January 24, 2025 • 57 mins
Summary
This episode delves into the life of Richard Kuklinski, a notorious contract killer known as 'The Iceman.' It explores his dual existence as a family man and a ruthless murderer, detailing his methods, partnerships, and the eventual unraveling of his criminal empire. The narrative highlights the psychological impact of his upbringing, his relationships, and the law enforcement efforts that led to his arrest and conviction. Through interviews and confessions, Kuklinski's chilling story reveals the complexities of a life steeped in violence and crime.
Takeaways
Richard Kuklinski was a prolific contract killer for the mafia.
He was known for his unique methods of murder and evasion.
Kuklinski believed that only a dead friend was a good friend.
His violent upbringing influenced his criminal behavior.
The investigation into his crimes was complicated by his careful planning.
Kuklinski's relationships often ended in betrayal and violence.
He was ultimately arrested due to a combination of mistakes and informants.
His trial revealed the extent of his criminal activities to his family.
Kuklinski confessed to multiple murders while in prison.
His life story serves as a cautionary tale about the impact of childhood trauma.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Richard Kuklinski
04:09 The Rise of a Contract Killer
09:03 The Dark Side of Friendship
14:54 The Unraveling of a Criminal Empire
20:09 The Final Days of Richard Kuklinski
27:38 The Unraveling of Richard Kuklinski's Crimes
30:22 The Investigation Intensifies
35:33 The Undercover Operation Begins
41:16 The Sting Operation and Arrest
46:43 Trial and Conviction
52:04 The Final Days of Richard Kuklinski
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
What is going on? Mind you can't make this BS up.
Followers, it's your host Joel Davis.
Before we start this story, I want you guys to understand the
follow due to the nature of thisepisode.
Listen listener discretion is vibes.
(00:22):
This episode includes discussionof domestic violence, child
abuse, murder, assault and animal cruelty.
Consider this one and deciding how and when you want to listen
to get any help on domestic violence again, visit
spotify.com/resource. You have and want.
Tonight we are going to talk about Part 2 of the contract
(00:46):
pillar, Richard Hopkinski, a manwho is responsible for 100 to
200 murders. While we're working for the mob.
We will talk about on the secondpart how he continuously do
contracts, actually starts getting a little sloppy and
(01:08):
possibly start getting the attention of the federales or
the federal AKA the FBI. With that being stated, y'all
know what it is Let's begin the broadcast.
What's going on everybody y'all know what it is.
Your favorite host Joel Davis Son you can't make this BS up
(01:35):
his back. I'm here.
I'm here first before most want you guys to know that I am
enjoying doing this podcast. I'm loving the followers I'm
getting. I'm loving the people really
(01:56):
paying attention to what we're doing on all platforms on social
media. Again, I want to thank you guys
so much. You got any suggestion on any
story you want me to do a true prime Y'all know what to do get
in the comments sections. You can get into my e-mail that
I personally have attached to this podcast.
Just reach out to me and we willdefinitely do whatever we can to
(02:17):
look into the case and do an episode like this.
Now we are on the second part ofRichard Kosklinski.
If you don't know who he is, Richard Kolkinski, or they would
call him Big Rich, is known as being one of the most prolific
(02:38):
contract killers the mafia has ever had in their arsenal.
The thing about Richard is Richard was a very unique
contract killer because for one he was a towering 6 foot 5 to 6
foot 6 based upon how he walked and he was a little over £300.
(02:59):
Now the thing also about RichardPolskinski is that he was able
to always get his target, he never missed on an assignment,
he was always on time and alwayscame through and he was so good
at what he did. Is that even the mafiosos that
(03:21):
hired him to do the work was also afraid of him because again
he was good at what he do. But again, Richard was living 2
lives. He had the lives that he wants
people to see with his family and his and around his
neighbors. And then it was the criminal
underworld where he was known asa man that was not to be messy.
(03:46):
On this second episode, we're going to talk about some of the
things he did and how his intimacy caught up with it.
So again, this is the second part of Richard Kulkinsk on
Kulk, Klinsky the Iceman. Let's get it.
(04:09):
Richard was staking out a hotel in Queens, working a job for the
Cavante family. He was having trouble keeping
track of his mark. There was someone else who
distracted him from his shifty eyes, long and wild hair, and
careful movements. Richard immediately recognized
(04:32):
this man as a contract. The way he kept popping up,
Richard's first thought was thathe's also been assigned to kill
the same mark, but then he started to wonder if the other
man had actually been sent out to kill him.
After several days of staking out the hotel, Richard was
(04:53):
sitting in his van, tranquilizergun at the ready, when he heard
the Jingle of an ice cream truckapproaching.
It was a hot day and he was getting thirsty, so he flagged
down the Mr. Softy truck as it drove by.
Sure enough, there in the driver's seat was that guy.
By that point, Richard and the Mr. Softy driver had both
(05:17):
clocked each other as killers. Richard asked him what he was
doing and the man told him he used the ice cream truck to do
surveillance. The truck wasn't just a front,
it was a fully stopped in operation.
The man gave Richard a soap and they got to talk.
His name was Robert Pronge. He was former military and his
(05:40):
main interest even after leavingthe army were explosives and
murder. It was as if fate had brought
them together. Richard took a break from his
stakeout and went back with Prong Gay to check out his
garage. Tucked in the back corner was a
locker filled with guns, ammunition, poison, and remote
(06:01):
detonator grenade. He showed Richard his favorite
weapon, a white spray bottle full of cyanide mixed with as
Brungay explained, it's the concoction was sprayed on the
someone's skin. It would absorb and kill them
within seconds. He demonstrate on a stray cat
(06:21):
passing by one spray in the faceand the cat instantly killed
over. It was the quickest, cleanest
murder method Richard had ever seen, and Richard and Progay
became fast friend. They shared murder tips and
tricks and even started doing jobs together, splitting the
(06:41):
payment. On one occasion they needed to
make it look like a man died much later than he actually did.
They brainstormed and came up with an idea.
If you freeze a body, it won't be decomposed.
They stored the body in a meat freezer, and when they took the
body out months later, it appears as he'd been dead for a
few days. The police never figured out the
(07:03):
man had actually been dead for several months.
By 19, it seemed like Richard was hitting his prime.
He had a wonderful family, his career was on the way up, and he
even made a couple of good friends.
Or so he thought. Over the next few years, Richard
would discover that only good friend is a dead friend.
(07:25):
Now keep that in mind. This is what Richard said.
The only good friend is a dead friend.
Lord Hammers man, that's that's,that's hard right there.
It was a hot summer day in 1986.Detectives Patrick Kane and
Ernest Volkman was sitting on the couch with Richard Copeland
skis living room. Richard off the detectives iced
(07:48):
tea and they both declined for fear they would be poisoned.
He sat down in the easy chair across from them, right below a
giant oil painting of himself and his wife bar His eyes were
hidden under dark sunglasses. Detective Kane told him they
were investigating a number of murders.
Louis Masgay, George Malabon, Paul Hoffman, Danny Deppner and
(08:15):
Gary Smith. Richard Cooley denied knowing
any of these people. Then Kane asked did he know a
Robert Prong Gay or Roy de Mayo?Richard stared at him for a long
moment and then said, sure, I know the male, you guys know I
(08:37):
knew him. Why don't you like like me, Mr.
Cain? Cain replied.
Who said I don't like? Richard answered.
I could see that in your eyes. Cain insisted.
He didn't take his word personally, but it was a waste
of breath. By the time he invoked me, had
gotten back into their car, Richard had made-up his mind he
(08:59):
was going to kill detective packed tank.
I'm telling you, this is how it is.
Now we're doing a recap. Remember Richard on Kaglinski's
criminal career began 1949 when he was 13 years old and he beat
the neighborhood bully to death and allegedly threw him over a
(09:21):
Cliff, a Cliff. Then for the next few decades he
made a living through hijacking,piracy, pornography distribution
until the mid 70s. And then in the guidance of
mafia executioner Roy Demaio, helearned to channel his
aggression in a more profitable direction as a contract killer.
(09:46):
So it all, he flew completely under the radar of law
enforcement because seeing his neighbor in his suburban
neighborhood of New Jersey, everybody thought he was a
friendly, friendly family man. You know, real tall dad like guy
who was successful in a film production business that they
(10:08):
didn't really know what kind of film it was.
Even his own family didn't know what kind of film he did, which
we already know that Later they come to realize it was smut AKA
pornography. And because he kept his crimes
and his personal life completelyseparate, he never been linked
back to any of the 100 or more murders that he has committed by
(10:32):
contract or just for fun. But in 1980, Richard broke his
own car. Naruto.
He killed someone who he could be tied back to.
His old friend George Malabank. Georgie Boy as Richard called
him, was a sweet man and a long time family friend, but his
(10:56):
obsessive gambling had gotten him into trouble because he owed
a lot of money to a lot of, including Roy DeMille.
Richard did what he could to smooth things over between them,
but he could only do so much. When George final notice came in
early February of 1980, he made a desperate visit to Richard.
(11:20):
They were driving along on Richard's van when George made a
fatal mistake. He told Richard.
I don't think you'd ever let Demaio hurt me.
I know why. Where you live, where your
family lives. And threats against his family
were one thing Richard couldn't abide by.
(11:42):
He immediately pulled over, grabbed his pistol and shot
Georgie Boy five times. Richard disposed the body the
same way he usually did. He stuffed them into a steel
barrel drum and threw him into the reservoir.
But he didn't stick around to see that drum hit a rock on the
(12:03):
way down. Calls in the lid, the bus open.
The body was found and identified just days later.
Richard was actually questioned about George Maliban's murder.
George had apparently told his brother that he was going to
meet Richard on the day he was last seen alive.
But Richard told the police he didn't know anything, And since
(12:23):
he's never been connected to a homicide case before, the matter
was dropped. This brush with law enforcement
should have been a warning. He needed to be more careful and
keep a circle of associates as small as possible.
But the truth was, Maliban gone,Richard was only longing for
more friends. He was perpetually shut out of
(12:45):
the Moth. Since he wasn't Italian, he
wanted to be part of something, to have his own prime family
instead of always being the lonewolf.
So around 1981 Richard round up a few guys he met at Phil's
Soleimani store and organized them into a little breaking and
entering crew. The second in command of the
(13:06):
group was Percy House, Phil Solomon's Manny's
brother-in-law. Then there was Danny Deppner, a
perpetually unkempt man whose wife had recently left him to
shack up with Percy. There was our rink, a scrawny
little guy in Gary Smith, a tall, the spectacled man with a
(13:30):
beard that made him look like a Lincoln.
