Giacomo Puccini refuting the allegations made against her. Elvira Puccini was prosecuted for slander, and was sentenced to more than five months in prison, although a payment to the Manfredi family by Puccini spared Elvira from having to serve the sentence. Some music critics and interpreters of Puccini's work have speculated that the psychological effects of this incident on Puccini interfered with his ability to complete compositions later in his career, and also influenced the development of his characters such as Liù (from "Turandot"), a slave girl who dies tragically by suicide. According to documents found in the possession of a descendant
Enrico Alfano the Italian newspaper "La Stampa", Alfano did spent six or seven years in prison, where he earned his initiation as a "camorrista", which gave him the "right" to demand a "tangente", protection money, from the merchants in the neighbourhood he controlled. Both sources agree that Alfano imposed his position when he defeated the Camorra head, the "capintesta" Totonno" 'o Pappagallo" (The Parrot) – so-named for his beak parrot nose – in a "zumpata" – a kind of ritual initiation knife duel – despite the fact that his adversary sent his Mastino dog to attack Alfano. The conflict started when "Pappagallo"