Murder Inc. | The Secret Muscle of the New York Mafia
35:22 Share

The Yeti store has so many great gifts, we had to hire a cattle auctioneer to make the most of these next 30 seconds. All right, folks, let's get started with the Yeti French Press. Enjoy coffee that stays hot for hours in the French Press. 34 ounce for you, 6-4 for the crews of the Yeti French Press. Mixed waterproof bags, bags are waterproof. Submersible waterproof doubles, waterproof bag bags. For us, mostly waters to get a waterproof Yeti bag. Do I smell something cooking? Oh, new cast iron skillets, mate.

Be passed down like mama's recipes. Take a steak, cornbread, cobblers, pot pie, and potatoes. Next level with three sizes of Yeti cast iron skillets. Gear, gifts, and product experts. Visit the Yeti store at Tyson's Corner Center today.

Did you know that over 4% of cases on Murderpedia involve life insurance as a motive? That's more than 600 murders in the US every year. A chilling reminder of how crucial life insurance can be. Protecting your family's future starts with a reliable policy from SelectQuote. For nearly 40 years, SelectQuote has helped over 2 million customers secure peace of mind with personalized insurance solutions.

Unlike generic one-size-fits-all policies, their licensed agents work with you to find coverage tailored to your family's unique needs and budget. And it's fast. In as little as 15 minutes, you could secure a policy with some options costing less than a dollar a day. If you're in good health, you may even qualify for same-day coverage without a medical exam. Select Quote.

They shop, you save. Start protecting your future today. Get the right life insurance for you, for less, at selectquote.com slash crimehub. Go to selectquote.com slash crimehub today to get started. That's selectquote.com slash crimehub. If you'd like to listen ad-free, head to patreon.com slash crimehub. That's patreon.com slash crimehub.

779 Saratoga Avenue. Today, this address will take you to an inconspicuous deli in Brownsville, a suburb of Brooklyn, New York. In the 1930s and 40s, when the New York Mafia reigned supreme, this address would take you to a candy shop owned by Rosie Gold, an innocent old lady in her mid-60s.

But this wasn't any old candy shop. And Rosie wasn't any old lady. Located in the back were rows of wall-mounted payphones. Seated at the counter, drinking malted milkshakes, were some of New York City's most ruthless killers. They were up-and-coming members of the Jewish and Italian mafias. Back then, aspiring gangsters rose up the ranks by doing the dirty work for the higher-ups. And the dirtiest job of all was murder.

Rosie Gold's candy shop was the top secret headquarters for the Mafia's enforcement arm. They called themselves "The Combination." The newspapers dubbed them "Murder Inc." Guys like Abe "Kid Twist" Rellis, Pittsburgh Phil Strauss, Louis "Lepke" Buckalter, and Albert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia sat at Rosie's counter, waiting for those phones to ring.

When they did, the caller typically had a name, place, date, and specific instructions. Weeks, days, and sometimes even hours later, that person would be dead. Mob historians struggle to put a number on it, but ballpark figures put murder ink's kill count anywhere between 500 and 1,000 bodies.

Most victims ranged from rogue mobsters and rival gang members to informants, snitches, and anyone who crossed Cosa Nostra. Their reign of terror lasted from 1929 to 1941. In the end, the ruthless killers of Murder, Inc. couldn't stand the idea of dying themselves. They sang like canaries when faced with execution. The organization fell, but its legacy lived on.

The words "Murder, Inc." appeared on American bomber planes during World War II. They've come up in TV shows from The Sopranos to The Simpsons. In The Godfather II, Murder, Inc. is revealed to be the enforcement arm of Hyman Roth's Jewish gang. The killers themselves may be lesser-known figures, but all of them played a crucial role in the mob's expansion west to Vegas and their continued East Coast dominance. Who were these men?

How did they devolve into a life of crime and murder? And how did the mob justify their existence as a means to lower murder rates on the New York streets? Part 1: Meeting of the Minds New York City, 1929 Pockets of Italian, Jewish, and Irish street gangs have a tight grip on the five boroughs. They may not get along, but they all share a common friend: money.

In 1920, the US government banned the production, sale, and transport of alcohol to protect individuals and families from the scourge of drunkenness. The prohibition era wound up having the opposite effect on American society. A wave of organized crime groups easily won the public's sympathies. Bootleggers were heroes and freedom fighters. America was fresh off World War I. The Depression was in full swing.

