IceMan

Alright. So here's my favorite serial killer. It creeps me out that I have a "favorite". I guess that's the wrong word but I can't think of another one right now. This is the guy that I find the most interesting among serial killers. Richard "Iceman" Kuklinski.

He learned to use cyanide to kill his victims because pathologists never thought to look for it as a cause of death. The signs are also indicators of carbon monoxide poisoning. Those who do use cyanide to kill usually do it in small groups to people they are close to and trust them. And Iceman knew that.

In 1982, Iceman was moving around New Jersey as a scam artist. He had an associate by the name of Gary Smith who helped steal vehicles. Police caught on and a warrant was issue for Smith's arrest.

Another car associate named Deppner was also involved. Iceman told Deppner of his plans. While hiding Smith, Iceman grew tried and weary of watching out for him to keep him from talking. When he brought food to Smith, he placed cyanide in the ketchup of Smiths burger. As he was being poisoned, he wasn't dying quickly. So Deppner used a lamp cord to strangle him. His body was found 4 days later after management got complaints about the odor.

Now Iceman focused on Deppner; he knew too much. Questions began about Deppners whereabouts in May 1983. A bicycle rider found the body alongside a road in a garbage bag. The cause of death was unknown... but there were signs of cyanide.

However, these weren't his first murders. In fact, Iceman had been killing since he was 14 years old. Sometimes as a hitman for profit and other times to get rid of people who caused him stress. By the time he got around to Smith and Deppner, he'd been a mafia hitman. His nickname? It wasn't given to him because of his personality. We'll get to that later.

His first kill at the age of 14 was against a bully in 1949. This gave him a sense of domination, power and control that most serial killers exhibit. He described his first premediated murder as an adult like this...

He was in Jersey and used a car bomb triggered by gas. He was detatched from his victims so he felt nothing as he walked away. He claims this detatched feeling came from his drunken father. Iceman also had a brother who raped a 12 year old girl and threw her off of a building at the age of 25. Then he threw her dog to the ground with her. He got life in prison in Trenton.

Roy DeMeo was the most feared hitman around and he worked for the Gambino family. He took Iceman under his wing. DeMeo's temper eventually got him thrown out of the Gambino family and a hit was put on him. There is still no clear answer on who killed DeMeo. Some state that it was Nino Gaggi but when asked, the Iceman smiled and replied "he outlived his usefullness".

A task force was created to capture Iceman. He could use any number of weapons as he was known to. By this time he had use guns and even a crossbow. At traffic lights he rolled down the window to ask for directions and then killed the other driver. Once he even disguised himself as a gay man so he could walk unnoticed through a disco to poison a man.

Federal Agent Dominick Polifrone had experience with mob operations and was assigned to either getting Iceman to reveal what he knew or to gather evidence of premeditated murder for court proceedings. To the agent, Iceman discussed his killing methods of using cyanide and how he once froze a man to death.

Iceman was found guilty in court but didn't get the death penalty due to lack of witness testimony. He got 2 life sentences and a minimum of 30 years.

In 1991, HBO had an exclusive interview from prison with Iceman in which he revealed a lot of himself. He was detached through all of the stories of his killings and only cracked during the subject of his wife and 3 kids. He stated that he does not make friends in prison and that John List (I might do a blog on him later) once approached him but Iceman had contempt for someone who would kill their own family. Needless to say that friendship never began.

So you're probably asking how this man could care about having a family life but feel nothing for the people he killed. Simple. He learned to turn his emotions and feelings on and off at will. A lot of people can actually do this but never take it to these extremes.

The weird thing is, he does seem to have a human side. He often sends Christmas cards to those who have spoken with him during his sentencing. He also seems to be polite in the letters he writes.

Oh yeah... his nickname. It was because he hid a body in a freezer at an ice cream shop.