Detroit Free Press staff writers Shawn Windsor and Jim Schaefer report. Excerpt:
An FBI agent tried during the weekend to convince Charles (Chuckie) O’Brien again to take a lie-detector test regarding the disappearance of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa, according to a letter that O’Brien’s lawyer said came from the agent.
William Bufalino II said O’Brien received the letter Sunday from agent Andrew Sluss, who also wrote to O’Brien five years ago and said he didn’t consider him a suspect in the case.
The new letter, delivered Sunday by Express Mail, suggests O’Brien could now clear his name if he can pass an FBI polygraph test.
“Passing the FBI test will allow me to focus the investigation in the proper direction,” the new letter said.
Federal officials said Friday that DNA tests confirm one of Hoffa’s hairs was found in a car that O’Brien was driving shortly before Hoffa vanished on July 30, 1975. O’Brien, a Hoffa associate, has denied involvement in the case, and has said Hoffa was not in the car that day. O’Brien was unavailable for comment Sunday.
When asked about the most recent letter, a copy of which was provided to the Free Press, Sluss declined comment Sunday. An FBI spokeswoman, Dawn Clenney, said in Detroit she was unaware of the letter and that it was inappropriate to talk about an ongoing investigation.
In any event, Bufalino, O’Brien’s attorney, said his client will not submit to the polygraph.
It is the second time in a month O’Brien declined an FBI request for a polygraph, Bufalino said. O’Brien was asked to submit to one when two agents visited him at his Florida home three weeks ago.
At the time of the trip, Bufalino said, Sluss and the other FBI agent wouldn’t tell O’Brien why they were in Florida and why they wanted a polygraph test. But in the letter, O’Brien was told the visit was because of the death of Anthony (Tony Jack) Giacalone.
The Detroit mob leader, who was supposed to meet with Hoffa at the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Township the day he vanished, died in February. The letter to O’Brien explained that the trip to Florida was delayed because of budget considerations.