Guys,
I never understood why Roth would kill Frankie anyway. Wouldn't he wait to see if Michael would kill him himself? Since the case has been made that it would be next to impossible to stage the cop coming in, it just doesn't make much sense. Then again, I've been up 24 hours.
Keep in mind that, after the Tahoe shooting failed, Roth went to Plan B: Lure Michael to Havana to be anointed his heir and successor, get the #2 million from him--and have him killed.
In his meeting with Roth in Miami, Michael said, "Frank Pentangeli is a dead man." Roth figured that Michael blamed Frankie for the Tahoe attempt. But instead of killing Frankie, Michael sent him on a mission to settle his problems with the Rosatos. Therefore, Roth reasoned, Michael didn't suspect Frankie in the Tahoe attempt after all--meaning that he might suspect Roth.
So, Roth arranged for Frankie to be killed in order to eliminate Michael's ally and caporegime in New York and thus clear the way for the Rosatos--his allies--to take over the "Olive Oil Business." The attempt on Frankie was staged while Michael was in Havana, inside Roth's trap. Roth figured that any move by Michael to replace Frankie with his own man would be moot because Roth planned for him to be dead shortly after the Presidential New Year's Eve party.
