Jimmy Hoffa's body was taken to a toxic waste dump in New Jersey

The argument

The theory that Jimmy Hoffa’s body was taken to a toxic dump was brought up by Phillip “Brother” Moscato, a mobster in New York’s Genovese crime family. Before Moscato died, he told an investigative reporter in a recorded interview that Hoffa’s body was put into a 55 gallon drum under Pulaski Skyway in Jersey City, as he was a co-owner of the toxic dump.. Moscato told the reporter that the FBI had searched the grounds 40 years ago, and hadn’t found anything. The investigative reporter found out from other mafia sources that the drum containing Hoffa's remains was buried under 15-30 other drums containing toxic waste.

Premises

Counter-arguments

Many people, including other people with Mafia ties argue that this theory is improbable. James Buccelatto, a senior lecturer in criminology at Wayne State University, has often opposed this theory, stating that "The idea that he was transported to New Jersey and buried somewhere, it just doesn't make sense for logistical reasons, the Mafia guys are going to want to get rid of the body as soon as possible."

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] Moscato's account is a single deathbed claim by a participant in organised crime, relayed to a reporter with no physical corroboration — the drum, the remains and the burial all rest on his word alone. [Rejecting P2] A search that found nothing counts against the site, not for it; treating a negative result as consistent with the claim leaves nothing that could disconfirm it. [Rejecting P3] The logistics work against the account. As criminologist James Buccellato argues, moving a body from Michigan to New Jersey and layering it beneath dozens of other drums maximises the time, distance and number of people involved, when the incentive is to dispose of a body as quickly and as close to hand as possible.