Richard Kuklinski
Richard Kuklinski | |
---|---|
Born | Richard Leonard Kuklinski April 11, 1935 Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S. |
Died | March 5, 2006 Trenton, New Jersey, U.S. | (aged 70)
Other names | The Iceman Big Rich[1] Big Richie |
Spouse |
Barbara Pedrici
Kuklinski
(m. 1961; div. 1993) |
Children | 5 (2 from first marriage; 3 from second marriage) |
Conviction(s) | Murder (5 counts) |
Criminal penalty | Four consecutive life sentences |
Date apprehended | December 17, 1986 |
Richard Leonard Kuklinski (
Kuklinski lived with his wife and children in the New Jersey suburb of Dumont. They knew him as a loving father and husband, although one who also had a violent temper. They stated that they were unaware of his crimes. He was nicknamed Iceman by authorities after they discovered that he had frozen the body of one of his victims in an attempt to disguise the time of death.[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. He also killed two associates to prevent them from becoming informants.[4] Eventually, Kuklinski came to the attention of law enforcement when an investigation into his burglary gang linked him to several murders, as he was the last person to have seen five missing men alive. An eighteen-month-long undercover operation led to his arrest in December 1986.[5] In 1988, he was convicted of four murders and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2003, he received an additional 30-year sentence after confessing to the murder of a police officer.[6][7]
After his murder convictions, Kuklinski gave interviews to writers, prosecutors, criminologists, and psychiatrists. He claimed to have murdered anywhere from 100 to 200 men, often in gruesome fashion.[5] None of these additional murders have been corroborated.[8] In 2020, Dominick Polifrone said, "I don't believe he killed two-hundred people. I don't believe he killed a hundred people. I'll go as high as 15, maybe."[9] Kuklinski also claimed to have worked as a hitman for the Mafia.[5] He said he participated in several famous Mafia killings, including the disappearance and presumed murder of Teamsters' president Jimmy Hoffa. Law enforcement and organized crime experts have expressed skepticism about Kuklinski's claimed Mafia ties.[10][8][5] He was the subject of three HBO documentaries aired in 1992, 2001 and 2003;[5] several biographies, and a 2012 feature film The Iceman.[11]
Personal life
Richard Kuklinski was born on April 11, 1935, in his family's apartment on 4th Street in
Anna reportedly was also often abusive. She would beat Richard with broom handles (sometimes breaking the handle on his body during the assaults) and other household objects. He recalled an incident during his pre-teen years when his mother attempted to kill his father with a kitchen knife.
Kuklinski's first wife, Linda, was nine years his senior. They had two sons, Richard Jr. and David. While working for a trucking company, he met Barbara Pedrici,[19] a secretary at the same firm. Richard and Linda divorced, and he married Barbara in September 1961, and had two daughters, Merrick[20] and Christin, and a son, Dwayne.[21] Barbara described his behavior as alternating between "good Richie" and "bad Richie."[22] "Good Richie" was a hard-working provider and an affectionate father and loving husband, who enjoyed time with his family. Barbara remembered that when Merrick became seriously ill soon after she was born, Richard stayed up night after night to care for her.[23]
In contrast, "Bad Richie" – who would appear at irregular intervals: sometimes one day after another, other times not appearing for months – was prone to unpredictable fits of rage, smashing furniture and being violent to his family. During these periods, he was physically abusive to his wife: he broke her nose three times and once tried to run her over with his car. His abuse also caused her to have several miscarriages.[19] He was emotionally abusive towards his children but, according to Barbara, never laid a hand on them because she threatened to kill him if he did. Merrick said that he once killed her dog right in front of her to punish her for coming home late.[20]
Barbara said that she had once told Richard she wanted to see other people. He responded by silently jabbing her from behind with a hunting knife so sharp she did not even feel the blade go in. He told her that she belonged to him and that if she tried to leave, he would kill her entire family; when Barbara began screaming at him in anger, he throttled her into unconsciousness.[21] Merrick also remembered a number of road rage incidents involving her father.[20]
Kuklinski's family and Dumont, New Jersey neighbors were unaware of his activities, and instead believed he was a successful businessman. Barbara described him as a "wholesale distributor" and said he employed an accountant.[19] 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. However, given his volatility, she never expressed these worries to him,[22] instead maintaining a "don't ask questions" philosophy when it came to his business life or associates. If Richard suddenly left the house in the middle of the night, Barbara would never ask where he was going.[23] The Kuklinskis divorced in 1993, when Richard was in prison. Barbara said the divorce was for "money reasons." She continued to visit him in prison, but only about once a year.[24] On June 6, 1984, Kuklinski filed for personal bankruptcy listing debts of $160,697, and assets of only $300.[17]
Criminal history
Early crimes
In the mid-1960s, Kuklinski worked at a
George Malliband
On January 30, 1980, Kuklinski killed 42-year-old George Malliband during a meeting to sell him tapes.
