Henry Hill seemed to be too small time to bother killing. I think his ties to Paul Vario were played up by him and Pileggi to build up his story. He must have known him, and they took a photo together once, but I believe Burke may have been closer to Vario. If they won't kill a Gravano or a Michael Franzese, they will not bother with a small timer like Henry Hill.
Actually in Hill's book he describes growing up very close to the Varios. He says he stood as best man at more than one of Vario's sons' weddings. The scene in the movie where Hill first meets his wife was true except he was actually playing wingman for one of Vario's sons. In Al D'Arco's book Mob Boss, D'Arco says that one of the reasons Hill got away with so much is because Vario liked him so much. So I think they were extremely close on a personal level.
