Yahoo: Will Hoffa mystery be buried with Giants Stadium?

southside · 04-01-2010, 03:41 PM

[QUOTE]EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – As the story goes, former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa has attended every event at Giants Stadium since 1976, buried in a final resting place somewhere under the west end zone.

As former New York Giants punter Sean Landeta once joked, "It gives a whole new meaning to kicking into the coffin corner."

More than 20 years after a self-described mob hit man set the rumor mill in motion with an interview in Playboy magazine, the question lingers: Is the answer to one of the enduring mysteries of the 20th century buried beneath the stadium — and about to be buried even deeper when the stadium is demolished this spring?

To one former law enforcement official who investigated the case in the 1980s, there is no mystery.

The FBI considered the Giants Stadium tale "a dead issue" by the time Playboy printed its interview with Donald "Tony The Greek" Frankos in late 1989, according to retired FBI agent Jim Kossler.

"When that information came to our attention we batted it around, but we were all convinced in the end that this guy was not reliable," he said. "We were able to prove to our mind that what he was telling us couldn't have happened because he either couldn't have been there or he was in jail at the time."

As Frankos described it, mob leaders tried to dissuade Hoffa from retaking control of the Teamsters after his release from prison on a jury tampering rap. But Hoffa refused, and allegedly threatened to tell authorities about mob infiltration of the unions.

Hoffa was last seen in a restaurant parking lot outside Detroit on July 30, 1975. Frankos claimed Hoffa was killed in Michigan by members of the Westies, a New York Irish gang, on the orders of Genovese crime family boss Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno.

His body was cut up in Michigan, then driven to New Jersey several months later and buried in the concrete foundation of the sprouting Giants Stadium, Frankos said. He even claimed to know what area of the stadium: Section 107, in the corner of the west end zone.

Whether there ever was any veracity to Frankos' claims, the story grew legs during the next 20 years and provided fallback fodder for headline writers and sports columnists.

The west end zone became the "Jimmy Hoffa Memorial End Zone." Teams didn't just beat the Giants or Jets, they "Jimmy Hoffa-ed" them. Authors and cable TV sleuths searched the site and found nothing.

Not that other bodies weren't unearthed during the construction of Giants Stadium 34 years ago. Kossler recalled how contractors would call the county prosecutor's office every time they dug up a corpse, but eventually decided it disrupted the work too much.

"After about the fifth one, they stopped," he said.

Competing theories about Hoffa's final repose have surfaced over the years. Three times between 2003 and 2007 authorities searched properties in Michigan only to come up empty.

Another story had Hoffa's body incinerated in a garbage disposal facility in Hamtramck, Mich. Still others had him buried in Florida or in a mob-controlled dump not far from Giants Stadium where oil fires burned underground.

The latter spot "would have been perfect because there wouldn't be any remains, and there would be no way to even look for them without getting incinerated yourself," said Mark Moran, author of "Weird NJ," a compendium of odd facts about New Jersey.

Giants Stadium is being demolished this spring as the Giants and Jets move into a new stadium next door. Vincent Parziale, whose company, Gramercy, is performing the demolition, said no one has contacted him about digging up the concourse under Section 107.

A spokesman for the FBI's Newark office said the bureau has no plans to oversee the demolition of Section 107.

Once the demolition is completed, the 13-foot bowl in the ground where the field now sits will be filled in with concrete and asphalt and turned into a parking lot — perhaps finally burying one part of the Hoffa mystery, says Gramercy Vice President Frank Gramicizia.

"If he's down there, he's going to be down there deeper," Gramicizia said.
[/QUOTE]

Pretty funny that this was national news.

crasherino · 04-01-2010, 03:49 PM

[QUOTE]Not that other bodies weren't unearthed during the construction of Giants Stadium 34 years ago. Kossler recalled how contractors would call the county prosecutor's office every time they dug up a corpse, but eventually decided it disrupted the work too much.

