Richard Kuklinski

Richard Leonard Kuklinski (April 11, 1935 – March 5, 2006) was an American serial killer and mob hitman who was convicted of murdering six people, though the true number of murders he committed is speculated to be over two hundred (based on claims by Kuklinski himself). He was associated with members of the American Mafia, namely the DeCavalcante crime family of Newark, New Jersey, and the Five Families of New York City. Kuklinski was given the nickname "The Iceman" for his method of freezing a victim to mask the time of death. During his criminal career, fellow mobsters called him "the one-man army" or "the devil himself" due to his fearsome reputation and imposing physique of 6 ft 5 in (196 cm) and 270 pounds (122 kg). Kuklinski lived with his wife and children in the New Jersey suburb of Dumont. His family was apparently unaware of Kuklinski's double life and crimes.By the early to mid-1980s, Kuklinski was involved in collecting debts for loansharks, narcotics, pornography, arms dealing, money laundering, hijacking and contract killing. While his range of criminal activities expanded, he began to make mistakes. Although Kuklinski is claimed to have killed anyone who he thought might testify against him, he became sloppy regarding the disposal of his victims' bodies. Law enforcement began to suspect Kuklinski and started an investigation, gathering evidence about the various crimes he had committed. The eighteen-month long undercover investigation led to his arrest in 198