It were hardly America's Most Wanted, but they could follow
Richard's order. Throughout 1981, they broke into
dozens of houses around New Jersey, stealing valuables and
selling them at Bill's store. Meanwhile, Richard and Phil were
running their old side scheme ofluring customers into the store
(13:53):
for phony sales and killing themand taking their cash.
Since the entire setup was predicated on buying stolen
goods, the victims didn't tell anyone where they were going
before they disappeared, so the murders would never link back to
Phil and Richard. This is until one day in July
1981 when their Mark Lewis Mass mentioned that he told his
(14:16):
family he was heading out field store.
If he disappeared that night, Phil will be the first one
question. Fortunately, Richard stormed in
and shot Mass in the head beforePhil had a chance to pass along
that information. Thinking on his feet, Richard
decided to pull out the old trick he done once before he and
(14:38):
Phil Lord Maskey's body into an old well full of cold water,
hoping the body was freeze well enough to throw off the time of
death. Whenever they decide to take the
body out, it will look like Mad Square had died long after his
visit to Field Store. But a few weeks later, Phil got
(15:01):
into an argument with Percy, house foreman of Richard's
breaking and entering crew. He offhandedly threatened him by
mentioning that Richard had killed Lewis Maske and George
Mellaban too. Cat was out the bag now.
Percy told the rest of the game,who told their wives, who told
(15:22):
their friends, and eventually everybody knew.
Richard didn't like having his name directly linked to two of
his murder. The only hope.
That is, as long as his proof stayed out of trouble, there'll
be no reason for anyone to rat him out.
That hope was misplaced. In late 1981, Patrick Kane was
called into the supervisor office to beat a burglar.
(15:46):
One hour. Rink had been had just been
caught breaking into a house andwas ready to cut a deal for a
lighter sentence. Rink claimed his gang was
responsible for dozens of unsolved burglaries in across
the state. No one could tell whether he was
(16:06):
being honest. So Detective Kane was asked with
driving Rink all around New Jersey for two days as he
pointed out every single house the gang had robbed over the
past year. Rink also named his accomplices
Perry House, Danny Depp, Gary Smith and one man he knew only
as Big Rich. Cain said to work across
(16:29):
prefacing Rink's testimony with their back or reported
burglaries. It would take some time to put
together an indictment, but it all seemed straightforward.
There was only one missing pieceof the puzzle, Who was Big Rich?
Big Rich was by early 1982 too busy to pay much thought to Al
(16:50):
Rink. He was still doing contract work
for the Mafia with his pal Robert Prong, AKA Mr. Softy.
He was making frequent trips to LA with where his porn
distribution business now had a West Coast headquarters and his
oldest daughter Merrick was about to graduate high school.
(17:13):
Rich had always tried to make time for his family.
He went to all his sons Dwayne middle school wrestling matches,
the one activity the two could bond over.
Father son bonding was foreign concept Richard.
He tried his best to reach out, but Dwayne had never really
(17:34):
taken to the BB gun swarms and knives Richard gifted him with.
For the rest of the Kolinsky family, Richard good moves were
still overshadowed by his violent ratings.
He beat Barbara mercilessly and thought he never laid a finger
on the children just witnessing his outbursts.
(17:56):
Terrified. Recently, Barbara and their
teenage daughter Chris had to plan to poison it, the only way
to get him out of their lives for good.
They were too scared to ever go with it, so Richard remained
completely oblivious to exactly how much his own family hated
it. He often dreamed of saving
enough money to get out of the business before it was too late.
(18:20):
He knew no one made it out of his line of work except in
handcuffs or in a cast. He only hoped he would never be
arrested in front of his family.He couldn't stand to see the
humiliation in judgement. But retirement was a far off
dream. Richard still had places to go
and people to kill. In April of 1982, Richard began
(18:42):
having problems with his cyanidesupply.
All Hoff Hoffman didn't do anything specifically wrong,
Richard just thought he was greedy and annoying as usual.
Richard saw the problem by luring Hoffman to his warehouse
for a phony business deal, leading him to a death with a
(19:03):
tie iron and stealing 25,000 in cats that he had brought along
with it. He left Hoffman's body in a
steel barrel outside nearby diner, hidden in plain sight.
I thought it was in it clear until the police came around.
Apparently on that day Hoffman disappeared.
(19:23):
He had a friend that he was supposed to see, Richard
Koplinsky. Richard kept cool.
He told investigators he didn't even know Paul Hoffman.
It must have the wrong guy. These detectives were from a
different precinct that the oneswho investigated George
(19:43):
Maliban's murder 2 years early, so they had no clue Bridget had
been spotted and that been questioned in that previous
case. We let them go.
But Richard's real problems was just beginning October 1982,
Jacob Kane had 152 count indictment against New Jersey
(20:09):
burglary crew Percy House, AnnieDeppner and Gary Smith.
The elusive leader Big Ridge remained to be seen.
On December 17th, 1982, the police swooped in and made their
first arrest, Percy House. But when they moved to apprehend
the rest of the game, there werenowhere to be found.
(20:32):
Danny Deppner and Gary Smith hassuddenly vanished.
Unbeknownst to the police, when Richard got wind that Percy had
been arrested, he immediately took Gary, Danny and Gary to the
New York Motel in North Virgin, New Jersey.
(20:53):
He thought he could trust Percy to keep his mouth shut, but he
was. Now Danny Deppner and Gary Smith
had suddenly vanished. Unbeknownst to the police, when
Richard got wind that Percy had been arrested, he immediately
took Danny and Glory and Gary tothe York meetings.
(21:17):
Yeah, to the York Motel in NorthBergen, NJ So let me rephrase
that again. Unbeknownst to the policeman,
Richard got wind that person hadbeen arrested.
He immediately took Danny and Gary to the York Motel in North
Virgin, New Jersey. He thought he could trust Percy
to keep his mouth shut, but he wasn't taking any chances with
(21:39):
all three of them. Behind Ball, Bridget told Danny
and Gary very calmly to stay in the motel room and not to leave
under any circumstances. They were terrified of Richard,
even more than they were scared of going to prison, so they
didn't argue. But it was a week before
Christmas and they had families at home and after days of
holding up in the smallest room,they were getting restless.
(22:03):
On December 20th, Gary Smith snuck out the hotel and
hitchhiked back home to see his five year old daughter.
He made it there and back to thehotel without running to the
police. A few days later on Christmas
Eve, Richard came to visit bearing burgers and fries from a
nearby dime. He passed out the Burger, 2 with
(22:26):
pickle for himself and Danny, and one without for Gary.
He was in a great mood, full of holiday spirit.
Despise the circle. It was an almost juvia meal.
Three friends sticking together through thick and thin.
What better way to spend Christmas Eve?
(22:47):
And about halfway into his burger, Gary suddenly fell over
and passed, his face turning blue, which had found out
somehow about Gary's voyage home.
He laced his hamburger with signthat Richard watched stone
faces. Gary choked his pass, but he did
die. The patient.
Richard pulled a wire out of thebedside lamp and told Danny to
(23:14):
strangle him with it, and Danny did what he was told.
When Gary finally stopped breathing, they stole his body
under the mat. Richard would later admit this
was a bad idea, but at the time if his body out of the room in
left view. But either way, it didn't matter
if the Bible was found. Danny was the only person who
(23:37):
could link Gary's death to Richard, and Danny wouldn't be
around much long after Richard Koslinski and his associates.
Gary Smith on Christmas Eve in 1982, he went back home to enjoy
the rest of the holidays with his family.
He trusted Danny Deppner to keepquiet.
(23:59):
After all, Danny had participated in Gary's murder.
He could possibly be dumb enoughto talk about a murder he
himself had committed on Four days later on December, Gary's
rotting body was found on a mattress at the York Motel.
The once thinned pale skin Gary was bloated and decomposed that
(24:24):
police identified the body as anoverweight black man.
They had no leads until a few days later on January 3rd when
Barbara Deppner, Danny's ex-wifearrived at the detective Pat
Crane. So a few days later on January
3rd when Barbara Deppner, Danny's ex-wife arrived at
Detective Pat Kane's office, Danny had called and told her
(24:47):
what happened to Gary. She was in the panic, pleading
with Kane to stop Richard Kalinsky, so Danny had called
and told her what happened to Gary.
She was in the panic, fleeting with Kane to stop Richard
Koplinsky before he did the sameto Danny.
She kept calling Richard the Devil, a killer, a professional
(25:08):
killer. Kane was quick to put it
together. This must be the elusive Big
Rich. Kane searched through the state
records and quickly found Richard, so Cain was quick to
put it together. This must be the elusive big
Rich. Cain searched through the state
records and found and quickly found this Richard Koplinsky.
(25:31):
He lived in DuMont, just a couple of towns over.
Wait, he what? He had three kids.
He had on two separate occasionspunched through far windows and
road rage incidents. And he was all once briefly
bought in writing a bad check, but that was nothing on the
(25:51):
record to Richard. Let me see again.
The next week, Richard found outDanny had sold his ex-wife.
What happened? He promptly killed him, wrapped
his body in trash bags and dumped him into the reservoir.
He didn't bother to hide the body very well.
(26:12):
Richard was getting old. It was getting tired, he didn't
have it in him to dismember and bury corpses the way he used to,
and with Gary and Danny dead, Richard thought he was safe as
long as Percy didn't turn on him.
It was a now early January 1993 and Percy has been in jail for a
(26:38):
month all the whole while being pressed for information by the
take the tank Kane told him he wanted and when Gary and Danny
was dead Richard thought he was safe as long as Percy didn't
turn up. Now we're looking at early
January 1980 and Percy had been in jail for a month all the
(26:59):
whole while being pressed information by the take the
Kane. Now Kane told him all he wanted
was Richard Kuklinski and if he gave him Kuklinski Kane would
cut Percy a nice deal. Plea deal, I meant.
Percy quickly figured out that Richard killed Gary and Danny
and he didn't want to go out thesame way.
(27:21):
But with every day he spent behind bars, the prospect of
plea deal became more tempting. Eventually decided he'd rather
take the chances on the street than spend another night in
jail. Percy truly didn't know anything
about Gary and Danny's murder, but but every day he spit behind
bars. The Prosper go plea did like I
(27:41):
said, became more temp and personally personally truly
didn't know anything about Gary and Danny's murder.
But he did tell Kane about the three of the murders.
He heard Richard, so he heard that Richard was responsible for
George Maliban and Lewis Mast and Paul Hoff.
