born in palermo on 7 may 1947, he was commissioner in reggio calabria and then in trapani, where he learned about giovanni falcone. he was then promoted and sent to palermo where he served as deputy chief of the judicial police. in 1982 he worked on the streets of palermo together with the agent calogero zucchetto, in the context of cosa nostra's inquiries. on one of these occasions cassarà and zucchetto recognized the two top killers pino greco and mario prestifilippo, but they could not arrest them because they fled.