Police are investigating the fatal shooting of the 71-year-old former Mafia chief on a highway near Grenoble in Southeast France.
Jean-Pierre Malder, described by French media as a “godfather” of a local mafia in the 1980s, was allegedly persecuted in his car and shot while traveling on Wednesday morning by A41 motorway.
The shooters fled the scene and the burned remains of a stolen car Renault Megane who drove were found in the Grenoble parking lot shortly after.
His death comes ten years after his younger brother’s disappearance, Robert Maldera, another Mafia chief, is allegedly the nickname “The Madman” by members of the Grenoble criminal underground.
The Le Dauphiné Libéré regional newspaper reported that Maldera had left the BMW he was driving and tried to escape on foot across the highway.
He was persecuted and killed by attackers in the attack involving three or four attackers, the local media said.
It is stated that they used a military class weapon, such as a Kalashnikov rifle, for conducting murder.
It is reported that Maldera was a key figure in the so-called “Italo-Grenoblois” Mafia Group group during the 1980s and 1990s, along with her brother Robert.
In 2004, the couple was found guilty of a series of misdemeanors associated with organized crime, although they were published next year for administrative errors, according to French media.
However, this is not the first time Malder has been convicted. He had a rap leaf that stretched until the 1970s, according to the French regional media from France 3.
But it seemed that Maldera had opted for a quieter life after releasing from prison in the early 2000s, and the AFP news agency reported that the authorities had no longer heard of him until the shooting this week.
It is not clear whether Malder was still involved in criminal activities during his death.
His brother Robert disappeared in 2015 at the age of 55.
He disappeared after attending the meeting on the outskirts of Grenoble. His car was discovered two months later in a parking lot nearby.
The source that explored the brothers of Malder told France 3 that Jean-Pierre was a brain behind their schemes, while Robert was Brawn.