Kane ended up the more precincts, well, other
(28:03):
precincts, and realized that Richard had been questioned in
all three cases, but each time he told police he didn't even
know the victim. And with no hard evidence to the
contrary. Since the murders of
disappearance all happened in different jurisdictions, no one
had linked them together. But Maliban, Moss, and Hoffman
all had one thing in common withGary Smith and Danny Depp Depp
(28:28):
they all spent their last days with Richard cleansing.
The only thing missing was physical evidence.
On May 14th, 1983, four months after his death, Danny Deppner's
body was finally found. Since the murder and
disappearance all happened in different.
So again, like I said, Daddy Deppner's body was finally found
(28:52):
near the West MILF Milford Reservoir, and he still had his
wallet in his pocket, and he wasquickly identified to date with
Cain. The prime suspect was obvious,
Richard Kuklinski, but with no evidence except Barbara
deafness. Yeah, no start to go with that
as praise. So the prime suspect was obvious
(29:12):
again, Richard Kuklinski, but with no arrest itself, Barbara
deafness accusation he couldn't make an arrest a few months
later in September 1983, Richard.
All right, let me go start. So a few months later, in
September 1983, Richard decided it was finally time to get rid
of Lewis body. Frozen body.
(29:34):
The trick worked. When he pulled a mass body from
the well, it looked like he'd been passed away for a day or
so. So it actually worked too well
because the body was just a few days later before it had time to
fully defrost. And then the autopsy revealed
(29:57):
that Masques organs were filled with ice.
The investigator easily picked together what had happened.
Mass must have been killed shortly after his disappearance,
then frozen to throw off the time of death.
Suspicion fell back on the last man that was seen with him, and
(30:22):
it was the same man that Percy House had accused of murder,
Richard Copeland. Cain put together everything he
could find on Richard and his alleged victims and brought it
to the NYPD Organized Crime Division, hoping they could help
find some missing links. The NYPD gave Richard mugshot to
(30:45):
a mafia informant who recognizedthe man in the photo as the
fault, a hit man who worked withRoy Demeo.
Maybe there was something to Barbara Deppman's claim that
Richard was a professional killer.
It was early 1984, more than twoyears after Richard's first came
(31:06):
to Cain's attention. The pieces were finally falling
into place, but aside from all the rumors, there were no actual
proof that Richard had committedany crimes at all.
Richard was definitely getting sloppy, but he was too careful
to leave physical evidence linking him to his primes.
The only way to catch him would be getting someone close to him
(31:28):
soon when he trusted. But there were precious few
people Richard trusted, and nearly all of them were already
dead. But unbeknownst to the police,
Richard already planting the tower.
The last loose ends. Robert Progni, the Mr. Softy
(31:48):
truck driver from hell, was always been a little off, but
lately he's been acting completely senseless.
He had even asked Richard to kill his ex-wife and son, an
innocent woman and child. If they weren't friends, Richard
would have killed him on the spot for even asking.
Then in 1984 gave Pitch the ideaof poisoning an entire town's
(32:14):
water supply for the sake of killing one family he'd been
given a contract to murder. That was the last trifle for
Richard. Prognate needed to go.
So in early August of 1984, Gay was in the garage cleaning up
inside his ice cream truck. He didn't hear Richard sneaking
(32:37):
in. He barely had time to react
before Richard shot him. Few days later, the police found
Froggy hanging out of the driverside wind driver side door for
his ice cream truck with the twobullets in his chest.
They had no leads on who might have done it.
(33:00):
In the end, it wasn't Prague Day.
Richard needed to worry about his downfall would be at the
hands of a the only friend who never killed Phil Solomini.
See, in early 1985, a new customer began hanging around
Phil's store, Don Pro Provenzano, an old friend of
(33:26):
Phil's who traded in weapons. In reality, his name was
Dominique Polyfini, and he was an undercover EFT agent.
See, Dominique infiltrated so many mile circles over the years
that he was indistinguishably from a real gangster, even when
(33:47):
he wasn't on the job. When Detective Kane told him
about Richard Kosklinski suspected crime, Dom lost his
tip. And since that a murderer was
still walking the streets, Kane knew Phil Salome was one of the
few people Richard trust. And Phil, it turned out, was
(34:08):
more afraid of going to jail than he was of Richard
Coquelins. So when Detective Kane and
Dominique showed up at his store, it wasn't too hard to
twist the arm helping him out. When Detective Kane and
Dominique showed up at this store, it wasn't hard to twist
(34:30):
his arm into helping him out andKane's destructions.
Phil called Richard and told himhis old buddy Don was in town
and if he needed any weapons he should stop by.
The plan was for Dom to hang around the store in grading
himself with the regulars so that when Richard eventually
showed up he looked like a trustworthy guy and Don hung
(34:53):
around all day playing cards, chatting up with the local
criminal. But Richard never show days past
and weeks. Phil call Richard a few more
times but he didn't answer. Cain started to wonder if they
blew their cover early cover already.
They didn't know that Richard wasn't even in the country.
(35:15):
He recently been recruited into an international money
laundering scheme and he was on a trip to Switzerland to pick up
a check. Richard job was to pick up
checks in Zurich, Switzerland, fly back to America and cash
them in. And Richard job was to pick up,
like I said, to checks in Zurich, Switzerland, fly back to
(35:38):
America and cash them in a bank account he set up in Georgia for
his trope. Now he got 25% of each 6 figure
check over the next few months. Richard Pop Bob feels stored a
few times between his trips to Switzerland, but it was always
at the rare moment when Adam wasn't there.
(36:01):
And it went on like that for over a year with no progress.
And in the summer 1986, Detective Kane decided they have
to kick the hornet's nest. Richard just got home from
another trip to Zurich when he received a visit from Detective
Kane and another detective, Earnest Vogt.
(36:22):
They asked him if he knew anything about the murders of
Louise Mads, George Malaband, Paul Hoffman, Danny Deppner,
Gary Smith, Robert Prongay or Roy Demario, who he accidentally
had misspelled a few years ago. Richard Flatley did not even
knowing the first six people. He conceded that he knew the
(36:44):
male. He didn't know anything about
his murder. Kane mentioned that they had
phone records proofing Richard had called the York Motel in the
days before Gary Smith's body was found there.
Richard said he didn't know anything about that.
He got up and LED them to the door.
The discussion was over. Detective Kane has shown up and
(37:09):
answered vague questions about about making and arrest, and
Richard assumed it meant he didn't have any real evidence.
Then if Richard killed Cain, maybe the whole thing will go
just go away. But if Cain turned up dead,
Richard would obviously be the first suspect.
It had to look like he died a natural cause, and that's when
(37:29):
he decided he needs sign that Richard had killed his two
cyanide resources. Paul Hoffman and Robert Pronged
Gay and he was having trouble finding another supply.
So on a whim he called Phil Solomini and asked if his buddy
Dom. And on the morning of September
2nd in 1986, undercover ATF agent Dominique Paula Phone
(37:54):
finally met Richard Kolinsky at Dunkin' Donuts near Solomini's
store. Richard got right to the point.
Who wanted to sign that? Don said he could do that.
Richard was finally on the book,on the hook.
The problem was bullying and selling science.
Buying and selling Sinai wasn't elite.
He had to bait Richard into doing something else, something
(38:18):
inco virtually criminal. Thinking on his feet, he told.
Thinking on his feet. He told Richard he had a friend
in the IRA who was looking to buy some heavier weaponry in
return for the Sinai. Could Richard help with that?
Richard said sure, let me make afew calls.
(38:38):
He They traded phone numbers andparted way.
Richard had no reason to suspectDom was up to anything.
Phil had vouched for him and said he known Phil for 20 years,
but his arms deals sounded like an unnecessary hassle.
It might be easier to just kill Dom and his RA friend and take
(39:01):
both the side 9 in their cash. Meanwhile, Dom Kane in the
state's deputy Attorney General,Bob Carroll, put together a task
force for their new number one priority, operation, Iceland.
Even though Lewis, Mass, was theonly victim of Richard who was
(39:23):
ever found frozen, the name stuck.
After all, Richard was undeniably cold as ice and over
the next few weeks, Don worked to hammer out the details of the
phony arms deal with Richard. He even spoke to Richard arms
deal on the phone. It looked like it was all coming
together. Little did they know Richard was
(39:44):
actually scamming them. The arms dealer he introduced
down to was actually an associate of his form of his
from the money laundering business.
There will be no weapons. When Don showed up with the
cyanide, they were going to killhim on the spot.
Don's supervisors told him he could not, under any
circumstances, give cyanide to aserial killer.
(40:06):
But Richard wasn't late enough, so they devised a new plan to
use the situation to their advantage.
They give Richard fake cyanide and lure him into trying to
commit a murder with it, the waythey get him for attempted
murder. In addition to illegal firearm
(40:27):
sales, Dom pitched the idea to Richard.
He wanted to use cyanide to poison decline of his who became
a pain to deal with a young Richcocaine app.
Dom had never used cyanide before, so he wanted Rich's
help. They lured the client to a bogus
cocaine sale, poison him with a cyanide laced egg sandwich and
(40:51):
then split the cash the kid had bought.
Rich had no problem with this. The egg sandwich seemed a little
bizarre, but the whole plan eventually simplified things for
him. Instead of waiting around for
his arms deal to materialize, hecould just kill Dom at the same
time they killed the cocaine buyer and all the cash
(41:16):
themselves told Dom it was all in.
But over a year and a half into the spinning operation, the
police was finally closing in. But the day of the big arrest
wouldn't go as they expect. Because on the morning of of
December 17th, 1986, the New Jersey police, ATF, and FBI
surrounded a rest stop at the New Jersey Turnpike.
(41:38):
Armed and ready, Detective King was there, walking from a dark
van in tinted windows. He'd been waiting for the day,
this day, for years. He's given us sure that he could
personally be the one to put thecuffs on Richard.
But when Richard arrived at the Turnpike and was already waiting
with a white paper bag of egg sandwiches, he passed it to
(41:59):
Richard along with a small vial of white powder.
Tom said loud and clear to his hidden microphone.
Here's a cyanide. He then clarified that it was
enough cyanide to kill a lot of people.
Richard didn't notice. He was too focused on the black
van with the tinted windows partacross the line.
(42:21):
Richard walked straight towards the van down, training after
him. Inside, Kane and the other
detectives ducked down, careful not to make a move.
Richard squinted into all the van windows but couldn't see
anything. He let it go, told Don was going
to get his van which was parked at his nearby warehouse as they
plant. Don would go pick up the cocaine
(42:44):
buyer and meet Robert back at the Turnpike and 1/2 an hour
Richard drove a bit down the road and pulled over and
stopped, taking a look at the sign.
