Richard Kuklinski

Richard Leonard Kuklinski (April 11, 1935 – March 5, 2006) was an American contract and serial killer who was convicted for five murders, linked to 33, and suspected of 250+.

Kuklinski was given the nickname "Iceman" for his method of freezing a victim to mask the time of death. During his criminal career, fellow mobsters called Kuklinski "the one-man army" or "the devil himself"[2] due to his fearsome reputation and imposing physique of 6'5" (196 cm) and 250 pounds (115 kg). Kuklinski lived with his wife and children in the suburb of Dumont, New Jersey. His family was apparently unaware of Kuklinski's double life and crimes.[3] A New Jersey Police task force was formed after Kuklinski was suspected of two murders. An eighteen month long undercover investigation led to his arrest in 1986. He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1988.

By the early to mid-1980s, Kuklinski was involved in narcotics, pornography, arms dealing, money laundering, hijacking and contract killing on a global basis. While his range of criminal activities expanded, he began to make mistakes. Though Kuklinski killed anyone who could testify against him, he got sloppy about disposing of his victims. Law enforcement began to suspect Kuklinski and started an investigation, gathering evidence about the various crimes he had committed.[4]

Kuklinski was a contract killer for Newark's DeCavalcante crime family and New York City's Five Families of the American Mafia. After his murder convictions, Kuklinski took part in a number of interviews during which he claimed to have murdered from over 100[5] to 250 men between 1948 and 1986, though his recollection of events sometimes varied. Though some have expressed skepticism about the extent of Kuklinski's alleged murders, police are confident in their belief that he was a serial killer who killed at least several dozen people both at the behest of organized crime bosses and on his own initiative.[2] Many of Kuklinski's claims were substantiated by author Phillip Carlo in over 240 hours of interviews and via the dozens of cases Kuklinski helped New Jersey police clear after his incarceration.

Three documentaries, two biographies and a feature film have been produced on Kuklinski based on his interviews and the results of the task force that brought Kuklinski to justice.