Murder: True Crime Stories - UNSOLVED: Jimmy Hoffa 1

Episode Date: August 19, 2025

Jimmy Hoffa was one of the most powerful men in America, a labor leader who rose from poverty to become the voice of millions. But by the time he mysteriously disappeared in 1975, Hoffa’s Teamsters union had ties to organized crime, political scandal, and deadly enemies. In this episode, we track Hoffa’s rise, his high-profile clashes with the Kennedys, and the decision that may have sealed his fate. Murder: True Crime Stories is a Crime House Original Podcast, powered by PAVE Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. For ad-free listening and early access to episodes, subscribe to Crime House+ on Apple Podcasts. Don’t miss out on all things Murder: True Crime Stories! Instagram: @murdertruecrimepod | @Crimehouse TikTok: @Crimehouse Facebook: @crimehousestudios X: @crimehousemedia YouTube: @crimehousestudios To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey everyone, it's Carter. If you're loving murder, true crime stories, you won't want to miss our fellow Crime House original show. Conspiracy theories cults and crimes. Every Wednesday, you'll get to explore the true stories behind the world's most shocking crimes, deadly ideologies, and secret plots, from mass suicides and political assassinations to secret government experiments and UFO cults. Follow conspiracy theories, cults, and crimes now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or wherever you listen.

And for ad-free listening and early access to episodes, subscribe to Crimehouse Plus on Apple Podcasts. This is Crimehouse. There's no denying it. Power changes people, especially when they come from nothing, then suddenly have everything. The rapid shift from barely scraping by to having money, control, and influence can be jarring, and sometimes dangerous. No one is a better example of this than Jimmy Hoffa. When he first became a labor leader in 1932, Jimmy had no one. intentions, he wanted to make life better for the average working person. For the most part, he held up his end of the bargain and became a hero along the way. But in his quest for greatness,

Jimmy stepped on a lot of toes. And eventually, someone decided, enough was enough. After the 62-year-old went missing in 1975, it quickly became clear. Jimmy Hoffa might have been excellent at his job, but his enemies were even better, and they made sure no one would ever hear from Jimmy again. People's lives are like a story. There's a beginning, a middle, and an end. But you don't always know which part you're on. Sometimes the final chapter arrives far too soon, and we don't always get to know the real ending. I'm Carter Roy, and this is Murder, true crime stories, a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios that releases every Tuesday and Thursday. At Crime House, we want to express our gratitude to you, our community for making this

possible. Please support us by rating, reviewing, and following Murder True Crime Stories wherever you get your podcasts. And to enhance your Murder True Crime Stories listening experience, subscribe to Crime House Plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get ad-free listening, early access to every two-part series, and exciting bonus content. This is the first of two episodes on the 1975 disappearance and presumed murder. of 62-year-old Jimmy Hoffa. Today, I'll tell you how Jimmy overcame a difficult childhood to become one of the most powerful men in America.

Throughout his career as a labor leader, Jimmy was hailed as a hero. But just when he was at the top of his game, Jimmy mysteriously vanished from the parking lot of a Detroit restaurant. Next time, I'll take you through the investigation into Jimmy's disappearance. Although detectives knew he had enemies, the FBI struggled to find any evidence of foul play or any trace of Jimmy. Decades later, his fate remains unclear, but plenty of people have their own ideas about what happened to him that day. All that and more coming up.

Like most people, Jimmy Hoffa was a product of his environment. In his case, that meant he learned some very harsh lessons from a young age. Born in 1913 in Brazil, Indiana, Jimmy's dad worked at a coal mine and his mom was a laundry worker. They struggled to put food on the table and make ends meet. And things only got worse when his dad passed away from a prolonged illness. when Jimmy was seven. His death showed Jimmy that oftentimes the hardest workers got the short end of the stick. It was an experience he would carry with him for the rest of his life. It also left his mother in a difficult position. There wasn't much work in Indiana, so in 1924, she moved the family to

Detroit, Michigan in search of better opportunities. Just a few years later, when Jimmy was 14, he'd dropped out of school and joined her in the job market. As a teenager, Jimmy spent most of his time alongside grown men, loading trucks with produce and other goods. The conditions were back-breaking, and the pay didn't make up for it. He made just 32 cents an hour, which is about $5.71 in today's money, and there were no guaranteed breaks or safety regulations. When the Great Depression, began in 1929, the pay dipped even lower. Jimmy needed the money, so he tried to push through it, but three years later, the 19-year-old had had enough. Jimmy and his co-workers were expected to show up for 12-hour shifts, and yet they only got paid for the time they actually spent

loading the trucks. To make matters worse, their boss spent more time harassing his employees than managing the job site. It all came to a head one hot spring day in 1932. Halfway through loading a fresh batch of strawberries onto refrigerated trucks, 19-year-old Jimmy and his co-workers took a stand. They organized a work stoppage, demanding higher pay and better conditions.

