Italy’s deputy prime minister Angelino Alfano called him “one of the most dangerous fugitives”, but to his neighbours he had been an “ordinary”, “caring”, “lovely” neighbour.
A suburban cul-de-sac of semi-detached maisonettes in west London might seem an unlikely place for a Sicilian Mafia boss to be living.
But in August last year the residents of Manor Waye in Uxbridge discovered the man they thought was Marc Skinner was actually Domenico Rancadore.
The Italian police say he headed a family involved in extortion, racketeering and drug trafficking.
‘Ordinary person’
Joan Hills who lives next door, said she never suspected the double-life Rancadore was living.
“He’s just an ordinary person, a lovely person who I’ve always known,” she said.
She did say, however, that his strong Italian accent and surname did seem to be at odds with one other.
“We used to say Skinner wasn’t a very Italian-sounding name,” she said. “My husband once joked, ‘I think you must be in the Italian Mafia’.”