Theories on Hoffa’s Murder

Frank Sheeran

FOX News anchor Eric Shawn believes Hoffa’s long time friend Frank Sheeran pulled the trigger. The ex-mobster wrote about the death in his book ‘I Hear You Paint Houses.’ Sheeran said he picked up Hoffa along with two other men and brought him to an empty house. He didn’t want to kill his friend but had no choice; refusal to follow mob orders was a death sentence. Sheeran lingered behind Hoffa before shooting him twice in the back of the head.

According to the writer of the book, Charlie Brandt, Sheeran gave directions to the property. During a 2004 investigation, a forensic team went to the home and discovered traces of blood in several areas. In fact, the blood pattern matched Sheeran’s account of how Hoffa was murdered, dragged to the kitchen and wrapped in a body bag. Finally, the former Teamsters boss was cremated. The big issue is that tests on the blood confirmed it didn’t match Hoffa’s blood type. It’s likely that Sheeran did murder someone at the house, but it wasn’t Jimmy Hoffa.

The 55-Gallon Drum

Former Mafia killer Richard Kuklinski claimed he murdered Hoffa in his book ‘The Iceman: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer.’ The hitman said he killed Hoffa with a knife, burned the body in a 55-gallon drum and dumped it in a junkyard.

The police searched a New Jersey dump in 1975 looking for the drum. An investigative reporter called Dan Moldea interviewed Phillip Moscato, the owner of the dump and a man with mob connections. When Moscato died, Moldea was free to publish the conversation. In it, Moscato confirmed that snitch Ralph Picardo told the FBI of Hoffa’s whereabouts. The dump owner refused to outline how and where Hoffa died but did mention the drum and also said Hoffa wasn’t buried on a farm.

Other Theories

Another snitch said Hoffa’s body was taken to New Jersey and mixed in the concrete used to build the New York Giants stadium. An episode of Mythbusters put paid to that theory.

Hoffa was allegedly ground up at a meat processing plant in Michigan and either disposed of at a fat-rendering plant or dumped in a Florida swamp.

Salvatore Briguglio and several other underworld figures have also been linked to the crime, but no one has ever been convicted of the murder. The FBI did find a strand of hair in a car driven by Hoffa’s friend Charles O’ Brien. DNA samples were taken, and the hair was confirmed to be Hoffa’s. While the FBI long suspected O’Brien’s involvement in the murder, they didn’t find enough evidence to press charges.

Over 40 years after the disappearance, it is apparent that Hoffa’s body will never be found nor will a killer ever be identified or brought to justice. We expect further weird and wonderful theories to emerge; the fact that this case appears unsolvable makes it all the more intriguing!