He is the only character to be a part of all 3 final killing montages
- He kills Barzini in the first film while disguising himself as a police officer
- He kills Fredo in the second film
- He kills Archbiship Gilday in the third film
In the book he was a police officer
share
This needs to be clarified.
In the book Neri had been a uniformed police officer. As I recall, he was not corrupt in the sense that he was on the take but he had a reputation for brutality and excessive force. He was ultimately dismissed because of this.
He was then recruited by the Corleone family which runs contrary to everything I have ever read about the Sicilian mafia. An ex-cop would never be taken into the mob. But for purposes of this story, he was.
Also, he was not, "on the payroll," as such. Someone who is not a mob member but takes bribes to protect illegal mob activities is on the payroll. Captain McCluskey is a prime example.
Neri was first an associate and then a made man.