Cosa Nostra News

The following, based on information gathered by New Jersey's State Commission of Investigation, is part of an ongoing series about Nicodemo (Little Nicky) Scarfo, former Philadelphia Cosa Nostra boss notorious for his violence. Scarfo died last Friday.   Phil Testa, left, Angelo Bruno After the Philadelphia crime family's longtime boss, Angelo Bruno, was killed on March 21, 1980, in a grisly gangland hit, the Commission wanted answers. A boss had been killed "illegally." Whoever was behind it was going to die. Examples needed to be made to send a loud and clear message about what happened when members defied the Commission. But before anything, the Commission needed to learn the identities of the assassins.

Looks like Nicodemo D. “Little Nicky” Scarfo, known for his reign of violence over the Philadelphia Cosa Nostra in the 1980s, won't walk out of prison one day, as a source had previously surmised . Scarfo died in a federal prison medical facility in Butner, NC, underworld sources have revealed, as  reported by George Anastasia on Big Trial. Little Nicky, right, Phil Leonetti, and Lawrence Merlino; Leonetti and Merlino both flipped. Merlino died in 2001. Anastasia noted in the story, posted around three hours earlier tonight that: "Prison officials could not be reached to confirm the report which began circulating in South Philadelphia this morning. Scarfo had been an inmate at the medical facility for more than a year. Cause of death, which reportedly occurred on Friday, could not be determined, but sources said he had been plagued with several medical problems." Scarfo was 87 and allegedly was doing his best to make it out of prison alive after c...