Max Leitner
Vallanzasca of Alto Adige Max Leitner | |
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| Born | 27 May 1958 Brixen, South Tyrol, Italy |
| Died | 23 July 2024 (aged 66) Merano, South Tyrol, Italy |
Max Leitner (27 May 1958 – 23 July 2024) was an Italian criminal, most known for having escaped from prison five times. Dubbed the "Vallanzasca of Alto Adige", Leitner first became infamous through a series of robberies carried out in the 1980s in South Tyrol and other areas of northern Italy.[1]
In 1990 he attempted to attack an armoured vehicle carrying 90 million shillings while in Austria, but was caught and sentenced by a jury to twelve years in prison.[2] Unable to tolerate the living conditions at the Austrian prison, he escaped after a few days and turned himself in to the Italian police at the state border in Prato alla Drava, declaring that he preferred imprisonment in Italy rather than in Austria, where the prisons, he said, were "medieval".[3]
Leitner died on 23 July 2024, at the age of 66.[4]
References
- ^ "Le molte evasioni di Max Leitner". Il Post (in Italian). 17 September 2021. Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ "Max Leitner". derstandard.at (in German). Retrieved 25 July 2024.
- ^ Escapes by Max Leitner Archived 4 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine, on gazzettino.it
- ^ "The Life and Death of Max Leitner, the King of Escapes". www.ilmessaggero.it. 24 July 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2024.