A closer look at that, it didn'tlook quite right.
He opened the valve and took a very careful with his smell
right. He got out the car and fed it,
tasted the powder to a stray dogon the side of the road.
(43:07):
The dog water off, wagging his tail completely fine.
This was a cyanide. Dom had scammed him.
Richard didn't know exactly whatDon Gang was, but he didn't feel
like sticking around to find out.
He drove to a phone booth, called Barbara and asked her if
she wanted to go out for breakfast.
While the strike force kept their eyes locked on the empty
(43:29):
Turnpike parking lot, Richard drove back to DuMont, stopped to
pick up some groceries, and wenthome.
Luckily for the police force, they assigned 2 detectives to
circle around Richard's neighborhood, keeping an eye
out, and when they looked around10, they were surprised to see
Richard in his driveway carryinggroceries instead of the
(43:51):
Turnpike where the sting was supposed to be going down.
They called the strike force with the new.
All at once, 15 unmarked law enforcement vehicles streaked
out of the Red Stop parking lot,speeding over the DuMont sirens
wheel. They weren't going to catch
Richard poison a man red handed,but they didn't have enough to
(44:13):
arrest him for conspiracy to commit murder.
Back home, Richard took his timeputting away the groceries while
Barbara got dressed. Despite the strange morning,
Richard was in a pretty good mood.
Barbara was feeling a little under the weather weather and
Richard insisted he take her to the doctor away after that and
out and for some bacon and eggs.He helped her zip up a jacket
(44:38):
and open the door for her as they headed outside.
As they started down the block and made their way down the
street, Richard noticed the longline of cars gathered at the end
of the road. Strange.
They didn't think nothing of it until the vehicle surged forward
in unison. Richard squared, running the
curb. A swarm of police and federal
(44:59):
agents jumped out and surroundedRichard's car.
One of them jumped onto the hoodof the car, pointing a gun right
at Richard through the windshield.
Detective Kane ripped open the driver's side door and pulled
Richard out. Eight strike team members piled
on top of him, subduing him while Kane tried to wrestle
(45:19):
puffs onto his massive wrist. The deputy police chief grabbed
Barbara and pushed her to the ground, keeping a boot on her
back while he cuffed her. His threw Richard into a rage.
He would have gone quietly, but they had no right to hurt.
Car. It took the force of four men to
(45:39):
slam Richard onto the hood of the car and wrestle his arms
behind his back. His wrists were too thick for
the handcuff. Detective Kane had to shackle
his arms together with leg irons.
The whole time Richard kept struggling and screaming.
There's no reason to involve her.
She's innocent. But Richard knew it was oath.
(46:00):
He always wanted to go out in a blaze of glory.
Shootout. He'd rather die than live to see
the shame and embarrassment his family would face once his
crimes were exposed. But it was just too late for
that. His wife and children were about
to find out who he really would.Didn't matter what happened at
trial, whether he was given lifein prison or the death penalty,
(46:22):
humiliating his family was already a fate worse than death.
December 1886, Richard Koplinskiwas officially charged with 16
counts of his crimes, including weapons charges, robbery,
attempted murder, and the murders of Gary Smith, Danny
Deppner, Lewis Moss, George Maliban and Paul Hoff.
(46:47):
When Barbara heard the list of charges against her husband, she
was shot. She knew Richard was violent,
but she had no idea how violent.For a while, she thought he was
being framed for the whole thing.
But as she said in the courtroom, listening to Richard
freely discussed murder on the tapes Don Polyphone had
reported, she slowly realized exactly who she'd been married
(47:11):
to for the past 25 years. The Koplinsky children, on the
other hand, were not surprised at all.
They always suspected their father capable of murder.
Merrick had gotten married and had a baby while Richard was in
jail awaiting trial. She came to the trial with her
baby in her arms on Richard's attorney advice that it might
(47:33):
make the jury more sympathetic. But Richard knew he didn't have
a chance. He told his lawyers not to
bother putting up a defense. He just wanted it all to be over
as quickly as possible. After four weeks of testimony,
the jury found Richard guilty onall accounts.
He would spend the rest of his life in a cell at Trenton State
(47:54):
Prison. After years of killing at the
behest of the mob, the murders that finally got Richard locked
up were the ones he committed onhis own initial.
If he hadn't begun killing people he had a personal
connection to, it's possibly he never would have been caught.
His sloppiness, his burles mistakes ultimately landed his
(48:17):
downfall. And in the years after his
arrest, Richard just surprisingly well to prison,
kept positive attitude because if he let prison break his
spirit, that means the police would want.
He was given medication for depression, anxiety, which
finally helped him bring his miracle temper under control.
(48:40):
He and Barbara the force. But he still wore her letters,
wrote her letters almost every day.
She rarely responded. Outside the prison walls, the
prolific hitman dubbed the Iceman was becoming an immediate
sensation. The public was desperate to
understand how such a cold blooded killer could live
(49:00):
undetected for decades in a quiet suburb.
Now. Throughout the 90s and early,
Thomas Richard gave a series of interviews of writers,
documentary film makers and psychiatrist where he spoke with
increasing pander about his lifeand career.
In one of those videotape interviews in 2001, he spoke for
(49:21):
the first time about his work for the Mafia, which the police
were already aware of but didn'thave enough evidence for
conviction. During the course of the
interview, he confessed to the murder of an NYPD detective
named Peter Calibro at the behest of the mosque.
After documentary aired, 2 detectives from the state
Attorney General's office showedup at Trenton State Prison
(49:45):
wondering who ordered the hit onCalibro.
Richard told them he'll talk about it as long as they
promised he wouldn't get the death penalty for it.
They agreed. He told them about height.
Was hired to kill Detective Calibro by Sammy the Bull
Gravano, a Gambino family under Boss.
In his defense, he swore he didn't know Calibro was a cop
(50:08):
until after the fact, but admitted that even if he did
know, he probably would have done it anyway.
So Richard formed an unexpected report with the two detectives
and decided to help them out by confessing the 12 other murders
he committed over the years, including Robert Prongay.
The details were cross checked in the New York.
(50:29):
The New Jersey police were finally able to close the books
on a dozen long unsolved cases. In 2003, Richard officially
plead guilty to the murder of Peter Calabro as the detective
promised to charge added just another 30 years onto his two
existing life sentences. But even though the detective
(50:50):
held up their bargain, Richard may Richard still may have
earned himself a death sent. After Richard's guilty plea,
Sammy Gravano was arrested for his role in Calibro's murder.
With the trial set for the summer of 22,006, Richard was
supposed to be the key witness, but he wouldn't make it to
court. In October 2005, Richard's
(51:12):
health began to fail. His blood pressure from he
developed memory law mention slurred speech, and his lungs
and kidneys begin to fail. I just could find no
explanation, no signs of a stroke or cancer.
They eventually gave him the eyediagnosis of Kawasaki disease, a
(51:35):
condition that usually effects children.
Richard told his family was afraid he was being poisoned and
if he didn't make it out of the prison hospital, it was because
he was murdered. His family and doctors dismissed
this as delusional, but some disclosed sources told author
Anthony Bruno, who wrote a biography on Richard, that Sammy
(51:57):
Gravano had put a contract to have him killed before he could
testify in the Caliber case. The last time Barbara visit
Richard at Saint Vincent's Hospital, he told such a good
person he was always such and she left the room without
response. On her way out the hospital she
signed to do not resuscitate port.
(52:19):
Days later Richard help took a turn for the work.
The hospital called Barbara the exit.
She wanted to rescind the order.She said no.
Richard Kozklinski died on Marchthe 5th, 2006 at the age of 7.
The autopsy revealed traces of catamom, a toxin substance that
(52:41):
can cause lung and kidney failure.
Regardless, the forensic examiner concluded that he died
of a natural cough. The day after Richard's death,
the charges against Sammy Gravano for commissioning the
murder of Detective Peter Calabro was dropped.
Yeah, yeah. Forgive me about my dog barking
(53:02):
in the back. When Richard Kolinsky was asked
how many people he killed over his nearly 4 decade career, he
put the number at definitely over 100, possibly his eyes 250.
But at the end of his death, only nineteen of those murders
have been definitely linked to him, and he had only been
(53:23):
officially convicted of sentence.
The rest of those homicides willremain forever unsolved.
Some of Richard's victims were dangerous criminals or even
killers themselves, but many of them were innocent men who just
happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
When he wasn't working on assignment, Richard violence was
utterly senseless. Perhaps the most tragic victim
(53:45):
was who are the ones Richard never killed, his wife and
children who live in constant fear of his uncontrollable
temper for decades. Though Richard was ultimately
the only one responsible for hisabuse and crimes, we have to
remember that criminals are not created.
In a fact that when asked by author Philip Carol Carlo how he
(54:10):
wanted to close his story, Richard said I was made.
I didn't create myself. I never choose to be this way,
to be in this place. Yeah, I for sure wish my life
took another turn, that I had aneducation and a good job.
But none of that was in the cards for me.
I am what I am. Guys.
(54:32):
This story really. Really affected me while doing
this research and the reason whyit affected me so much because
it makes you really understand that people are easily
influenced while they are in their childhood.
(54:54):
Richard Koplinski parents failedhim.
His father was an alcoholic and so abusive and violent who was
not only him but his mother thatit taught him that hate was the
(55:14):
safest feeling to always maintain in life.
His mother also did not do any better because she nourished
that same type of realization for Richard Koplinsky by always
hitting him for no reason and belittling him as well.
(55:37):
Richard Polinsky did not have a chance.
Now here's another strange fact about Richard Polinsky that
people don't understand. His little brother Joe.
His little brother Joe is currently serving I think a life
sentence for molesting a little,kidnapping and molesting a
little 12 year old girl. And that was back before that
(56:02):
was back in the 70s and he's still in jail.
I think he got 50 plus years. His sister lived a quiet life
and passed away. Now I looked up his family
today. His ex-wife is still alive, his
daughter is still alive. I could not see anything on his
older children. I don't know if they still alive
(56:24):
or not. I don't know if they changed
their name, but I'm quite sure that if they did kept the last
name Kolinsky, that people know who they are.
But guys, thank you for listening to the Ice fan.
I will definitely put out more content on my paid
subscriptions. I'm going to try to work on that
this evening. Please join my Patreon or my
(56:48):
paid subscription on Spotify andApple Podcast.
Guys this is where all of the content I have that I have not
published in the public for you to enjoy.
