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}}
{{Infobox military person
| allegiance = {{USA}}United States
| branch = {{army|UnitedUS States}}Army
| serviceyears = 1941–1945
| unit = [[Military Police Corps (United States)|Military Police Corps]]<br/>[[45th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)|45th Infantry Division]]
'''Francis Joseph Sheeran''' (October 25, 1920 – December 14, 2003), also known as "'''The Irishman'''", was an American labor union official and enforcer for [[Jimmy Hoffa]] and [[Russell Bufalino]]. He was accused of having links to the [[Bufalino crime family]] in his capacity as a high-ranking official in the [[International Brotherhood of Teamsters]] (IBT), the president of Local 326.
Sheeran was a leading figure involved in the infiltration of unions by organized crime in the 1960s and 70s. In 1980, he was convicted of labor [[racketeering]] and sentenced to 32 years in prison, of which he served 13 years. Shortly before his death in 2003, he said he had killed Teamster leader [[Jimmy Hoffa]] in 1975. Author [[Charles Brandt]] detailed what Sheeran told him about Hoffa in the narrative nonfiction work ''[[I Heard You Paint Houses]]'' (2004). The truthfulness of the book, including Sheeran's confessions to killing Hoffa and [[Joe Gallo]], has been disputed by some.<ref name=:0/><ref name=gold/> The book is the basis for the 2019 film ''[[The Irishman]]'' directed by [[Martin Scorsese]] which starred [[Robert De Niro]] as Sheeran, [[Al Pacino]] as Hoffa, and [[Joe Pesci]] as [[Russell Bufalino]].
==Early life==
Sheeran was born and raised in [[Darby, Pennsylvania|Darby]], [[Pennsylvania]], a small working-class borough on the outskirts of [[Philadelphia]]. He was the son of Thomas Francis Sheeran Jr. (1886–1968) and Mary Agnes Hanson (1887–1972).<ref name="ssa"/><ref name="1940census">''1940 United States Federal Census''</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=English|first=T.J.|title=Paddy whacked: the untold story of the Irish American gangster|publisher=HarperCollins|year=2005|page=438|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uvDN9yBVBF8C&q=%22frank%20sheeran%22%20darby&pg=PA438|isbn=978-0-06-059002-4}}</ref> His father was of [[Irish American|Irish]] descent, while his mother was of [[Swedish American|Swedish]] descent. Frequently his father made him fight him with boxing gloves.<ref name="paint"/>
==World War II==
==Organized crime and the Teamsters Union==
When he left the service, Sheeran became a driver for [[Food Fair]] and he met [[Russell Bufalino]] in 1955 when Bufalino offered to help him fix his truck, and later worked jobs driving him around and making deliveries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.biography.com/crime-figure/frank-sheeran|title=Frank Sheeran|website=Biography|language=en-us|access-date=December 4, 2019}}</ref> Sheeran also operated out of a bar located in [[Sharon Hill, Pennsylvania]] which was run by Bill Distanisloa, a soldier forunder the then powerful [[Philadelphia crime family]] [[caporegime|captain]] and future [[crime boss|acting boss]] [[Angelo Bruno]].<ref name=amp>{{cite web|url=https://amp-clickondetroit-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.clickondetroit.com/news/interview-charles-brandt-author-i-heard-you-paint-houses?usqp=mq331AQA&_js_v=0.1|title=Interview: Charles Brandt, author 'I Heard You Paint Houses'|website=amp-clickondetroit-com.cdn.ampproject.org|access-date=November 16, 2019|archive-date=October 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191018102526/https://amp-clickondetroit-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.clickondetroit.com/news/interview-charles-brandt-author-i-heard-you-paint-houses?usqp=mq331AQA&_js_v=0.1|url-status=dead}}</ref>
According to his biography, Sheeran's first murder was killing Whispers DiTullio, a gangster who had hired him to destroy the Cadillac Linen Service in Delaware for $10,000. However, Sheeran did not know that Angelo Bruno had a large stake in the linen service.<ref name="paint"/> Sheeran was spotted outside the business and was brought in for questioning. Bufalino had convinced Bruno to spare Sheeran but he ordered Sheeran to kill DiTullio as retribution.<ref name="paint"/> Sheeran was also suspected of the murder of [[Joe Gallo]] at [[Umberto's Clam House]] on April 7, 1972.<ref name="paint">{{cite book|title="I Heard You Paint Houses": Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran and the Inside Story of the Mafia, the Teamsters and the Last Ride of Jimmy Hoffa|last=Brandt|first=Charles|year=2004|publisher=Steerforth Press|location=Hanover, New Hampshire|isbn=978-1-58642-077-2|oclc=54897800|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/iheardyoupaintho00bran | ref=refBrandt2004}}</ref><ref name=amp/>
== Hoffa death ==
