They all were kinda scummy to make my answer more concise.
The 2007 family secrets trial disclosed all of this new information that wasn't available when the movie was made. They were taken to a cornfield dead and buried where they were later discovered. He was not killed by ball bat but rather lired in a basement with his brother and beaten to death by kicks and punches from about 15 chicago outfit guys for blowing up the whole Las Vegas thing and many many infractions. Tony Spilotro was pescis character in real life and he was a Chicago outfit put your head in a vise killer. That's one reason they claim she sank deep into alcohol and pills. Frank would post a schedule on the fridge for her to follow and he would have casino security detail follow her and let him know where she was at all times and such. Lester diamond and her had a kid in real life and he was her high school sweetheart. The woman was the real victim of the movie in real life because she was basically a paid for wife.
He may have pointed a finger at an adversary and sicked his dog Tony Spilotro on them but he was about 125 lbs and was purely a money guy ' the golden jew ' to use Scorsese's more politically correct term. Sam is based on Frank Rosenthal who really was a professional bookie and one of the best statistics and predictions guy under the Chicago outfit in the 50s and 60s.
