The mobster-turned-government informant portrayed in the book Wiseguy and later the film Goodfellas has died after a long illness, his fiancee's son said.
Henry Hill (69) died at a Los Angeles hospital yesterday, Nate Caserta, son of Lisa Schinelli Caserta, told ABC News:
Henry was one of the most laid-back chill guys ever," Caserta wrote on his Facebook page. "It breaks my heart knowing I will never get to talk to him again."
Hill was a member of the Lucchese mafia family in New York in the 1960s through the 1980s. His most famous mafia heist netted $5 million (€3.98 million) in cash from Lufthansa at John F. Kennedy International Airport in 1978.
After becoming an informant for the FBI and entering the government's witness protection programme, Hill testified against his former organised crime bosses.
His story was portrayed in Nicholas Pileggi's 1986 book Wiseguys, which was adapted by Martin Scorsese in the 1990 film Goodfellas, starring actor Ray Liotta in the role of Hill.
Reuters