Salvatore "Sally Bugs" Briguglio (February 4, 1930 - March 21, 1978) was a former Italian-American mobster and

hitman Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...

for the

Genovese crime family The Genovese crime family, () also sometimes referred to as the Westside, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American M ...

, and business agent for Local 560 for the Teamsters. He is known for being one of the prime suspects in the disappearance of

Jimmy Hoffa James Riddle Hoffa (born February 14, 1913 – disappeared July 30, 1975; declared dead July 30, 1982) was an American labor union leader who served as the president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) from 1957 until 1971. F ...

. Briguglio was also known for being a ruthless killer; he is reported to have killed over 50 people for the Genovese crime family, in some cases torturing his victims.

Early life

Briguglio was born on February 4, 1930, at 406 Palisade Avenue in Union City, New Jersey. Briguglio served with the U.S. Army during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

Time in the mafia

Briguglio was a

loanshark A loan shark is a person who offers loans at extremely high interest rates, has strict terms of collection upon failure, and generally operates outside the law. Description Because loan sharks operate mostly illegally, they cannot reasonably ...

and

who served as a lieutenant to

Anthony Provenzano Anthony Provenzano (May 7, 1917 – December 12, 1988), also known as Tony Pro, was an American mobster who was a powerful caporegime in the Genovese crime family New Jersey faction. Provenzano was known for his associations with Jimmy Hoffa du ...

. He allegedly killed over 50 people for the Genovese crime family. Briguglio allegedly tortured and murdered Anthony Castellitto on the orders of Provenzano, due to Castellitto getting more votes than him, Briguglio transported the body of Castellitto back to New Jersey and dismembered his body in a woodchipper. In June 1976, Briguglio was indicted, along with Provenzano and another murder associate in the Castellitto murder.

Involvement in the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa

Briguglio is one of the top suspects in the disappearance of

. Some experts think that Briguglio murdered Hoffa. One FBI theory indicates that Briguglio was one of the men who Hoffa met the day he vanished under the pretense that Hoffa was going to resolve his feud with Provenzano. A statement from FBI informant Ralph Picardo said that he was a driver for Provenzano, and that Hoffa was invited to a meeting by Anthony Giacalone. Chuckie O'Brien picked up Hoffa at a restaurant and drove him to a nearby house where

Thomas Andretta Thomas A. Andretta (January 1, 1938 - January 25, 2019) was an associate of the Genovese crime family and suspected to be involved in the disappearance of former Teamster president Jimmy Hoffa. Jimmy Hoffa disappearance On July 30, 1975, Jimm ...

, Briguglio, and his brother, Gabriel Briguglio waited to ambush Hoffa. Picardo also stated that

Frank Sheeran 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 Pittston crime family ...

was also present. Briguglio, and everyone accused, were the prime suspects for Hoffa's disappearance.

Death

On March 21, 1978, two gunmen knocked Briguglio down and shot him four times in the face and chest as he sprawled on the sidewalk in front of the Andrea Doria Social Club in Little Italy, Manhattan. Witnesses say that the two gunmen ran north and got into a light blue

Ford Mercury Mercury is a defunct division of the American automobile manufacturer Ford Motor Company. Created in 1938 by Edsel Ford, Mercury served as the medium-price brand of Ford for nearly its entire existence, bridging the price gap between the Ford ...

with New Jersey license plates and drove off.

In popular culture

He is portrayed by Louis Cancelmi in the movie ''

The Irishman ''The Irishman'' (subtitled onscreen as ''I Heard You Paint Houses'') is a 2019 American epic gangster film directed and produced by Martin Scorsese and written by Steven Zaillian, based on the 2004 nonfiction book '' I Heard You Paint Hou ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Briguglio, Salvatore 1930 births 1978 deaths Genovese crime family People murdered by American organized crime People charged with murder American gangsters of Italian descent Murdered American gangsters of Italian descent Deaths by firearm in Manhattan