THE BRIGUGLIO BROTHERS

The Briguglio brothers of New Jersey’s La Cosa Nostra “LCN” and members of the Vito Genovese Crime Family, are considered key suspects involved with the disappearance of James R. Hoffa “JRH”. They both became members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters “IBT”, associated with Local Union 560. The Briguglios were part of Anthony “Tony Pro” Provenzano’s hit squad along with brothers Stephen and Thomas Andretta.  All of these men possessed similar credentials when it came to the Jimmy Hoffa case. Gabriel Briguglio was said to have delivered notification of a sanctioned hit to his brother before the scenario had played out in Detroit. Earlier, Salvatore aka “Sally Bugs” then secretary treasurer of Local 560 was suspected of another contract hit on one of his associates. This associate, Anthony Castellito the former secretary treasurer of IBT Local 560 disappeared mysteriously in 1961. Salvatore Briguglio and Tony Pro were both suspects, but the Castellito case had never been solved. In 1976, after Hoffa had disappeared, the FBI obtained new information about the Castellito case and began a pursuit to indict Salvatore for kidnapping and murder along with Anthony Provenzano.

 

Long considered by those investigating the Hoffa disappearance Salvatore Briguglio was suspected to be the actual “trigger man" in the Hoffa abduction and murder. There was not enough evidence to support this idea for prosecution, but it is still believed, even now, by many “hoffaologists” that Sal Briguglio was the hit man that killed JRH. It was also reported that IBT Dan Johnson of local 299 and other teamsters in the Detroit area were aware of Sal Briguglio having served as a bodyguard for suspect Rolland McMaster when needed. Journalist Dan E Moldea provides this detail and a specific source1. From this information Findinghoffa.com noticed a connection to "Teamsters United Rank and File", "T.U.R.F." This group and a half a dozen other groups were often critical of some of the status quo practices within the Teamster Union power structure. There were suspicions that union leaders were in league with big business and government agencies, ignoring the aspirations of the rank-and-file union members. A publication called Workers Power, which was located in Highland Park Michigan exposed details of how union causes were being cataloged by a former FBI agent who acted as a go between with business and government. The agent eventually became the director of the Interstate Commerce Commision. We outlined this on our website in 2020. (See "Press" Dale Hardin) 

 

The Anthony "three finger" Castellito murder case had been dormant since 1961 and when reignited in 1976, it put undue pressure on Provenzano and both Briguglio brothers.  The trial was scheduled to take place in Kingston, New York beginning May 1, 1978. Salvatore had previously plead guilty to a counterfeiting charge in 1973 and served 14 months in jail. But in 1978, he was facing a life sentence for the murder of Castellito on top of being considered a prime suspect in the Jimmy Hoffa disappearance.  Both of the Briguglio brothers managed to dodge the questions they received at the Federal Grand Jury held in the Detroit area on December 4, 1975, concerning their involvement with the Hoffa case. They achieved this by pleading the 5th amendment. Which was denied by Gabriel Briguglio when recently asked about it.

 

One of their associates, Stephen Andretta, was not so fortunate and was placed in Milan Federal Prison in Michigan for contempt of court. He was later squeezed for information and details of what he knew of the location of Hoffa’s body.  Andretta faced similar pressure when the FBI informed him, they were considering another search for the missing body of Armand Faugno in Phillip “Brother” Moscato’s dump. They had filed a search warrant almost 3 years before that time. The dump was never searched a second time due to the lack of information as to an exact location of Faugno's body and the presence of toxic waste throughout most of the landfill.  Andretta cooperated enough with the FBI and the Grand Jury to be released. Some of the redaction portions of the Hoffex Memo contain this information. 

 

Using a similar technique, the FBI was pressuring the other Hoffa suspects with the Castellito case as a means to get justice or possibly trade it off for new information about Hoffa. It was believed Salvatore Briguglio was caving in under all the pressure and leaning toward making a deal with the prosecution. It is surmised this suspicion led to his demise. To add to the suspicions, Salvatore Briguglio had been named as a collaborator with former Provenzano crew soldier Armand Faugno who disappeared and  was assumed to have been murdered in 1972.  This may have been connected to a business relationship with a high-profile person.  FBI informant Ralph Picardo and four other confidential informants provided reports concerning businessman Ray Donovan's dealings with another notorious Provenzano crew associate named Phillip "Brother" Moscato.  Yes, Moscato is the very same man previously mentioned that owned the famous New Jersey landfill dump along the Hackensack River.  But what's important here is the fact that Ray Donovan became the United States Secretary of Labor a few years later.  Our readers should also realize that Ray Donovan was then in a position to do a ton of favors for Teamsters Local 560 and for the LCN by providing unfettered access to the Central States Pension Fund a.k.a. the" Mob's Piggy Bank". (The Donovan case was eventually overturned years later based on technicalities having to do with the names of the businesses involved. A sum of money exchanged between businesses attributed to the ownership of both Donovan and Moscato was documented by outside investigators, but there was not enough evidence to stop a successful appeal in favor of Donovan).

