In an interview for "The Iceman: The True Story of a Cold-Blooded Killer" (1993) written by Anthony Bruno, he said he had killed Roy DeMeo, a particularly murderous member of the Gambino crime family, but Jerry Capeci, a well-known authority on the Mafia who has written extensively about it, doubted this. In t. Read all Director Arthur Ginsberg Stars Mark Musto Rocco Fazzolari His fathers beatings were so rough that they killed Kuklinskis older brother, who authorities were told fell down the stairs. His weapon selection shifted constantly a decision that prevented the police from suspecting the rash of deaths in the area were the work of one man. He said he was one of the murderers of Bonanno family boss Carmine Galante in July 1979,[44] and Gambino family boss Paul Castellano in December 1985. According to Jerry Capeci, "[Philip Carlo] claims the Iceman killed Paul Castellano, Carmine Galante and Jimmy Hoffa, along with Roy DeMeo and about 200 others. All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. Soon after Richard Leonard Kuklinski moved out of his mother's home to start a new life for himself, he tied the knot with his then-girlfriend Linda, a woman nine years his senior. He opined Kuklinski made the confession to "add extra value to his brand",[51] and so, he omitted the story from his biography of Kuklinski. In the eighth grade, he dropped out of school, and that same year, at the age of 14, he beat the town bully to death. Throughout their marriage, Richard Kuklinski had used the faade of the suburban family man - an usher at Mass every Sunday, barbecues by the pool in the summer, annual trips to Disneyworld -. Kuklinski was set to testify against him. . Kuklinski also confessed to killing Hoffman, but prosecutors decided not to go to trial as they had a weak case and additional life sentences would not have impacted Kuklinski's prison stay. [25], After Smith's murder, Kuklinski moved Deppner to an apartment in Bergenfield, New Jersey, belonging to Rich Patterson, then-fianc of Kuklinski's daughter, Merrick. He was an altar boy and dropped out of school in eighth grade. Patient identifiers: Age: Richard Kuklinski Gender: Male Ht: Wt. [10] Another movie about Kuklinski which was to star Mickey Rourke in the title role was announced in 2010 but ultimately never made. Richard Kuklinski - The Iceman - 007 SERIAL KILLER - From the 1940's to the 1980's Richard Kuklinsky would live a double life between being a family man and becoming one of the United State's most prolific killers, claiming over 200 murders. [17], In October 2005, after nearly 18 years in prison, Kuklinski was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease (an inflammation of the blood vessels). [13] However, he later claimed he killed Hoffa. Hoffman's body was never recovered. It sounds so exotic, the hitman replied with a hint of amusement and a small smile. [39] He was then sentenced to a minimum 60 years in prison. [55] Prongay was murdered in 1984, shot multiple times in the head, and was subsequently discovered in his Mister Softee ice cream truck. Richard Kuklinski was one of the most diabolical, and notorious, confessed contract killers in American history. Kuklinski says DeMeo taught him how murder for hire could be a way to make money. Richard Kuklinski was a master at compartmentalization: To his neighbors in middle-class Dumont, he was a successful businessman, with a wife and three kids. But the hitman and serial killer left behind a mystery: did Kuklinski really kill the union . Richard "The Iceman" Kuklinski Arrest - Bail Hearing (1986)#TheIceman #RichardKuklinski For Educational Purposes. [74] She did suspect that some of his income was from illegal activities, due to their lifestyle and the large amounts of cash he often possessed. In a 1992 column in The Washington Post about the first documentary, Tom Shales called Mr. Kuklinski "the ultimate misanthrope, unapologetic and irredeemable," then mentioned a promise in the prologue to penetrate his mind. amzn_assoc_ad_type = "smart"; Kuklinski wrapped the corpse inside green garbage bags before dumping it. He also confessed to the murder of Hoffman, but charges in that case were dropped.. Kuklinski was sentenced to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment. [71] Barbara described his behavior as alternating between "good Richie" and "bad Richie. The first, George Malliband, was killed in 1980 after he met with Kuklinski to sell videotapes; his body was found stuffed into a barrel. Unsurprisingly, it wouldnt be long before Kuklinski started