# Concrete shoes, pulp fiction or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 30, 2008, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221 "2008-07-30T12:30:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/1 "2008-07-30T12:30:26Z")
Just a random thought that popped in my mind, I´m sure you´ve heard the term concrete shoes, mobsters choice of swimwear for fellas with rodent traits and other individuals that ran afoul of them. But, is there any truth to any of it?, fish rolled up in newspapers, snitches and rivals sleeping with the fishes and all that jazz? How about other, err, _trademark_ ways of offing people? ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/2 "2008-07-30T13:41:25Z")
It’s ‘cement shoes’. Capish? > **[Cement shoes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cement_shoes)** > > Cement shoes, concrete shoes, or Chicago overcoat is a method of murder or body disposal, usually associated with criminals such as the Mafia or gangs. It involves weighing down the victim, who may be dead or alive, with concrete 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 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 invol... ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/3 "2008-07-30T13:45:36Z")
[QUOTE=Philster] It’s ‘cement shoes’. Capish? [/QUOTE] It’s “capiche”. Capiche? ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/4 "2008-07-30T13:51:04Z")
[QUOTE=Ale] How about other, err, _trademark_ ways of offing people? [/QUOTE] I can’t find a cite, but my gut tells me that a long heavy anchor chain tied to your feet has been used more than once in real life. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/5 "2008-07-30T14:11:58Z")
OK, this is third hand, but here goes: My coworker is in the Coast Guard reserves and got this story from an older sailor. In the 60’s the old guys ship found a dead guy nailed to a cross floating offshore. The whole thing had been chained to weights but the bloating of the corpse had made it buoyant enough to surface. The victim was a black male and it was apparently the work of the black panthers. The body showed evidence of torture prior to crucifixion and it was believed that he was executed as a “traitor.” I don’t know how such expert knowledge was available to the Coast Guard, but you’ve been told what I was told. ---
**Author:** ![RaftPeople](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@RaftPeople](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaftPeople)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/6 "2008-07-30T15:06:14Z")
A murder like the OP describes happened where I grew up. They did the whole concrete thing and dumped it in Lake Sammamish. The really weird part of the story is that the people were caught and it turned out to be a person that owned a Hair Salon right near my house. People in my neighborhood had been going there for years. I googled and couldn’t find the story, the guys name was David (the killer), hair salon was David’s East, and I think the whole thing was drug related. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/7 "2008-07-30T15:35:53Z")
The OP brings to mind the story of that American union bloke, name forgotten. Wasn’t he found with cement shoes on? ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/8 "2008-07-30T15:46:56Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] The OP brings to mind the story of that American union bloke, name forgotten. Wasn’t he found with cement shoes on? [/QUOTE] I’m assuming that you’re thinking of Jimmy Hoffa? His body has never been found, but a spokesman for the Teamsters says that Hoffa will always be a cornerstone of the organization. ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/9 "2008-07-30T16:04:59Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] I’m assuming that you’re thinking of Jimmy Hoffa? His body has never been found, but a spokesman for the Teamsters says that Hoffa will always be a cornerstone of the organization. [/QUOTE] They have also in the past said that he’s the foundation of everything they do and the [baseline](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giants_Stadium#The_Jimmy_Hoffa_urban_legend) against which all others must be measured. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/10 "2008-07-30T16:11:14Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] I’m assuming that you’re thinking of Jimmy Hoffa? His body has never been found, but a spokesman for the Teamsters says that Hoffa will always be a cornerstone of the organization. [/QUOTE] That’s the feller. I thought he’d been found yonks ago or am I thinking of a Jim Carey film ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/11 "2008-07-30T16:14:36Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] I’m assuming that you’re thinking of Jimmy Hoffa? His body has never been found, but a spokesman for the Teamsters says that Hoffa will always be a cornerstone of the organization. [/QUOTE] And today (7/30) happens to be the [anniversary](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_hoffa) of his disappearance! ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/12 "2008-07-30T16:24:30Z")
