His younger brother (Joseph) was also a criminal and was convicted of raping and murdering a 12-year-old girl. Kuklinksi was calculating and intelligent with his work, especially as he devised ways to throw off authorities with freezing his victims.
#The iceman killer serial#
There is always something to be learned, we just need to pay close attention and not take anything for granted when it comes to these serial killers. It could be the way they answer or not answer a question, how they relate to the murders, or the consistency of their stories. They generally love to give a wealth of information to a captive audience and from there we can then begin to see what’s really underneath that they don’t want the general public to see, but they can’t seem to help themselves once they are in the spotlight.
Strip away the “usual” aspects of this type of criminal and dig deep into the understanding of what makes them tick. I strongly feel that there is ALWAYS something to learn from these killers and not just the usual laundry list of serial killer characteristics, such as severely abused as a child, coming from a broken home, unable to control rage, animal mutilator, above average intelligence, and lack of empathy to just name a few. Kuklinski died of natural causes on Maat the age of 70. The coroner found pieces of ice in the victim’s heart. However, this was going to be his downfall when his method was discovered because he didn’t let one of his victims thaw before disposing the body. He earned the nickname as “The Iceman” because of his experiments of disguising the time of death of his victims by freezing their corpses in a freezer and then disposing of them at a later time. However, these numbers were never proven. It was estimated that he killed between 100 and 130 people. His family and neighbors never knew of his murderous activities. Kuklinski easily hid behind a mask of normalcy as he married, had two daughters, and posed as a successful businessman. He went on to explain matter of fact without emotion that his favorite method of disposing a body was in a 55-gallon oil drum. His favorite means of killing was using cyanide because it killed the victim quickly and was difficult to detect through toxicology. Over a 30-year period according to Kuklinski, he killed numerous people in various ways, by shooting, strangulation, knife, or poison. Ironically years later, Kuklinski claimed that he had been responsible for DeMeo’s murder. That was when his association with Roy DeMeo, a member of the Gambino crime family, was established. By the time he was in his early twenties, he had built a reputation as an explosive street hustler that would beat or kill anyone who offended him. He began to act out by killing and torturing animals, and finally by the age of 18 he committed his first murder. Rage began to build in him by the age of 10. His parents were abusive and would beat Richard and his siblings on a regular basis.
Richard Kuklinski “The Iceman” grew up in the projects of New Jersey during the 1930s and 1940s. However, they are serial killers and each of them has a story to tell that begins to sound quite familiar. When you think of serial killers you don’t immediately think of confessions from a mafia hitman. “I would never kill a child and most likely wouldn’t kill a woman.”
#The iceman killer code#
In one interview, he explained his killing code of ethics. When Richard Kuklinski was asked how he felt about killing people in an in-depth interview.