Everybody and their mother needed a drink, and they were willing to pay whoever could pour one for them. According to rough estimates, mob kingpins like Al Capone and Lucky Luciano pulled in $100 million annually. That's close to $1.6 billion in today's money. Gangsters of the time had a knack for reading the writing on the wall. Prohibition wouldn't last. It was, perhaps, the most unpopular law in America.

They knew how much money they were making, and so did the government. So, in 1929, the heads of every major crime outfit in America gathered in Atlantic City for what some consider the most critical sit-down in mob history. The National Crime Syndicate, or simply, the Syndicate, was born from that meeting.

Everyone was there. Wise guys like Al Capone, Bugsy Siegel, Frank Costello, Joe Adonis, John Torrio, and Lucky Luciano. They all agreed they'd work together as one cohesive unit when Prohibition ended. They'd focus on legitimate branches of the alcohol trade, such as opening bars, breweries, and distilleries. The gangs, of course, still ran their fair share of illegal schemes.

There was plenty of money to be made in drugs, prostitution, and illegal gambling. Each gang acted independently, owning its own territory and conducting business as it saw fit. Disputes, however, would be settled peacefully and internally. They would only turn violent with permission from top brass. Violence attracted unwanted government attention.

This new age of Italian and Jewish-American gangsters understood that unhinged gang wars were not the answer. During the meeting, leaders decided that muscle would still be necessary to maintain order. But this muscle needed to be some kind of third party. They needed to be non-partisan and couldn't favor one family or one ethnicity over the other. They had to follow strict rules and could only act in the best interest of the syndicate.

Their internal hierarchy answered directly to bigwigs like Lucky Luciano and Frank Costello. Nobody died without permission from on high. The Atlantic City meeting adjourned, and Murder, Inc. was officially born.

There's nothing like a good mystery to keep your mind sharp, and I've found one that's as fun as it is engaging. You've heard me talk about it before. It's called June's Journey, the sponsor of today's episode. If you love uncovering secrets and solving puzzles, this hidden object game is perfect for you. Set in the glamorous 1920s, you'll follow June as she investigates her sister's mysterious death, unraveling family scandals, and piecing together dark clues.

The beautifully detailed scenes, everything from elegant New York parlors to bustling Parisian sidewalks, make every chapter a captivating experience. I've been playing in the evenings, and I'm currently tackling a tricky case involving a missing heirloom. It's such a satisfying way to wind down. Plus,

Designing my own island estate has become my favorite escape. How sharp are your observation skills? Put them to the test in June's Journey. Download for free today on iOS and Android. Part 2: The Code of Conduct Murder Inc. was headed by two main gangsters: Louis Lepke Buckalter and Mangano family underboss, Albert Anastasia. Louis was a Jewish-American gangster born into a large immigrant family.

His parents came to America from the Russian Empire, each with multiple children from prior marriages. Louis was one of 11 children, meaning food was scarce and money was tight. It was all downhill after his father died when Louis was 12. His mother moved to Arizona a few years later, leaving Louis and his younger siblings in his older sister's care. She couldn't control the teenager as he began committing petty crimes around New York City.

He was in and out of Sing Sing prison between 1917 and 1922, and finally found a home in the Jewish American Mafia. He rose through the ranks, gaining control of the labor and garment industry unions in New York, alongside his childhood friend Jacob Shapiro. It was a simple money-making scheme: Lewis and Jacob threatened the factory owners with labor strikes if they didn't pay up.

The owners obliged, since paying the mob was more affordable than a full-scale labor strike. Lewis's notoriety earned him the respect of the Lucchese crime family. Together, they ruled the garment district with an iron fist. He was an easy choice to lead the newly formed Murder Inc. Albert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia was born in Calabria, Italy, circa 1902.

In 1919, he and his brothers snuck into the US after deserting a freight ship in New York Harbor. He became a longshoreman, or a dockworker, and quickly rose to an authority position within the labor union. But that didn't mean he cared about his fellow dockworkers. In the early 1920s, Albert killed a fellow longshoreman for reasons unknown. The only thing mob historians can agree on is that it was likely insignificant.

