Jimmy Hoffa's Last Ride

One of the biggest mysteries in American crime the disappearance of Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa
can be laid to rest.
http://painting.about.com/od/paintingtips/
houese paint
So claims author Charles Brandt in his book I Heard You Paint Houses, a thrilling whodunit drawn
from years of taped interviews with one of Jimmy Hoffas closest confidants trusted fellow teamster
and feared mob enforcer, Frank Sheeran. Hoffa's end, says Sheeran, came quickly and in the
company of friends.
James R. Hoffa, of course, was the tough grass-roots union organizer who rose to take control of the
mighty Teamsters Union in 1957. For ten years, Hoffa ruled with an iron hand until he was jailed in
1967 for jury tampering. Along the way, he pocketed plenty of favors for himself and made friends in
all the wrong places.
Russ and Frank
Hoffa famously disappeared on July 30, 1975 when his car, with no trace of Hoffa, was found in the
parking lot of the Machus Red Fox Restaurant outside of Detroit. On that fateful day before he left
his house for the last time, Hoffa had scribbled on a yellow pad: Russ and Frank.
Russ was the notorious mob boss Russell McGee Bufalino. Frank was no other than Frank The
Irishman Sheeran. Both were close friends and allies, and two of the only people Hoffa trusted with
his life.
From the moment Jimmy went missing, Sheeran would be a prime suspect in his disappearance. A
hyper-cautious Hoffa would never have gotten into a car with anyone he didnt have complete faith
in. Sheeran was that trusted friend.
Hoffa and Sheeran
A real-life murder mystery, I Heard You Paint Houses also recounts how two different lives crossed
to share a violent existence and tragic end: the scrappy union organizer who became a king, and the
towering, muscled Irish Catholic kid from the streets of Philadelphia, who goes to war in Europe and
discovers there a chilling talent to kill without remorse.
Each separately refines his skills and grows in power, and Sheerans narrative reflects a sense of
inevitability when the two paths intersect. The book takes its title from Hoffas first words to
Sheeran, when he queries I heard you paint houses, mob code for killing a man. Sheeran confirms he
does, and adds And I do carpentry work, meaning he disposes of the bodies.
The book goes on to richly detail everyday workings of the Teamsters Union, the mob, and the
events leading up to and including Jimmy Hoffas final ride.
Going against the Mob

According to Sheeran, Hoffas actions after his early release from prison in 1971 assured him a death
warrant. Sentenced to 13 years, Hoffa walked out of prison after only five years when President
Richard Nixon commuted his sentence, with the caveat that Hoffa refrain from any union activities
until 1980.
Jimmy, however, was craving to slip back into his old seat of power, a move that not only defied his
release terms but put him at odds with his old mob associates. Many of them now saw Hoffas return
to power as threatening their control of the vast union pension funds. Sheeran recounts his
unsuccessful efforts to protect Hoffa from following his own worst instincts. But Jimmy was
determined.

Houses furnishes tantalizing details surrounding the final decision on Hoffa; for example, we learn
that the hit was called in from a small-town family restaurant in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
The narrative also offers new information about other famous murders, and reveals the hidden
background of a tumultuous chapter in American history.
The Frank Sheeran Files
Sheeran first agreed to do the interviews with Charles Brandt in 1991 but stopped after the first
one, when he decided too much had been revealed.
However, in 1999, Sheeran, in his eighties and in failing health, had reconnected with his Catholic
roots and now expressed a spiritual need to come clean about certain aspects of his early life,
especially his long-held silence on the Hoffa case. He contacted Brandt, and agreed to restart the
interviews, which then continued for another four years. He told Brandt, I believe there is something
after we die. If I got a shot at it, I dont want to lose that shot. I dont want to close the door.
Brandt, a former prosecutor, was a skilled cross-examiner. He spent hours in Sheeran's company,
meeting other mob figures and constantly pressing the Irishman for more details. As Sheeran
admitted, Youre worse than any cop I ever had to deal with.
As spoken by Sheeran, I Heard You Paint Houses also spins a vivid yarn of the brutal yet fascinating
life of Frank Sheeran, a devout Catholic child of the Great Depression who grew to become a
combat-hardened hero of WWII, high-ranking member of the Teamsters Union, mob enforcer, and
one of only two non-Italian members of La Cosa Nostras ruling commission.

Final Approval
Sheeran read and approved every chapter as it was written then re-read and cleared the final
manuscript.
Just weeks before his death on December 14, 2003, he recorded a last video from his hospital bed.
Sheeran faced the camera, held up a copy of I Heard You Paint Houses, and avowed that everything
in it was true, including his role in the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa on July 30, 1975.
Source:
Brandt, Charles I Heard You Paint Houses. Frank "The Irsihman" Sheeran and the Inside Story of the
Mafia, the Teamsters and the Last Ride of Jimmy Hoffa. Steerforth Press (2005)
More Reading
The Hoffa Wars by Dan Moldea
The Teamsters by Steven Brill
Hoffa, Arthur Sloane
http://suite101.com/jimmy-hoffas-last-ride-a260550