pigs, said Antonio Cossidente.

It is not the first time that mafia mobsters have used pigs to dispose of their victims and police immediately suspected that she may have been killed in that way.

They conducted a series of raids in the area, checking agricultural equipment, but could find no traces of Mrs Chindoma’s remains.

The claim that she was chopped up and fed to pigs “makes my blood run cold,” said her brother, Vincenzo.

"After five years, my family wants to know the truth. We want to know why she was eliminated,” he said, calling her murder “an atrocity”.

“This is a very difficult and painful time for the whole family,” he told an Italian television channel.

In 2012, a group of ‘Ndrangheta mafiosi beat a rival with shovels and then fed him alive to pigs, according to investigators.

The man’s body was never found but one of his assassins bragged about the murder during a wiretapped phone conversation.

“It was such a pleasure to hear him scream,” the suspect said. “In my opinion, there’s nothing left of him. This pig can really eat.” The murder was part of a turf war between rival factions of the ‘Ndrangheta.

One of Italy’s main mafia organisations, along with the Camorra and Cosa Nostra, the ‘Ndrangheta has grown rich on trafficking cocaine into Europe, as well as from other crimes such as extortion and loansharking.

In September last year, the ‘Ndrangheta was described by Italy’s most senior anti-mafia prosecutor as "the most important criminal organisation in the Western world.”

Giuseppe Governale said the network was particularly dangerous because of its ability to proliferate across countries.

“They are like water,” he said. “Unlike Cosa Nostra and Camorra, which go abroad (just) to make quick money, ‘Ndrangheta does go there, yes, to make money, but also to exploit the local communities,” he said.