Originally Posted By: Turnbull
 Originally Posted By: Lilo
However I just can't see Fredo having an active or important role in the conspiracy to kill Michael in Tahoe. I don't think Roth or Ola would have entrusted him with the details. I also think that while Fredo was quite happy to be doing what he thought was important business behind his brother's back, ultimately he wouldn't have sanctioned Michael's murder.


Lilo, let's take another look at this long-standing controversy, this time from the viewpoint of Fredo's motivation:

He told Michael in the boathouse: "He [Johnny Ola] said there'd be something in it for me." Given Fredo's burning resentment of Michael, it's credible that his motivation was revenge. So, he probably didn't press Ola too hard on the benefits to him. Ola may have told him that Michael wouldn't be harmed, that all they wanted to do was kidnap him and talk sense to him. Fredo would have closed his ears to the speciousness of that tale because all he wanted was for Michael to be taken down a few pegs. And, when he said on the phone to Ola, "You guys lied to me," he may have meant that they'd promised there'd be no shooting.

But: suppose what was in it for Fredo was to become the new Don?
(snipped)

Even Fredo had to know that he'd never get the Donship while Michael lived. So, he had to be an active, knowing, willing participant in the plot to kill Michael at Tahoe. And, "you guys lied to me" may have meant that they'd assured him that Michael would be dead.

If you believe, as I do, that Fredo was a key player in the Tahoe shooting, you also must believe he had to be a part of the Havana treachery:

First reason: blackmail. (snipped)

Second reason: greed. ( snipped)

And (breathes deeply), let me go a step farther:

Fredo's active, knowing role in the Tahoe assassination attempt may have been to admit the two gunmen to the estate, lead them to Michael's bedroom window, and help them escape. But, escape would have been problematic, given the size of the estate and the high level of security. The gunmen easily could have been captured, and forced to tell what they knew--implicating Fredo and Roth.

So, I'm guessing, to protect himself and Roth, Fredo killed the Tahoe shooters--dead men tell no tales. Some people on this board, seeing a red mark on the throat of one of the gunmen, conclude that he was stabbed or garrotted. Not even Luca Brasi could have taken on two trained, armed killers with a garrotte or a knife, much less Fredo. But I'm guessing that the red mark was a mistake--and that Fredo shot the two gunmen, the sound of his gunshots masked in the general cacaphony of machine gun rounds.


I guess I think that Fredo's primary motivation was to rub Michael's nose in it- sort of like 'See you're supposed to be so smart and so important but I'M the one who closed this big deal for the Family'.

He was definitely seething with resentment over real and imagined slights. His little "Did you ever once think about that?" screed indicates that he's been holding stuff inside too long.

But his behavior post Tahoe shooting indicates a man who's not only afraid he'll be found out by his brother and Family but also a man who realized belatedly that he got played for a buffoon by someone much smarter.

The films go out of their way to depict Fredo as generally not up to snuff as mobster material so I can't imagine him getting the drop on two trained killers or having the stones to kill two men personally.

The question which no one can really answer (has FFC ever spoken on it) is what exactly did Fredo do for Ola/Roth and who killed the gunmen.

I am still thinking it through but I've always wondered if a few of Fredo's men may have been Roth loyalists. I can certainly see Fredo being gullible enough to take on employees on Roth's say-so.

Although Fredo was certainly not overly bright I also can't quite see him thinking that in the event of Michael's demise that Tom, Rocco, Neri, Pentangeli or others would accept or promote Fredo as Boss.

"When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives."
Winter is Coming

Now this is the Law of the Jungle—as old and as true as the sky; And the wolf that shall keep it may prosper, but the wolf that shall break it must die.
As the creeper that girdles the tree-trunk, the Law runneth forward and back; For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack.