Murder, Inc

📅 March 8, 2026

In the late 1990s, Def Jam executive Irv Gotti had an ambitious idea: bring together the most dominant rappers in New York and form a single group.

The lineup was formidable.

First, Jay-Z — sharp, calculated, and slick with the flow and delivery.
Then DMX — explosive, raw, and fueled by pure street intensity.
And finally Ja Rule — instantly recognizable for his gravelly voice and an uncanny gift for hooks that stuck in your head.

On paper, it looked unstoppable. It’s not hard to imagine how dominant — even culture-defining — that group might have been.

But it never happened.

In 1998, two of the most important albums in hip-hop history arrived: It's Dark and Hell Is Hot from DMX, and Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life from Jay-Z. A year later, Ja Rule followed with Venni Vetti Vecci.

Each artist quickly became a powerhouse in his own right. Once their solo careers took off, the idea of a group naturally faded into the background. Like The Commission before it, the project became one of hip-hop’s great what-ifs — a moment fans still wonder about. What if it had actually happened? I guess we’ll never know, no pun intended.

But there’s another question that’s just as interesting.

Why the name Murder Inc.?

In The Commission, I explored hip-hop’s long fascination with organized crime — especially the Mafia — a theme that ran deep through the genre in the 1990s. This, too, did, and from somewhere very real and very violent.

Here’s the story.

________

Louis “Lepke” Buchalter wasn’t your typical killer. Unlike other hot-headed, physically imposing killers, Lepke was a deceptively mild, quiet administrator of violence. By 30 – even after time in prison – he’d risen to lead of one of the savagest Jewish gangs in New York. These weren’t the kind who killed solely to silence. These were the very calculative type with handy (and effective) enough weapons to do the job without leaving a mess.

Contrary to popular belief, the Mafia generally avoids murders. The logic is simple: murder invites cops, cops bring attention, and attention is generally bad for business. But sometimes killings just had to be done. Which is where Lepke’s gang came in. Because rather than each Mafia family maintaining its own assassins, the National Crime Syndicate could allegedly outsource jobs to this centralized group. It was efficient and discreet. And most importantly, it kept the bosses who ordered the hits comfortably in the shadows.

All the risk belonged to others. And these “others”, Lepke’s gang, were something else entirely.

There was Albert Anastasia — a violent psychopath known as “The Executioner.”

There was Abe Reles, nicknamed “Kid Twist,” famed for his proficiency at strangulation.

Vito Gurino, called “Chicken Head,” was a sharpshooter who reportedly honed his aim by shooting the heads off live, running chickens.

And then there was Frank Abbandando — “The Dasher” — so named for his unusual speed in tracking down and eliminating targets.

The list goes on.

Martin Goldstein — known as “Buggsy” — who was considered crazy even by the craziest gangsters.

Harry Strauss, too, who had such a violent temper that he once stabbed a waiter in the eye over slow service.

Harry Maione too, who was called “Happy,” though no one could recall ever seeing him smile.

And, of course, Seymour ‘Red’ Levine who was so religious that he declined assignments that fell on Jewish High Holy Days.

Together, this loose fraternity of killers formed what law enforcement believed was responsible for hundreds — possibly thousands — of murders. Their work was systematic and organized. Almost like a business service. And this is exactly how the press described it. They called it Murder, Inc.

For the better part of five years Murder, Inc’s two hundred and fifty musclemen operated in the shadows, using whatever tools the job required - ice picks (driven hard and deep through the ear into the brain, causing a hemorrhage, then death), ropes for silent strangulations, knives, pistols, even poison. They might have continued far longer had Lepke didn’t run into trouble with the law.

Facing charges of industrial racketeering and extortion, pressure began to build, and he began to talk (it didn’t save him. The state executed him on charges of murder, making him the first – and only – major crime figure to be executed). Eventually, members of the organization started talking too in hopes of saving themselves, the most famous, Kid Twist — who later died under highly suspicious circumstances after falling from a hotel window while under police protection.

Indictments were issued. Summons and subpoenas were served. Witnesses were wiped out. Informants were eliminated. By the early 1940s, arrests, prosecutions, and executions had dismantled the network, piece by piece. And because we have nothing more to say, we now come to the end of our story.