If the bosses refused to bargain, all the fruit left outside would rot in the swelter. weather. It took just 24 hours for the company to come to the negotiating table. Just like that, Jimmy won his comrades a 13-cent raise and became vice president of a recently formed union that represented local warehouse workers. It was also affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. This was a defining moment for Jimmy. He learned that fighting back got results. It didn't matter that he was younger than a lot of his peers. Jimmy was a natural-born leader, and over the next few years, he embraced his new role,

going toe-to-to-with the big execs at his company. All his arguing did eventually get him fired, but it also earned him the admiration of union leaders all over Detroit. With his star rising, it didn't take long for Jimmy to find another organizing job. this time representing truck drivers. The union was known as the Teamsters. Jimmy was great at recruiting new members to the union, and by 1936, the 23-year-old was an essential member of the Teamsters. The only thing missing in his life was love.

He found that in a beautiful young woman named Josephine Pazivak, who Jimmy met at a protest. The moment he saw 18-year-old Josephine, he said he felt like he'd been hit on the chest with a blackjack. The two of them married just six months later. To start his young family off on the right foot, Jimmy threw himself into his job. He worked tirelessly to organize truck drivers, set up strike actions, and grow his union's membership. He didn't just promise better pay in the future. he pledged to make it happen right now.

His aggressive tactics won him a lot of converts and laid the groundwork for his reputation as a fearless champion of the people. And in 1937, he became president of the Union's Detroit chapter. Thanks in part to Jimmy's determination, Teamster membership tripled between 1936 and 1942, going from 170,000, drivers to over half a million in just six years. But even the Teamsters couldn't avoid the ideological

battle raging across the country. In places like Minneapolis, some organizers had communist sympathies. The heads of the Teamsters Union didn't like that, and as a rising star, Jimmy had a choice to make. In the end, he sided with his mentors and traveled to Minneapolis. to reassert control over the union there. It was never going to be a peaceful negotiation. He came ready for war with at least 100 loyal men in tow. Together they violently broke up the communist protests. It helped that Jimmy had the full support of the police,

the FBI, and the local government. Afterwards, 29 men were indicted as since the police, indicted as suspected communists. As for Jimmy, he came out of the fight stronger than ever. And it was just a matter of time until he was rewarded for his loyalty. When the U.S. officially joined World War II in December, 1941, Jimmy avoided the draft by arguing that his job was vital to the nation's security. And once his position was secure, he ruled like a king. Jimmy's first plan of action was to ally with the two most powerful groups in the city,

local politicians and the mafia. It took some work, but eventually he established a symbiotic relationship with both. But the mob was especially important. They provided the muscle and strong-arm tactics the union needed to intimidate its opponents. In exchange, Jimmy gave the mafioso's illegal access to union funds and mobilized teamsters to help them run protection rackets. Of course, as part of the arrangement, plenty of money flowed both ways under the table,

and Jimmy made sure he got a piece of the profits. Before long, he was rich enough to buy valuable land and invest in racetracks, real estate businesses, and even a small oil company. For the son of a coal miner, he'd certainly come far. But all that newfound influence meant Jimmy had a lot more eyes on him. Not everyone liked what they saw, and there was one person who was determined to take Jimmy down,

no matter what it took. He was a senator named Robert Kennedy. By the mid-1940s, it was an open secret that Jimmy Hoffa had ties to organized crime. But no one could or would do anything about it. He and his cronies paid off judges, destroyed financial records, and threatened their victims into silence. Detroit belonged to them. It was obvious to those around him that the sincerity and compassion Jimmy displayed in his early days had faded. Even so, he never forgot his main constituents, the rank-and-file drivers of Detroit.

