He probably was the son of Francesco Torretta who is mentioned in the Sangiorgi report at the turn of the 20th century as major Mafioso.

According to people who knew him, he was tall, thin, elegant, casual, balanced and on the whole, sympathetic in his social relations; "he spoke and behaved as a wise father.

"[4] On the other hand, the New York Times described him as short, slight and fastidious in dress, with a rock-hard impassive face, deeply sunken cheeks and a slit of a mouth.

Men who were starting their ‘careers’ in their shadow were forming into new generation of mafiosi; they had initiative, and the road to leadership of a cosca had suddenly become quicker and available to those who were fast with their tommy-guns.

That became the peak period of Palermo’s controversial building boom and of warfare among the capital’s cosche making money in the real estate business.

[9] On June 30, 1963, a car bomb in Ciaculli killed seven police and military officers sent to defuse it after an anonymous phone call.

[14] Pending appeal, he was released on a US$ 1,400 bail and under the condition he was forced to live in exile in Cittadella, a northern Italian town.

Men like Torretta, Angelo La Barbera, Rosario Mancino and Tommaso Buscetta among others were vague and doubtful figures, disorganized in their lives and their activities typifying a moment of transition and crisis in Cosa Nostra.