Joe Bruno

Jimmy Hoffa Joe Bruno

Three of the biggest unsolved mysteries during the past half-a-century are "Who killed Jimmy Hoffa?"; "Why was Jimmy Hoffa killed?" and "Where is Jimmy Hoffa's body buried?"The answer to the first question is a no-brainer. The Mafia killed Jimmy Hoffa - plain and simple. But the "why" is much more complicated. Jimmy Hoffa and his nefarious union activities were joined at the hip with the Mafia since the mid-1930s. Hoffa was their fair-haired boy who delivered for the Mafia in more ways than one. Even before he became President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), Hoffa used his influence with the IBT to provide several Mafia bosses, including Tampa's Santo Trafficante, Louisiana's Carlo Marcello, and Detroit's Anthony "Tony Jack" Giacalone, hundreds of millions of dollar in unsecured loans from the Teamster Pension Fund. Those loans were used to fund numerous hotels/casinos and other businesses in various parts of North America including Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and in Las Vegas. In truth, half the hotels/casinos in Las Vegas would never have never been built without the financial support of Hoffa's IBT. Unfortunately for Hoffa, his brusque and dictatorial ways eventually made him unpalatable for the Mafia bosses, who were used to being treated with the utmost respect. The Mafioso's nickname for Hoffa was "Marteduzzo," which is Sicilian for "The Little Hammer," because he ruthlessly hammered away at anyone who displeased him, or got in his way on his rise to power. But as Hoffa's disrespect for the Mafia bosses increased, the "Little Hammer," inevitably transformed himself into the lowly nail destined to be banged into oblivion.