Synopses & Reviews
Corroboration that emerged following publication of the hardcover edition of this fascinating account of a dark side of American history confirms that Charles Brandt has finally solved one of the greatest and most enduring mysteries of our time, the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, and created a real-page turner that is sure to become a true-crime classic.
The book’s title comes from the first words Jimmy Hoffa ever spoke to Frank “the Irishman” Sheeran. To paint a house is to kill a man; the paint is the blood that splatters on the walls and floors. In the course of nearly five years of recorded interviews Frank Sheeran confessed to Charles Brandt that, among the twenty-five to thirty other hits he handled for the mob and the Teamsters, Sheeran shot Hoffa behind the right ear in the vestibule of a house in Detroit. Just prior to the book’s release a forensic lab team went into the house. Luminal sprayed on the floorboards revealed eight separate spots where blood had been, the pattern and location an exact match of Sheeran’s confession. Over the years the public’s most-asked question about the Hoffa disappearance has been: “Where’s the body?” Thirty years of outlandish speculation has included burial in the end zone at Giants Stadium. Sheeran revealed that after he killed Hoffa, mob boss Russell Bufalino, the man who ordered the hit, told Sheeran that Hoffa’s body was cremated at a funeral parlor in Detroit within an hour of his death. Sheeran also provides stunning new information – information that has been corroborated since the book was published – on two other notorious mob hits: Joseph “Crazy Joey” Gallo, blown away as he celebrated his forty-third birthday in New York’s Little Italy, and Salvatore “Sally Bugs” Briguglio, long suspected of being a player in the kill-Hoffa plot. And Sheeran explicitly implicates Hoffa, for the first time, in personally ordering murders in order to retain his own hold on the Teamsters Union while serving as its president.
Review
Praise for Deconstructing Sammy
and#8220;Birkbeck has killer leads, gripping kickers, and sensational descriptions. This cinematic book reads more like a detective story than a traditional and#8216;life of.and#8217;and#8221;and#8212;New York Times Book Review
and#8220;Tremendous. . . Birkbeck tells the epic of Sammy Davis, Jr...from his Harlem boyhood to his wrenching deathbed (he died of cancer in 1990) in his Beverly Hills mansion, where various hangers-on, seeing the circling vultures, stripped his corpse even before it was a corpse.and#8221;and#8212;Los Angeles Times Book Review
A Beautiful Child
and#8220;Matt Birkbeck created a beautiful masterpiece.and#8221;and#8212;True Crime Book Reviews
A Deadly Secret
and#8220;Mr. Birbeck presents a startling inside look at the politics of police work that can place roadblocks in the place of justice.and#8221;and#8212;Westchester County Times
Review
"The Quiet Don is a triumph. Matt Birkbeck provides a stunning work of investigative journalism that is memorable and alive and unveils the incredible life and legacy of one of the mobs most important powerbrokers."and#8212;Nicholas Pileggi, author of Wiseguy and the screenplays for Goodfellas and Casino
Synopsis
"I Heard You Paint Houses" will soon be a major motion picture directed by Martin Scorsese. The working title for the movie is "The Irishman."
The first words Jimmy Hoffa ever spoke to Frank "the Irishman" Sheeran were, "I heard you paint houses." To paint a house is to kill a man. The paint is the blood that splatters on the walls and floors. In the course of nearly five years of recorded interviews Frank Sheeran confessed to Charles Brandt that he handled more than twenty-five hits for the mob, and for his friend Hoffa.
Sheeran learned to kill in the U.S. Army, where he saw an astonishing 411 days of active combat duty in Italy during World War II. After returning home he became a hustler and hit man, working for legendary crime boss Russell Bufalino. Eventually he would rise to a position of such prominence that in a RICO suit then-U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani would name him as one of only two non-Italians on a list of 26 top mob figures.
When Bufalino ordered Sheeran to kill Hoffa, he did the deed, knowing that if he had refused he would have been killed himself.
Sheeran's important and fascinating story includes new information on other famous murders including those of Joey Gallo and JFK, and provides rare insight to a chapter in American history. Charles Brandt has written a page-turner that has become a true crime classic.
"
Synopsis
The first words Jimmy Hoffa ever spoke to Frank "the Irishman" Sheeran were, "I heard you paint houses." To paint a house is to kill a man. The paint is the blood that splatters on the walls and floors. In the course of nearly five years of recorded interviews Frank Sheeran confessed to Charles Brandt that he handled more than twenty-five hits for the mob, and for his friend Hoffa. Sheeran learned to kill in the U.S. Army, where he saw an astonishing 411 days of active combat duty in Italy during World War II. After returning home he became a hustler and hit man, working for legendary crime boss Russell Bufalino. Eventually he would rise to a position of such prominence that in a RICO suit then-U.S. Attorney Rudy Giuliani would name him as one of only two non-Italians on a list of 26 top mob figures. When Bufalino ordered Sheeran to kill Hoffa, he did the deed, knowing that if he had refused he would have been killed himself. Sheeran's important and fascinating story includes new information on other famous murders, and provides rare insight to a chapter in American history. Charles Brandt has written a page-turner that is destined to become a true crime classic.
Synopsis
To what extent was Rosario and#147;Russelland#8221; Bufalino involved in the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa in 1975? In the CIAand#8217;s recruitment of gangsters to assassinate Fidel Castro? and#160;In organizing the historic meeting of crime chieftains in 1957? Even in the production of The Godfather
movie? and#160;
Secretiveand#151;even reclusiveand#151;Russell Bufalino quietly built his organized crime empire in the decades between Prohibition and the Carter presidency. His reach extended far beyond the coal country of Scranton, Pennsylvania, and quaint Amish farms near Lancaster. Bufalino had a hand in global, national, and local politics of the largest American cities, many of its major industries, and controlled the powerful Teamsters Union. His influence also reached the highest levels of Pennsylvania government and halls of Congress, and his legacy left a culture of corruption that continues to this day.
and#160;
A uniquely American saga that spans six decades, The Quiet Don follows Russell Bufalinoand#8217;s remarkably quiet ascent from Sicilian immigrant to mob soldier to a man described by a United States Senate subcommittee in 1964 as and#147;one of the most ruthless and powerful leaders of the Mafia in the United States.and#8221;
and#160;
INCLUDES PHOTOS
About the Author
Born and raised in New York City, Charles Brandt is a former junior high English teacher, welfare investigator in East Harlem, homicide prosecutor and Chief Deputy Attorney General of the State of Delaware. In private practice since 1976, Brandt was elected president of the Delaware Trial Lawyers Association and Delaware Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He has been named by his peers as one of the "Best Lawyers in America" and one of the "Best Lawyers in Delaware." He is a frequent speaker on cross-examination and interrogation techniques for reluctant witnesses. Brandt is the author of a novel based on major crimes he solved through interrogation, The Right to Remain Silent (SMP 1988). He lives in Lewes, Delaware and Sun Valley, Idaho with his wife, Nancy, and has three grown children.