[QUOTE=Philster] It’s ‘cement shoes’. Capish? > **[Cement shoes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cement_shoes)** > > Cement shoes, concrete shoes, or Chicago overcoat is a method of murder or body disposal, usually associated with criminals such as the Mafia or gangs. It involves placing the victim's feet into wet cement or concrete, allowing it time to set, and then throwing them into water in the hope the body will never be found. In the US, the term has become a tongue-in-cheek euphemism for a threat of death by criminals. It is a common trope in fiction. > Cement shoes involve first binding, incapacitating ... [/QUOTE] Hey, the lyrics of AC/DC Dirty Deeds say “concrete shoes” and that’s good enough for me. 😃 So, from the answers so far it seems that sending people to sleep with the fish isn’t (or wasn’t, I hope!) such a common practice for the mafia as it’s been imprinted in popular culture, right? And about the coincidence with Hoffa’s disappearence anniversary… I deny everything. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/13 "2008-07-30T16:44:26Z")
[QUOTE=Ale] And about the coincidence with Hoffa’s disappearence anniversary… I deny everything. [/QUOTE] Well you would, wouldn’t you? ::looks around furtively:: ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/14 "2008-07-30T16:47:20Z")
[QUOTE=Ale] … How about other, err, _trademark_ ways of offing people? [/QUOTE] These days, a “gangland execution” style killing means shot in the head at short range with a small caliber pistol, often behind one ear. It isn’t very elegant, but it’s relatively quiet and reliable. In most cases, the body is found where it fell, with no attempt to hide it. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/15 "2008-07-30T17:05:25Z")
[QUOTE=MikeS] It’s “capiche”. Capiche? [/QUOTE] Actually, it’s “[capisc](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=capisc) " or “capisce”, capisce? 😉 (from the Italian verb [“capire”](http://www.gwc.org.uk/ModernLang/hotpot/Italian2/presenttense.html)).; 'sce” is pronounced like “sh” in English (or “che” in French, which is what your spelling is closest to). /nitpick Re the OP - I got nothin’. ---
**Author:** ![goodie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@goodie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/goodie)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/16 "2008-07-30T18:03:52Z")
garroting is pretty traditional ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/17 "2008-07-30T19:45:31Z")
[QUOTE=Ale] How about other, err, _trademark_ ways of offing people? [/QUOTE] Putting a guy in a sack. In order to put a guy in a sack properly he has to be unconscious. This can be achieved by buying him a drink and slipping a powder into it. Alternatively, you can tap him on the back of the head with a blackjack (which saves the expense of buying the drink). From _Sense of Humour_ by Damon Runyon: _Anyway, after the guy is asleep, you double him up like a pocketknife, and tie a cord or wire around his neck and under his knees. Then you put him in a gunny sack, and leave him some place, and by and by when the guy wakes up and finds himself in the sack, naturally he wants to get out and the first thing he does is to try to straighten out his knees. This pulls the cord around his neck up so tight that after a while the guy is all out of breath._ Runyon was intimately acquainted with various prominent citizens of the underworld and it’s unlikely he made this up. How widespread this practice was in the thirties and forties, I cannot say. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/18 "2008-07-30T20:14:11Z")
[QUOTE=Mama Zappa] Actually, it’s “[capisc](http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=capisc) " or “capisce”, capisce? 😉 (from the Italian verb [“capire”](http://www.gwc.org.uk/ModernLang/hotpot/Italian2/presenttense.html)).; 'sce” is pronounced like “sh” in English (or “che” in French, which is what your spelling is closest to). /nitpick Re the OP - I got nothin’. [/QUOTE] And to convey the word in English, ‘capish’ is fine. You got a problem wid dat? ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/19 "2008-07-30T23:00:43Z")
Around here, you just shoot 'em in the head and dump 'em in a canal or ditch. I think the cement thing would just lead to the rest of the body detaching and floating back up after it’s been gnawed on a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221/20 "2008-07-31T00:23:26Z")
[QUOTE=Philster] And to convey the word in English, ‘capish’ is fine. [/QUOTE] As indeed is concrete a close enough synonym for cement. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/concrete-shoes-pulp-fiction-or-not/458221.md?page=2)