https://www.democratandchronicle.co...-rochester-mobster-dies-obit/1868865001/Thomas Torpey has died after suffering a serious fall while battling blood cancer.
Torpey was one of the "two Toms" who acted as muscle for Rochester's ruling crime faction in the 1970s. They had a long history of involvement at the highest levels of organized crime in their city.
Torpey, along with Thomas Taylor, were guarding Rochester underboss Salvatore "Sammy G" Gingello on April 23, 1978 when a fatal car bomb detonated underneath Gingello's Buick Park Avenue sedan, blowing his legs off and throwing the Toms several feet into the air. Gingello's death sparked years of a bloody street war between rival factions of Rochester's underworld. Torpey and Taylor were caught in the mix and were later convicted of second degree homicide in the 1982 murder of Capo John "Johnny Flowers" Fiorino at a popular restaurant in the city. The Toms hired notorious Irish-American hitman John "Mad Dog" Sullivan to carry out the hit.
Court papers would later reveal this murder was only the first of three planned hits on leading Rochester mob figures as the Toms planned to take over control of gambling rackets in the city, a bold move for non-made associates. Torpey served 23 years before getting paroled in 2008 and was most recently convicted of smuggling contraband into a women's prison, but was released last year.
Torpey was 72.
More on the Gingello & Fiorino hits -
https://youtu.be/4bCimSgnNuAMore on the Rochester Crime Family -
https://rocwiki.org/Rochester_Crime_Family