 

Whether it was related to the Hoffa disappearance, or becoming a possible informant against Donovan and Moscato, or something else, Briguglio was gunned down a block away from Umberto’s Clam House where Joseph Gallo was murdered in 1972. "Sally Bugs" was shot dead, in the face and chest, by two unidentified gunmen outside of Benito’s Restaurant at 163 Mulberry in New York’s Little Italy on March 21, 1978, at the age of 48. It is reported in the FBI Vault files and in newspapers that Sal Briguglio's home was searched shortly after the hit and the investigators discovered the private phone number belonging to Charles "Chuckie" O'Brien among other items found at his residence.  It was also reported that "Sally Bugs" Briguglio had been building a new home in another area with a swimming pool a few years earlier.  This pool is one of three mentioned sharing other locations as possible secret burial sites for Hoffa.  Findinghoffa.com investigated each incident and remains satisfied there is nothing to the swimming pool idea except the very real persisting common theme that Hoffa's body was disposed of at a construction site involving concrete, and lots of water. This theme is connected to other common themes in the narrative. 

 

It is not likely Hoffa's body would be hidden on any property connected directly to the suspects in the case. Such a move would be reckless and self-incriminating to say the least.  However, his body could have been taken to a remote area having ties to Hoffa and people he knew that had shared secrets and a common enemy.  That aspect is something we have taken very seriously.  The Briguglios were smart enough to avoid bringing any additional heat on themselves except to create ruse tactics to distract investigators from looking in the right places.  They covered their tracks from any other missing persons cases too.  It appears from early reports in late 1975 and 1976 that their group was offering reward money for anyone finding Hoffa's body in Moscato's dump.  If they had hidden missing   Armand Faugno's remains in that dump in 1972, it seems more than likely, there was nothing left of him. Or what was left of him, had been moved before the FBI obtained another search warrant in 1975.  We note, even at the time of this writing, the mob owned dumps and swimming pools have gotten a great deal of attention from the press over the years. This attention comes from, not only the less than credible tabloids, but also the mainstream media. It happens to coincide with, another theme that dominates media reports. This additional theme involves the long list of "mob" associated people who have claimed, or are believed, to have killed Hoffa.  

 

Author Dan Moldea has said he was the only one having interviewed Salvatore Briguglio. He apparently recorded a series of denials when he asked him about his part in the Hoffa disappearance.  To complicate matters, some years later Frank “the Irishman” Sheeran confessed to author Charles Brandt, he had been the trigger man in the Hoffa murder and also the murder of Salvatore Briguglio.  It is not hard to find some conflict between the other stories and reports concerning the role "Sally Bugs" played in the JRH mystery.  We are letting our followers know of these existing ideas but moving forward with our goal to find out what happened to Jimmy Hoffa’s body. We might add that Anthony “Tony Pro” Provenzano was convicted in the Castellito case without the testimony of Salvatore Briguglio.

We also note the conviction came to Provenzano without the discovery of Castellito's body.  In 1988, Tony Provenzano died of a sudden heart attack in prison while serving his sentence for the Castellito murder. 

 

Included in these events, Gabriel Briguglio the vice president of IBT Local 84 in Fort Lee was convicted of racketeering and sent to the Federal Penitentiary in Sandstone, Minnesota in 1981. It was reported in the L.A. Times, he paroled in 1983 and took a job as a driver for a trucking company in North Bergen, New Jersey.  This report was corroborated by federal investigators. It is also reported the above trucking company may have been one that Hoffex Memo suspect Stephen Andretta was involved with at the time. Gabriel managed to have stayed below the radar of criminal prosecution for many years as did both the Andretta brothers.  Both Andretta brothers are now dead. Thomas Andretta died January 25, 2019, in Nevada and Stephen Andretta passed away December 12, 2022, in New Jersey.