"After about the fifth one, they stopped," he said.[/QUOTE]

:eek:

southside · 04-01-2010, 03:53 PM

[QUOTE=crasherino;3544030]:eek:[/QUOTE]

Haha.. I know right. I was like, wtf!

JStokes · 04-01-2010, 03:53 PM

[QUOTE=crasherino;3544030]

Not that other bodies weren't unearthed during the construction of Giants Stadium 34 years ago. Kossler recalled how contractors would call the county prosecutor's office every time they dug up a corpse, but eventually decided it disrupted the work too much.

"After about the fifth one, they stopped," he said.

:eek:[/QUOTE]

Not originally from Jersey. Never thought I'd move there. Wife forced me into it. After she passed, the kids wouldn't let me (us) move to CT.

But that right there makes me a little proud.

Revi$_I$l@nd · 04-01-2010, 03:54 PM

[QUOTE=crasherino;3544030]:eek:[/QUOTE]

I'm surprised with all the mob ties in construction that the DA was ever called in the first place.

Apache 51 · 04-01-2010, 04:03 PM

Believe what you want, but he is not there.

southside · 04-01-2010, 04:07 PM

[QUOTE=Apache 51;3544047]Believe what you want, but he is not there.[/QUOTE]

Can you give me tonight's lottery numbers? I'd like to win.

Beerfish · 04-01-2010, 04:07 PM

They did a show on that a while back. I think it was on mythbusters where they used some kind of high tech sonar or sumpin to scan underneath the field and they didn't find anything that would indicate a body.

I think this might be akin to a Gholston sack.....a tall tale about something that could perhaps happen.

Apache 51 · 04-01-2010, 04:18 PM

[QUOTE=southside;3544049]Can you give me tonight's lottery numbers? I'd like to win.[/QUOTE]

That I can't do...

babyknight · 04-01-2010, 04:31 PM

cool piece, but "one of the enduring mysteries of the 20th century?"

crasherino · 04-01-2010, 04:52 PM

[QUOTE=JStokes;3544035]Not originally from Jersey. [B]Never thought I'd move there. Wife forced me into it.[/B] After she passed, the kids wouldn't let me (us) move to CT.

But that right there makes me a little proud.[/QUOTE]

you've said it in the past, but she must have been a terrific woman to convince a LI kid to move to Joisey ;)

That should be the question that all fathers on LI ask their sons to see if they've found "the one"....."Would you move to Jersey for her?"

Thankfully my wife is from DC and has the same irrational disdain for Jersey as I do.

LIDeadHead · 04-01-2010, 04:54 PM

[B]Another story had Hoffa's body incinerated in a garbage disposal facility in Hamtramck, Mich. Still others had him buried in Florida or in a mob-controlled dump not far from Giants Stadium where oil fires burned underground.[/B]

I can believe that. My brother-in-law works for one of the refineries by the bridges (outerbridge/goethals) and told me about these underground caves that are filled with gases and fuels. Told me if one were to blow up, it would destroy half of Long Island and pretty much all of Manhattan. :eek:

kcb160 · 04-01-2010, 04:54 PM

I think Belicheat and the commisioner buried his tapes with Hoffa. Good luck finding either one.

Apache 51 · 04-01-2010, 05:13 PM

[QUOTE=crasherino;3544114]you've said it in the past, but she must have been a terrific woman to convince a LI kid to move to Joisey ;)

That should be the question that all fathers on LI ask their sons to see if they've found "the one"....."Would you move to Jersey for her?"

Thankfully my wife is from DC and has the same irrational disdain for Jersey as I do.[/QUOTE]
Thank god...

JStokes · 04-01-2010, 05:55 PM

[QUOTE=crasherino;3544114]you've said it in the past, but she must have been a terrific woman to convince a LI kid to move to Joisey ;)

That should be the question that all fathers on LI ask their sons to see if they've found "the one"....."Would you move to Jersey for her?"