being violent, firstly he began killing cats in the neighborhood before committing his first murder at the age of 14, a teen in a neighboring gang, the body was never found. [13] Kuklinski later rejected Catholicism. [2] Officers discovered a firearm in the vehicle, and she was charged with possession of a firearm because she was a passenger. [62], The Bergen County prosecutor believed Kuklinski's confession to be a fabrication, but his successor decided to proceed with the case. 1 Sourced Quote. If you enjoyed this story about Richard Kuklinski, the Iceman killer, be sure to read about the real-life mobsters behind Goodfellas. Listen above to the History Uncovered podcast, episode 43: Richard Kuklinski, The Iceman, also available on Apple and Spotify. It was sold as scrap metal along with hundreds of other compacted cars. Known as the Iceman killer, Richard Kuklinski could be one of the most prolific murderers in recorded history. Richard Kuklinski, whose lust for publicity nearly matched the blood lust he displayed in claiming to have killed more than 100 people as a Mafia hit man, died on Sunday in the prison wing of St. Francis Hospital in Trenton. He was charged with five murders the following day and in 1988 was found guilty of four of them. Kuklinski was an usher every Sunday at Mass. He was the second of four children raised in Jersey City, New Jersey. They had two sons, Richard Jr. and David. Get inside the mind of a violent psychopath in a novel described by serving British detective Scott M as the 'best book' he'd read as it helped him understand his 'clients' better! . [41], Kuklinski claimed he was paid to kill Calabro by Gambino crime family soldier (later underboss) Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, and The Bull provided the murder weapon. Richard Kuklinski was born on April 11, 1935, in Jersey City to an aggressive alcoholic father and a stern religious mother, both of whom beat him regularly. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). His wife was charged with disorderly conduct for interfering with his arrest. Richard's mother would also abuse him. Whilst working in a New Jersey loading dock, he met his future wife Barbara, he was however already married and had two boys, but he was persistent. He didnt tell the criminals he worked with anything about his personal life, his family, or where he lived; he never socialized outside of work. At the age of 13, he beat a local bully to death and disposed of the body in an icy river. [10] Kuklinski's wife, Barbara, received a share of the profits from the Bruno book. Baden confirmed that Kuklinski died of cardiac arrest and had been suffering with heart disease and phlebitis. Kuklinski was particularly clever when it came to avoiding the authorities. He tested Polifrone's (purported) cyanide on a stray dog, using a hamburger as bait, and saw it was not poison. When the police found them, the deceased would appear recently killed and Kuklinski would never be suspected. Richard Leonard Kuklinski (/kklnski/; April 11, 1935 March 5, 2006), also known as The Iceman, was an American criminal and convicted murderer. His mother was Anna McNally (January 31, 1911 March 21, 1972) from Harsimus,[12] a devoutly Catholic first-generation Irish American who worked in a meat-packing plant. His elder brother died from the abuse suffered at the hands of their father. [22], However, Kuklinski did not thaw the corpse before he dumped it. Kuklinski was engaged in criminal activities for most of his adult life; he ran a burglary ring and distributed pirated pornography. When the police finally caught up with him, Barbara had no idea what her husband had done to break the law. He was last seen in 1981, and his partially decomposed body was discovered some 15 months later. | A former mobster's POV, "Gravano: Heading to Trial for Allegedly Ordering Cop Killed", "Hit Man Implicates Hit Man In '80 Slaying, Authorities Say", "Self-styled 'Ice Man' was Jimmy Hoffa's killer -- or colossal liar", "Date me or I'll kill your mother -- Ex-wife of notorious 'Ice Man' talks about years with mob killer", New Jersey Department of Law & Public Safety - Division of Criminal Justice 1987 Annual Report, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Kuklinski&oldid=1137986953, 5 (2 sons from first marriage; 2 daughters and 1 son from second marriage), Stanley Kuklinski (born Stanisaw Kukliski) and Anna McNally Kuklinski, This page was last edited on 7 February 2023, at 12:08. Different from other killers, he committed his first murder in middle