Massimo Torini (29 November 1929 - 1998) was a Sicilian Mafia underboss from Palermo with powerful connections who had planned to overthrow the Leone crime family of New York City.
In 1998, Torini was killed in a helicopter crash following the attempted kidnap of New York mayor Miles O'Donovan.
Biography[]
Massimo Torini was born in Syracuse, Sicily in 1929 to a working-class Italian family. He joined the Sicilian Mafia at some point and made his way up the ranks, eventually becoming a right hand man and representative of the Sicilian Mafia. Torini arrived in New York City in early 1998 after hearing that Salvatore Leone was out of control. He came to offer peace between the families but in reality he was trying to manipulate the families into destroying each other allowing the Sicilians to take over New York. To this end, he allied the Sicilians with the Diablos and the Brooklyn Triads around the city. Unknown to Torini, J.D O'Toole had Toni Cipriani followed him as he flew from place to place, and Fipriani returned his findings to Salvatore. The Diablos waged war with the Leones, and the Leones were unsuccesful in their attempts to defend their turf - the Triads even blew up a Leone owned warehouse. Because of Cipriani, the Forellis had been crippled and the Sindaccos had been wiped out due to Paulie Sindacco's death. Torini tried to make peace with the Leones, but Salvatore declined his offer. Torini then kidnapped Miles O'Donovan but found himself confronted by Leone and Cipriani. They rescued the mayor and Torini attempted to escape in his helicopter, but his helicopter was shot down and Torini was killed in the crash. After Torini's death, Leone made peace with the Sicilian Mafia and his uncle.