Albert had a temper and was known to fly violently off the handle at the slightest provocation. He landed on death row in Sing Sing prison, but escaped with his life during a retrial in 1922. The prosecutor's star witness had suddenly gone missing. According to the FBI, they were frightened back to Italy. Others assume they were killed by an Albert Anastasia associate.

According to old FBI files, Albert racked up three more murder charges between 1928 and 1933. He escaped each one due to lacking evidence and frightened witnesses. Albert was a loyal soldier who would kill without question. Lucky Luciano recognized this and put him in charge of Murder, Inc. alongside Lewis Buckhalter. His cruelty earned him the nicknames Mad Hatter and Lord High Executioner.

While Louis Buckalter and Albert Anastasia were loose cannons in their own right, they were still in charge of maintaining a strict code of conduct within Murder, Inc. First and foremost, Murder, Inc. only killed for pressing business reasons. It would never be used to target prosecutors, reporters, or politicians. Taking these guys out would generate too much heat and complicate their ability to bribe government figures and police officers.

Those inside Murder Inc. also adopted a new vocabulary when it came to killing. They weren't hired to kill other gangsters. They were contracted to hit bums. Some psychologists believe the term "bum" was to help these killers see their victims as lesser and deserving of death. It's similar to how Nazi death camp executioners referred to the Jews they were killing as scum and subhumans.

upper management had to approve all contracts before anybody died. All it took was one negative vote to veto the whole thing. In fact, it was hard, if not impossible, to issue a contract on someone outside of the criminal lifestyle. In the words of Bugsy Siegel, one of the founding members of Murder, Inc., "We only kill each other." The degrees of separation between the dead body and Cosa Nostra made Murder, Inc. attractive to top mafia brass.

Everything was compartmentalized. Hitmen would travel out of town, find their target, kill them, and leave. When police found the body, they'd immediately look for motivation within local gangs. It's hard to solve murders when a complete stranger kills another complete stranger. Regarding payment, Murder Inc. hitmen were rarely paid on a per-kill basis. They were more like on-call employees with a monthly retainer fee.

Almost all of them had their hands in other lucrative rackets, such as gambling and prostitution. Murder was basically a freelance side gig.

Looking for the perfect gift this holiday season? Masterclass has you covered. With over 200 classes from the world's best, your loved ones can learn from icons like FBI profiler John Douglas, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Woodward, and negotiation expert Chris Voss. There's truly something for everyone.

For me, Mark Cuban's class on business and entrepreneurship gave me a whole new perspective. Hearing his insights gave me some fresh ideas on how to approach important business decisions. It felt like I had a personal mentor who's already been through it all. And Masterclass is super easy to use. You can watch anywhere, anytime, on your phone, TV, or even in audio mode. The best part? It

It works. 88% of members say that it's made a positive difference in their lives. Trust me, this is a gift that wows every time. Masterclass always has great offers during the holidays, sometimes up to as much as 50% off. Head over to masterclass.com slash crimehub for the current offer. That's up to 50% off at masterclass.com slash crimehub. Masterclass.com slash crimehub. Part 3. Top Guns.

Louis Buckalter and Albert Anastasia sat atop the hierarchy of Murder, Inc. Below them was a ruthless band of killers with an affinity for guns and ice picks. Among the best was Abraham "Kid Twist" Relis, a Jewish mobster from the heart of Brooklyn, New York. As a kid, Relis fell into organized crime while hanging around pool halls and candy shops.

He linked up with childhood friends Martin "Bugsy" Goldstein and Harry "Pittsburgh" Phil Strauss. The trio quickly rose through the ranks of the Jewish Mafia. Abe was a small guy who was deadlier with an ice pick than most people are with a gun. He was known to jam the pick through his victim's ear and scramble their brains. And he'd do so with little provocation. Once, he attacked a car wash employee for missing a smudge on his fender.

Another time, Abe killed a valet for taking too long to fetch his ride. When teenagers in the prohibition days, Relis and a small crew got in tight with the Shapiro brothers, who ran many of the Jewish mob's Brooklyn rackets. The teens ran odd jobs and pulled petty crimes, and life was good until it wasn't. Relis got busted and spent two years in an upstate juvenile facility.

