Cement shoes, concrete shoes, or Chicago overcoat is a method of murder or body disposal, usually associated with criminals such as the
Mafia
"Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...
or
gangs
A gang is a group or society of associates, friends, or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collecti ...
. It involves weighing down the victim, who may be dead or alive, with
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
and throwing them into water in the hope the body will never be found. In the US, the term has become a
tongue-in-cheek
Tongue-in-cheek is an idiom that describes a humorous or sarcastic statement expressed in a serious manner.
History
The phrase originally expressed contempt, but by 1842 had acquired its modern meaning. Early users of the phrase include Sir Walte ...
euphemism for a threat of death by criminals. While a common
trope in fiction, only one real-life case has ever been authenticated.
Cement shoes
Cement shoes involve first binding, incapacitating or killing the victim and then placing each foot into a bucket or box, which is then filled with wet
concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
(a mixture of cement powder, rock, water and sand), or even simply cement powder and water. Typically in films and novels, the victim is still alive as they watch the concrete harden, heightening the
torture
Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...
and drama.
After the concrete sets, the victim is thrown into a body of water such as a river, lake or the ocean.
Real-life incidents
Despite being a theme in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood ...
movies like ''
Lady in Cement'' and books like
E. L. Doctorow's ''
Billy Bathgate'', whether such a cumbersome and time-consuming method of execution was practical remained in question.
[ Cement takes many hours or even days to fully harden and, until 2016, there was never a documented case—although crime historian Thomas Reppetto said there have probably been real-life examples that have never been found.
In May 2016, the first and only documented case of "cement shoes" was reported. The body of Brooklyn gang member Peter Martinez, aged 28, better known on the streets as Petey Crack, washed up near Manhattan Beach in Brooklyn. His head was wrapped in duct tape, the immediate cause of his death. His feet and shins were encased in concrete set inside a bucket. His body floated to the shore due to air in the concrete because it was not given enough time to dry before being thrown into the ocean.]
Concrete has been used as a weight to dispose of a body. In 1941, the body of Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
racketeer
Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercive, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. The term "racket ...
Johnnie Goodman was found by a crab fisherman in a New Jersey creek, weighed down with an block of concrete.[ On August 24, 1964, the body of Ernest Rupolo, aged 52, a trigger man who informed on ]Vito Genovese
Vito Genovese (; November 21, 1897 – February 14, 1969) was an Italian-born American ''American Mafia, mafioso'' and the leader of the Genovese crime family in New York City. A childhood friend and criminal associate of Lucky Luciano, Genovese ...
in 1944, was found in Jamaica Bay
Jamaica Bay (also known as Grassy Bay) is an estuary on the southern portion of the western tip of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The estuary is partially man-made, and partially natural. The bay connects with Lo ...
, New York, with concrete blocks tied to his legs. It is also speculated that bootlegger Rocco Perri was murdered by being fitted with cement shoes and thrown into Hamilton Harbour
Hamilton Harbour (formerly known as Burlington Bay) lies on the western tip of Lake Ontario, bounded on the northwest by the City of Burlington, on the south by the City of Hamilton, and on the east by Hamilton Beach (south of the Burlington ...
in 1944.
The French Army used cement shoes on Algerians who were murdered on so-called " death flights" during the Algerian War
The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...
. The victims were called "" 'Bigeard shrimp' after General Marcel Bigeard
Marcel Bigeard (; February 14, 1916 – June 18, 2010), personal radio call-sign "Bruno", was a French military officer and politician who fought in World War II, the First Indochina War and the Algerian War. He was one of the commanders in the ...
, who ordered the procedure. Bigeard put his victims' feet in a basin, poured quick-setting cement in and threw the person into the sea from the top of a helicopter, said Paul Teitgen, secretary general of the French police in Algiers in 1957, and notable opponent of torture during the war.
Parodies
A '' Far Side'' cartoon parodied the practice, depicting a fish given "Styrofoam shoes" in order to "sleep with the humans". It is a reference to " sleep with the fishes", a phrase that first appears in Homer's ''Iliad
The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...
'' (21), in which Achilles threatens (and kills) Lycaon, who will 'sleep with the fishes'.
See also
* '' Lupara bianca''
* Crushing (method of execution)
* Stoning
Stoning, or lapidation, is a method of capital punishment where a group throws stones at a person until the subject dies from blunt trauma. It has been attested as a form of punishment for grave misdeeds since ancient times.
Stoning appears t ...
References
{{American Mafia
Slang
Murder
Execution methods
Euphemisms
Gangland warfare tactics
Shoes in culture
American Mafia
Crime fiction