Thankfully my wife is from DC and has the same irrational disdain for Jersey as I do.[/QUOTE]

Growing up on the north shore of Long Island (not the Gold Coast), I had a pleasant upbringing.

She grew up in northern Bergen County, not an unpleasant upbringing in itself.

So, the woman chose and moving to northern Bergen County was not THAT different.

Both very nice locales.

But the Jersey stigma? Bleh.

Realize, she used to hit me with the Long Island stigma. Bleh.

I need to move to La Jolla. :D

Wall Street · 04-01-2010, 11:59 PM

[QUOTE=LIDeadHead;3544115]
I can believe that. My brother-in-law works for one of the refineries by the bridges (outerbridge/goethals) and told me about these underground caves that are filled with gases and fuels. [I]Told me if one were to blow up, it would destroy half of Long Island and pretty much all of Manhattan.[/I] :eek:[/QUOTE]

I highly doubt that.

Any link for these caves even existing, because if they do that's the coolest thing I have ever heard.

Apache 51 · 04-02-2010, 06:58 AM

[QUOTE=Wall Street Superstar;3544453]I highly doubt that.

Any link for these caves even existing, because if they do that's the coolest thing I have ever heard.[/QUOTE]

No, it's true where do you think the majority of NJ pumps it $hit....the TP is a front.:)

04-01-2010, 03:41 PM	#1
southside Forever Awesome All Pro Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 8,884	Yahoo: Will Hoffa mystery be buried with Giants Stadium? [QUOTE]EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – As the story goes, former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa has attended every event at Giants Stadium since 1976, buried in a final resting place somewhere under the west end zone. As former New York Giants punter Sean Landeta once joked, "It gives a whole new meaning to kicking into the coffin corner." More than 20 years after a self-described mob hit man set the rumor mill in motion with an interview in Playboy magazine, the question lingers: Is the answer to one of the enduring mysteries of the 20th century buried beneath the stadium — and about to be buried even deeper when the stadium is demolished this spring? To one former law enforcement official who investigated the case in the 1980s, there is no mystery. The FBI considered the Giants Stadium tale "a dead issue" by the time Playboy printed its interview with Donald "Tony The Greek" Frankos in late 1989, according to retired FBI agent Jim Kossler. "When that information came to our attention we batted it around, but we were all convinced in the end that this guy was not reliable," he said. "We were able to prove to our mind that what he was telling us couldn't have happened because he either couldn't have been there or he was in jail at the time." As Frankos described it, mob leaders tried to dissuade Hoffa from retaking control of the Teamsters after his release from prison on a jury tampering rap. But Hoffa refused, and allegedly threatened to tell authorities about mob infiltration of the unions. Hoffa was last seen in a restaurant parking lot outside Detroit on July 30, 1975. Frankos claimed Hoffa was killed in Michigan by members of the Westies, a New York Irish gang, on the orders of Genovese crime family boss Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno. His body was cut up in Michigan, then driven to New Jersey several months later and buried in the concrete foundation of the sprouting Giants Stadium, Frankos said. He even claimed to know what area of the stadium: Section 107, in the corner of the west end zone. Whether there ever was any veracity to Frankos' claims, the story grew legs during the next 20 years and provided fallback fodder for headline writers and sports columnists. The west end zone became the "Jimmy Hoffa Memorial End Zone." Teams didn't just beat the Giants or Jets, they "Jimmy Hoffa-ed" them. Authors and cable TV sleuths searched the site and found nothing. Not that other bodies weren't unearthed during the construction of Giants Stadium 34 years ago. Kossler recalled how contractors would call the county prosecutor's office every time they dug up a corpse, but eventually decided it disrupted the work too much. "After about the fifth one, they stopped," he said. Competing theories about Hoffa's final repose have surfaced over the years. Three times between 2003 and 2007 authorities searched properties in Michigan only to come up empty. Another story had Hoffa's body incinerated in a garbage disposal facility in Hamtramck, Mich. Still others had him buried in Florida or in a mob-controlled dump not far from Giants Stadium where oil fires burned underground. The latter spot "would have been perfect because there wouldn't be any remains, and there would be no way to even look for them without getting incinerated yourself," said Mark Moran, author of "Weird NJ," a compendium of odd facts about New Jersey. Giants Stadium is being demolished this spring as the Giants and Jets move into a new stadium next door. Vincent Parziale, whose company, Gramercy, is performing the demolition, said no one has contacted him about digging up the concourse under Section 107. A spokesman for the FBI's Newark office said the bureau has no plans to oversee the demolition of Section 107. Once the demolition is completed, the 13-foot bowl in the ground where the field now sits will be filled in with concrete and asphalt and turned into a parking lot — perhaps finally burying one part of the Hoffa mystery, says Gramercy Vice President Frank Gramicizia. "If he's down there, he's going to be down there deeper," Gramicizia said. [/QUOTE] Pretty funny that this was national news.