He believed the Shapiro brothers had refused to help him. So he waited in jail, stewing over what he'd do when he finally got out. After Abe's release, he, Goldstein, and Strauss went into the gambling trade, dealing primarily in illegal slot machines and crap games. Business boomed, and soon, the trio found themselves on the Shapiro brothers' hit list.

One night, Rellis and Goldstein received a call claiming the Shapiro brothers had left their East New York headquarters unattended. Rellis and Goldstein drove over, likely planning to burn or bomb the place. But it was a trap. The Shapiros ambushed the bear, severely wounding them. Meanwhile, one of the brothers, Meyer Shapiro, kidnapped Rellis' girlfriend and raped her in an open field.

By then, Abe Rellis was a top lieutenant in Murder, Inc. He enlisted fellow assassins Frank "Dasher" Abadando and Harry "Happy" Mayong. Now, all he needed was permission from upper management. They all voted yes, and the Shapiro brothers were as good as dead. The first to go was Irving Shapiro, who was dragged from his home and into the street. Rellis kicked and beat him before shooting him several times.

Meyer Shapiro, the brother who raped Relis' girlfriend, met a similar fate two months later. Abe cornered him on the street and shot him several times in the face. Three years elapsed before the final brother, William Shapiro, met the wrath of murder ink. They grabbed him off the street and beat him within an inch of his life at a nearby safe house. From there, the killers brought William to the Canarsie section of Brooklyn, where they planned to bury him.

But someone walked by and spooked our hitmen. They fled, leaving Shapiro half buried. When police exhumed the body, they determined that William had been buried alive. Next among Murder Inc.'s top-rated killers was Frank "Dasher" Abandando. Ironically, he earned the nickname "The Dasher" after bungling his first Murder Inc. assignment. He was contracted to kill a hulking longshoreman who had crossed the mob.

Frank ran up and tried to shoot the man at point-blank range, but his weapon misfired. Embarrassed and outmatched, Frank ran with the longshoreman hot on his tail. But Frank was faster. Legend has it that he circled the block and came up behind the brute, shooting him several times in the back. From there on out, Frank was known as Dasher and would go on to kill upwards of 50 people for murder ink.

According to mob historians, Harry "Pittsburgh" Phil Strauss was the most prolific Murder, Inc. killer. They claim he killed between 50 and 100 men, with some saying the figure could be as high as 500. His methods varied each time. Sometimes, he'd shoot his victims. Other times, he'd stab them to death with an ice pick. He was known to strangle and drown some targets, though live burial was, perhaps, his cruelest method.

He was born Harry Strauss in Brooklyn, New York. It's unclear where the name Pittsburgh Phil came from, but everyone liked it, so it stuck. He was the go-to Murder, Inc. employee whenever an out-of-town mob member hit was called in. He'd pack an overnight briefcase and take the first train or plane to the target's destination. He killed whoever he had to and grabbed the first ticket back to New York. The only job Pittsburgh Phil ever failed was a hit in Florida.

He flew down and followed the target into a movie theater. He watched the target sit in the back row, which was ideal for a discreet kill. Unfortunately, Phil had only brought a gun. Guns in quiet theaters make a lot of noise and draw too much attention. That's when he spotted a fire ax hanging on the wall. He grabbed the ax, but as he went to swing it, he realized the target had moved. Phil left the theater and flew back to New York.

He always claimed the job was jinxed, saying, "Just when I get 'em set up, the bum turns out to be a goddamn chairhopper." Historians believe Murder, Inc. was active from 1929 to 1941, with their peak years being post-prohibition. While most of the members were arrested and executed in the early 40s, the downfall of Murder, Inc. began much sooner. Someone challenged Bugsy Siegel's "we only kill each other" mantra.

They stepped outside the line, paid the ultimate price, and initiated a chain reaction that ended Murder, Inc. Huge thanks to Acorns for sponsoring today's episode. The holidays can stretch us thin, especially with gift spending. That's why I turned to Acorns to balance holiday expenses and future planning. Acorns makes it easy to start automatically saving and investing for you, your kids, and your retirement, even during the holidays.

That's right.

Acorns can round every purchase you make up to the dollar and automatically invest your spare change for you. And you can get bonus investments just for buying the stuff you need from the brands you love. Head to acorns.com slash crimehub or download the Acorns app to start saving and investing for your future today.

