Richard Kuklinski: The Iceman
The Trial
To the shock of Kuklinski’s family, he was initially charged with five counts of murder and faced two separate and widely televised trials, held at the New Jersey Supreme Court, presided over by Judge Kuechenmeister. In the first trial, Kuklinski faced the charges of the murders of Daniel Deppner and Gary Smith and prosecution were seeking the death penalty. Police based their case almost entirely on the testimony of Agent Polifrone, and the taped conversations with Kuklinski, as they had very little concrete evidence linking Kuklinski to the murders. Barbara Kuklinski was also called on to testify against her husband.
Rich Patterson, an ex-fiancé of one of Kuklinski’s daughters, told of a time in 1983 when Kuklinski had asking for his help to move something that turned out to be a dead body. The young man had feared for his own life and immediately broken off his engagement and moved away. Police suspected this had been the body of Daniel Deppner, found on 14th May 1983.
Whilst Kuklinski had casually confessed to all five murders and referred to his killings as merely business, he could not be given the death penalty as there had been no eyewitness reports of his crimes.
“I would move heaven, hell and anything in between to get you. You wouldn’t be safe anywhere if I was mad at you.” - Kuklinski
In order to save the expense of a second trial, the District Attorney suggested a plea bargain. They would drop the charges against Barbara Kuklinski and a drug charge against one of the Kuklinski children if Kuklinski confessed to the murders of Malliband, Hoffman and Masgay. The plea bargain was agreed and Kuklinski confessed to killing Malliband and Masgay. It transpired however that whilst he could tell the court where he had placed the drum containing Hoffman’s body, he had no idea who had taken it.
On 25th May 1988, the jury took four hours to reach a guilty verdict. Kuklinski, 53, was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in prison for the murders of George Malliband and Louis Masgay. He was sent to Trenton State Penitentiary, New Jersey, where his brother was serving a life sentence for the 1969 rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl. Kuklinski would not be eligible for parole until he reached 111 years of age.
Rich Patterson, an ex-fiancé of one of Kuklinski’s daughters, told of a time in 1983 when Kuklinski had asking for his help to move something that turned out to be a dead body. The young man had feared for his own life and immediately broken off his engagement and moved away. Police suspected this had been the body of Daniel Deppner, found on 14th May 1983.
Whilst Kuklinski had casually confessed to all five murders and referred to his killings as merely business, he could not be given the death penalty as there had been no eyewitness reports of his crimes.
“I would move heaven, hell and anything in between to get you. You wouldn’t be safe anywhere if I was mad at you.” - Kuklinski
In order to save the expense of a second trial, the District Attorney suggested a plea bargain. They would drop the charges against Barbara Kuklinski and a drug charge against one of the Kuklinski children if Kuklinski confessed to the murders of Malliband, Hoffman and Masgay. The plea bargain was agreed and Kuklinski confessed to killing Malliband and Masgay. It transpired however that whilst he could tell the court where he had placed the drum containing Hoffman’s body, he had no idea who had taken it.
On 25th May 1988, the jury took four hours to reach a guilty verdict. Kuklinski, 53, was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in prison for the murders of George Malliband and Louis Masgay. He was sent to Trenton State Penitentiary, New Jersey, where his brother was serving a life sentence for the 1969 rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl. Kuklinski would not be eligible for parole until he reached 111 years of age.
