Frank "Frankie Flowers" D'Alfonso ran a flower shop at 821 S. Ninth St. for many years - hence his nickname. The shop was often a focus of police surveillance because reputed Mafia chieftains from the city and beyond could be seen entering its door. But law enforcement investigators said that D'Alfonso, who was 55 when he was gunned down on a South Philly street corner in 1985, was not a "made member" of the Cosa Nostra. He had never, to their knowledge, killed anyone.




John "Johnny Cupcakes" Melilli's nickname was a tease that in his youth, girls thought he was cute. He grew up to be a South Philly bookmaker and an excellent blackjack and craps player. He won $323,740 at three Atlantic City casinos between 1985 and 1987, but went to jail for failing to report most of it on his income taxes. He was later banned from the casinos.


Peter "the Crumb" Caprio got his nickname, Caprio said while on the witness stand last year at age 83, because of his affinity for crumby treats - and because "I did a lot a lot of crummy things. ...Oh, I hit people with bats, pipes, shot people, stabbed people."