‘The Irishman’ Claims Jimmy Hoffa Was Murdered in This Detroit House [VIDEO]
Martin Scorsese's 'The Irishman' features an account of Michigan's most infamous missing persons case. While the validity of the book on which the Netflix original is based has been scrutinized, you can still see the Detroit home where the film claims it all ended for Mr. Hoffa.
If you haven't had a chance to set aside three-and-a-half hours to digest 'The Irishman' yet, you may want to before reading this article. It kind of goes without saying, but there are spoilers for the film ahead. Much like the 'Titanic' before it, we all know where this movie ends up, but how it gets there is not a matter of public record.
***THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE FILM 'THE IRISHMAN'***
'The Irishman' puts Robert De Niro in the titular role of Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran, a labor union official and self-proclaimed hitman for the Bufalino crime family. Shortly before his death from cancer in 2003, the real life Sheeran reportedly told his life story to author Charles Brandt. Brandt later published those exploits in the book 'I Heard You Paint Houses: Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran and the Closing of the Case on Jimmy Hoffa,' on which Scorsese's film is based.
Among many other things, the book and film claim to detail the final hours of James Riddle Hoffa, long time President of the Teamsters Union and perhaps the most well-known missing persons case of all-time.
Without going into too much detail on the purported circumstances surrounding the incident, Hoffa was last seen on July 30th, 1975 at Machus Red Fox, the site of his planned meeting that day with Anthony Provenzano and Anthony Giacalone. Hoffa called his wife from a payphone, upset that he had been stood up for the 2pm meeting, but was never heard from again. His car remained unlocked at the Red Fox, yet no trace of him was found.
The book claims that Frank Sheeran, in a vehicle with Chuck O'Brien and Sal Briguglioa, picked up Hoffa at Machus Red Fox at some point around 2:40pm. They then drove just over 9 miles to a home located at 17841 Beaverland Street in Detroit, where Hoffa's life allegedly ended. For some reason, the address is shown in the movie as "83 Caesar Rd."
According to Sheeran's telling of the events, he and Hoffa entered the home alone. When Hoffa saw no one was there, he allegedly tried to leave and that's when Sheeran shot Hoffa twice behind the right ear. Sheeran left the gun atop Hoffa's body and exited the home, leaving Hoffa dead in the foyer, as portrayed by Al Pacino in the still from 'The Irishman' seen below.
In 2010, a video was posted to Facebook of someone retracing Hoffa's final steps (according to Sheeran's account of his death) at the residence, which you can see below.
A team of crime scene investigators examined the house at some point shortly after Sheeran came forward. They found large concentrations of possible blood in the area where Hoffa was said to be shot, but what remained was said to likely be too old for extensive testing, although it was later said to not be Hoffa's blood.
The home, which is still standing today, has been on the market several times over the years (three in the last decade alone) and is currently a rental home at a surprisingly affordable price given it's size (2000 square ft, 5 br, 2 ba) and alleged history.
As for the most persistent mystery surrounding James Riddle Hoffa's end, the answer is not as interesting as rumors have made it out to be over the years. The location of his body has long been the stuff of legend and a thousand ridiculous rumors over the years, some of which resulted in actual investigations. However, none have turned up results, which lends credence to Sheeran's explanation that Hoffa was cremated that night at a mortuary less then two miles from the site of his murder.
We may never know whether or not Sheeran's deathbed confession is true. There was much speculation over his account of the events, and he's certainly not the first person with mob ties to confess to the infamous murder. Many familiar with the case do believe that most of the pieces of Sheeran's story fit, even if it's not 100% accurate. Unfortunately, that's likely as definitive an answer as well get for the nearly 45-year-old mystery.