It’s a chilling phrase. We can bury anyone. If you’ve spent any time digging into the dark underbelly of 20th-century organized crime, you’ve likely stumbled across this specific boast. It isn't just movie dialogue. It isn't just some screenwriter's attempt at sounding tough. This was the terrifying, literal promise of Murder, Inc., the enforcement arm of the National Crime Syndicate that operated during the 1930s and 40s.
People talk about the Mafia like it was a boardroom. It wasn't. At least, not always.
When Louis "Lepke" Buchalter and Albert Anastasia ran the show from a 24-hour candy store in Brownsville, Brooklyn, the phrase "we can bury anyone" was a marketing pitch to the various crime families of New York and Chicago. They weren't just killing rivals. They were providing a service. Think of it as a deadly utility company.
Honestly, the efficiency was what made it so haunting. They used ice picks. They used suppressed pistols. They used the notorious "one-way ride." But the core of their power—the reason the phrase stuck—was the sheer reach of the organization. No one was untouchable. From local stool pigeons to high-ranking labor leaders, if the contract was signed, the "disappearance" was inevitable.
The Men Who Made the Boast
The organization wasn't a myth. It was a cold, hard reality documented by Brooklyn District Attorney William O'Dwyer and Assistant D.A. Burton Turkus.
Turkus later wrote the book Murder, Inc., which is probably the most detailed look we have at how these guys operated. He described a system where the killers didn't even know their victims. It was impersonal. That was the genius of it. How do you catch a killer who has no motive other than a paycheck? You don't. Or at least, for a long time, the NYPD didn't.
Abe "Kid Twist" Reles was the guy who eventually blew the lid off the whole thing. He was a hitman. A prolific one. When he started talking to the cops in 1940, he didn't just confess to his own crimes; he detailed the entire corporate structure of the syndicate. He explained that "we can bury anyone" wasn't just about the act of killing—it was about the disposal.
The syndicate had access to lime pits, construction sites, and the deep waters of the Atlantic. They had "disposal experts."
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The Logistics of a "Disappearance"
You might think it’s easy to make a person vanish. It’s not. Not back then, and certainly not now. In the 1930s, Murder, Inc. used a variety of methods that were surprisingly sophisticated for the time.
- The "Heavy" Work: Hitmen like Charles "The Bug" Workman would handle the actual execution.
- The Vanishing Act: Bodies were often weighted with heavy chains or encased in concrete—though the "concrete shoes" trope is a bit exaggerated in film compared to the reality of quicklime.
- The Alibi: The organization ensured that the killers were nowhere near the scene, often moving them across state lines immediately after the job.
It’s kinda crazy when you think about the scale. Some estimates suggest Murder, Inc. was responsible for anywhere from 400 to 1,000 murders. That's a lot of bodies. That's a lot of families left wondering what happened.
Why the Phrase Still Haunts Us
Language matters. When a group says "we can bury anyone," they are claiming total sovereignty over life and death. It’s the ultimate expression of power. In the decades since Lepke Buchalter became the only mob boss to ever die in the electric chair at Sing Sing, the phrase has morphed. It’s been co-opted by political thrillers and rap lyrics.
But the reality was much grittier. It was the smell of a Brooklyn basement. It was the sound of a garage door closing.
In modern true crime circles, we see echoes of this in the way cartels or high-level international gangs operate. They still use the same psychology. They want you to believe that there is no corner of the earth where you are safe. They want you to feel that their reach is infinite.
The Myth of the Untouchable
The truth is, nobody is truly untouchable, but nobody is truly invisible either.
The downfall of Murder, Inc. proved that even the most efficient killing machine has a weak point: the people inside it. Abe Reles was the "canary who could fly but couldn't swim." Even though he was under 24-hour police protection at the Half Moon Hotel in Coney Island, he somehow "fell" out of a window to his death in 1941.
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People still argue about that. Did the mob get to him? Did he try to escape? Did the cops throw him out?