 

Gabriel Briguglio (Born in 1939) is still living somewhere on the East Coast.  In fact, journalist Eric Shawn of Fox News made a production of tracking him down in March of 2020.  He used a similar tactic that his predecessor Ed Barnes did when he showed up on Tommy Andretta's doorstep in Las Vegas years earlier.  And like Barnes, Shawn also got a similar response from Gabe Briguglio, who chastised the reporter for coming to his home.  Nothing new was revealed by Eric Shawn's unwelcomed visit.  It served only to bring publicity to his current Fox News podcast series.  At least it verified our conclusions that the younger Briguglio brother is indeed alive as of the time of this writing.  After failing to interview Gabriel Briguglio, Eric Shawn made a second attempt to interview him after Gabe's associate Stephen Andretta passed away.

This time he was welcomed to Gabe's home. We assume that it was much easier for Briguglio to talk as he was the only New Jersey Hoffex Memo suspect left alive. There was no one else living to give Gabe Briguglio any trouble for providing his own version of the events surrounding the case.  Of course (as expected), he denied any involvement with the case. He even offered another version of his personal alibi which conflicts with Steve Andretta's account of all of suspects which involved playing cards at the union hall of IBT Local 560.  Gabe "Bugs" really laid it on thick of how he was a victim of fellow Provenzano crew associate and FBI informant Ralph Picardo. Shawn asked him about his deceased brother Salvatore Briguglio, and he refused to comment (as expected).  He was guarded about Stephen Andretta also. The mafia is skilled at manipulating facts to make themselves appear as innocent, responsible, and trustworthy citizens. This interview in our opinion is a classic example of how they operate. Eric Shawn may be satisfied with what Briguglio shared with him.  But given all of the facts surrounding these two Briguglio brothers, as well the Andretta brothers, there is much more to the story that Gabriel refused to comment on.  We would much rather see the results of an actual DOJ polygraph of him before we would conclude otherwise.  

 

Others listed in the Hoffex Memo and also the December 1975 Federal Grand Jury have recently passed away.  Suspect Charles “Chuckie” O’Brien died on February 13, 2020.  His death was in the wake of the previous fan fair created by one of his stepson's publishing a book attempting to exonerate him from being involved with the Hoffa disappearance.  In addition to O'Brien's passing, the former CEO of the Detroit Gateway Transportation Steel Division, Stanton Barr, passed away November 13, 2019. Barr was suspect Rolland McMaster's brother-in-law and co-owner of the Hidden Dreams Horse Farm that the FBI dug up in 2006.  Their wives were sisters native to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Barr and McMaster were both connected with the Hoffa disappearance and with owning island property in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  This real estate was in close proximity to another man Hoffa was long connected to.  His name is Walter F. Carey.  Carey was the former owner of the trucking company Commercial Carriers and later was the Chairman of the Board of Directors of another interstate company TIME DC in 1975 which had terminals throughout the country. Both of these huge trucking companies had ties with several other elements of the disappearance. Hoffa's Test Fleet Company was in business with Commercial Carriers in 1949.  During Hoffa's IBT presidency, the Department of Labor filed civil charges against the Teamsters and TIME DC., as co-defendants, in 1971 for discriminatory hiring practices and this legal action was still going on one week after Hoffa disappeared.  Stanton Barr was also tied with Donovan Wells.  Mr. Wells passed away September 5, 2019. (He owned a TIME DC terminal in the Detroit during the 70s).  Wells witnessed suspicious activity at the mentioned horse farm the day Hoffa went missing. He became a key witness by supplying information to the FBI that Hoffa's body was moved North of the Detroit area. This place (the Hidden Dreams Horse Farm) was in a convenient location to secretly load the body on to a big rig truck heading even farther North. We believe it was used as a means to transport Hoffa's body to be disposed in a secluded place historically attached to Hoffa. The journey would end at an Upper Peninsula ready-made construction site four and a half hours later, that no one has suspected until now.   

 

We can tie the Briguglio brothers to McMaster, Barr, the Provenzano Group and some of the major trucking industrialists from other files produced by the FBI, DOJ, and events covered by media early in the investigation. Because of their recent deaths, the numerous connections of O'Brien, Barr, and Wells have become a matter of history. The short list has been reduced to only a few living people left including Gabriel Briguglio, that may be able to fill in the rest of the puzzle of the mysterious disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. The Finding Hoffa Podcast hopes to continue with providing any new developments in the case.  Stay Tuned.

 

1 Rolland McMaster and Salvatore Briguglio referenced: page 75, third edition by Author Dan E Moldea, Confessions of a Guerrilla Writer.    See also The Hoffa Wars, 1978, also by Dan E. Moldea.

​

​

​

Produced by Steve Drummond  copyright 2023