school. Richard Kuklinski lets out a glimpse of anger in the famous HBO documentary and interview. [1][3], Kuklinski's modus operandi was to lure men to clandestine meetings with the promise of lucrative business deals, then kill them and steal their money. Failla's crew was based in Brooklyn, with operations stretching into Staten Island, Manhattan, and New Jersey . It wasnt too nice. The pair had three children together, and to their suburban New Jersey neighbors, they were the ideal all-American family. [23], By the early 1980s, Kuklinski's burglary gang was under investigation by law enforcement. They lived a suburban, relatively affluent life of backyard barbecuing in Dumont, N.J. Richard Kuklinski When a man is a product of his environment and the environment is filled with violence and hatred, the possibilities are horrifying. [23] Hoffman was last seen on his way to meet Kuklinski with $25,000 to buy prescription drugs from Kuklinski. After Smiths body was discovered, a six-year investigation ensued, and Kuklinski was arrested in 1986 after agreeing to help a federal undercover agent murder a fictitious man. But was the Iceman killer an inveterate liar or one of the worst mass murderers in history? Kuklinski took the violence he received and gave it back to the world. She would beat Richard with broom handles (sometimes breaking the handle on his body during the assaults) and other household objects. He was convicted of six murders, but experts seem certain he is responsible for at least dozens moreand possibly as many as 300. "[48] After he became a government witness in 1990, Sammy Gravano admitted to planning the murder of Castellano and Bilotti, but said the shooters were all members of John Gotti's crew and were chosen by Gotti; he did not mention Kuklinski. In Kuklinski's words, Prongay used his ice cream truck as a surveillance van to follow around his potential victims, whom he would kill using aerosol cyanide and remotely-detonated grenades. [56] Kuklinski says that Prongay taught him to use cyanide and other methods to kill, and it was Prongay who told him to freeze the body of Masgay. Richard Kuklinski. Omissions? From New Jersey, he was of Polish and Irish ancestry. In 1986 Kuklinski was arrested and charged in connection with five murders. Suspicious, Kuklinski decided not to go through with the planned murder and went home instead. Local cave enthusiast Richard Kranzel also queried the idea of flesh-eating rats, saying "The only rats I encountered in caves are 'cave rats,' and they are reclusive and shy creatures, and definitely not fierce as Kuklinski claims. She hadnt. Masgay disappeared over two years earlier, on July 1, 1981, the day he was to meet Kuklinski at a New Jersey diner to purchase a large quantity of blank videocassette recorder tapes, for which Masgay had $95,000 in his van. Later in life during an interview, he admitted to feeling empowered after committing his first murder. Barbara remembered that when Merrick became seriously ill soon after she was born, Richard stayed up night after night to care for her. Richard Kuklinski was a contract killer, or hitman, for several families of the American Mafia. [30] The discovery Kuklinski froze Masgay's corpse encouraged law enforcement officers to nick-name him "Iceman. Until one day I just decided, well, I've had enough of this picking. Smith left the motel to visit his daughter. I don't know anyone who believes that. In 1961, he married his wife, Barbara. Barbara said the divorce was for "money reasons." Neal M. Frank, Senior Trial Attorney, for the defendant. Book published a month after former NB resident Kuklinski's death gives account", The Iceman: The True Story of a Cold-blooded Killer, Was "The Iceman" based on a true story? He claimed to have murdered anywhere from 100 to 200 men, often in gruesome fashion. Heartbreaking Jacob Riis Photographs From How The Other Half Lives And Beyond, The True Story Of Balto, The Husky That Helped Save An Entire Alaskan Town From Certain Death, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. [25], According to the testimony of Barbara Deppner, Kuklinski, Daniel Deppner, and House (in jail at the time) decided that Smith had to be killed. Richard Kuklinski was known as the. One day in 1986, unmarked cars surrounded Richard and Barbara Kuklinski on their way to breakfast. He isn't taking my calls. He stayed away from drugs and prostitutes, and he never bought what the mob was selling he was an employee, not a client. Arthur Rothstein / Library of CongressJersey City in 1939. Date: 