Notorious figures
William Tocco
1897–1972 · founding member of the Detroit Partnership
Sicilian-born bootlegger known as Black Bill who co-founded the Detroit Mafia with his brother-in-law Joseph Zerilli and lived for decades in Grosse Pointe Park.
- Born
Terrasini, Sicily, Italy- Died
Grosse Pointe, Michigan
aged 75- Birth name
- Guglielmo Vito Tocco
- Also known as
- Black Bill Tocco
- Detroit years
- 1912–1972
- Field
- Notorious figures
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Guglielmo Vito Tocco was born in Terrasini, Sicily, in 1897 and came to Detroit with his family in 1912. As a young man he joined his cousin Giuseppe Zerilli and Angelo Meli in the bootlegging operations of the Giannola brothers, one of the Italian gangs warring over Detroit's rackets in the late 1910s. In 1923 he married Rosalia Zerilli, Joseph Zerilli's sister, binding together two of the families that would rule the Detroit Mafia. Known as Black Bill, he was one of the leaders who created the Detroit Partnership after the Crosstown mob war of 1930–1931, sharing power with Zerilli, Meli, John Priziola and Peter Licavoli. With his wife he bought land in Grosse Pointe Park and raised seven children there, among them Jack Tocco, who later became boss of the family. He died at Bon Secours Hospital in Grosse Pointe in 1972; his funeral was held at the Church of the Holy Family in Detroit, and he is buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery.
Highlights
- Came to Detroit from Sicily in 1912
- Co-founder of the Detroit Partnership after the 1930–1931 mob war
- Brother-in-law of boss Joseph Zerilli
- Father of later Detroit Mafia boss Jack Tocco
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 1
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Buried here · 1972–
Holy Sepulchre Cemetery
Catholic cemetery in Southfield where he is buried.