It is obvious that Altobello did not fully trust Connie with the cannolis since he insisted she taste it first. She immediately accepted his offer, yet she barely touched the filling with her lips. One would think that she was very much fearful of being poisoned herself. A couple of questions: Does the fact that she barely tasted the filling indicate she feared she might get poisoned, or did she know the poison was in the center of the filling? Also, if Altobello was suspicious, why didn't he insist she take a big bite of the cannoli?

No. He just wanted her to taste it. It had nothng to do with trust except his trusting her.

Did Michael know about Connie's move? Did he tell her to do it?

I think Altobello may have smelled a rat, but Connie finesses it by taking such a dainty bite that she knew it could not hurt her. She may not have even swallowed it.

Not sure if Michael or Vincent planned this....I think Vincent, but either way they knew.

BTW it was a brilliant plan. After all how could they hit Altobello in the Opera House where he had his own guards and assassins. The poisoned cannol was the only way.

Connie knew that the posion was injected inside the cannoli and not on the ends. So she could lick it and not be afraid.

Yes, Connie would give the old cannoli a tease, but wouldn't swallow....

Based on the fact that only Connie showed any visible curiosity (viewing through her opera glasses) about the effectiveness of the poison cannolis on Altobello, I would opine that neither Vincent nor Michael were involved in the decision to get rid of him at the opera. Perhaps they had all talked of eventually whacking him, at a later date uncertain, and Connie just decided to take matters into her own hands . . . "she wanted something for herself . . ." like her equally weak brother Fredo.

It's more accurate to state that it was only Connie's curiosity that FFC portrayed on the screen.

Wouldn't it be an obvious, stupid move to poison Altobello while they were all together? Altobello's autopsy would reveal that he was poisoned and that he last ate the Cannoli that was provided by Connie.

Also, Altobello may have easily suspected something when Connie was seemingly careful to taste the Cannoli herself. I also found this strange. One of the many flaws of Part III...

Yes. The moment Connie tasted it carefully, we all knew it was poisoned.

I have a hunch that if there were an autopsy the coroner would be on the Corleone payroll.

Let's be realistic here. Connie was arrayed in her finest dress to attend her nephew's premier singing engagement. She was not there to dine. Now, anyone who has ever eaten a cannoli knows that if you take a bite of it you will probably end up with any number of crumbs (not to mention filling) sprinkled about your person. Also, anyone who has spent any time around women (perhaps therein lies the problem) who are dressed in their finest knows that the last thing a women has on her mind at such a time is eating and the first thing she has on her mind is to preserve her pristine appearance. She did what a lady would do, Altobello would have expected it, and he would be none the wiser.

Autopsies are not required even in all US states in all cases. Since I'm sure that none of us knows Italian law regarding same, it's quite possible that an autopsy would not have been performed. And if it was, so what.

Altobello accepted a gift from his goddaughter; there was no reason for Altobello to suspect anything.

Anyone who has a family, a mother and/or sisters has spent time with women. Please provide us with more of your psychologically insightful analyises.

Would there be poisons that couldn't be detected in a routine autopsy?

There may be poisons that are undetectable or are masked by the solution in which they are conveyed into the system or which can be affected by time lapse and other factors. However, there are a number of additional factors that can affect their detectability. For one, there may not be a detection test for that particular poison; the autopsy drug panel may not include detection for that posion; the quality of testing can vary as can that of the tester or whoever performs the autopsy.