On a cold December evening in 1956, the life of Edward Kurpewski, a 30-year-old White male, was tragically cut short. On December 15th, at approximately 6:00 p.m., two men, Joseph Taborsky and Arthur Culombe, pulled their Oldsmobile into Kurp's, Kurpewski's gas and service station in New Britain, Connecticut, with the intention of robbing the establishment. Kurpewski proceeded to service their vehicle while Taborsky exited the car, feigning the need to use the restroom.
After Culombe paid for the gasoline, the friendly exchange turned sinister.
Culombe brandished a gun, forcing Kurpewski at gunpoint into the gas station's boiler room. There, Culombe shot Kurpewski with a. 32 caliber "Russian-style revolver" and stole his wallet. While this was happening, Taborsky was in the main office searching for more money. As the two men were taking cash from the register, a potential customer, 30-year-old Daniel J. Janowski, pulled up to the gasoline pumps with his infant daughter in the car. Taborsky and Culombe waited inside, hoping Janowski would leave, but he did not.
This brutal crime was part of a larger, terrifying spree of robberies and murders by Taborsky and Culombe that plagued Connecticut between 1956 and 1957, earning them the moniker the "Mad Dog killers" due to the vicious nature of their attacks. The murder of Edward Kurpewski was one of six committed by the pair during their rampage. An hour before killing Kurpewski, they had shot a 67-year-old tailor, Nickola Leone, in the face; he survived and provided a description of his attackers to the police.
Following the murders of Kurpewski and Janowski, Connecticut State Police assembled a special task force to investigate the "Mad Dog" killings. In February 1957, a tip led police to arrest Taborsky and Culombe. Initially charged with breach of the peace, Culombe confessed on February 27th to participating in eight holdups and six murders. He led investigators to the murder weapon used to kill Kurpewski and Janowski, which was recovered from a shallow pond. In May 1957, Taborsky and Culombe were tried for the murders of Edward Kurpewski and Daniel Janowski. Both were found guilty and sentenced to death. Taborsky was executed, becoming the last person to be put to death in Connecticut's electric chair for several decades. Culombe's death sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.
