Joseph Taborsky

Joseph L. Taborsky , nicknamed Chin and Mad Dog (born March 23, 1924 in Hartford , Connecticut , † May 17, 1960 in Wethersfield , Connecticut), was an American serial killer . He was sentenced to death for a robbery and murder in 1950, but released in 1955 due to reasonable doubt. Between late 1956 and early 1957, he committed several robberies and six other murders within ten weeks, which is why he was sentenced to death again and executed by the electric chair in 1960. His crimes were also known as "Mad Dog Killings".

crime

He committed his first crimes at an early age. After several thefts and break-ins, he was admitted to a home for juvenile offenders at the age of 14.

On March 23, 1950, he and his brother Albert raided the Cooper's Package Store in West Hartford and shot shop owner Louis L. Wolfson in the face. He died on March 26th from his injuries. A handgun, caliber .22 , was identified as the murder weapon . Since Albert confided the crime to his mother and she informed the police, the brothers were arrested. Albert appeared as a key witness and confessed his involvement in the crime, so he was spared the death penalty and instead was sentenced to life imprisonment. The denying Joseph, however, was sentenced to death by the electric chair for willful murder and robbery and was transferred to Connecticut Death Row.

Because his brother Albert was declared unresponsive while in custody and Joseph's conviction was based largely on his brother's testimony, the Connecticut Supreme Court overturned Joseph's conviction and ordered his release in October 1955.

In 1956 he began a series of robberies and murders with his accomplice Arthur Culombe, whom he knew from his job. It started with violent robberies of a hotel, two liquor stores and a tailor shop in Hartford. During the latter attack on December 15, 1956, Taborsky shot the employee Nickola Leone in the face, but he survived. Less than an hour after Leone was shot, they raided a gas station in New Britain . The gas station attendant Edward Kurpiewski and Daniel Janowski, who happened to be at the gas station, were taken into side rooms and murdered by being shot in the head. Janowski's daughter sleeping in the back seat of his car was probably not noticed by the perpetrators.

A grocery store robbery in Coventry followed on December 21st . The two owners were mistreated but managed to escape. Just five days later, they murdered Samuel Cohn while robbing his liquor store in East Hartford. During the attack on Frank Adinolfi's shoe shop on January 5, 1957 in North Haven , the couple were surprised by the couple Bernard and Ruth Speyer. Taborsky killed them both with headshots and fled with Culombe, who had knocked Adinolfi unconscious in a back room and believed dead.

At the end of January 1957, Taborsky shot owner John Rosenthal in the chest when he robbed a drugstore in Hartford. Taborsky also shot at Rosenthal's son, but missed it. Adinolfi, who had recovered in the meantime, was able to remember the size of Taborsky's shoes and identify him from a photo from the criminal record.

In February 1957, the two men were arrested in Hartford. Arthur Culombe testified extensively about the crimes and was sentenced to life imprisonment, while Taborsky was sentenced again to death by the electric chair on June 27, 1957 for six murders. This time he also confessed to the 1950 murder of Louis L. Wolfson. As of 2014, he is the only inmate in Connecticut legal history to be put on death row twice and for a variety of crimes.

On May 17, 1960, he was executed in Connecticut State Prison in Wethersfield. It was the last execution in the state of Connecticut for 45 years.

His accomplice Arthur Culombe died in prison in 1980.

literature

• Ten Weeks of Terror , Gerald Demeusy
• American Murder: Criminals, Crimes, and the Media , Michael Mayo

Web links

• The Leagle
• Wethersfield Prison