[[Charles Brandt]] writes in ''[[I Heard You Paint Houses]]'' (2004) that Sheeran confessed to killing Hoffa.<ref name="paint" /> According to Brandt's account, [[Charles O'Brien (unionist)|Chuckie O'Brien]] drove Sheeran, Hoffa, and fellow mobster [[Salvatore Briguglio]] to a house in Metro Detroit. O'Brien and Briguglio drove off and Sheeran and Hoffa went into the house, where Sheeran claims that he shot Hoffa twice in the back of the head. Sheeran says that he was told that Hoffa was cremated after the murder. Sheeran also confessed to reporters that he murdered Hoffa, as well as Gallo.<ref name="iuqoybv">{{cite web|url=httphttps://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,121237,00.htmldetroit-house-searched-for-clues-in-hoffa-case|title=Detroit House Searched for Clues in Hoffa Case|website=[[Fox News]]|date=June 13, 2004|access-date=May 30, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120627133823/http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,121237,00.html|archive-date=June 27, 2012|url-status=deadlive}}</ref> Bill Tonelli disputes the book's truthfulness in a ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' article, as does [[Harvard Law School]] professor [[Jack Goldsmith]] in ''[[The New York Review of Books]]''.<ref name=":0"/><ref name=gold>{{cite magazine |last1=Goldsmith |first1=Jack |title=Jimmy Hoffa and The Irishman: A True Crime Story? |url=https://www.nybooks.com/daily/2019/09/26/jimmy-hoffa-and-the-irishman-a-true-crime-story/ |magazine=[[New York Review of Books]] |access-date=September 26, 2019|date=September 26, 2019 }}</ref>
The FBI has examined evidence which could connect Sheeran to the murder of Hoffa, including testingusing the latest advances in forensic technology to test remnants of blood and floorboards from the house where Hoffa was reputedly killed using the latest advances in forensic technology.<ref>{{cite web |title=Riddle documentary Fox |url=https://www.google.com/search?q=Riddle+documentary+fox |access-date=October 18, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Riddle: The Search for James R. Hoffa |url=https://video.foxnews.com/v/5986353167001 |website=[[Fox News]] |date=January 5, 2019 |access-date=October 18, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190105230815/https://video.foxnews.com/v/5986353167001/ |archive-date=January 5, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=History Detectives|website=[[PBS]]|url=https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/investigation/who-killed-jimmy-hoffa/|access-date=May 11, 2016}} ([http://www-tc.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/static/media/transcripts/2014-07-24/HDSI_WHO_KILLED_JIMMY_HOFFA_Final_Transcript_1.pdf transcript] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018090903/http://www-tc.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/static/media/transcripts/2014-07-24/HDSI_WHO_KILLED_JIMMY_HOFFA_Final_Transcript_1.pdf |date=October 18, 2016 }})</ref><ref name="DNA">{{cite news|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-105402906.html|title=Police: Blood found in Detroit home did not come from Hoffa|date=February 14, 2005|author=Karush, Sarah |publisher=Associated Press|access-date=September 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911081531/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-105402906.html|archive-date=September 11, 2016}}</ref> Although bloodstains were found in the Detroit house where Sheeran claimed that the murder had happened,<ref name=iuqoybv /> they were determined not to match Hoffa's DNA.<ref>{{cite web|title=History Detectives|website=[[PBS]]|url=https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/investigation/who-killed-jimmy-hoffa/|access-date=May 11, 2016}} ([http://www-tc.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/static/media/transcripts/2014-07-24/HDSI_WHO_KILLED_JIMMY_HOFFA_Final_Transcript_1.pdf transcript] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018090903/http://www-tc.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/static/media/transcripts/2014-07-24/HDSI_WHO_KILLED_JIMMY_HOFFA_Final_Transcript_1.pdf |date=October 18, 2016 }})</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-02-15-hoffa_x.htm|title=Police: Blood found in Detroit home did not come from Hoffa|agency=[[Associated Press]]|newspaper=[[USA Today]]|date=February 15, 2005}}</ref>
==Biographical film==
==External links==
*{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kipLDAAAQBAJ |title=I Heard You Paint Houses |isbn=978-1586422387 |last=Brandt |first=Charles |date=2004|publisher=Steerforth Press }}
{{Bufalino crime family}}
[[Category:People from Darby, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Perpetrators of World War II prisoner of war massacres]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government]] ▼[[Category:Trade unionists from Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:United States Army soldiers]]
▲[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government]]
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