Richard Kuklinski - The Iceman

This man had divided opinion amongst true crime buffs.  Some see him as one of the worst killers in history, others see him as a bullshit merchant, making himself out to be much more than he actually.  Kuklinski had claimed to have committed two hundred plus murders.  Many for the five New York Mob Families(Gambinos, Bonnanos, Colombos, Lucheeses & Genoveses) plus the Decavalcante Family in Newark.  He has also claimed to have been involved in the murders of Paul Castellano, Carmine Galante, psycho killer Roy Demeo & Jimmy Hoffa.  There is much evidence & testimony from participants, informants & Mob turncoats that shoot down the claims of Kuklinski.

     There was no doubt at all that Kuklinski was a brutal killer, but just exactly how many he murdered, is open to debate.  Kuklinski was born 11 April 1935, to physically abusive parents.  One of his brothers died at the hands of his parents but this was covered up within his family.  Another brother ended up dying in prison after raping and killing a young girl.  Kuklinski married a woman who claimed she suffered years of abuse at his hands, and had three children.  He allegedly started on his connections to organised crime whilst working in a film lab, illegally processing hard core porn films.  He is then supposedly started killing on behalf of various mob figures.  He claimed that he killed with guns, knives, strangulation, cyanide, cross bows, and even tying victims up and leaving them in caves to be eaten by rats.  He further claimed to have set up cameras to film it, and shown one film of this to Sammy "The Bull" Gravano.

    Kuklinski was brought down by various state Police officers, informants and undercover Police, being charged with a number of murders.  He was sentenced to life, ensuring he would never be released.  Whilst in Trenton jail, he collaborated on some HBO documentaries, being interviewed by top Psychiatrist Park Dietz.  He collaborated on his story with author Phillip Carlo, but Carlo has drawn much criticism over the claims of Kuklinski by not doing proper research.  They say he took Kuklinski simply at his word.  Kuklinski died of natural causes in Trenton in 2006.

    So what is the truth?  We will never know.  One reviewer likened Kuklinski to Henry Lee Lucas, a man who boasted of committing hundreds of murders, but was exposed as a large scale liar.  The "Iceman" tag was put on Kuklinski due to he supposedly keeping some victims in a deep freeze.