Paid non-client endorsement. Compensation provides incentive to positively promote Acorns. Investing involves risk. Acorns Advisors LLC and SEC Registered Investment Advisor. View important disclosures at acorns.com slash crimehub.

This episode is brought to you by LifeLock. The holidays mean more travel, more shopping, more time online, and more personal info in places that could expose you to identity theft. That's why LifeLock monitors millions of data points every second. If your identity is stolen, their U.S.-based restoration specialist will fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Get more holiday fun and less holiday worry with LifeLock. Save up to 40% your first year. Visit LifeLock.com slash podcast. Terms apply.

Part Four: The Demise of Murder, Inc. Special Prosecutor Thomas Dewey was a thorn in the mob's side. The mustachioed lawyer had a 60-man task force dedicated to breaking up rackets and bringing mafiosos to justice. Murder, Inc. was at the top of his list, but he'd need to catch a few fish to put pressure on the mysterious organization.

Dewey's big fish was a Jewish gangster named Dutch Schultz. Schultz made his fortune bootlegging during Prohibition, before transitioning to extortion in the mid-1930s. Dewey went after Schultz for tax evasion in 1933, but the trial ended in a hung jury. Knowing he'd come back, Schultz asked the higher-ups to stick murder ink on the lawyer.

He was voted down immediately, as hitting Dewey was a direct violation of Murder, Inc.'s code. Schultz didn't care. If Murder, Inc. wouldn't do it, then he'd just killed Dewey himself. When Schultz stormed out of the room, another secret vote was cast. This time, mob leaders decided unanimously that Dutch Schultz was a liability. He had to go.

On October 23, 1935, Schultz was ambushed inside a restaurant bathroom in Newark. He survived the initial shooting but died in the hospital 24 hours later. With Schultz dead, Dewey's task force could shift their attention to Lucky Luciano. They raided several known prostitution houses, where the beaten and abused girls were happy to testify against the thugs who hurt them

They implicated Luckey as the mastermind behind the New York and New Jersey Ring, one of the largest illegal prostitution rackets in American history. Luciano was found guilty in 1936 and sentenced to between 30 and 50 years in jail. Next on Dewey's list were Louis Buckalter and Jacob Gurrah Shapiro, whom we don't believe was related to the Shapiro brothers that Abe Rellis was beefing with.

He wanted to get them on antitrust violations, but he knew they'd beat the charges. He also knew they were connected to something bigger and were likely linked to all the dead gangster bodies littering the Brooklyn streets.

Dewey's work soon passed to newly elected King County DA William O. Dwyer, who caught a massive break in 1940 when police arrested several Murder, Inc. members. The most notable of them all was Abe "Kid Twist" Relis. Abe feared the other low-level killers would talk, so he beat them to the punch. He spilled the beans on Murder, Inc., Lewis Buckalter, Pittsburgh Phil, and other high-ranking members.

Abe's testimony implicated Louis Buckhalter in the murder of Brooklyn candy store owner Joseph Rosen. He was found guilty and sentenced to death by electrocution. Louis went to the chair at Sing Sing Prison on March 4th, 1944. O'Dwyer tied Pittsburgh Phil to five murders, thanks to Abe's information. He was sentenced to death alongside Martin Goldstein in September of 1940.

They met Old Sparky at Sing Sing in June of 1941. O'Dwyer was happy with the results, but he wanted bigger fish. Albert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia and Bugsy Siegel were at the top of his list. He'd built what he called the "perfect case," but may have leaned too heavily on Abe Rellis. On November 12th, 1941, Abe was being held in protective custody at the Half Moon Hotel in Coney Island.

The place was crawling with armed guards when, suddenly, Rellis flew out of his sixth-floor window. His death earned him the posthumous nickname "The Canary Who Could Sing But Couldn't Fly." In Abe's room, police found several bedsheets tied to the heating unit. They were strewn over the balcony, leading investigators to believe that Abe was trying to escape. Nobody believed the story. During his time in custody, Abe never made any escape attempts.

In fact, he was afraid of being too far from the police, as he knew that snitching on Murder, Inc. was a death sentence. It's a well-known mob rumor that Frank Costello raised $100,000 to bribe the guards. Instead of protecting Rellis, they grabbed him by his pants and tossed him off the balcony. Then, they staged the room to make it look like an accident.

