Hyman Roth (31 December 1891 – 1960) was a Jewish-American mobster, investor, and business partner of Vito Corleone. He was known for being a man with wide-reaching business connections, and he was a master manipulator. In 1960, he was murdered on the orders of crime boss Michael Corleone in response to Roth's attempted assassination attempt on Corleone at his home in 1958, which was an attempt at revenge for Moe Greene's death.
Biography[]
Early career[]
Hyman Suchowsky was born in the Russian Empire in 1891 to a family of Jews, and his family later emigrated to the United States, settling in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City. Hyman had a brother, Sam. In the 1920s, while working as a car mechanic, he became an associate of Peter Clemenza, who called him "Johnny Lips". When Clemenza introduced Roth to Vito Corleone, Corleone suggested that Hyman change his name after somebody he admired, and he chose "Roth" as his surname to honor Arnold Rothstein, who had fixed the 1919 World Series.
Criminal career[]
Roth worked diligently for the Corleone crime family during Prohibition, and he became a close friend and ally of Las Vegas casino mogul Moe Greene. Roth and Corleone both ran molasses out of Cuba during the 1920s, and Roth would become a successful criminal businessman. He had very few men under his command, allowing for him to stay under the radar; he instead relied on his business connections to protect him. He generated large amounts of money, and he was known to make money for his partners, the key reason why he was able to outlive or outlast many of his criminal associates. By the late 1950s, Roth lived in semi-retirement in Miami, Florida, living the life of a typically quiet, middle-class Jewish man approaching old age. However, he was really a multi-millionaire and crime boss, and the sickly Roth even made moves to enter an extraordinarily profitable business agreement with Cuban president Fulgencio Batista in 1958. Using his connections to the CIA, Roth would have deep connections to the Cuban government, but these connections were destroyed after the Cuban Revolution of 1959, which allowed for the communists under Fidel Castro to chase out the corrupt American businessmen.
Rivalry with the Corleones[]
In 1958, Roth sent hitmen to assassinate Michael Corleone at his home in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, and they sprayed gunfire into his bedroom in a failed attempt on his life. The two hitmen were later murdered and found dead in a pond outside of the Corleone compound, and Corleone suspected Roth's involvement in the murder. He decided to keep Roth under the impression that they were partners while he sought an opportunity to smoke out Roth and the mole inside the Corleone family who had given Roth the information on him. On 31 December 1958, Corleone sent his hitman Amerigo Bussetta to assassinate Roth at his hospital room in Havana. Bussetta succeeded in strangulating Roth's right-hand man Johnny Ola with a hangar, but he was shot dead by Cuban soldiers before he could smother Roth with a pillow. That same night, Corleone found out that it was his own brother Fredo Corleone who had betrayed him.
Roth also planned to destroy the Corleones by paying off a lawyer involved with a US Senate committee investigation against the Corleones in 1959. He also had Tony and Carmine Rosato try to kill Corleone's caporegime Frank Pentangeli and make it seem as if they were under orders from Corleone, alienating Pentangeli and turning him into a government witness. Pentangeli's testimony was later recanted after Corleone flew in Pentangeli's brother Vincenzo from Sicily, and Vincenzo's cold stare at Frank Pentangeli convinced Frank Pentangeli to recant his testimony. Corleone was cleared of the charges against him, and Roth's plan was defeated.
Death[]
By the end of the winter of 1959, Roth decided to give up his feud against the Corleones and retire to live the twilight years of his life in Israel. However, his request to live in Israel under the Law of Israel was rejected by the Israeli High Court due to his criminal ties, and Corleone responded to this by putting a contract on Roth. Roth was targeted as he spoke with journalists and federal agents at the Miami International Airport, where he waited to be taken into federal custody. Minutes after getting off the plane, he spoke to a crowd of journalists, and Corleone hitman Rocco Lampone, disguised as a journalist, shot Roth point-blank, only to be shot by federal agents as he attempted to run away. Roth's death ended his conspiracy against Corleone, who went on to kill his own brother, Fredo, for his betrayal.