Lucchese family associate Henry Hill thought he'd be killed by Mafia hitmen after he became an FBI informant in 1980, but he ultimately died of heart disease in 2012 at the age of 69.
Orjan Ellingvag / Alamy Stock PhotoHenry Hill, one of the Mafia’s most notorious informants and the inspiration behind Goodfellas.
Henry Hill’s death in June 2012 marked the end of one of America’s most compelling mob stories. His life inspired Goodfellas, one of the top gangster films of all time. The movie depicts Hill’s infamous transformation from a Lucchese family associate to an FBI informant, but what happened to Hill after the events portrayed onscreen is equally sensational.
Hill was convinced that the Mafia was going to take him out because of his betrayal. He entered the Witness Protection Program for seven years, but he was expelled in 1987 for continuing his criminal lifestyle. He spent the rest of his life looking over his shoulder and moving frequently to avoid retribution — so Henry Hill’s death from heart failure at the age of 69 was rather anti-climactic for all his story entailed.
His demise raised many questions, with some news outlets even pondering why Hill hadn’t been “whacked.” If anyone in the mob “deserved” it, according to the Mafia’s rules, it was certainly Henry Hill. His testimony alone secured 50 convictions for his former associates, after all.
There’s no way to know for sure why the mob let Henry Hill live, but it certainly made for an unexpected end for one of the world’s most notorious gangsters.
The Life Of The Mobster Who Inspired ‘Goodfellas’
Public DomainAn FBI mugshot of Henry Hill. 1980.
Henry Hill was an associate of the Lucchese crime family, one of New York City’s infamous Five Families, from 1955 until 1980.
Born in Brooklyn on June 11, 1943, to an Irish father and a Sicilian mother, Hill grew up in a working-class neighborhood, where he became fascinated by the local mobsters who frequented a nearby cabstand. At age 11, he began running errands for these men — including his future mentor, Paul Vario — marking the start of his involvement in organized crime.
Despite a brief stint in the United States Army in the early 1960s, Hill couldn’t leave his criminal ways behind. In fact, it seems the Army was just a good cover for him to hide until the heat died down after the 1957 Apalachin meeting caused the names of thousands of mob associates to be made public. Hill was discharged in 1963, and he returned to New York and picked right back up with his illicit activities.
In 1965, Hill met his future wife, Karen Friedman, who had no qualms about his lifestyle. Rather, she embraced it, and the two often threw drug-fueled parties at their home — even if their children were around.
On the Run: A Mafia ChildhoodHenry Hill and his first wife, Karen Friedman Hill.
Over the years, Hill took part in various criminal activities, including drug trafficking, robbery, and extortion. He was notably involved in the 1978 Lufthansa heist in which $5 million was stolen from John F. Kennedy International Airport, the largest cash robbery in American history at the time.
In 1980, facing narcotics charges and fearing for his life due to internal conflicts within the mob, Hill agreed to become an informant for the FBI.
Did The Witness Protection Program Prevent The Untimely Death Of Henry Hill?
Henry Hill’s life and experiences were chronicled in Nicholas Pileggi’s 1985 non-fiction book Wiseguy: Life in a Mafia Family, which provided an in-depth look into the operations of the Mafia from an insider’s perspective. Wiseguy, in turn, inspired Martin Scorsese’s 1990 film Goodfellas, in which actor Ray Liotta portrayed Henry Hill. But what exactly made Hill’s story such great fodder for the silver screen?
Warner Bros. PicturesRay Liotta (right) as Henry Hill in Goodfellas.
Once investigators caught on to Hill in 1980, the mobster knew his time was limited. Authorities showed him a video of his former colleagues threatening to “whack” him, and with little other option, Hill agreed to testify against them. Ultimately, Hill’s testimony led to the convictions of dozens of his associates, including Paul Vario and purported Lufthansa heist mastermind Jimmy “The Gent” Burke — which naturally put an even bigger target on Hill’s back.
Hill and his family soon entered the Witness Protection Program and lived under new names in several different locations. In the end, however, Hill struggled to settle into a normal life.
Speaking with Pileggi for Wiseguy was certainly more exposure than a man in Witness Protection should bring upon himself, but that alone wasn’t enough to expel Hill from the program. Several arrests, including one for cocaine trafficking, made it abundantly clear to officials that Hill could not be trusted to follow the program’s guidelines. He was kicked out of Witness Protection in 1987, separated from his wife in 1989, and was officially divorced in 2002.
Meanwhile, Hill continued to find himself in legal trouble for crimes like drug possession, public intoxication, and disorderly conduct. Still, he never served any major time behind bars for these misdeeds, and he remained something of a celebrity thanks to the success of Goodfellas.
Somehow, despite his high profile and past transgressions against the mob, no one ever came for him.
Inside The Death Of Henry Hill In 2012
For more than 30 years, Henry Hill managed to dodge the retribution that should have been headed his way. Still, he spent those decades constantly looking over his shoulder, moving frequently, and wearing disguises in public to avoid detection.
He told The Telegraph in 2010, “It’s surreal, totally surreal, to be here. I never thought I’d reach this wonderful age. I’m just grateful for being alive.”
Hill spoke of his decision to become an FBI informant — the decision that ultimately put his life in danger. However, according to the mobster, fear for his safety is what actually caused him to turn on the Mafia in the first place. He claimed that Jimmy Burke was planning to take out anyone who had been involved in the Lufthansa heist.
“I knew I was going to get whacked and it came pretty close,” said Hill. “So it was either me or them. I knew it, and they knew it. Initially, I had a lot of remorse and it took me a long time to forgive myself for what I did, for being a rat. But I knew I saved a lot of lives by putting a lot of horrible people away. You live by the sword, you die by the sword.”
As the decades passed and everyone he’d put behind bars died, Hill began to relax a bit. Still, he was constantly aware that he’d never truly be safe. “There’s nobody from my era alive today,” Hill said. “But there’s always that chance that some young buck wants to make a name for themselves.”
Orjan Ellingvag / Alamy Stock PhotoHenry Hill always thought he would be “whacked,” but he died of natural causes at age 69.
Thankfully for Hill, his fears never came to pass. Considering his history, Henry Hill’s death was anti-climactic. He passed away in a Los Angeles hospital on June 12, 2012, the day after his 69th birthday. Hill’s heavy smoking habit and a lifetime of drug and alcohol abuse had taken a toll on his health. “He had been sick for a long time,” said his girlfriend, Lisa Caserta. “His heart gave out.”
Still, as Caserta told CBS News, Henry Hill “went out pretty peacefully, for a goodfella.”
After learning about Henry Hill’s death, read all about the death of infamous mobster Al Capone. Then, learn about 13 mob bosses who came to define the American Mafia.