Paul Hoffman
On April 29, 1982, Kuklinski met Paul Hoffman, a 51-year-old pharmacist who occasionally browsed "the store" in
Gary Smith
By the early-1980s, Kuklinski's burglary gang was under investigation by law enforcement. In December 1982, Percy House, a member of the gang, was arrested. House agreed to inform on Kuklinski and was placed in protective custody.[31] Warrants were also issued for the arrest of two other gang members, 37-year-old Gary Smith and Daniel Deppner. Kuklinski urged them to lay low and rented them a room at the York Motel in North Bergen, New Jersey. Smith left the motel to visit his daughter. Kuklinski feared that Smith, after he discussed going straight, might become an informant.[32]
According to the testimony of Barbara Deppner, Kuklinski, Daniel Deppner, and House (who was in jail at the time) decided that Smith had to be killed. Kuklinski fed Smith a
After Barbara Deppner did not return with a car to move Smith's body, Kuklinski and Daniel Deppner placed it in between the mattress and box spring. Over the next four days, a number of patrons rented the room, and although they thought the smell in the room was odd, most of them did not think to look under the bed.[6][33] Finally, on December 27, 1982, after more complaints from guests about the smell, the motel manager investigated and discovered the decomposing corpse.[32]
Daniel Deppner
After Smith's murder, Kuklinski moved 34-year-old Daniel Deppner to an apartment in
Deppner's corpse was discovered May 14, 1983, after a bicyclist riding
The medical examiner found Deppner's stomach full of undigested food, indicating that he had died shortly after or during a meal. The beans that Deppner had eaten were burned, so they reasoned the meal was home-cooked because most restaurants would not get away with serving burned food to customers.[34] Investigating officers discovered the corpse just three miles (5 kilometers) away from the ranch where Kuklinski's family often went horseback riding. Deppner was the third Kuklinski associate to be found dead.
Louis Masgay
On September 25, 1983, the body of 50-year-old Louis Masgay was discovered near a town park near Clausland Mountain Road in Orangetown, New York, with a bullet hole in the back of his head. Masgay had 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.[2] After another plea bargain, Kuklinski admitted to shooting Masgay.[29] His body had been stored in a freezer, then disposed of in the park fifteen months later.[2]
However, Kuklinski did not thaw the corpse before he dumped it. He also wrapped it in plastic garbage bags, which kept it insulated and partially frozen. The
Additional victims
In various interviews, Kuklinski claimed to have murdered around 200 people.
Kuklinski also alleged he was a
Kuklinski's claimed involvement in mafia hits has been disputed by other authorities. According to
Robert Prongay
In interviews and documentaries, Kuklinski says he killed 38-year-old Robert Prongay, a
Roy DeMeo
Kuklinski claimed he killed 42-year-old Gambino crime family member Roy DeMeo in an interview for the 1993 book The Iceman: The True Story of a Cold-Blooded Killer by Anthony Bruno.[50] He described DeMeo as a mentor of his, but after he fell behind on a loan to distribute pornography, he received a beating. The two later became business partners. Kuklinski says DeMeo taught him how murder for hire could be a way to make money.[3] However, author Jerry Capeci, who has written extensively about DeMeo and the mafia, doubts Kuklinski killed DeMeo or had close ties to the DeMeo crew.[5] Most sources indicate DeMeo was killed by members of his crew, with no suggestion Kuklinski was involved.[52][53] 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.[54][53] Philip Carlo, whose biography of Kuklinski includes the claim that he killed DeMeo, acknowledged in the postscript to a later edition that this claim was probably untrue.[55]
Peter Calabro
In his 2001 HBO interview, Kuklinski confessed to killing 36-year-old NYPD officer Peter Calabro, who was ambushed and shot dead by an unknown gunman on March 14, 1980. Calabro was rumored to have mob connections and was investigated for selling confidential information to the Gambino family.[56] His wife Carmella had drowned under mysterious circumstances three years earlier, and members of her family believed Calabro was responsible. At the time, his murder was thought by law enforcement officials to be revenge either carried out or arranged by his deceased wife's relatives.[57] Her brothers were regarded as "key suspects," but the crime remained unsolved.[58]