In 1951, a grand jury ruled Abe Rellis' death an accident and closed the book for good.

Thanks to IP.

Learn more at phrma.org/ipworkswonders Part 5: From the Ashes By the mid-1940s, most of Murder, Inc. was dead, in jail, or on the lam. D.A. O'Dwyer went on to become the 100th mayor of New York City, but left office on a sour note after public backlash for not prosecuting Albert Anastasia. As for Albert, he joined the army during World War II to avoid prosecution.

He never saw active duty, though he did help train longshoremen in Pennsylvania. According to mob historians, Albert concocted a plan during the war to help secure a lighter sentence for Lucky Luciano. In essence, he was going to extort the US Navy. A French luxury liner, the SS Normandy, had just arrived in New York Harbor. The Navy was converting it to a troop ship when it suddenly caught fire and capsized.

Rumor has it that Albert ordered one of his brothers to set the fire. Albert then went to the US Navy and said he and Lucky could use their Sicilian connections to ensure no further issues. The Navy, now stuck between a rock and a hard place, agreed.

During the war, they leaned on their new mafia connections in what was known as Operation Underworld. Luckey's sentence was commuted after the war, on the condition that he be deported to Italy. He reluctantly agreed and never set foot in America again. With Luckey gone, the Genovese crime family could make moves on his territory. That meant taking out those loyal to Luckey and the now-defunct Murder, Inc.

Frank Costello was shot and wounded. He agreed to retire and relinquish power to the Genovese family when he recovered. On October 25, 1957, Albert Anastasia entered a barbershop at the Parc Sheridan Hotel. As he relaxed in the chair, two men rushed the shot and blew Albert away. By then, everyone involved in murdering was dead, jailed, retired, or deported.

Their legacy, however, lived on, even making it overseas to Nazi-era Germany. Kenneth Daniel Williams was a B-17 bomber pilot during World War II. When he arrived in England in October 1943, he was assigned to a plane called Murder, Inc. He had no connection to the actual crime syndicate back home. At the time, it was customary for pilots to stitch the name of their plane onto the back of their flight jackets. Williams did just that.

but he never actually flew the Murder, Inc. plane. Instead, he was on the Aristocrat, which was shot down over Germany in November of 1943. The Germans took Williams and a handful of crew members prisoner after the crash. They arrived at a POW camp where Joseph Goebbels, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, saw Murder, Inc. on Williams' flight jacket.

Goebbels, being a master manipulator of media, spun the Murder, Inc. logo to suggest American pilots were lawless gangsters from Chicago, hell-bent on killing innocent German women and children. German newspapers ran headlines akin to "American Air Gangster Identifies Himself as Part of a Murder Racket." Williams spent a year in captivity and was finally freed after the Red Army liberated his POW camp.

When he came home, he was greeted with hundreds of letters wishing good health to the air gangster. Inside those letters were newspaper clippings about Murder, Inc. Williams kept the jacket that made him famous, having the words "Murder, Inc." repainted on the back as they were in 1943. In 1986, his family donated the jacket to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

It still hangs proudly today, displaying the name of America's most notorious assassin group. Unfortunately, Murder, Inc.'s legacy left a noticeable scar on Brownsville, New York. In the mid-2010s, the 1.1 square mile neighborhood was considered the murder capital of New York City.

Gone were the days of Jewish and Italian mobsters. This new batch of victims and killers were mostly young black and Hispanic kids between 12 and 13 years old. According to police, these youth gangs weren't cut from the same cloth as their drug dealing forebearers. They were cliques of teenagers bound by the housing development they lived in. They aren't killing for money or revenge. "It's territorial nonsense," said one local police lieutenant.

You're from another building, so I hate you. This was the kind of thing Murder Inc. wanted to avoid. Killing for killing's sake was bad for business. That's why the mob bosses wanted a non-biased middleman for murder. Death was handled democratically. If someone stepped outside the lines, they were dealt with quietly and internally. They lived by a strict code. They did all they could to limit collateral damage while still killing upwards of 1,000 people.

But hey, in the famous words of Bugsy Siegel, we only kill each other.