04-01-2010, 04:54 PM	#13
kcb160 Practice Squad Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 464	I think Belicheat and the commisioner buried his tapes with Hoffa. Good luck finding either one. Last edited by kcb160; 04-01-2010 at 04:57 PM.

04-01-2010, 11:59 PM	#16
Wall Street $$$$$ Rookie Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: SI NY Posts: 823	[QUOTE=LIDeadHead;3544115] I can believe that. My brother-in-law works for one of the refineries by the bridges (outerbridge/goethals) and told me about these underground caves that are filled with gases and fuels. [I]Told me if one were to blow up, it would destroy half of Long Island and pretty much all of Manhattan.[/I] :eek:[/QUOTE] I highly doubt that. Any link for these caves even existing, because if they do that's the coolest thing I have ever heard. Last edited by Wall Street; 04-02-2010 at 12:01 AM.

04-01-2010, 03:49 PM	#2
crasherino Board Moderator Jets Insider VIP Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: NYC Posts: 16,807	[QUOTE]Not that other bodies weren't unearthed during the construction of Giants Stadium 34 years ago. Kossler recalled how contractors would call the county prosecutor's office every time they dug up a corpse, but eventually decided it disrupted the work too much. "After about the fifth one, they stopped," he said.[/QUOTE] :eek:

04-01-2010, 03:53 PM	#3
southside Forever Awesome All Pro Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 8,884	[QUOTE=crasherino;3544030]:eek:[/QUOTE] Haha.. I know right. I was like, wtf!

04-01-2010, 03:53 PM	#4
JStokes Hall Of Fame Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bergen County, NJ Posts: 20,126	[QUOTE=crasherino;3544030] Not that other bodies weren't unearthed during the construction of Giants Stadium 34 years ago. Kossler recalled how contractors would call the county prosecutor's office every time they dug up a corpse, but eventually decided it disrupted the work too much. "After about the fifth one, they stopped," he said. :eek:[/QUOTE] Not originally from Jersey. Never thought I'd move there. Wife forced me into it. After she passed, the kids wouldn't let me (us) move to CT. But that right there makes me a little proud.

04-01-2010, 03:54 PM	#5
Revi$_I$l@nd is Cro-ing H.A.M...Whatever that means Banned Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 2,489	[QUOTE=crasherino;3544030]:eek:[/QUOTE] I'm surprised with all the mob ties in construction that the DA was ever called in the first place.

04-01-2010, 04:03 PM	#6
Apache 51 Let's Kill them all......... Hall Of Fame Join Date: May 2009 Location: In Morris Co.,N.J.,at the right end of a Browning 12 gauge Posts: 12,613	Believe what you want, but he is not there.

04-01-2010, 04:07 PM	#7
southside Forever Awesome All Pro Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 8,884	[QUOTE=Apache 51;3544047]Believe what you want, but he is not there.[/QUOTE] Can you give me tonight's lottery numbers? I'd like to win.