When we talk about everything tonotorious gangsters, to
criminals, crime, family, everything you can think of.
(57:09):
I mean we talk about it all. For that being said thank y'all
for joining in and listening to another episode of You Can't
make this BS up. But that being said please if
you like this or any of my content please leave a comment.
It helps with the algorithm so people can definitely see our
(57:30):
stuff more. And please give us a five star
rating because it's definitely make us more visible out there.
Until next time, I don't know what it is, I am out.
What is going on? Mind you can't make this BS up.
Followers, it's your host Joel Davis.
Before we start this story, I want you guys to understand the
follow due to the nature of thisepisode.
Listen listener discretion is vibes.
(00:22):
This episode includes discussionof domestic violence, child
abuse, murder, assault and animal cruelty.
Consider this one and deciding how and when you want to listen
to get any help on domestic violence again, visit
spotify.com/resource. You have and want.
Tonight we are going to talk about Part 2 of the contract
(00:46):
pillar, Richard Hopkinski, a manwho is responsible for 100 to
200 murders. While we're working for the mob.
We will talk about on the secondpart how he continuously do
contracts, actually starts getting a little sloppy and
(01:08):
possibly start getting the attention of the federales or
the federal AKA the FBI. With that being stated, y'all
know what it is Let's begin the broadcast.
What's going on everybody y'all know what it is.
Your favorite host Joel Davis Son you can't make this BS up
(01:35):
his back. I'm here.
I'm here first before most want you guys to know that I am
enjoying doing this podcast. I'm loving the followers I'm
getting. I'm loving the people really
(01:56):
paying attention to what we're doing on all platforms on social
media. Again, I want to thank you guys
so much. You got any suggestion on any
story you want me to do a true prime Y'all know what to do get
in the comments sections. You can get into my e-mail that
I personally have attached to this podcast.
Just reach out to me and we willdefinitely do whatever we can to
(02:17):
look into the case and do an episode like this.
Now we are on the second part ofRichard Kosklinski.
If you don't know who he is, Richard Kolkinski, or they would
call him Big Rich, is known as being one of the most prolific
(02:38):
contract killers the mafia has ever had in their arsenal.
The thing about Richard is Richard was a very unique
contract killer because for one he was a towering 6 foot 5 to 6
foot 6 based upon how he walked and he was a little over £300.
(02:59):
Now the thing also about RichardPolskinski is that he was able
to always get his target, he never missed on an assignment,
he was always on time and alwayscame through and he was so good
at what he did. Is that even the mafiosos that
(03:21):
hired him to do the work was also afraid of him because again
he was good at what he do. But again, Richard was living 2
lives. He had the lives that he wants
people to see with his family and his and around his
neighbors. And then it was the criminal
underworld where he was known asa man that was not to be messy.
(03:46):
On this second episode, we're going to talk about some of the
things he did and how his intimacy caught up with it.
So again, this is the second part of Richard Kulkinsk on
Kulk, Klinsky the Iceman. Let's get it.
(04:09):
Richard was staking out a hotel in Queens, working a job for the
Cavante family. He was having trouble keeping
track of his mark. There was someone else who
distracted him from his shifty eyes, long and wild hair, and
careful movements. Richard immediately recognized
(04:32):
this man as a contract. The way he kept popping up,
Richard's first thought was thathe's also been assigned to kill
the same mark, but then he started to wonder if the other
man had actually been sent out to kill him.
After several days of staking out the hotel, Richard was
(04:53):
sitting in his van, tranquilizergun at the ready, when he heard
the Jingle of an ice cream truckapproaching.
It was a hot day and he was getting thirsty, so he flagged
down the Mr. Softy truck as it drove by.
Sure enough, there in the driver's seat was that guy.
By that point, Richard and the Mr. Softy driver had both
(05:17):
clocked each other as killers. Richard asked him what he was
doing and the man told him he used the ice cream truck to do
surveillance. The truck wasn't just a front,
it was a fully stopped in operation.
The man gave Richard a soap and they got to talk.
His name was Robert Pronge. He was former military and his
(05:40):
main interest even after leavingthe army were explosives and
murder. It was as if fate had brought
them together. Richard took a break from his
stakeout and went back with Prong Gay to check out his
garage. Tucked in the back corner was a
locker filled with guns, ammunition, poison, and remote
(06:01):
detonator grenade. He showed Richard his favorite
weapon, a white spray bottle full of cyanide mixed with as
Brungay explained, it's the concoction was sprayed on the
someone's skin. It would absorb and kill them
within seconds. He demonstrate on a stray cat
(06:21):
passing by one spray in the faceand the cat instantly killed
over. It was the quickest, cleanest
murder method Richard had ever seen, and Richard and Progay
became fast friend. They shared murder tips and
tricks and even started doing jobs together, splitting the
(06:41):
payment. On one occasion they needed to
make it look like a man died much later than he actually did.
They brainstormed and came up with an idea.
If you freeze a body, it won't be decomposed.
They stored the body in a meat freezer, and when they took the
body out months later, it appears as he'd been dead for a
few days. The police never figured out the
(07:03):
man had actually been dead for several months.
By 19, it seemed like Richard was hitting his prime.
He had a wonderful family, his career was on the way up, and he
even made a couple of good friends.
Or so he thought. Over the next few years, Richard
would discover that only good friend is a dead friend.
(07:25):
Now keep that in mind. This is what Richard said.
The only good friend is a dead friend.
Lord Hammers man, that's that's,that's hard right there.
It was a hot summer day in 1986.Detectives Patrick Kane and
Ernest Volkman was sitting on the couch with Richard Copeland
skis living room. Richard off the detectives iced
(07:48):
tea and they both declined for fear they would be poisoned.
He sat down in the easy chair across from them, right below a
giant oil painting of himself and his wife bar His eyes were
hidden under dark sunglasses. Detective Kane told him they
were investigating a number of murders.
Louis Masgay, George Malabon, Paul Hoffman, Danny Deppner and
(08:15):
Gary Smith. Richard Cooley denied knowing
any of these people. Then Kane asked did he know a
Robert Prong Gay or Roy de Mayo?Richard stared at him for a long
moment and then said, sure, I know the male, you guys know I
(08:37):
knew him. Why don't you like like me, Mr.
Cain? Cain replied.
Who said I don't like? Richard answered.
I could see that in your eyes. Cain insisted.
He didn't take his word personally, but it was a waste
of breath. By the time he invoked me, had
gotten back into their car, Richard had made-up his mind he
(08:59):
was going to kill detective packed tank.
I'm telling you, this is how it is.
Now we're doing a recap. Remember Richard on Kaglinski's
criminal career began 1949 when he was 13 years old and he beat
the neighborhood bully to death and allegedly threw him over a
(09:21):
Cliff, a Cliff. Then for the next few decades he
made a living through hijacking,piracy, pornography distribution
until the mid 70s. And then in the guidance of
mafia executioner Roy Demaio, helearned to channel his
aggression in a more profitable direction as a contract killer.
(09:46):
So it all, he flew completely under the radar of law
enforcement because seeing his neighbor in his suburban
neighborhood of New Jersey, everybody thought he was a
friendly, friendly family man. You know, real tall dad like guy
who was successful in a film production business that they
(10:08):
didn't really know what kind of film it was.
Even his own family didn't know what kind of film he did, which
we already know that Later they come to realize it was smut AKA
pornography. And because he kept his crimes
and his personal life completelyseparate, he never been linked
back to any of the 100 or more murders that he has committed by
(10:32):
contract or just for fun. But in 1980, Richard broke his
own car. Naruto.
He killed someone who he could be tied back to.
His old friend George Malabank. Georgie Boy as Richard called
him, was a sweet man and a long time family friend, but his
(10:56):
obsessive gambling had gotten him into trouble because he owed
a lot of money to a lot of, including Roy DeMille.
Richard did what he could to smooth things over between them,
but he could only do so much. When George final notice came in
early February of 1980, he made a desperate visit to Richard.
(11:20):
They were driving along on Richard's van when George made a
fatal mistake. He told Richard.
I don't think you'd ever let Demaio hurt me.
I know why. Where you live, where your
family lives. And threats against his family
were one thing Richard couldn't abide by.
(11:42):
He immediately pulled over, grabbed his pistol and shot
Georgie Boy five times. Richard disposed the body the
same way he usually did. He stuffed them into a steel
barrel drum and threw him into the reservoir.
But he didn't stick around to see that drum hit a rock on the
(12:03):
way down. Calls in the lid, the bus open.
The body was found and identified just days later.
Richard was actually questioned about George Maliban's murder.
George had apparently told his brother that he was going to
meet Richard on the day he was last seen alive.
But Richard told the police he didn't know anything, And since
(12:23):
he's never been connected to a homicide case before, the matter
was dropped. This brush with law enforcement
should have been a warning. He needed to be more careful and
keep a circle of associates as small as possible.
But the truth was, Maliban gone,Richard was only longing for
more friends. He was perpetually shut out of
(12:45):
the Moth. Since he wasn't Italian, he
wanted to be part of something, to have his own prime family
instead of always being the lonewolf.
So around 1981 Richard round up a few guys he met at Phil's
Soleimani store and organized them into a little breaking and
entering crew. The second in command of the
(13:06):
group was Percy House, Phil Solomon's Manny's
brother-in-law. Then there was Danny Deppner, a
perpetually unkempt man whose wife had recently left him to
shack up with Percy. There was our rink, a scrawny
little guy in Gary Smith, a tall, the spectacled man with a
(13:30):
beard that made him look like a Lincoln.
It were hardly America's Most Wanted, but they could follow
Richard's order. Throughout 1981, they broke into
dozens of houses around New Jersey, stealing valuables and
selling them at Bill's store. Meanwhile, Richard and Phil were
running their old side scheme ofluring customers into the store
(13:53):
for phony sales and killing themand taking their cash.
Since the entire setup was predicated on buying stolen
goods, the victims didn't tell anyone where they were going
before they disappeared, so the murders would never link back to
Phil and Richard. This is until one day in July
1981 when their Mark Lewis Mass mentioned that he told his
(14:16):
family he was heading out field store.
If he disappeared that night, Phil will be the first one
question. Fortunately, Richard stormed in
and shot Mass in the head beforePhil had a chance to pass along
that information. Thinking on his feet, Richard
decided to pull out the old trick he done once before he and
(14:38):
Phil Lord Maskey's body into an old well full of cold water,
hoping the body was freeze well enough to throw off the time of
death. Whenever they decide to take the
body out, it will look like Mad Square had died long after his
visit to Field Store. But a few weeks later, Phil got
(15:01):
into an argument with Percy, house foreman of Richard's
breaking and entering crew. He offhandedly threatened him by
mentioning that Richard had killed Lewis Maske and George
Mellaban too. Cat was out the bag now.