1983 Location: Orangeburg, New York Significance: Experts were sure that Kuklinski had poisoned several business partners. Public DomainThough Richard Kuklinski successfully lived as a seemingly normal family man for decades, his true identity as the Iceman killer was finally revealed in the 1980s. The police were unaware to what was occurring, they were under the impression that local bums were killing each other. Richard Speck. An eighteen-month-long undercover operation led to his arrest in December 1986. After the recorded conversation with Polifrone, Kuklinski went for a walk. Solimene helped the ATF in a sting operation and presented ATF agent Dominick Polifrone to Kuklinski as a prospective client. [57][58] Kuklinski is not mentioned in Capeci and Gene Mustain's book about the DeMeo crew, Murder Machine, or Albert DeMeo's account of his father's life in the mob, For the Sins of My Father. "[1] Newspaper reporters sensationalized Kuklinski's frequently used moniker of "Iceman" in headlines. He had only two rules: no women and no children. I do want my family to forgive me.. [60], In his 2001 HBO interview, Kuklinski confessed to killing NYPD officer Peter Calabro, who was ambushed and shot dead by an unknown gunman on March 14, 1980. "[68] Former FBI Special Agent Robert Garrity stated Kuklinski's admission to killing Hoffa was "a hoax," and that Kuklinski was never a suspect in Hoffa's disappearance, adding "I never heard of him. [42], In the last installment, The Iceman and the Psychiatrist, Kuklinski was interviewed by renowned forensic psychiatrist Dr. Park Dietz in 2002. What was Richard Kuklinski last words? [6][26] Finally, on December 27, 1982, after more complaints from guests about the smell, the motel manager investigated and discovered the decomposing corpse. They didnt suspect that there was a ruthless killer from New Jersey coming into the city to murder at random. Code Status: Isolation: N/A Development Stage (Erikson): Give the stage and rationale for your evaluation Health Status Date of admission: Activity level: Diet: Fall risk (indicate reason) Client's description of health status The patient is callous, dishonest, and exploits . Then cut Lane's fingers off with a hatchet and pulled out his teeth and dumped his body over a bridge in south Jersey. Retired special agent Dominick Polifrone helped nab the murderer in a joint operation by the New Jersey Attorney General's office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms.He spent 18 months in guise as Dominick Provenzano, a drug-dealing . [66], Michael Shannon played Kuklinski in the 2012 film The Iceman loosely based on Anthony Bruno's book The Iceman: The True Story of a Cold-Blooded Killer. Now known in folklore, Kuklinski is better known as the Iceman, a mob contract killer who butchered more than 200 people in decades of brutal killing. Joseph Kuklinski was in prison from October 22, 1971 until his death on September 22, 2003. As a child, he endured an absolute unloving . They lived an affluent life. Richard Kuklinski was born on April 11, 1935, in Jersey City. "[13], In the mid-1960s, Kuklinski worked at a Manhattan film lab. He added, "Authorities throughout the country could not corroborate one case based on the tidbits Kuklinski gave. Whilst in prison, he granted interviews with writers, psychiatrists and criminologists, he lapped it up, enthusiastically and excitedly telling all those that spoke to him that he had killed up to 200 men. Dwayne was born to Richard Kuklinski's second wife. Richard Kuklinski's Last Word Before He Died Richards's mother and father both were abusive toward him and his siblings. Richard "The Iceman" Kuklinski killed by shooting, stabbing, choking, hanging (using his own body as the "tree"), and poison. However Sammy have denied recruiting Kuklinski. Eventually, he was hired as a hit man, carrying out assignments from several crime families, including the Genovese, Gambino, and DeCavalcante organizations. [77], For the Polish colonel and Cold War spy, see, Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad, "Man Charged With Killing Associates, Accomplices", "Richard Kuklinski, 70, a Killer of Many People and Many Ways, Dies", Ex-hit man Gravano charged with arranging cop's killing, "Ice Man Book Ridiculed as More Fiction than Fact", "Former FBI agent says Hoffa claim is hoax", "7 Film Action yang Berdasarkan Kisah Nyata", "Richard Kuklinski zabijanie mia we krwi? Other times he killed at random, just for the sake of killing. 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