04-01-2010, 04:07 PM	#8
Beerfish Hall Of Fame Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 19,066	They did a show on that a while back. I think it was on mythbusters where they used some kind of high tech sonar or sumpin to scan underneath the field and they didn't find anything that would indicate a body. I think this might be akin to a Gholston sack.....a tall tale about something that could perhaps happen.

04-01-2010, 04:18 PM	#9
Apache 51 Let's Kill them all......... Hall Of Fame Join Date: May 2009 Location: In Morris Co.,N.J.,at the right end of a Browning 12 gauge Posts: 12,613	[QUOTE=southside;3544049]Can you give me tonight's lottery numbers? I'd like to win.[/QUOTE] That I can't do...

04-01-2010, 04:31 PM	#10
babyknight Veteran Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Manhattan Posts: 271	cool piece, but "one of the enduring mysteries of the 20th century?"

04-01-2010, 04:52 PM	#11
crasherino Board Moderator Jets Insider VIP Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: NYC Posts: 16,807	[QUOTE=JStokes;3544035]Not originally from Jersey. [B]Never thought I'd move there. Wife forced me into it.[/B] After she passed, the kids wouldn't let me (us) move to CT. But that right there makes me a little proud.[/QUOTE] you've said it in the past, but she must have been a terrific woman to convince a LI kid to move to Joisey ;) That should be the question that all fathers on LI ask their sons to see if they've found "the one"....."Would you move to Jersey for her?" Thankfully my wife is from DC and has the same irrational disdain for Jersey as I do.

04-01-2010, 04:54 PM	#12
LIDeadHead is attacking the head. All Pro Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: LI NY Posts: 5,049	[B]Another story had Hoffa's body incinerated in a garbage disposal facility in Hamtramck, Mich. Still others had him buried in Florida or in a mob-controlled dump not far from Giants Stadium where oil fires burned underground.[/B] I can believe that. My brother-in-law works for one of the refineries by the bridges (outerbridge/goethals) and told me about these underground caves that are filled with gases and fuels. Told me if one were to blow up, it would destroy half of Long Island and pretty much all of Manhattan. :eek:

04-01-2010, 05:13 PM	#14
Apache 51 Let's Kill them all......... Hall Of Fame Join Date: May 2009 Location: In Morris Co.,N.J.,at the right end of a Browning 12 gauge Posts: 12,613	[QUOTE=crasherino;3544114]you've said it in the past, but she must have been a terrific woman to convince a LI kid to move to Joisey ;) That should be the question that all fathers on LI ask their sons to see if they've found "the one"....."Would you move to Jersey for her?" Thankfully my wife is from DC and has the same irrational disdain for Jersey as I do.[/QUOTE] Thank god...

04-01-2010, 05:55 PM	#15
JStokes Hall Of Fame Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bergen County, NJ Posts: 20,126	[QUOTE=crasherino;3544114]you've said it in the past, but she must have been a terrific woman to convince a LI kid to move to Joisey ;) That should be the question that all fathers on LI ask their sons to see if they've found "the one"....."Would you move to Jersey for her?" Thankfully my wife is from DC and has the same irrational disdain for Jersey as I do.[/QUOTE] Growing up on the north shore of Long Island (not the Gold Coast), I had a pleasant upbringing. She grew up in northern Bergen County, not an unpleasant upbringing in itself. So, the woman chose and moving to northern Bergen County was not THAT different. Both very nice locales. But the Jersey stigma? Bleh. Realize, she used to hit me with the Long Island stigma. Bleh. I need to move to La Jolla. :D

04-02-2010, 06:58 AM	#17
Apache 51 Let's Kill them all......... Hall Of Fame Join Date: May 2009 Location: In Morris Co.,N.J.,at the right end of a Browning 12 gauge Posts: 12,613	[QUOTE=Wall Street Superstar;3544453]I highly doubt that. Any link for these caves even existing, because if they do that's the coolest thing I have ever heard.[/QUOTE] No, it's true where do you think the majority of NJ pumps it $hit....the TP is a front.:)