Percy told the rest of the game,who told their wives, who told
(15:22):
their friends, and eventually everybody knew.
Richard didn't like having his name directly linked to two of
his murder. The only hope.
That is, as long as his proof stayed out of trouble, there'll
be no reason for anyone to rat him out.
That hope was misplaced. In late 1981, Patrick Kane was
called into the supervisor office to beat a burglar.
(15:46):
One hour. Rink had been had just been
caught breaking into a house andwas ready to cut a deal for a
lighter sentence. Rink claimed his gang was
responsible for dozens of unsolved burglaries in across
the state. No one could tell whether he was
(16:06):
being honest. So Detective Kane was asked with
driving Rink all around New Jersey for two days as he
pointed out every single house the gang had robbed over the
past year. Rink also named his accomplices
Perry House, Danny Depp, Gary Smith and one man he knew only
as Big Rich. Cain said to work across
(16:29):
prefacing Rink's testimony with their back or reported
burglaries. It would take some time to put
together an indictment, but it all seemed straightforward.
There was only one missing pieceof the puzzle, Who was Big Rich?
Big Rich was by early 1982 too busy to pay much thought to Al
(16:50):
Rink. He was still doing contract work
for the Mafia with his pal Robert Prong, AKA Mr. Softy.
He was making frequent trips to LA with where his porn
distribution business now had a West Coast headquarters and his
oldest daughter Merrick was about to graduate high school.
(17:13):
Rich had always tried to make time for his family.
He went to all his sons Dwayne middle school wrestling matches,
the one activity the two could bond over.
Father son bonding was foreign concept Richard.
He tried his best to reach out, but Dwayne had never really
(17:34):
taken to the BB gun swarms and knives Richard gifted him with.
For the rest of the Kolinsky family, Richard good moves were
still overshadowed by his violent ratings.
He beat Barbara mercilessly and thought he never laid a finger
on the children just witnessing his outbursts.
(17:56):
Terrified. Recently, Barbara and their
teenage daughter Chris had to plan to poison it, the only way
to get him out of their lives for good.
They were too scared to ever go with it, so Richard remained
completely oblivious to exactly how much his own family hated
it. He often dreamed of saving
enough money to get out of the business before it was too late.
(18:20):
He knew no one made it out of his line of work except in
handcuffs or in a cast. He only hoped he would never be
arrested in front of his family.He couldn't stand to see the
humiliation in judgement. But retirement was a far off
dream. Richard still had places to go
and people to kill. In April of 1982, Richard began
(18:42):
having problems with his cyanidesupply.
All Hoff Hoffman didn't do anything specifically wrong,
Richard just thought he was greedy and annoying as usual.
Richard saw the problem by luring Hoffman to his warehouse
for a phony business deal, leading him to a death with a
(19:03):
tie iron and stealing 25,000 in cats that he had brought along
with it. He left Hoffman's body in a
steel barrel outside nearby diner, hidden in plain sight.
I thought it was in it clear until the police came around.
Apparently on that day Hoffman disappeared.
(19:23):
He had a friend that he was supposed to see, Richard
Koplinsky. Richard kept cool.
He told investigators he didn't even know Paul Hoffman.
It must have the wrong guy. These detectives were from a
different precinct that the oneswho investigated George
(19:43):
Maliban's murder 2 years early, so they had no clue Bridget had
been spotted and that been questioned in that previous
case. We let them go.
But Richard's real problems was just beginning October 1982,
Jacob Kane had 152 count indictment against New Jersey
(20:09):
burglary crew Percy House, AnnieDeppner and Gary Smith.
The elusive leader Big Ridge remained to be seen.
On December 17th, 1982, the police swooped in and made their
first arrest, Percy House. But when they moved to apprehend
the rest of the game, there werenowhere to be found.
(20:32):
Danny Deppner and Gary Smith hassuddenly vanished.
Unbeknownst to the police, when Richard got wind that Percy had
been arrested, he immediately took Gary, Danny and Gary to the
New York Motel in North Virgin, New Jersey.
(20:53):
He thought he could trust Percy to keep his mouth shut, but he
was. Now Danny Deppner and Gary Smith
had suddenly vanished. Unbeknownst to the police, when
Richard got wind that Percy had been arrested, he immediately
took Danny and Glory and Gary tothe York meetings.
(21:17):
Yeah, to the York Motel in NorthBergen, NJ So let me rephrase
that again. Unbeknownst to the policeman,
Richard got wind that person hadbeen arrested.
He immediately took Danny and Gary to the York Motel in North
Virgin, New Jersey. He thought he could trust Percy
to keep his mouth shut, but he wasn't taking any chances with
(21:39):
all three of them. Behind Ball, Bridget told Danny
and Gary very calmly to stay in the motel room and not to leave
under any circumstances. They were terrified of Richard,
even more than they were scared of going to prison, so they
didn't argue. But it was a week before
Christmas and they had families at home and after days of
holding up in the smallest room,they were getting restless.
(22:03):
On December 20th, Gary Smith snuck out the hotel and
hitchhiked back home to see his five year old daughter.
He made it there and back to thehotel without running to the
police. A few days later on Christmas
Eve, Richard came to visit bearing burgers and fries from a
nearby dime. He passed out the Burger, 2 with
(22:26):
pickle for himself and Danny, and one without for Gary.
He was in a great mood, full of holiday spirit.
Despise the circle. It was an almost juvia meal.
Three friends sticking together through thick and thin.
What better way to spend Christmas Eve?
(22:47):
And about halfway into his burger, Gary suddenly fell over
and passed, his face turning blue, which had found out
somehow about Gary's voyage home.
He laced his hamburger with signthat Richard watched stone
faces. Gary choked his pass, but he did
die. The patient.
Richard pulled a wire out of thebedside lamp and told Danny to
(23:14):
strangle him with it, and Danny did what he was told.
When Gary finally stopped breathing, they stole his body
under the mat. Richard would later admit this
was a bad idea, but at the time if his body out of the room in
left view. But either way, it didn't matter
if the Bible was found. Danny was the only person who
(23:37):
could link Gary's death to Richard, and Danny wouldn't be
around much long after Richard Koslinski and his associates.
Gary Smith on Christmas Eve in 1982, he went back home to enjoy
the rest of the holidays with his family.
He trusted Danny Deppner to keepquiet.
(23:59):
After all, Danny had participated in Gary's murder.
He could possibly be dumb enoughto talk about a murder he
himself had committed on Four days later on December, Gary's
rotting body was found on a mattress at the York Motel.
The once thinned pale skin Gary was bloated and decomposed that
(24:24):
police identified the body as anoverweight black man.
They had no leads until a few days later on January 3rd when
Barbara Deppner, Danny's ex-wifearrived at the detective Pat
Crane. So a few days later on January
3rd when Barbara Deppner, Danny's ex-wife arrived at
Detective Pat Kane's office, Danny had called and told her
(24:47):
what happened to Gary. She was in the panic, pleading
with Kane to stop Richard Kalinsky, so Danny had called
and told her what happened to Gary.
She was in the panic, fleeting with Kane to stop Richard
Koplinsky before he did the sameto Danny.
She kept calling Richard the Devil, a killer, a professional
(25:08):
killer. Kane was quick to put it
together. This must be the elusive Big
Rich. Kane searched through the state
records and quickly found Richard, so Cain was quick to
put it together. This must be the elusive big
Rich. Cain searched through the state
records and found and quickly found this Richard Koplinsky.
(25:31):
He lived in DuMont, just a couple of towns over.
Wait, he what? He had three kids.
He had on two separate occasionspunched through far windows and
road rage incidents. And he was all once briefly
bought in writing a bad check, but that was nothing on the
(25:51):
record to Richard. Let me see again.
The next week, Richard found outDanny had sold his ex-wife.
What happened? He promptly killed him, wrapped
his body in trash bags and dumped him into the reservoir.
He didn't bother to hide the body very well.
(26:12):
Richard was getting old. It was getting tired, he didn't
have it in him to dismember and bury corpses the way he used to,
and with Gary and Danny dead, Richard thought he was safe as
long as Percy didn't turn on him.
It was a now early January 1993 and Percy has been in jail for a
(26:38):
month all the whole while being pressed for information by the
take the tank Kane told him he wanted and when Gary and Danny
was dead Richard thought he was safe as long as Percy didn't
turn up. Now we're looking at early
January 1980 and Percy had been in jail for a month all the
(26:59):
whole while being pressed information by the take the
Kane. Now Kane told him all he wanted
was Richard Kuklinski and if he gave him Kuklinski Kane would
cut Percy a nice deal. Plea deal, I meant.
Percy quickly figured out that Richard killed Gary and Danny
and he didn't want to go out thesame way.
(27:21):
But with every day he spent behind bars, the prospect of
plea deal became more tempting. Eventually decided he'd rather
take the chances on the street than spend another night in
jail. Percy truly didn't know anything
about Gary and Danny's murder, but but every day he spit behind
bars. The Prosper go plea did like I
(27:41):
said, became more temp and personally personally truly
didn't know anything about Gary and Danny's murder.
But he did tell Kane about the three of the murders.
He heard Richard, so he heard that Richard was responsible for
George Maliban and Lewis Mast and Paul Hoff.
Kane ended up the more precincts, well, other
(28:03):
precincts, and realized that Richard had been questioned in
all three cases, but each time he told police he didn't even
know the victim. And with no hard evidence to the
contrary. Since the murders of
disappearance all happened in different jurisdictions, no one
had linked them together. But Maliban, Moss, and Hoffman
all had one thing in common withGary Smith and Danny Depp Depp
(28:28):
they all spent their last days with Richard cleansing.
The only thing missing was physical evidence.
On May 14th, 1983, four months after his death, Danny Deppner's
body was finally found. Since the murder and
disappearance all happened in different.
So again, like I said, Daddy Deppner's body was finally found
(28:52):
near the West MILF Milford Reservoir, and he still had his
wallet in his pocket, and he wasquickly identified to date with
Cain. The prime suspect was obvious,
Richard Kuklinski, but with no evidence except Barbara
deafness. Yeah, no start to go with that
as praise. So the prime suspect was obvious
(29:12):
again, Richard Kuklinski, but with no arrest itself, Barbara
deafness accusation he couldn't make an arrest a few months
later in September 1983, Richard.