The Bergen County prosecutor believed Kuklinski's confession to be a fabrication, but his successor decided to proceed with the case.[59] In February 2003, Kuklinski was charged with Calabro's murder, and received another sentence of thirty years. This was considered a waste because it was during multiple life sentences, and he would not be eligible for parole until he was over 100 years old.[5] Describing the murder, Kuklinski said he parked his van on the side of a narrow road, forcing other drivers to slow to pass. He lay in a snowbank behind his van until Calabro came by at 2 a.m., then stepped out and shot him in the head with a sawed-off shotgun, decapitating Calabro. He stated he was unaware that Calabro was a police officer but said he probably would have murdered him anyway.[56]
Kuklinski claimed he was paid to kill Calabro by Gambino crime family soldier Sammy Gravano, and that Gravano provided the murder weapon. Gravano, serving a twenty-year sentence in Arizona for drugs, was also indicted for the murder. Kuklinski was set to testify against him.[60][59] Gravano denied any involvement in Calabro's death and rejected a plea bargain, under which, he would receive no additional jail time if he confessed to the crime and informed on all his accomplices.[61][62] The charges against Gravano were dropped after Kuklinski's death in 2006.[63]
Jimmy Hoffa
In his 2001 HBO interview, Secrets of a Mafia Hitman, Kuklinski said he knew who killed 62-year-old former
Deputy Chief Bob Buccino, who worked on the Kuklinski case, said "They took a body from Detroit, where they have one of the biggest lakes in the world, and drove it all the way back to New Jersey? Come on." Buccino added: "We didn't believe a lot of things he said."[64] 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."[10] Anthony Bruno said he investigated Kuklinski's alleged involvement in Hoffa's disappearance but felt "[his] story didn't check out." He opined Kuklinski made the confession to "add extra value to his brand",[46] and omitted the story from his biography of Kuklinski.[65]
Investigation and arrest
Kuklinski came to the attention of Pat Kane, an officer with the
ATF Special Agent Dominick Polifrone went undercover for eighteen months to apprehend Kuklinski.[9] Starting in 1985, Kane and Polifrone worked with Phil Solimene, a close long-time friend of Kuklinski, to get Polifrone close to Kuklinski. Posing as a Mafia-connected criminal named Dominic Provenzano, Polifrone purchased a handgun-muffler combination from Kuklinski.[67] In recordings, Kuklinski discussed a corpse he kept in a freezer for two and a half years. He told Polifrone he preferred poison, saying, "Why be messy? You do it nice and calm."[68] He asked Polifrone if he could supply him with pure cyanide. Polifrone told Kuklinski he wanted to hire him to murder a wealthy Jewish cocaine dealer, and recorded Kuklinski speaking in detail about how he would do it.[69] Kuklinski was also recorded boasting he killed a man by putting cyanide on his hamburger, and of his plans to kill "a couple of rats" (Barbara Deppner and Percy House).[31]
On December 17, 1986, Kuklinski met Polifrone to get cyanide for a planned murder, which was to be an attempt on an undercover police officer. After the recorded conversation with Polifrone, Kuklinski went for a walk. He tested Polifrone's purported cyanide on a stray dog, using a hamburger as bait, and saw it was not poison. Suspicious, Kuklinski decided not to go through with the planned murder and went home instead.[70] He was arrested at a roadblock two hours later. Kuklinski's wife was charged for interfering with her husband's arrest.[2] Officers discovered a firearm in the vehicle, and she was charged with possession of a firearm because she was a passenger.[31]
Trial and incarceration
Prosecutors charged Kuklinski with five murder counts and six weapons violations, as well as attempted murder, robbery, and attempted robbery. Law enforcement officials said Kuklinski had large sums of money in Swiss bank accounts and a reservation on a flight to that country.[2][66] Kuklinski was held on a $2 million bail bond, and required to surrender his passport.[66][71] After the arrest, Kuklinski told reporters, "This is unwarranted, unnecessary. These guys watch too many movies." At a press conference, New Jersey state Attorney General W. Cary Edwards characterized the motive for the murders as "profit" and said, ″He set individuals up for business deals, they disappeared, and the money ended up in his hands.″[2]
