Tommy DeVito is one of the two main antagonists of Goodfellas. A violent psychopath and sadist, Tommy is a cruel associate of the Lucchese crime family and one of the most feared members of Jimmy Conway's gang. He is portrayed by Joe Pesci.
[Spoiler Inside] Henry ratted on Tommy for killing Billy Batts in Goodfellas. There were four people there. One did it and one is dead; that leaves Jimmy and Henry (yes, Tommy technically could've told but it's unlikely since his life was on the line).
The reason? To cover his tracks with the Lufthansa Heist. Jimmy was going to kill Henry in Goodfellas, so it wouldn't have been too surprising to see him kill another friend.
DeSimone had remained behind in New York, having been told in late December 1978 or early January 1979 that he was going to be made. Peter Vario (Paul Vario's son) and Bruno Facciolo took him to an unknown location, where he was murdered.
Jimmy praised Spider, which angered Tommy, who shot Spider multiple times, killing him. Like many other characters in Goodfellas, Spider is based on a real-life person, and according to the real Henry Hill, his death in the movie happened just as it did in real-life.
Why Was Only Tommy Killed in Goodfellas, and Not Jimmy & Henry ?
Why is Tommy crazy in Goodfellas?
Believed to be suffering from a 'Napoleon complex', due to his short stature, Tommy is not shy about using violence to retaliate against insults - real or imagined - and will kill without remorse when provoked.
Thomas agrees, before shooting Danny. However, it is revealed that Danny was only shot with sheep brains, in order to convince the Italians he was dead.
Death. Hill died of complications related to heart disease in a Los Angeles hospital, on June 12, 2012, after a long battle with his illness, a day after his 69th birthday. His girlfriend for the last six years of his life, Lisa Caserta, said, "He had been sick for a long time. ... his heart gave out".
In 1980, Henry is arrested again and Karen quickly flushes $60,000 worth of cocaine down the toilet so the FBI wouldn't find it, leaving them broke. After Jimmy Conway (Robert De Niro) plans to have her and Henry killed, they enroll in the witness protection program, with Henry serving as an informant.
The author of the theory bases their idea on Henry becoming an FBI informant at the end of Goodfellas, as he ended up ratting on Paulie's crew (and Paul himself), which led to them spending the rest of their lives in jail, so he could have turned against Tommy first.
In Goodfellas, Jimmy ordered Stacks to be killed in order to cut any loose ends, and Tommy was the one who shot him. In real life, Stacks was also murdered but it was under the orders of Paul Vario (Cicero in the movie), who sent Tommy to get the job done. Stacks was a minor role for Samuel L.
Carbone was involved in the JFK Airport heist; his purchase of a mink coat for his wife was treated as a potential giveaway that he and his gang were involved in the crime. He was later killed by Jimmy Burke to prevent him from ratting, and to take his share of the money.
Henry Hill, seen here in 1997, was played by Ray Liotta in 'Goodfellas. ' PUBLISHED: December 3, 2009 at 11:13 p.m. | UPDATED: January 11, 2019 at 8:39 a.m. Notorious Mob rat rat Henry Hill says his former lawyer isn't such a bad fella.
Henry explains Tommy's murder was in retribution for the murder of Billy Batts, but there's one important detail in Tommy's execution: the man who pulled the trigger was Tuddy Cicero, Paulie's brother.
Who betrayed Tommy in Goodfellas? In the film it's left open to speculation, but in real life Paul Vario almost certainly betrayed Tommy DeSimone to John Gotti. Gotti almost certainly tortured Tommy for days, himself, before personally murdering him.
Unfortunately, the ceremony was a set-up where Tommy was murdered to compensate for the unauthorized murder of Billy Batts several years previously. This made Jimmy cry and destroy a telephone booth in frustration. Henry lamented that in order to kill a made man, you're required to have permission from his boss.
Jimmy was also likely afraid that Henry, who'd gone to jail for his ongoing drug operation, would sell him out as being a part of the operation. Murdering Karen and Henry would ensure the Feds would never find out about his part in the whole affair.
Starring Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci, Lorraine Bracco and Paul Sorvino, the film narrates the rise and fall of mob associate Henry Hill and his friends and family from 1955 to 1980. Scorsese initially titled the film Wise Guy and postponed making it; he and Pileggi later changed the title to Goodfellas.
Luckily for the crew behind Goodfellas, real gangsters reacted quite well to it, with Pileggi telling GQ in 2010 that they love it “because it's the real thing” and they knew the people featured in it, so it felt “like a home movie”.
In 1990, Karen filed for divorce after 23 years of marriage. The divorce was finalized in 2002. After their divorce, Henry remarried and fathered another child. Karen Hill continues to use an alias to protect her identity, as do her two children, Gregg and Gina.
The majority of the plot points in Goodfellas are 100% real, but some events were slightly sped up or omitted for effect. Robert De Niro's performance as Jimmy Conway in Goodfellas is authentic and chilling, and Martin Scorsese's masterful direction elevates the portrayal.
Tommy shoots Alfie dead at the end of a long feud between the two, during which Solomons sells Shelby out to the Italians. Solomons also claims that he's dying of cancer, and once Alfie shoots Tommy in the side to goad him into putting him out of his misery, Shelby has no real reason to keep him alive.
Tommy DeVito was mostly known for his very short temper and aggressive personality – case in point, he shot bartender Spider on the foot after he insulted him, and later killed him when Jimmy gave him money for having the guts to stand up for himself.
During a fit of hysteria brought on by his PTSD, Danny kills an Italian in an Italian gang's territory, forcing Tommy to either hand Danny over or start a war with the Italians. Tommy instead decides to fake killing Danny himself, by using a bullet case stuffed with sheep brains.
