Case overview
Murder Inc., a contract killing operation run by New York’s organized crime families in the 1930s and early 1940s, carried out an estimated 400 to 1,000 murders across the United States before a single confession unraveled the entire structure. Abe “Kid Twist” Reles, a core member of the group, turned informant in 1940 and provided prosecutors with detailed testimony that led to multiple convictions and executions. His cooperation exposed a disciplined, profit-driven assassination network that operated with the approval of the National Crime Syndicate.
How the group operated
Murder Inc. functioned as the enforcement arm of the National Crime Syndicate, a coalition of Jewish and Italian organized crime groups formed in the early 1930s. Based in Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood, the group took orders from senior mob figures including Louis “Lepke” Buchalter, Albert Anastasia, and Meyer Lansky. When a mob boss wanted someone killed, the request was approved by the Syndicate’s leadership and passed to Murder Inc.’s operatives, who carried out the contract with precision.
The structure was hierarchical. Buchalter and Anastasia controlled operations, while enforcers like Reles, Martin “Bugsy” Goldstein, Harry “Pittsburgh Phil” Strauss, and Harry “Happy” Maione executed the orders. Many of the killers were Jewish mobsters from Brownsville who had grown up together and were bound by loyalty, intimidation, and financial incentive. Victims were often lured to specific locations, killed quickly, and their bodies disposed of in ways that complicated identification.
Murder Inc. operated across state lines to avoid local law enforcement scrutiny. Killers were sent to distant cities to carry out hits on individuals they had never met, reducing the likelihood of detection. Weapons were discarded immediately, alibis were coordinated in advance, and members maintained a code of silence that protected the organization for years.
The murder that exposed the network
The case that drew sustained law enforcement attention involved the 1939 killing of Irving “Puggy” Feinstein, a small-time hoodlum and potential informant. Feinstein had been picked up by police in connection with a robbery, and there was concern within Murder Inc. that he might cooperate with authorities. He was strangled and his body was found in a vacant lot in Brooklyn. The killing was routine by the group’s standards, but it occurred as Brooklyn District Attorney William O’Dwyer had begun targeting organized crime with greater intensity.
O’Dwyer’s investigators identified Reles and other Murder Inc. members as suspects in the Feinstein case. Under pressure and facing the possibility of the death penalty, Reles decided to cooperate in early 1940. He provided investigators with a detailed account of Murder Inc.’s operations, naming participants, describing methods, and linking specific murders to orders from mob leadership.
Reles’s testimony was extensive and specific. He described how contracts were approved, how killers were selected, and how bodies were disposed of. He testified in multiple trials and his statements led to convictions in several high-profile cases, including those of Goldstein, Strauss, Maione, and eventually Buchalter. His cooperation marked the first time a core member of the Syndicate had provided comprehensive testimony against its leadership.
Convictions and executions
Reles’s testimony resulted in convictions that dismantled much of Murder Inc.’s operational capacity. Harry Strauss and Martin Goldstein were convicted of murder and executed at Sing Sing prison in 1941. Harry Maione and Frank Abbandando were also convicted and executed the same year. Louis Capone, another Murder Inc. figure, was executed in 1944.
The most significant conviction was that of Louis Buchalter, who was tried and found guilty of ordering the 1936 murder of garment industry trucker Joseph Rosen. Buchalter was sentenced to death and executed in 1944, becoming the only major organized crime boss in American history to be executed by the state. His conviction was based largely on Reles’s testimony, which connected the murder order to Buchalter’s direct involvement.
Albert Anastasia, another senior figure in Murder Inc., avoided prosecution. He was suspected of orchestrating many of the group’s killings, but investigators were unable to build a case against him during the trials. Anastasia continued his involvement in organized crime until his assassination in 1957.
The death of Abe Reles
On November 12, 1941, Reles fell to his death from a window of the Half Moon Hotel in Coney Island, where he was being held under police protection. He had been guarded around the clock by multiple officers, and the circumstances of his fall remain disputed. Official reports concluded that he was attempting to escape by tying bedsheets together, but the explanation was met with widespread skepticism.
Reles’s death occurred days before he was scheduled to testify against Albert Anastasia. His fall ended the most damaging cooperation case the Syndicate had faced and left many Murder Inc. cases unresolved. Investigators and journalists questioned whether his death was accidental, whether it involved corruption within the police detail assigned to protect him, or whether it was orchestrated by organized crime figures. No charges were ever filed in connection with his death.
Aftermath and legacy
The prosecution of Murder Inc. marked a turning point in the federal and state response to organized crime. It demonstrated that members of tightly controlled criminal organizations could be turned into witnesses and that even powerful mob figures could be convicted and executed. The case also highlighted the limitations of witness protection and the risks faced by cooperating informants in an era before formalized federal programs.
The dismantling of Murder Inc. did not end organized crime, but it disrupted the Syndicate’s enforcement capacity and forced structural changes in how mob-related violence was carried out. The case influenced later prosecutions of organized crime figures and contributed to the development of legal strategies that relied on insider testimony and coordinated multi-jurisdictional investigations.
William O’Dwyer, the Brooklyn District Attorney who led the investigation, was later elected mayor of New York City. His role in the Murder Inc. case became central to his political rise, though questions about his handling of certain aspects of the investigation, including the circumstances surrounding Reles’s death, persisted throughout his career.
Where to look next
- Book: “Murder, Inc., and the Moral Life” by Robert J. Kelly
- Book: “The Canary That Sang” by Burton Turkus and Sid Feder
- Documentary: “Mobsters” (A&E)