All right, let me go start. So a few months later, in
September 1983, Richard decided it was finally time to get rid
of Lewis body. Frozen body.
(29:34):
The trick worked. When he pulled a mass body from
the well, it looked like he'd been passed away for a day or
so. So it actually worked too well
because the body was just a few days later before it had time to
fully defrost. And then the autopsy revealed
(29:57):
that Masques organs were filled with ice.
The investigator easily picked together what had happened.
Mass must have been killed shortly after his disappearance,
then frozen to throw off the time of death.
Suspicion fell back on the last man that was seen with him, and
(30:22):
it was the same man that Percy House had accused of murder,
Richard Copeland. Cain put together everything he
could find on Richard and his alleged victims and brought it
to the NYPD Organized Crime Division, hoping they could help
find some missing links. The NYPD gave Richard mugshot to
(30:45):
a mafia informant who recognizedthe man in the photo as the
fault, a hit man who worked withRoy Demeo.
Maybe there was something to Barbara Deppman's claim that
Richard was a professional killer.
It was early 1984, more than twoyears after Richard's first came
(31:06):
to Cain's attention. The pieces were finally falling
into place, but aside from all the rumors, there were no actual
proof that Richard had committedany crimes at all.
Richard was definitely getting sloppy, but he was too careful
to leave physical evidence linking him to his primes.
The only way to catch him would be getting someone close to him
(31:28):
soon when he trusted. But there were precious few
people Richard trusted, and nearly all of them were already
dead. But unbeknownst to the police,
Richard already planting the tower.
The last loose ends. Robert Progni, the Mr. Softy
(31:48):
truck driver from hell, was always been a little off, but
lately he's been acting completely senseless.
He had even asked Richard to kill his ex-wife and son, an
innocent woman and child. If they weren't friends, Richard
would have killed him on the spot for even asking.
Then in 1984 gave Pitch the ideaof poisoning an entire town's
(32:14):
water supply for the sake of killing one family he'd been
given a contract to murder. That was the last trifle for
Richard. Prognate needed to go.
So in early August of 1984, Gay was in the garage cleaning up
inside his ice cream truck. He didn't hear Richard sneaking
(32:37):
in. He barely had time to react
before Richard shot him. Few days later, the police found
Froggy hanging out of the driverside wind driver side door for
his ice cream truck with the twobullets in his chest.
They had no leads on who might have done it.
(33:00):
In the end, it wasn't Prague Day.
Richard needed to worry about his downfall would be at the
hands of a the only friend who never killed Phil Solomini.
See, in early 1985, a new customer began hanging around
Phil's store, Don Pro Provenzano, an old friend of
(33:26):
Phil's who traded in weapons. In reality, his name was
Dominique Polyfini, and he was an undercover EFT agent.
See, Dominique infiltrated so many mile circles over the years
that he was indistinguishably from a real gangster, even when
(33:47):
he wasn't on the job. When Detective Kane told him
about Richard Kosklinski suspected crime, Dom lost his
tip. And since that a murderer was
still walking the streets, Kane knew Phil Salome was one of the
few people Richard trust. And Phil, it turned out, was
(34:08):
more afraid of going to jail than he was of Richard
Coquelins. So when Detective Kane and
Dominique showed up at his store, it wasn't too hard to
twist the arm helping him out. When Detective Kane and
Dominique showed up at this store, it wasn't hard to twist
(34:30):
his arm into helping him out andKane's destructions.
Phil called Richard and told himhis old buddy Don was in town
and if he needed any weapons he should stop by.
The plan was for Dom to hang around the store in grading
himself with the regulars so that when Richard eventually
showed up he looked like a trustworthy guy and Don hung
(34:53):
around all day playing cards, chatting up with the local
criminal. But Richard never show days past
and weeks. Phil call Richard a few more
times but he didn't answer. Cain started to wonder if they
blew their cover early cover already.
They didn't know that Richard wasn't even in the country.
(35:15):
He recently been recruited into an international money
laundering scheme and he was on a trip to Switzerland to pick up
a check. Richard job was to pick up
checks in Zurich, Switzerland, fly back to America and cash
them in. And Richard job was to pick up,
like I said, to checks in Zurich, Switzerland, fly back to
(35:38):
America and cash them in a bank account he set up in Georgia for
his trope. Now he got 25% of each 6 figure
check over the next few months. Richard Pop Bob feels stored a
few times between his trips to Switzerland, but it was always
at the rare moment when Adam wasn't there.
(36:01):
And it went on like that for over a year with no progress.
And in the summer 1986, Detective Kane decided they have
to kick the hornet's nest. Richard just got home from
another trip to Zurich when he received a visit from Detective
Kane and another detective, Earnest Vogt.
(36:22):
They asked him if he knew anything about the murders of
Louise Mads, George Malaband, Paul Hoffman, Danny Deppner,
Gary Smith, Robert Prongay or Roy Demario, who he accidentally
had misspelled a few years ago. Richard Flatley did not even
knowing the first six people. He conceded that he knew the
(36:44):
male. He didn't know anything about
his murder. Kane mentioned that they had
phone records proofing Richard had called the York Motel in the
days before Gary Smith's body was found there.
Richard said he didn't know anything about that.
He got up and LED them to the door.
The discussion was over. Detective Kane has shown up and
(37:09):
answered vague questions about about making and arrest, and
Richard assumed it meant he didn't have any real evidence.
Then if Richard killed Cain, maybe the whole thing will go
just go away. But if Cain turned up dead,
Richard would obviously be the first suspect.
It had to look like he died a natural cause, and that's when
(37:29):
he decided he needs sign that Richard had killed his two
cyanide resources. Paul Hoffman and Robert Pronged
Gay and he was having trouble finding another supply.
So on a whim he called Phil Solomini and asked if his buddy
Dom. And on the morning of September
2nd in 1986, undercover ATF agent Dominique Paula Phone
(37:54):
finally met Richard Kolinsky at Dunkin' Donuts near Solomini's
store. Richard got right to the point.
Who wanted to sign that? Don said he could do that.
Richard was finally on the book,on the hook.
The problem was bullying and selling science.
Buying and selling Sinai wasn't elite.
He had to bait Richard into doing something else, something
(38:18):
inco virtually criminal. Thinking on his feet, he told.
Thinking on his feet. He told Richard he had a friend
in the IRA who was looking to buy some heavier weaponry in
return for the Sinai. Could Richard help with that?
Richard said sure, let me make afew calls.
(38:38):
He They traded phone numbers andparted way.
Richard had no reason to suspectDom was up to anything.
Phil had vouched for him and said he known Phil for 20 years,
but his arms deals sounded like an unnecessary hassle.
It might be easier to just kill Dom and his RA friend and take
(39:01):
both the side 9 in their cash. Meanwhile, Dom Kane in the
state's deputy Attorney General,Bob Carroll, put together a task
force for their new number one priority, operation, Iceland.
Even though Lewis, Mass, was theonly victim of Richard who was
(39:23):
ever found frozen, the name stuck.
After all, Richard was undeniably cold as ice and over
the next few weeks, Don worked to hammer out the details of the
phony arms deal with Richard. He even spoke to Richard arms
deal on the phone. It looked like it was all coming
together. Little did they know Richard was
(39:44):
actually scamming them. The arms dealer he introduced
down to was actually an associate of his form of his
from the money laundering business.
There will be no weapons. When Don showed up with the
cyanide, they were going to killhim on the spot.
Don's supervisors told him he could not, under any
circumstances, give cyanide to aserial killer.
(40:06):
But Richard wasn't late enough, so they devised a new plan to
use the situation to their advantage.
They give Richard fake cyanide and lure him into trying to
commit a murder with it, the waythey get him for attempted
murder. In addition to illegal firearm
(40:27):
sales, Dom pitched the idea to Richard.
He wanted to use cyanide to poison decline of his who became
a pain to deal with a young Richcocaine app.
Dom had never used cyanide before, so he wanted Rich's
help. They lured the client to a bogus
cocaine sale, poison him with a cyanide laced egg sandwich and
(40:51):
then split the cash the kid had bought.
Rich had no problem with this. The egg sandwich seemed a little
bizarre, but the whole plan eventually simplified things for
him. Instead of waiting around for
his arms deal to materialize, hecould just kill Dom at the same
time they killed the cocaine buyer and all the cash
(41:16):
themselves told Dom it was all in.
But over a year and a half into the spinning operation, the
police was finally closing in. But the day of the big arrest
wouldn't go as they expect. Because on the morning of of
December 17th, 1986, the New Jersey police, ATF, and FBI
surrounded a rest stop at the New Jersey Turnpike.
(41:38):
Armed and ready, Detective King was there, walking from a dark
van in tinted windows. He'd been waiting for the day,
this day, for years. He's given us sure that he could
personally be the one to put thecuffs on Richard.
But when Richard arrived at the Turnpike and was already waiting
with a white paper bag of egg sandwiches, he passed it to
(41:59):
Richard along with a small vial of white powder.
Tom said loud and clear to his hidden microphone.
Here's a cyanide. He then clarified that it was
enough cyanide to kill a lot of people.
Richard didn't notice. He was too focused on the black
van with the tinted windows partacross the line.
(42:21):
Richard walked straight towards the van down, training after
him. Inside, Kane and the other
detectives ducked down, careful not to make a move.
Richard squinted into all the van windows but couldn't see
anything. He let it go, told Don was going
to get his van which was parked at his nearby warehouse as they
plant. Don would go pick up the cocaine
(42:44):
buyer and meet Robert back at the Turnpike and 1/2 an hour
Richard drove a bit down the road and pulled over and
stopped, taking a look at the sign.
A closer look at that, it didn'tlook quite right.
He opened the valve and took a very careful with his smell
right. He got out the car and fed it,
tasted the powder to a stray dogon the side of the road.
(43:07):
The dog water off, wagging his tail completely fine.
This was a cyanide. Dom had scammed him.
Richard didn't know exactly whatDon Gang was, but he didn't feel
like sticking around to find out.
He drove to a phone booth, called Barbara and asked her if
she wanted to go out for breakfast.
While the strike force kept their eyes locked on the empty
(43:29):
Turnpike parking lot, Richard drove back to DuMont, stopped to
pick up some groceries, and wenthome.
Luckily for the police force, they assigned 2 detectives to
circle around Richard's neighborhood, keeping an eye
out, and when they looked around10, they were surprised to see
Richard in his driveway carryinggroceries instead of the
(43:51):
Turnpike where the sting was supposed to be going down.
They called the strike force with the new.
