KINGSTON, R.I. – Oct. 22, 2026 – Brian Andrews, who led the Rhode Island State Police detective division during the height of New England’s drug and mob wars in the 1970s and 1980s, will speak at the University of Rhode Island on Friday, Oct. 23, as part of the University’s ongoing fall Forensic Science Partnership lecture series.
Andrews will be joined by Anthony “Tony” Fiore, a former New England mafia associate who specialized in high-stakes heists—and who Andrews regularly investigated. Their talk, titled “Cat and Mouse,” will take place from 3:30-5 p.m. in Room 100 of the Richard E. Beaupre Center for Chemical and Forensic Sciences, 140 Flagg Road, on the Kingston Campus.
The lecture series welcomes many speakers representing specialized areas of forensic science who present their real-life experiences within their fields. The seminars are offered for credit but also open to the public at no cost. Those who cannot attend in person may view Andrews’ and Fiore’s lecture live online.
In his time with the Rhode Island State Police, Andrews helped investigate organized crime associates in Rhode Island, including Fiore, Ralph DeMasi and Gerald Ouimette, and others who were involved with burglaries of precious metals worth millions of dollars. Andrews’ investigations included the first ground-breaking wiretaps that eventually exposed the mob’s burglary ring. Andrews also served as a member of the narcotics and intelligence divisions with the Rhode Island State Police.
Fiore associated himself with the New England mafia in both Providence and North Providence during the 1970s as a master thief, burglar and hijacker of armored cars and trucks. He served a 17-year sentence in federal prison for an armored truck heist. Andrews and Fiore have also shared their noted history on an episode of Gimlet Media’s “Crimetown” podcast series, which looks at how organized crime was shaped in various U.S. cities, including Providence.
Andrews’ and Fiores’ lecture will be followed by a talk on Oct. 30 by Sujit Purushothaman, senior lead research engineer for global insurer FM, about forensic investigations. A Dec. 11 talk by Chicago-based attorney Gil Sapir on forensic science and expert witness testimony will conclude the series’ fall schedule.
A full schedule and past recorded lectures can be found on the URI Forensic Science Partnership’s website. To be added to the Forensic Science Seminar Series’ email list, contact james.bessette@uri.edu.