 On 25 July 1981, Contorno narrowly escaped a murder attempt by Pino Greco "scarpuzzedda" and Giuseppe Lucchese — the favourite hitmen of the Corleonesi.The Corleonesi employed a scorched earth policy to hunt down Contorno, killing his relatives and friends, to prevent them from hiding him.Despite this approach, they were unable to find him, which earned Contorno the nickname Coriolano della Floresta, a kind of popular Sicilian version of Robin Hood.