Many of Bontade's friends, fellow mafiosi and relatives were cut down in the following months to prevent them from avenging the death of their boss. One of Bontade's close friends was Tommaso Buscetta, who subsequently became a pentito (collaborating witness) after he was arrested in Brazil in 1983. Salvatore Contorno, one of Bontade's trusted aides, followed Buscetta's example. They were the key witnesses that enabled prosecuting magistrates Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino and the Antimafia pool to successfully prosecute the Mafia in the Maxi Trial in the mid-1980s.