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Vallanzasca of Alto Adige
Max Leitner
Vallanzasca of Alto Adige Max Leitner
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 [it], 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.