As long as he was in charge, they continued to see their wages and conditions improve. Since they were eating well, they didn't care too much about his methods. With his base secure, Jimmy continued to catapult up the ranks of the international brotherhood of Teamsters, and before long, he got his biggest promotion yet. In 1952, 39-year-old Jimmy became the National Vice President of the Teamsters. In just a few years into his tenure in 1957, the Teamsters boasted over 1.5 million members, a full 1% of the nation's population. But with all that power came a lot more scrutiny. And lately, the U.S. Congress had gotten awfully curious

about the way Jimmy and his boss, Union President Dave Beck, were using their influence. In January of 1957, the Senate formed a committee to investigate labor corruption, spearheaded by John McClellan of Arkansas, It became known as the McClellan Committee, and its main target was the IBT. While McClellan was the nominal head of the proceedings, the real star was Senator Robert F. Kennedy. He'd made a name for himself in the anti-communist McCarthy hearings of the early 50s. Now he wanted to take on organized crime, and the Teamsters were first on his hit list.

Week after week, the Senate heard televised testimony about cede union tactics. There were reports that the IBT harassed witnesses, fixed juries, ran protection rackets, and bribe judges. Some Teamsters even claim their pension funds were being used as a secret bank to underwrite loans to the mafia. Jimmy was at the center of all the controversy. But no matter how much Robert tried to corner him, Jimmy never admitted to any wrongdoing. He deflected some questions, gave rambling answers to others, and repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. All the while, he cast knowing smirks at Kennedy trying to get under the senator's skin, which worked more often than not.

Thanks in large part to his antics, the hearings became. must see television and rocketed Jimmy's national profile into the stratosphere. People all over the country eagerly tuned in to watch the union leader enrage Robert Kennedy. And though it was pretty clear he was hiding something, Jimmy still ended up benefiting from the coverage. Spectators found Robert's aggressive questioning to be abrasive, and many believe Jimmy represented the common man. Yet again, Jimmy Hoff approved he always came out on top. But while he managed to maintain his credibility on the stand,

his boss, IBT, President Dave Beck, wasn't so lucky. During questioning, Dave pleaded the fifth over a hundred times. Not only did this make him seem guilty, but it didn't exactly inspire confidence in the rest of the union. By October of 1957, his reputation was so tarnished that he chose not to run for re-election. That left the runway wide open for 44-year-old Jimmy Hoffa to become the big boss. On October 4, 1957, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters elected Jimmy Hoffa president by an almost three-to-one margin. It was proof that despite the allegations of rampant corruption,

its members still believed he would fight for their interests above all others. But even though he'd won the PR battle against the Senate, the war was just beginning. Robert Kennedy was furious that Jimmy had publicly embarrassed him and vowed to take revenge. And he knew the best way to do that was to make Jimmy's first term as the union's president as much of a headache as possible.

Thanks to the McClellan Committee hearings, IBT officials were already flooded with an endless series of lawsuits and indictments. By 1959, 141 members were implicated in so-called improper activities. Jimmy, now 46, had his hands full trying to protect his friends and raise the funds he needed to defend himself in court. But no matter how hard he worked, more storm clouds formed on the horizon. The following year, Robert Kennedy's brother John was elected president of the United States. JFK promptly appointed Robert to the Office of Attorney General, which made Jimmy Hoffa's mortal enemy one of the world's most powerful law enforcement officers. And Robert was eager to use his new authority to settle the

score with Jimmy. Within a year, he increased the number of lawyers in the Justice Department's organized crime division from 17 to 68. The most talented attorneys were placed in a special informal unit and given a single task. Take down Jimmy Hoffa. The group was nicknamed the Get Hoffa Squad, and they were determined to live up to their name. They said, Spend hours pouring over financial records and listening to FBI wiretaps of Jimmy's phone. They made a list of everyone he knew, desperate for any excuse to put him behind bars. Jimmy responded to the threats the same way he always did by shoring up his power within the IBT. He became more brazen than before, replacing anyone critical of his leadership.

