Originally posted by Remember Vito Andolini:
So Mike gave the order to kill the hooker and not Tom?
I don't think Tom would order a murder without Michael's initiative or approval. Also, since Fredo ran the brothel, Michael must have known before his confrontation with Geary that Geary frequented the place.
Yes, that's why Michael confidently told Geary at their meeting that he would like
Geary to pay the licensing fee. Michael, with his knowledge that the Senator frequented that brothel, knew that blackmail was surely in the Senator's future.
In a way it was personal, after the insults to his family, but it was essentially a business move. Michael probably talked over possibilities with Neri before the Tahoe meeting with Geary. Who know how Vito got officials "in his pocket"... Vito was capable of murder. And murdering with a knife. Don Ciccio probably was not Vito's first "hands on" murder.
