Mob Underboss Anthony Zerilli Says Hoffa Left In Shallow Grave

DETROIT (CBS Detroit) Reported Detroit mob underboss Anthony Zerilli came out this weekend to say he knows where the bodies are buried — one body in particular, belonging to Detroit’s most notorious missing person — Jimmy Hoffa.

Zerilli, 85, told WDIV in Detroit Hoffa’s killers buried him in a shallow grave and were going to move him to a hunting lodge in northern Michigan after they offed him 37 years ago. But Zerilli — who was in prison at the time on a racketeering charge – said they left him where he was.

Local mob expert and author Scott Burnstein thinks this is the biggest break in the Hoffa case since the union boss’ disappearance.

“I think this is the most credible person to ever come forward to talk about this story,” Bernstein said, adding Zerilli is the son of Detroit mafia founder Joe Zerilli and served as the Detroit mob underboss from 1979 to 2002.

Why would Zerilli tell this story now?

“It’s a combination of he’s looking for a payday and he’s upset with the leaders of the family for taking him out of the loop a couple of years ago,” said Burnstein, author of “Detroit Mob Confidential” and “Motor City Mafia.”

“I think there’s no body to be found, but if there is a body to be found he’s the guy to lead you to it,” Burnstein said. “This is someone who definitely could have intimate knowledge of what happened.”

Zerilli hasn’t yet publicly said where the shallow grave is, but reports say the area he’s discussing is in northern Oakland County, about 20 miles away from Hoffa’s last sighting.

“I think this has got to be the biggest potential break in the case in a long time, it’s really shocking to me that he would do this,” Burnstein said.

read more: http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2013/01/14/mob-underboss-anthony-zerilli-says-hoffa-left-in-shallow-grave/