All at once, 15 unmarked law enforcement vehicles streaked
out of the Red Stop parking lot,speeding over the DuMont sirens
wheel. They weren't going to catch
Richard poison a man red handed,but they didn't have enough to
(44:13):
arrest him for conspiracy to commit murder.
Back home, Richard took his timeputting away the groceries while
Barbara got dressed. Despite the strange morning,
Richard was in a pretty good mood.
Barbara was feeling a little under the weather weather and
Richard insisted he take her to the doctor away after that and
out and for some bacon and eggs.He helped her zip up a jacket
(44:38):
and open the door for her as they headed outside.
As they started down the block and made their way down the
street, Richard noticed the longline of cars gathered at the end
of the road. Strange.
They didn't think nothing of it until the vehicle surged forward
in unison. Richard squared, running the
curb. A swarm of police and federal
(44:59):
agents jumped out and surroundedRichard's car.
One of them jumped onto the hoodof the car, pointing a gun right
at Richard through the windshield.
Detective Kane ripped open the driver's side door and pulled
Richard out. Eight strike team members piled
on top of him, subduing him while Kane tried to wrestle
(45:19):
puffs onto his massive wrist. The deputy police chief grabbed
Barbara and pushed her to the ground, keeping a boot on her
back while he cuffed her. His threw Richard into a rage.
He would have gone quietly, but they had no right to hurt.
Car. It took the force of four men to
(45:39):
slam Richard onto the hood of the car and wrestle his arms
behind his back. His wrists were too thick for
the handcuff. Detective Kane had to shackle
his arms together with leg irons.
The whole time Richard kept struggling and screaming.
There's no reason to involve her.
She's innocent. But Richard knew it was oath.
(46:00):
He always wanted to go out in a blaze of glory.
Shootout. He'd rather die than live to see
the shame and embarrassment his family would face once his
crimes were exposed. But it was just too late for
that. His wife and children were about
to find out who he really would.Didn't matter what happened at
trial, whether he was given lifein prison or the death penalty,
(46:22):
humiliating his family was already a fate worse than death.
December 1886, Richard Koplinskiwas officially charged with 16
counts of his crimes, including weapons charges, robbery,
attempted murder, and the murders of Gary Smith, Danny
Deppner, Lewis Moss, George Maliban and Paul Hoff.
(46:47):
When Barbara heard the list of charges against her husband, she
was shot. She knew Richard was violent,
but she had no idea how violent.For a while, she thought he was
being framed for the whole thing.
But as she said in the courtroom, listening to Richard
freely discussed murder on the tapes Don Polyphone had
reported, she slowly realized exactly who she'd been married
(47:11):
to for the past 25 years. The Koplinsky children, on the
other hand, were not surprised at all.
They always suspected their father capable of murder.
Merrick had gotten married and had a baby while Richard was in
jail awaiting trial. She came to the trial with her
baby in her arms on Richard's attorney advice that it might
(47:33):
make the jury more sympathetic. But Richard knew he didn't have
a chance. He told his lawyers not to
bother putting up a defense. He just wanted it all to be over
as quickly as possible. After four weeks of testimony,
the jury found Richard guilty onall accounts.
He would spend the rest of his life in a cell at Trenton State
(47:54):
Prison. After years of killing at the
behest of the mob, the murders that finally got Richard locked
up were the ones he committed onhis own initial.
If he hadn't begun killing people he had a personal
connection to, it's possibly he never would have been caught.
His sloppiness, his burles mistakes ultimately landed his
(48:17):
downfall. And in the years after his
arrest, Richard just surprisingly well to prison,
kept positive attitude because if he let prison break his
spirit, that means the police would want.
He was given medication for depression, anxiety, which
finally helped him bring his miracle temper under control.
(48:40):
He and Barbara the force. But he still wore her letters,
wrote her letters almost every day.
She rarely responded. Outside the prison walls, the
prolific hitman dubbed the Iceman was becoming an immediate
sensation. The public was desperate to
understand how such a cold blooded killer could live
(49:00):
undetected for decades in a quiet suburb.
Now. Throughout the 90s and early,
Thomas Richard gave a series of interviews of writers,
documentary film makers and psychiatrist where he spoke with
increasing pander about his lifeand career.
In one of those videotape interviews in 2001, he spoke for
(49:21):
the first time about his work for the Mafia, which the police
were already aware of but didn'thave enough evidence for
conviction. During the course of the
interview, he confessed to the murder of an NYPD detective
named Peter Calibro at the behest of the mosque.
After documentary aired, 2 detectives from the state
Attorney General's office showedup at Trenton State Prison
(49:45):
wondering who ordered the hit onCalibro.
Richard told them he'll talk about it as long as they
promised he wouldn't get the death penalty for it.
They agreed. He told them about height.
Was hired to kill Detective Calibro by Sammy the Bull
Gravano, a Gambino family under Boss.
In his defense, he swore he didn't know Calibro was a cop
(50:08):
until after the fact, but admitted that even if he did
know, he probably would have done it anyway.
So Richard formed an unexpected report with the two detectives
and decided to help them out by confessing the 12 other murders
he committed over the years, including Robert Prongay.
The details were cross checked in the New York.
(50:29):
The New Jersey police were finally able to close the books
on a dozen long unsolved cases. In 2003, Richard officially
plead guilty to the murder of Peter Calabro as the detective
promised to charge added just another 30 years onto his two
existing life sentences. But even though the detective
(50:50):
held up their bargain, Richard may Richard still may have
earned himself a death sent. After Richard's guilty plea,
Sammy Gravano was arrested for his role in Calibro's murder.
With the trial set for the summer of 22,006, Richard was
supposed to be the key witness, but he wouldn't make it to
court. In October 2005, Richard's
(51:12):
health began to fail. His blood pressure from he
developed memory law mention slurred speech, and his lungs
and kidneys begin to fail. I just could find no
explanation, no signs of a stroke or cancer.
They eventually gave him the eyediagnosis of Kawasaki disease, a
(51:35):
condition that usually effects children.
Richard told his family was afraid he was being poisoned and
if he didn't make it out of the prison hospital, it was because
he was murdered. His family and doctors dismissed
this as delusional, but some disclosed sources told author
Anthony Bruno, who wrote a biography on Richard, that Sammy
(51:57):
Gravano had put a contract to have him killed before he could
testify in the Caliber case. The last time Barbara visit
Richard at Saint Vincent's Hospital, he told such a good
person he was always such and she left the room without
response. On her way out the hospital she
signed to do not resuscitate port.
(52:19):
Days later Richard help took a turn for the work.
The hospital called Barbara the exit.
She wanted to rescind the order.She said no.
Richard Kozklinski died on Marchthe 5th, 2006 at the age of 7.
The autopsy revealed traces of catamom, a toxin substance that
(52:41):
can cause lung and kidney failure.
Regardless, the forensic examiner concluded that he died
of a natural cough. The day after Richard's death,
the charges against Sammy Gravano for commissioning the
murder of Detective Peter Calabro was dropped.
Yeah, yeah. Forgive me about my dog barking
(53:02):
in the back. When Richard Kolinsky was asked
how many people he killed over his nearly 4 decade career, he
put the number at definitely over 100, possibly his eyes 250.
But at the end of his death, only nineteen of those murders
have been definitely linked to him, and he had only been
(53:23):
officially convicted of sentence.
The rest of those homicides willremain forever unsolved.
Some of Richard's victims were dangerous criminals or even
killers themselves, but many of them were innocent men who just
happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
When he wasn't working on assignment, Richard violence was
utterly senseless. Perhaps the most tragic victim
(53:45):
was who are the ones Richard never killed, his wife and
children who live in constant fear of his uncontrollable
temper for decades. Though Richard was ultimately
the only one responsible for hisabuse and crimes, we have to
remember that criminals are not created.
In a fact that when asked by author Philip Carol Carlo how he
(54:10):
wanted to close his story, Richard said I was made.
I didn't create myself. I never choose to be this way,
to be in this place. Yeah, I for sure wish my life
took another turn, that I had aneducation and a good job.
But none of that was in the cards for me.
I am what I am. Guys.
(54:32):
This story really. Really affected me while doing
this research and the reason whyit affected me so much because
it makes you really understand that people are easily
influenced while they are in their childhood.
(54:54):
Richard Koplinski parents failedhim.
His father was an alcoholic and so abusive and violent who was
not only him but his mother thatit taught him that hate was the
(55:14):
safest feeling to always maintain in life.
His mother also did not do any better because she nourished
that same type of realization for Richard Koplinsky by always
hitting him for no reason and belittling him as well.
(55:37):
Richard Polinsky did not have a chance.
Now here's another strange fact about Richard Polinsky that
people don't understand. His little brother Joe.
His little brother Joe is currently serving I think a life
sentence for molesting a little,kidnapping and molesting a
little 12 year old girl. And that was back before that
(56:02):
was back in the 70s and he's still in jail.
I think he got 50 plus years. His sister lived a quiet life
and passed away. Now I looked up his family
today. His ex-wife is still alive, his
daughter is still alive. I could not see anything on his
older children. I don't know if they still alive
(56:24):
or not. I don't know if they changed
their name, but I'm quite sure that if they did kept the last
name Kolinsky, that people know who they are.
But guys, thank you for listening to the Ice fan.
I will definitely put out more content on my paid
subscriptions. I'm going to try to work on that
this evening. Please join my Patreon or my
(56:48):
paid subscription on Spotify andApple Podcast.
Guys this is where all of the content I have that I have not
published in the public for you to enjoy.
When we talk about everything tonotorious gangsters, to
criminals, crime, family, everything you can think of.
(57:09):
I mean we talk about it all. For that being said thank y'all
for joining in and listening to another episode of You Can't
make this BS up. But that being said please if
you like this or any of my content please leave a comment.
It helps with the algorithm so people can definitely see our
(57:30):
stuff more. And please give us a five star
rating because it's definitely make us more visible out there.
Until next time, I don't know what it is, I am out.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
New Heights with Jason & Travis Kelce
Football’s funniest family duo — Jason Kelce of the Philadelphia Eagles and Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs — team up to provide next-level access to life in the league as it unfolds. The two brothers and Super Bowl champions drop weekly insights about the weekly slate of games and share their INSIDE perspectives on trending NFL news and sports headlines. They also endlessly rag on each other as brothers do, chat the latest in pop culture and welcome some very popular and well-known friends to chat with them. Check out new episodes every Wednesday. Follow New Heights on the Wondery App, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to new episodes early and ad-free, and get exclusive content on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts or Spotify. And join our new membership for a unique fan experience by going to the New Heights YouTube channel now!