Alleged Mobster: Jimmy Hoffa Is Buried Here

Former Cosa Nostra No. 2 Tony Zerilli breaks his silence
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 14, 2013 3:30 PM CST
Alleged Mobster: Jimmy Hoffa Is Buried Here
Tony Zerilli shows a reporter with NBC 4 New York the field where he believes Hoffa is buried.   (NBC 4)

Jimmy Hoffa's body might be found at long last. A man the FBI believes was once the second in command of the Detroit Cosa Nostra has broken his silence about Hoffa's disappearance, showing NBC 4 New York a field that he claims is the Teamster boss's final resting place. "If I had a thousand dollars, I'd bet you a thousand dollars he's buried here," Tony Zerilli says. The field is in suburban Detroit, just 20 miles from the restaurant where Hoffa was last seen.

Zerilli, now 85, was in prison when Hoffa died. "If I wasn't away, I don't think it would have ever happened," he said. He says he's speaking up to give Hoffa's family closure, and because "he was a friend of mine, and people connect me to his disappearance." It also probably doesn't hurt that Zerilli is, in his words, "dead broke"; he's hoping to cash in with a book and a website, hoffafound.com. Still, a former US Attorney says Zerilli represents perhaps the most promising lead ever in the case. (More Tony Zerilli stories.)

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