Originally posted by Don Cardi:
What probably happened is that when the Gambino crew found out that Tommy killed one of their own made men, in all likelyhood they went to Paulie and demanded that Tommy answer for his actions with his life. Paulie probably ordered the hit on his own guy in order to keep the peace with the Gambino crew.
Don Cardi Yes, absolutely. And Paulie had the authority to order the hit.
I've often thought that Paulie handled that one pretty cleverly. Though the Gambino guys easily could have whacked Tommy on their own, they chose to dump it on Paulie because, even though Tommy wasn't made, he was one of his "associates" and Paulie was therefore responsible for him. Had Paulie refused, and the Gambino guys stepped in and whacked Tommy, Paulie would have lost face. And it could have led to war. Instead, Paulie, by stepping up to the plate, earned respect and perhaps a reciprocal favor from the Gambinos by "doing the right thing" (he chose to abide by Mafia rules, which as DC implied, aren't often applied). At the same time, he got rid of Tommy, whom he described as "a cowboy with someting to prove"--a danger to him and his organization. Also at the same time, he spared Henry and Jimmy, who were good earners for him and who could have gone down with Tommy as well. Not a bad day's work for Paulie.
BTW: Henry Hill, in his latest book, describes the Batts affair exactly as it was portrayed in the movie. Other authors give different accounts, and none of them, as far as I know, describe Batts as a captain or even a made guy.