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4.5
Continuing his journey through the minds and lives of mafia involved killers, Philip Carlos tries his hand at the life of Richard Kuklinski, in The Iceman: Confessions of a Mafia Contract Killer. This book pulls back the typical dehumanizing aspects from books about killers, and puts the facts into an easy to follow story. This humanization of Richard Kuklinski allows the reader to focus on other things such as; the power of the mafia and their associates, the hard work of the NYPD, and the lasting effects of a more than disturbing childhood.With a ruthless father who would beat him at any moment, and a religious tyrant of a mother, it was no surprise that Richard Kuklinski would amount to a life of crime. As a child Richard was never taught the difference between right and wrong; he was simply just wrong all the time and beat repeatedly for it. Not only would Richard’s father Stanley beat his children relentlessly but also his wife as well. These abusive tendencies would surface in Richard’s own marriage later in life as he would beat his wife Barbara (whom he really did love) repeatedly to the point that she would actually suffer from two miscarriages. Besides being beaten by his father and mother, Richard was also repeatedly abused by the nuns at his Catholic school and even other children of his apartment building. It wasn’t just Richard that suffered from a household filled with pain, but his siblings as well. When Richard was just six years old his brother Florian was killed by his father Stanley, and the family was forced to cover it up, in fear of what Stanley might do. The aftermath of this horrifying childhood also led Richard’s younger brother Joseph to a life of crime, and in 1970 was charged with the rape and killing of a teenage girl. When Richard was asked about his brother’s crimes he simply replied, “We come from the same father,”(Page 145).There’s no denying that mafia families are powerful, but in the 1950’s they ran the cities that they inhabited. With news of Richard Kuklinski’s useful skills and undeniable discreteness, he seemed as if he could be a powerful asset, and every family was dying to get their hands on him. With the Five Families breathing down his back, and putting wads of cash in his pockets, there was no way for Richard to turn away from them. Richard was hired to kill dozens of marks, and all for a satisfactory price. Local cops were unable to catch on due to Richard’s interchanging methods; guns, knives, bats, fire, and poison, he used it all. The cops that did know what was going on however, made a slight profit off of their silence. It didn’t take long before famous mafia members such as Paul Castellano and Roy DeMeo had Richard roped into more than murder. Soon he was distributing porn, prescription pills, and extensive amounts of cocaine. The desire for money, along with help from the the Five Families transformed Richard into a man that craved only one thing; power.The arrest of Richard Kuklinski not only required the betrayal of some his closest friends, but also the hard work of truly passionate detectives. Mid 1980’s a detective named Pat Kane teamed up with Dominic Polifrone for an undercover assignment. Kane got Richard’s friend Phil Solimene to introduce Dominic Polifrone as a prospective client, and the operation was a go. It took almost a year before Polifrone got Richard on tape describing how he would kill a man. Once Richard was arrested, a jury found that he could only be connected to a total of 5 deaths; which was impressive as Richard had racked up the blood of nearly 200 men on his hands. Due to the fact that he pleaded guilty, Richard would not be sentenced to death, instead he was charged with repeated life sentences. As he had managed to keep his double life a secret from his wife and kids, Richard’s only regret was to have to “See the embarrassment, humiliation, and shame his family would have to suffer,” (Page 465).Even though many would argue that people are born killers or that they are just plain evil, author Philip Carlos makes the not-so-subtle argument that people can be caused to metamorphosize into a killer, based on a life filled with unruly circumstances. It’s unknown what Richard’s life could have been like if he hadn't been beaten without mercy, powerfully persuaded by the mafia, or arrested midlife. It is clear however, that Richard Kuklinski had become a money seeking, power craving individual. After confessing to the killing of his long time friend George Malliband (Which had been requested by Roy DeMeo), Richard had only one thing to say; “It was- it was do due to business,” (Page 475).
