On the evening of December 15, 1956, a chilling sequence of events unfolded, culminating in the tragic death of 30-year-old Daniel J. Janowski. His life was cut short during a crime spree that would later be known as the "Mad Dog killings," a series of brutal robberies and murders that terrorized Connecticut. Janowski, a male, was one of six victims who lost their lives at the hands of Joseph Taborsky and his accomplice, Arthur Culombe.
That fateful evening, Taborsky and Culombe arrived
at Kurp's, a gas and service station in New Britain, Connecticut, with the intention of robbing the establishment. The owner, Edward J. Kurpiewski, serviced their vehicle while the two men prepared to execute their plan. After paying for the gasoline, Culombe brandished a weapon and forced Kurpiewski into the station's boiler room. It was then that Daniel J. Janowski was ordered into the station's bathroom, where Taborsky mercilessly shot him twice in the head. Both Janowski and Kurpiewski, who was also shot, succumbed to their wounds. Following the murders, the perpetrators fled the scene, later dividing the stolen money and disposing of the murder weapon in a shallow pond. Both victims, having served in the United States Armed Forces, were honored with a military burial.
The investigation into the "Mad Dog killings" was swift and intensive. A special force of investigators was assembled to put an end to the string of violent crimes. Less than two months later, on February 23, 1957, Joseph Taborsky and Arthur Culombe were arrested. Their capture was followed by confessions from both men, with Culombe leading investigators to the revolver used to murder Janowski and Kurpiewski. The duo was tried and convicted for the murders of Janowski and Kurpiewski, among other crimes. Taborsky was ultimately sentenced to death and became the last person to be executed in Connecticut's electric chair for many years. Culombe's death sentence was commuted to life in prison, where he later died. The motive for these heinous acts was robbery, with the total amount stolen during their entire crime spree netting them less than $400.