Whatever the case, the death of the star witness didn't stop the collapse of the syndicate. The "we can bury anyone" era ended not because the mob ran out of shovels, but because the law finally caught up to the business model. Forensic science started to evolve. Ballistics got better. Blood typing became a thing.
Fact-Checking the "Bury" Claims
We hear stories about Jimmy Hoffa or various mob hits where the body was never found. These fuel the "we can bury anyone" legend.
- The Meadowlands Myth: For years, people said Hoffa was buried under Giants Stadium. The FBI actually dug up parts of it. They found nothing.
- The Garbage Disposal: There are claims that bodies were run through industrial shredders or melted in acid vats in the Poultry Market. Some of this is documented; some is just underworld lore designed to keep people in line.
- The Lake Mead Discoveries: Look at what happened recently with the receding water levels in Lake Mead. Bodies from the 70s and 80s started popping up in barrels. It turns out, "burying" someone in water isn't as permanent as the mob thought it would be.
Nature has a way of revealing secrets.
Digital Burials: The New Frontier
In 2026, the phrase "we can bury anyone" has taken on a weird, digital meaning. We aren't just talking about physical bodies anymore. We're talking about reputations. We're talking about "cancel culture" on steroids or algorithmic suppression.
If a powerful entity wants to "bury" a story or a person today, they don't need an ice pick. They need a bot farm. They need SEO experts. They need to flood the zone with so much noise that the truth becomes impossible to find. It’s a different kind of disappearance.
How Digital Suppression Works
- Drowning out the truth: Using thousands of AI-generated articles to push a negative story to page 10 of Google.
- Character assassination: Flooding social media with coordinated attacks to make a person "radioactive."
- Legal "Burial": Using SLAPP suits (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) to bankrupt someone into silence.
It's essentially the same philosophy Murder, Inc. had, just applied to the information age. The goal is the same: removal from society. Whether you’re in a lime pit or just deleted from the internet, the result for the victim is a total loss of agency.
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Practical Insights: Protecting Your Legacy
If history teaches us anything, it's that absolute power always leaves a trail. Whether you're researching the old Brooklyn gangs or trying to navigate a world where information can be manipulated, here are a few things to keep in mind.
First, verify the source. Most of the "we can bury anyone" bravado was designed to intimidate. The mob wanted people to think they were more powerful than they actually were. Fear was their most effective tool. If you can see through the fear, the power evaporates.
Second, understand that nothing stays buried forever. From the Half Moon Hotel to the bottom of Lake Mead, the truth has a habit of surfacing. Forensic technology—both physical and digital—is now at a point where "vanishing" is nearly impossible. Every action leaves a footprint. Every digital interaction leaves a log.
Third, look for the "canaries." Every secret organization has a weak link. Usually, it's a person who feels undervalued or a person who gets scared. If you're trying to uncover a hidden truth, don't look at the bosses. Look at the guys in the candy store. Look at the people at the edges of the frame.
The era of Murder, Inc. is a dark chapter in American history, but it serves as a reminder. It reminds us that while some may claim the power to "bury" their problems, the weight of the truth is usually much heavier than the dirt they use to cover it.
Move Forward With These Steps
- Read the primary sources: Check out Burton Turkus’s Murder, Inc. for a non-fictional account of how the syndicate was actually dismantled. It’s a masterpiece of investigative history.
- Analyze the psychology: Recognize when a modern entity—be it a corporation or a political group—uses "intimidation by disappearance" (digital or otherwise) as a tactic.
- Support transparency: The only antidote to a "we can bury anyone" culture is a system that values open records and investigative journalism.
The guys in the Brownsville candy store are long gone. Their lime pits are covered over by parking lots and high-rises. But the desire to make people disappear—to hide the consequences of one's actions—is a human impulse that isn't going anywhere. Staying informed is the only way to make sure nobody gets buried in the dark.