At the union's 1961 convention in Miami Beach, he gave himself a 50% raised to $75,000 a year with unlimited expenses, making him labor's highest-paid leader. He even ran through a constitutional change authorizing the union to pay all the legal fees for its officers. At the end of the convention, he was re-elected to another five-year term, as the union's president. But it wasn't enough to stop Robert from attacking him. Jimmy was prosecuted several times over the next few years. He managed to avoid the first few indictments

through a combination of legal maneuvering, jury tampering, mistrials, and political connections. Even so, one of them was bound to stick. On May 9, 1963, Jimmy was indicted in Tennessee, on five counts of tampering with the jury in a previous case. Less than a month later, Robert Kennedy authorized an additional indictment accusing him of defrauding the Teamsters' pension fund

of over $20 million. Jimmy pushed back, hard. He claimed Robert was anti-union and ordered crowds of Teamsters to picket his trials. He threatened the Attorney General every way he could think of, even reportedly plotting his assassination. In the end, it didn't matter, though. In 1964, 51-year-old Jimmy was found guilty in two separate trials of jury tampering,

mail and wire fraud, and conspiracy. Those convictions got him sentenced to a total of 13 years in prison. It looked like the next chapter of Jimmy's, life would be spent in the Lewisburg penitentiary in Pennsylvania. This was Jimmy's worst nightmare. He'd fought his way to the top just to lose it all. He felt helpless and most of all, angry. Even then, he never gave up. He was determined to come back to the Teamsters one way or another. But in the meantime, he needed to put someone else in charge. charge. He chose a man he knew would be loyal. An old friend named Frank Fitzsimmons to replace him.

As far as Jimmy was concerned, Frank was a puppet. He fully planned on managing the teamsters from prison using Frank as a proxy. Unfortunately, his patsy didn't play ball. Though he still carried out some of his boss's orders, Frank also took measures to make himself independent. On top of that, he rolled back some of the reforms from the past few years. He effectively decentralized the power Jimmy had worked so hard to grab for himself. And none of those moves lessened the mafia's influence over the IBT. Instead, Frank allowed local union bosses to deal with the mob directly instead of having everything go through his office.

Ironically, that only gave the mobsters more control over the union, since they could now easily divide and conquer to get what they wanted. The writing was on the wall. They didn't need Jimmy anymore. In 1971, six years into his prison sentence, he officially resigned from the IBT in exchange for a $1.7 million lump sum payout. It was the largest in Teamster history. From the outside, it seemed like Jimmy had finally given up.

But he had an ace up his sleeve. A new administration was in the White House. And Richard Nixon was trying to make friends. He wanted to be seen as pro-union and thought winning over Jimmy Hoffo was the way to do it. So on December 23rd, 1971, one, he commuted Jimmy's sentence to time served. At 58 years old, Jimmy was released from prison seven years early.

Most people in his position would have been over the moon just to be free. But all Jimmy could think about was the IBT. Even though he'd resigned, he decided he wanted back in. But there was a problem, a pretty big one. Jimmy had lost a lot of influence with the union since being in prison. After taking some meetings, he realized he didn't have as much support as he thought. If he wanted to be president of the Teamsters again, Jimmy would have to do something drastic. But his enemies were one step ahead of him, and they were prepared to fight fire with fire.

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He spent the next four years strategizing, and by the summer of 1975, the 62-year-old was ready to put his plan into action. On July 30th, Jimmy woke up around 6.30 a.m. at his lakeside cottage 40 miles north of Detroit. He rolled out of bed, did his customary ritual of 30 push-ups, then organized his schedule over breakfast. The most important meeting of the day would take place at 2.30 p.m. in the Macass Red Fox restaurant, about halfway between the lakehouse and the city. There, Jimmy would have to win over the alleged kingpin

of Detroit's mafia, Anthony Jackaloney. If Jimmy wanted to become president of the Teamsters again, he needed Jackaloney in his corner. Without his support, the rest of the mafia would never get behind Jimmy again. Still, it was definitely a gamble. The mob had been doing just fine when he was in jail. In fact, their influence over the Teamsters had only grown, and they weren't looking to hand it over to Jimmy,

but he was going to try anyway. A little after one o'clock, Jimmy left him. his house. He drove towards the restaurant in his dark green Pontiac. On the way, he stopped by to see a friend, Louis Linto, at a teamster office. It's possible Jimmy wanted him to come with him to the meeting, but Louis was already out to lunch. Disappointed, Jimmy left a message and continued to his destination. He arrived at the Red Fox 30 minutes early, around 2 p.m., seemingly because he he got the meeting time wrong. After 30 minutes of waiting, he thought he'd been stood up when actually he was still technically on time. He walked into the restaurant and used a pay phone

