Charles Brandt

I Heard You Paint Houses

On episode 15 of the Live Mike Podcast with Mike Romigh, we talk with Charles Brandt, author of I Heard You Paint Houses, a true confession by famed mobster Frank Sheeran about his hit on Jimmy Hoffa and other crimes.

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Guest: Charles Brandt was born and raised in New York City, Brandt is the grandson of Italian immigrants who could not read or write any language; and the son of parents whose schooling stopped at the 8th grade due to family finances. Brandt graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1959. On graduation from the University of Delaware in 1963, Brandt became a junior high English teacher in Queens, then a Welfare investigator in East Harlem. On graduation from Brooklyn Law School in 1969, Brandt became a prosecutor in Delaware at a time of lawlessness and new court rules restricting police work, when prosecutors were assigned to investigate homicides before an arrest was made. Adept at interrogation, he was promoted to Chief Deputy Attorney General, his state's second highest law enforcement officer. He wrote "The Right to Remain Silent" (1988) a detective novel based on major cases Brandt solved, praised by President Ronald Reagan. On leaving the office in 1976 Brandt had four men on death row. Brandt then defended major homicide cases, such as, the President of the Pagan motorcycle club accused of killing two witnesses in New Jersey. Brandt transitioned to plaintiffs medical malpractice. The Philly mob retained Brandt to secure the early release from jail on medical grounds of Frank "The Irishman" Sheeran, the prime suspect in the Hoffa case. They became friends. Brandt traveled in Mafia circles with Sheeran for close to 5 years, using his interrogation skills and Sheeran's remorse to solve the major homicides of Hoffa, Crazy Joey Gallo and President Kennedy for the true crime "I Heard You Paint Houses". Martin Scorsese is directing a film version adapted by Oscar winning screenwriter Steve Zaillian and starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. Brandt became friends with FBI agents Joe Pistone (the undercover Mafia wrecking ball with whom he co-wrote "Donnie Brasco: Unfinished Business") and Lin DeVecchio (the intrepid supervisor of the Mafia Commission Case with whom he co-wrote "We're Going to Win This Thing".) Brandt and his wife Nancy have 3 children and 4 grandchildren. They live in Delaware and Idaho. Brandt is working on a new Mafia book and is in demand as a public speaker.

This episode was recorded in 2019 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Host: Mike Romigh. Guest: Charles Brandt. Audiography: Kevin Farkas, Mike Romigh. Music (available on SoundCloud.com): HarbingerLoops (“Dreary Thoughts”). Zach Will (“The Ugly Mystery,” “something More”). Other Sounds (available on YouTube.com): MR4 Music (“Mobster),” “Edward R. Murrows final reply to Senator Joseph McCarthys See It Now appearance - April 13 1954.” ©The Live Mike Podcast/The Social Voice Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Live Mike Podcast with Mike Romigh is an issues-oriented podcast about political life in Western Pennsylvania. Although his personal views are left-of-center, Mike welcomes meaningful conversations about topics from across the political spectrum.

Mike Romigh is a noted broadcaster in Western Pennsylvania, with more than thirty years behind the microphone talking politics, sports, current events, local history, and entertainment.

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