Charles Brandt - The Irishman (Movie Tie-In): Frank Sheeran and Closing the Case on Jimmy Hoffa

A page-turning account of one mans descent into the mob.

Delaware News Journal

Charles Brandt has solved the Hoffa mystery.

Professor A RTHUR S LOANE , author of Hoffa

Sometimes you can believe everything you read.

W ILLIAM B IG B ILLY DE LIA , successor to Russell Bufalino as godfather of the Bufalino crime family

One of Frank Sheerans virtues was his gift as a storyteller; one of his flaws was his tendency to murder, in mobster jargon, to paint houses.Although he professed his loyalty to Hoffa he said on one occasion, Ill be a Hoffa man til they pat my face with a shovel and steal my cufflinks Sheeran acknowledged that he was the one who killed the Teamsters boss. On July 30, 1975, Hoffa disappeared. Sheeran explains how he did it, in prose reminiscent of the best gangster films.

Associated Press

My source in the Bufalino familyread The Irishman. All the Bufalino guys read it. This old-time Bufalino guy told me he was shocked. He couldnt believe Sheeran confessed all that stuff to [Brandt]. Its all true.

J OSEPH C OFFEY , New York Police Department organized crime homicide detective

If the made men Brandt rubbed up against during his five years with Sheeran suspected what Sheeran was confessing to him on tape, theyd both have been promptly whacked.

J OE P ISTONE , retired FBI deep undercover agent and the author of Donnie Brasco

The Irishman is the best Mafia book I ever read, and believe me, I read them all. Its so authentic.

S TEVEN V AN Z ANDT , featured actor, Silvio Dante, in The Sopranos and musician in Bruce Springsteens E Street Band

Is Sheeran believable? Veryand The Irishman is a very enjoyable book.

Trial Magazine

Sheerans confession that he killed Hoffa in the manner described in the book is supported by the forensic evidence, is entirely credible, and solves the Hoffa mystery.

M ICHAEL B ADEN M.D., former Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York

Copyright 2004, 2005, 2016 by Charles Brandt

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Netflix is a registered trademark of Netflix, Inc. and its affiliates.

Artwork used with permission of Netflix, Inc.

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to:

Steerforth Press L.L.C., 31 Hanover Street, Unit 1

Lebanon, New Hampshire 03766

The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

Brandt, Charles.

I heard you paint houses: Frank the Irishman Sheeran and closing the case on Jimmy Hoffa / Charles Brandt.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 1-58642-247-9 (alk. paper)

1. GangstersUnited States. 2. Mafia-United States. 3. TeamstersUnited States. 4. Hoffa, James R. (James Riddle), 1913- 5. Sheeran, Frank. I. Title.

HV6446.B73 2004

364.1060973dc22

2004006625

Ebook ISBN9781586422578

v5.4

a

To my wife,

N ANCY P OOLE B RANDT ,

our children and their spouses,

T RIPP and A LLISON , M IMI and J OHN , J ENNY R OSE and A LEX ,

and our granchildren,

M AGGIE , J ACKSON , L IBBY , and A LEXANDER

To the memory of our parents,

C AROLINA D I M ARCO B RANDT ,

C HARLES P. B RANDT

and

M AGGIE and C APT . E ARLE T. P OOLE

To the memory of my maternal grandparents from

Le Marche, to whom I owe everything,

R OSA and L UIGI D I M ARCO

I owe a debt of gratitude to my incredibly beautiful, talented, and wonderful wife, Nancy, who gave each chapter and each revision a hard, honest, and sensible edit before I sent it to the publisher. While I was in New York and Philadelphia working on the book Nancy took care of everything else and gave me daily inspiration, encouragement, and support. On the times Nancy would accompany me to visit Frank Sheeran, he would light up like a young man. And I owe a deep sense of gratitude for the encouragement of our supportive children Tripp Wier, Mimi Wier, and Jenny Rose Brandt.

I owe a debt of gratitude to my remarkable mother, who at 89, cooked Italian food for me, put up with me, and encouraged me during the long weeks I stayed in her Manhattan apartment and sat at my laptop.

I owe a debt of gratitude to my dear friend, the publishing icon William G. Thompson first to publish both Stephen King and John Grisham who generously lent his expertise as editorial advisor in developing and executing the project.

I struck pay dirt when Frank Weimann of the Literary Group agreed to be my agent. Frank took the project to heart as a piece of history that would otherwise be lost, gave the book its title, and gave Frank Sheeran a nudge in the right direction for his final taped interview.

When the late Neil Reshen suggested that my agent contact Steerforth Press we suddenly had my book accepted by a publisher who is always thinking, always hands on, and now always my dear friend. Thank you Neil, for steering us to the exceptional Chip Fleischer and his aide, Helga Schmidt.

Thanks to those writers, such as Dan Moldea, Steven Brill, Victor Riesel, and Jonathon Kwitny, whose skillful investigative reporting, at risk of physical harm, uncovered and preserved so much of the history of Jimmy Hoffa, his times, and his disappearance.

Thank you Special Agent Robert A. Garrity, retired, for the excellent, thorough and professional job you did as the Hoffa Case Agent for the FBI. The job that you and your colleagues did made my job doable.

Thank you to those agents, investigators, and prosecuting attorneys and their staff whose efforts created many of the headlines and news stories I consulted.

Thanks to my creative cousin, Carmine Zozzora, for his daily encouragement that kept me focused when the going was rough and for his wise counsel every bit of the way, especially when I would bellyache and he would repeat: Just write the book; the rest will take care of itself.

How blessed have I been to have had by my side through life my sister and brother-in-law Barbara and Gary Goldsmith and their family Denis, Laura Rose, Danny, Pascal, Lucas and Rose.

A big heap of gratitude to all my superb friends and family who rooted for this book and for its new Conclusion, and to those pals to whom I repeatedly turned for advice, encouragement, and support, especially Marty Shafran, Peter Bosch, Steve Simmons, Jeff Weiner, Tracy Bay, Theo Gund, Joe Pistone, Lin DeVecchio, Al Martino, Leslie Little, Roland DeLong, Colin Jensen, Ed Gardner, Cheryl Thomas, Kathleen and Jerry Chamales. I owe a deep debt in countless ways to Rob Sutcliff.

Thanks Lynn Shafran for all your advice, and especially for bringing the late Ted Feury to Nancy and me. Thank you, Ted, so much.

Thanks to the award-winning illustrator, author, and artist, my friend Uri Shulevitz, who more than twenty years ago encouraged me to start writing professionally.