to call his wife Josephine. He complained that Jackaloney didn't show, then promised to be home in a couple of hours. After that, he called Louis Linto to lodge more complaints about Jackaloney. Since he'd missed him earlier, Jimmy told Louis he'd stop by his office again on his way home. Outside the restaurant, Jimmy must have been on the verge of losing his temper when two people recognized him in the parking lot. He was used to the attention and easily switched into celebrity mode, pausing for a brief chat when they came by to shake his hand. Afterward, he was supposed to go see Louis, except he never showed up. He didn't come home for dinner that night either. As the hours ticked by, Josephine started to panic. When she woke up the next morning

and her husband still hadn't come home, she made frantic calls to everyone she knew. One of the The first people she talked to was Louis, who went by the restaurant and found Jimmy's car still there. It was unlocked, sitting in the parking lot. He tried asking around, but no one had any idea where Jimmy was. It was like he'd vanished off the face of the earth. Louis called the police, who launched the initial investigation. Given Jimmy's previous corruption charges and his known relationship with the mob, the Michigan authorities quickly passed the case onto the FBI. Unsurprisingly, the mafioso's Jimmy was supposed to meet were among the Bureau's top suspects. Besides Anthony Jacaloni, Anthony Provenzano of the New York Genovese crime family was also

supposed to be at the restaurant. Years earlier, Provenzano had actually been a teamster himself, even serving as president of the New Jersey branch of the Union. On top of that, he and Jimmy had been incarcerated at the Lewisburg Penitentiary in Pennsylvania around the same time. The FBI wondered if Provenzano had turned on Jimmy since then. But when they interviewed him, he said he was in New Jersey playing cards at the time of the meeting. Jackaloney also seemed to have a ready-made excuse. He insisted he was at a health spa down the road from the restaurant, relaxing in the sauna. He claimed he'd never even agreed to meet Jimmy in the first place.

Neither of these explanations exonerated Provenzano or Jackaloni, especially because crime bosses rarely did dirty work themselves. but their alibis did force the FBI to look at other suspects. One of the most shocking was Charlie O'Brien, who went by Chucky. He'd known the Hoffa family for practically his entire life. Years earlier, before Jimmy married Josephine, he had a relationship with Chuckie's mom. And though he wasn't Chuckie's biological father, Jimmy helped take care of him since he was nine years old. And that wasn't all. Through his family connections,

Chuckie was also close to Anthony Jackaloney, who he called Uncle. With father figures like that, he was destined for life in the mafia. Timmy trained him from a young age to be part of the family business. That included doing dirty work for the Teamsters and pulling double duty for his contacts in the underworld. At first, it seemed like this history made Chuckie an unlikely suspect. He was passionately loyal to the Hoffa's, basically family, or at least he was, until the year before Jimmy's disappearance. Early in the investigation, detectives learned they'd recently had a falling out. Now, they just needed to know. what it was about.

But Chucky wasn't the only person on their radar. Another suspect was Salvatore Bruguglio, also known as Sally Bugs. He was a notoriously violent enforcer for the Genovese crime family and a key lieutenant to Anthony Provenzano. Initial investigations confirmed he was in or around Detroit when Jimmy disappeared. If Provenzano was the one to order a hit on Jimmy Hoffa, he likely would have chosen Sally Bugs to carry it out. The FBI decided fairly quickly that one of these men was likely responsible for Jimmy Hoffa's disappearance. The two highest-ranking members, Jackaloni and Provenzano, sat in the center of a conspiratorial web.

surrounding them were Chuck E. O'Brien and Sally Bugs. It sounded promising, but there was a lot that remained unanswered. No one knew why the mob might have turned on Jimmy or what prompted them to abduct him. And beyond that, there was little to no proof of foul play, nor were there any reliable witnesses who came forward, at least at first. The FBI had almost too much to unravel, and as they'd soon find out, they had little time to get to the bottom of the case, because the clock was ticking and the evidence was disappearing. Thanks so much for joining us.

I'm Carter Roy, and this is Murder True Crime Stories. Come back on Thursday for Part 2 on the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa and all the people it affected. Murder True Crime Stories is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media at Crime House on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review, and follow Murder True Crime Stories wherever you get your podcasts. Your feedback truly makes a difference.

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This episode was brought to life by the Murder True Crime Stories team, Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benadon, Natalie Pertzowski, Lori Marinelli, Sarah Camp, Tara Wells, Beth Johnson, and Russell Nash. Thank you for joining us. If you love murder, true crime stories, tune into the Crime House original conspiracy theories, cults, and crimes for the world's darkest truths.

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