Lol well Sam kept Obrien/Cerone under for a long time, never let them rise up, wouldn't let Obrien have his Melrose Park, so when he went away and Milwaukee Phil passed, the Obrien/Cerone faction made their move. They had to kill Sam, he would have started a war and would have never ever accepted a number two position to someone like Joey Obrien, whom he could not stand, which is well documented. So to answer your goofball ridiculous question, I think anyone would have murdered Sam, they were terrified of him. They just had to wait until Ricca passed to do the deed.