Denise Cosco, who testified against her father after he murdered her mother in a notorious 'Ndrangheta mafia killing, has died after being found critically injured in Rome on Sunday, in what is believed to be suicide. Her death, at 35 – the same age her mother Lea Garofalo was when murdered in 2009 – has drawn tributes from anti-mafia campaigners who say it illustrates the lasting psychological toll organised crime inflicts on those who break away from it, even years after leaving.

Garofalo became a symbol of resistance to the mafia after turning state witness against the 'Ndrangheta clan; her former partner Carlo Cosco later had her killed, with her body dismembered and incinerated. Denise Cosco, who lived under witness protection with a new identity, testified at the murder trial and spoke at her mother's 2013 funeral, but friends said she struggled with mental health problems and addiction, and had recently reconnected with her jailed father. Prosecutors have opened an investigation into whether there was any incitement to suicide and have seized her phone, while supporters gathered in Milan to remember her near the site of her mother's abduction.