At trial, Kuklinski's former associates, including Percy House and Barbara Deppner, gave evidence against him, as did ATF Special Agent Polifrone. The case was prosecuted by Deputy Attorney General Robert Carrol, and Kuklinski was represented by a public defender. Kuklinski's lawyer argued Kuklinski had no history of violence, and only projected a "tough image," including his statements to ATF Special Agent Polifrone. The defence theorized Deppner was responsible for the murder of Smith, and there was no cause of death determined for Deppner. Additionally, he argued the testimony of House and Barbara Deppner was unreliable because they lied to law enforcement officials, and House received immunity from prosecution.[72] In March 1988, jurors found Kuklinski guilty of murdering Smith and Deppner, but found the deaths were not proven to be by Kuklinski's conduct, so that he would not face the death penalty.[73] He was sentenced to a minimum 60 years in prison.[4][29]
After the trial, Kuklinski pleaded guilty to killing Masgay and Malliband, and was sentenced to an additional two
During his incarceration, Kuklinski granted interviews to prosecutors,
Death
In October 2005, after nearly eighteen years in prison, Kuklinski was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease. He was transferred to a secure wing at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton, New Jersey. Although he had asked doctors to make sure they revived him if he developed cardiopulmonary arrest, his former wife Barbara had signed a "do not resuscitate" order. A week before his death, the hospital called Barbara to ask if she wished to rescind the instruction but she declined.[21]
Kuklinski died at age 70 on March 5, 2006.
References
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- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Dolan, Julia (December 18, 1986). "Man Charged With Killing Associates, Accomplices". Associated Press. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021.
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- ^ The Central New Jersey Home News. New Brunswick, New Jersey. May 26, 1988. p. 17.
- ^ from the original on August 7, 2019. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f "The Iceman Tapes: Conversations with a Killer". America Undercover. 1992. HBO.
- ^ Ex-hit man Gravano charged with arranging cop's killing by Andrew Jacobs and New York Times News Service in the Chicago Tribune, February 24, 2003
- ^ a b c Markos, Kibret (June 27, 2006). "Ice Man Book Ridiculed as More Fiction than Fact". The Record. Hackensack, New Jersey. p. A1. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021.
"I checked every one of the murders that Kuklinski said he committed," said Smith, who was a member of the task force that ultimately arrested Kuklinski, "and not one was true." "Authorities throughout the country could not corroborate one case based on the tidbits that Kuklinski gave," Smith said.
- ^ a b c d Crystal, Ponti (May 26, 2020). "'The Iceman': An Undercover Agent Reflects on Taking Down Notorious Hitman Richard Kuklinski". A&E. Archived from the original on June 20, 2020. Retrieved January 20, 2021.
- ^ a b c "Former FBI agent says Hoffa claim is hoax". UPI. April 18, 2006. Archived from the original on October 25, 2019. Retrieved October 25, 2019.
- ^ a b "7 Film Action yang Berdasarkan Kisah Nyata". CNN Indonesia. November 7, 2020. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021.
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... of a 12-year-old girl who apparently was thrown from the roof of a building. Joseph Kuklinski was taken into custody from his home at 434 Central Avenue.
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- ^ a b "Gravano: Heading to Trial for Allegedly Ordering Cop Killed". The Record. January 9, 2006. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved December 14, 2019.
Molinelli's predecessor, William Schmidt, was still in office when Kuklinski first appeared on television and confessed to Calabro's murder. Schmidt did not return repeated phone calls but in an interview said he believed Kuklinski was fabricating the story. Molinelli came into office in 2002, vowing to crack cold cases. Gravano was charged soon after.
- ^ Jacobs, Andrew (February 25, 2003). "Hit Man Implicates Hit Man In '80 Slaying, Authorities Say". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021.
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Further reading
- ISBN 978-0-312-34928-8.
- Bruno, Anthony (2013) [1993]. The Iceman: The True Story of a Cold-Blooded Killer. ROBERT HALE LTD. ISBN 9780709052722.
- Bruno, Anthony (2018). Immortal Monster. DarkHorse Multimedia. ASIN B07GTD1KX5.
- Mammoccio, Concetta Seila (2024). Sei mio e di nessun altro Dio. La vera storia di Richard Leonard Kuklinski. Independently published. ISBN 979-88-787-4612-0.