# OK-How Does The Mafia Dispose of Corpses? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 18, 2012, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-how-does-the-mafia-dispose-of-corpses/616164 "2012-03-18T21:41:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-how-does-the-mafia-dispose-of-corpses/616164/21 "2012-03-20T11:51:27Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Why hide the body? Hiding a body means moving a body, and moving a body means there’s a chance the cops will catch you with a corpse in the trunk of your car. Best to just leave it where it is. Still, plenty of mobsters have disappeared under circumstances which suggest that they’re not living in Miami under an assumed name, so a certain amount of body disposal does go on. Personally, I’d suggest weighing the corpse down and dumping it in the ocean. Nearly zero chance of the body being found. ---
**Author:** ![RalfCoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@RalfCoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RalfCoder)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-how-does-the-mafia-dispose-of-corpses/616164/22 "2012-03-20T11:56:39Z")
Couple o’ cinder blocks, some chain, my buddy’s fishin’ boat, a few hours fishin’ off Deepwater Point some evening… no big t’ing. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-how-does-the-mafia-dispose-of-corpses/616164/23 "2012-03-20T11:58:51Z")
As noted above, there are rumors of Indiana steel mills being utilized on occasion - allegedly Helen Brach, among others. According to steel guys I know, that might mess up the chemistry of the batch, amounts of carbon and other bits being strongly controlled these days, but on the other hand if you include it in a load of scrap which is, of course, contaminated with all sorts of non-steel things like plastics and stuff, that might slip by unnoticed. Certainly, a few workers over the years have been _accidentally_ vaporized in blast furnaces. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-how-does-the-mafia-dispose-of-corpses/616164/24 "2012-03-20T12:00:41Z")
> [@RaftPeople](#): > > Read the book The Ice Man and your questions will be answered, assuming you believe what a psychopath tells you. Pathological liar is more like it. ---
**Author:** ![Frazzled](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frazzled/32/3368_2.png) [@Frazzled](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frazzled)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-how-does-the-mafia-dispose-of-corpses/616164/25 "2012-03-20T13:05:18Z")
Need answer fast? ---
**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:** [March 20, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-how-does-the-mafia-dispose-of-corpses/616164/26 "2012-03-20T13:39:34Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I always had my doubts about the whole ‘entombment surrounded by concrete’ scenario. Wouldn’t a body disrupt the structural integrity of the concrete? And it would have to be a farly wide piece of concrete to leave enough to cover the body on every side. > > I’d go for burial under a new concrete floor. If it’s foundations for a high rise building, I would have thought that a void created by a decomposing body, right at the bottom of some massive block of poured concrete, that’s going to be a smaller defect than the built in engineering tolerances anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-how-does-the-mafia-dispose-of-corpses/616164/27 "2012-03-20T13:43:24Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > If it’s foundations for a high rise building, I would have thought that a void created by a decomposing body, right at the bottom of some massive block of poured concrete, that’s going to be a smaller defect than the built in engineering tolerances anyway. Ah yes but what if the mob is also skimping on concrete quality in to skim money off the building contract? I’m suddenly really glad I don’t live in a highrise. ---
**Author:** ![Vicullum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/6de8d8/32.png) [@Vicullum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vicullum)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-how-does-the-mafia-dispose-of-corpses/616164/28 "2012-03-20T14:20:00Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I always had my doubts about the whole ‘entombment surrounded by concrete’ scenario. Wouldn’t a body disrupt the structural integrity of the concrete? And it would have to be a farly wide piece of concrete to leave enough to cover the body on every side. > > I’d go for burial under a new concrete floor. You’re right to be concerned. Serial killers Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka tried to dispose of one of their [victims](http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/notorious/bernardo/9.html) by first dismembering and then covering the pieces in concrete and tossing them into a lake. However, they dumped them in the shallow end and a fisherman took notice of the odd blocks with pieces of flesh sticking out of them and called the police. So I guess the lesson here is (1) use larger, deeper bodies of water or (2) don’t skimp on the concrete. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2012, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-how-does-the-mafia-dispose-of-corpses/616164/29 "2012-03-20T14:40:48Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > Ah yes but what if the mob is also skimping on concrete quality in to skim money off the building contract? > > I’m suddenly really glad I don’t live in a highrise. Has CSI done a story yet where a body is entombed in a concrete wall and falls out on someone when the decomposition gases blow away the surface concrete? ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-how-does-the-mafia-dispose-of-corpses/616164/30 "2012-03-20T14:49:51Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > Don’t forget the hot dog stands. Sorta like [Eating Raoul](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083869/)? Or…build a [REALLY BIG pyramid.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/All_Gizah_Pyramids.jpg/300px-All_Gizah_Pyramids.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-how-does-the-mafia-dispose-of-corpses/616164/31 "2012-03-20T18:04:54Z")
Concrete galoshes. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-how-does-the-mafia-dispose-of-corpses/616164/32 "2012-03-20T20:15:49Z")
Pig farm, according to “Snatch.” I get all my info from the movies. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-how-does-the-mafia-dispose-of-corpses/616164/33 "2012-03-20T21:15:27Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I always had my doubts about the whole ‘entombment surrounded by concrete’ scenario. Wouldn’t a body disrupt the structural integrity of the concrete? And it would have to be a farly wide piece of concrete to leave enough to cover the body on every side. There were rumors that some worker(s) died after being buried in wet cement while building the Hoover Dam and the bodies were just left there. The show I was watching said that that wouldn’t happen as it would compromise the structural integrity of the dam. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-how-does-the-mafia-dispose-of-corpses/616164/34 "2012-03-20T21:32:09Z")
> [@Laggard](#): > > There were rumors that some worker(s) died after being buried in wet cement while building the Hoover Dam and the bodies were just left there. The show I was watching said that that wouldn’t happen as it would compromise the structural integrity of the dam. No one. [http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/History/essays/fatal.html](http://www.usbr.gov/lc/hooverdam/History/essays/fatal.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-how-does-the-mafia-dispose-of-corpses/616164.md?page=1)