I never talked with Kuklinski about this directly, because it was her story. When Prongay began to talk about poisoning an entire reservoir just to kill one family, Kuklinski shot him. "About the possibility that they'd hidden a body in the freezer in the Mister Softee truck, the other police theory was that there was a drainage compartment in the floor of the garage where the truck was stored which was very cool, so they were able to keep him in a partially frozen state in that drain. Let someone else find the guy. People didn't want to like him. He stuffed Mallibands 300-pound body in a steel drum and threw it over a cliff. Both were contract killers in the NYC area, and they first met, I believe, back in the early 1970s. "I wrote to ask if he'd speak to me and at first he ignored me. In many ways, that proved to be a lucky break for the Feds because she became a point of leverage. This has been achieved through quality truck construction, advertising and most importantly by the efforts of the great people that make up the franchise dealer organization. Eventually, it was just gone. In 1948, Kuklinski, 13, ambushed and beat Charley Lane, the leader of a small gang of teenagers known as "The Project Boys," who had bullied him for some time. He tightened it several times until his colleague-in-crime was no longer breathing. Still, he returned the next day with flowers and apology. Listen for my store on wheels ding-a-ling down the street. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. If he were in a good mood, he could be loving, generous and protective. While driving on the highway one night, he was cut off by a young man. What I did was just back off and go to another topic. He left the family around the age 15. When he turned seventy, his health took a sudden and unexpected turn for the worse. While by some reports, Nino Gaggi did the hit, Kuklinski smiles at the idea that it might have been done by him. Despite being married, he fell for Barbara like a corpse hed throw in a river. For months afterward he was terrified and oftentimes physically ill, sure he would be arrested for the crime. On a separate note you can not sue for defamation of the dead though a few suits did succeed in trying thanks to crafty attorneys. It was hard getting information about Prongay because there were open murders associated with him. Kuklinski got two life sentences, each of which required that he serve a minimum of thirty years. Shooting a stranger in the head with a crossbow arrow just to see if a crossbow was an effective murder weapon. And his legend grew to the point where in the 1970s he was the worlds most feared hit man. "When I first saw him on film, I was mesmerized. On Aug. 9, 1984, his body was found hanging out the side of his ice cream truck. The more he talked, the more I scribbled, and that's when he started telling me lots of things. "When I first visited him, I interviewed him for five hours, and the first half was terrible. He now perceived himself as "someone." At first the Mafiosi referred to Kuklinski as the Polack. Then he became known as One-Man Army and The Devil Himself., One day mobster Carmine Genovese directed Kuklinski to ice someone. The base will wobble and shimmy a little like jello. FREE shipping Add to Favorites SOFTEE - Soft Enamel Pin Kawaii Cute Ice Cream Cone Art 5 out of 5 stars (101 . That was his way. During his incarceration, Kuklinski granted interviews to prosecutors, psychiatrists, criminologists, writers, and television producers about his criminal career, upbringing, and personal life. Kuklinski handed over the bag of food, giving one wrapped burger to Deppner, who knew that his was okay. At age 26, Kuklinski was married with two sons. Kuklinski shot, stabbed, strangled and poisoned his way into the upper echelon of mass murderers. Was the second son of four, born to Stanley and Anna Kuklinski. Already he'd defied orders and hitchhiked home to see his daughter. Mister Softee trucks are available for company picnics, fairs, and birthday parties. Mister Softee - David Caruso & Tony Darrow - Swirly - YouTube 0:00 / 2:12 Mister Softee - David Caruso & Tony Darrow - Swirly 18,013 views Apr 26, 2007 This is just the trailer. He claimed he had no idea who had removed it. Awed at how calmly Richard dispatched his prey, got back in his car, and hit the gas, his partner John Wheeler reportedly looked at him and said, Man, Rich, youre cold like ice!, One of his sickest murder methods was to tie his victims up and leave them in caves populated by giant rats, whod be drawn to them by the sounds of their screaming. He admitted he had a weakness. However, the prosecutor hired New York medical examiner Michael Baden, who explained that cyanide degrades in a body into the natural elements of carbon and nitrogen. Masgay didn't realize that this was part of Kuklinski's MO: get his targets all worked up over some nonexistent deal, increasing both the anticipation and the price each time. He left the drum outside a motel next to a hot dog stand in Little Ferry, New Jersey. His manner is so deceivingly welcomingnot glad-handing, but he's got such a way about him that I could see how he could con so many people into believing that he would get them whatever goods he was selling at the time. Danny also described the events afterward. Business history [ edit] As sirens wailed and helicopters floated overhead, both Kuklinski and his wife were thrown to the ground and handcuffed. A week later, Molinelli brought murder charges against Gravano, 60, who is serving a 20-year term in federal prison for a drug conviction. "Family members believe he was poisoned.". There's also a wordpress page where Prongay's (or someone claiming to be) son gave some info. One day in 1940 he beat Florian to death and forced the family to tell everyone that his son had accidentally fallen down the stairs. Let's see what the author who actually spoke to him has to say about the experience. Learn More He lavished his family with gifts and sent his kids to private schools. One thing that Prongay was good at was using various types of drugs and chemicals to take a life, though he preferred cyanide. When I asked Kuklinski about whether it could have been in the ice cream truck, he gave me this acknowledging smile. He was in a secure wing at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton, New Jersey, at the time, although the timing of his death has been labeled suspicious; Kuklinski was scheduled to testify that former Gambino crime family underboss Sammy Gravano had ordered him to murder New York Police Department Detective Peter Calabro. It was just before Christmas in 1982 and to shield Smith, Kuklinski was moving him around from one New Jersey motel to another. When asked later why Malliband was murdered, Kuklinksi gave a slight grin and said, He outlived his usefulness.. Each personality type can manage some specific life arena and the dissociation typically occurs under stress, as it did during the childhood abuse. He was concerned that one or the other of these men would willingly make a deal to save his own skin, and he was not going to let that happen. From then on, Kuklinski was DeMeo's favorite enforcer. In fact, I was finished with the first draft of the book before he finally talked with me. The creamiest, dreamiest soft ice cream / You get from Mister Softee, For a refreshing delight supreme / Look for Mister Softee. "He was healthy and robust and he got sick all of a sudden," said Philip Carlo, a New York author who is about to release an extensive Kuklinski biography and had been in constant contact with him the past two years. In 1955, brothers William and James Conway worked at a company called . His cool faade doesn't hide the truth that he's not as controlled as he may want to believe. Getting revenge on a man whod disrespected him at a bar by waiting until the man went outside and fell asleep in his car, then tossing a lit gasoline can into the car, burning the man alive. No other freezer was found in the garages of either Kuklinski or Prongay large enough to store a body. Kuklinski was happy to know that it worked. To endure being beaten, he distanced himself and thought about other things. His murder did make the papers, but nonetheless Kuklinski was mostly full of shit. Other than hurting my family. I'm hesitant to say that he admitted to it, but he gave me that impression. Then Agent Polifrone took the stand and described his many encounters with Kuklinski. As he walked away from the exploding car, he felt nothing. They went to the prison and filmed him as he discussed the kinds of murders he would do. Then he'd be cleaned up, drained of blood, laid out on a pool liner, and hacked into pieces that were packaged like meat and tossed into a dump. Pronge drove a "Mr Softee" ice cream truck and excelled at poisoning his victims to death, while Kuklinski's MO was quite varied. An HBO Documentary in 2001 found old film reels of Prongay and called him an "Army demolitions expert," a claim verified by Paul Smith of the New Jersey Organize Crime Bureau. On discovering he had killed his son, Stanley ordered Anna to call the hospital and report that Florian had fallen down the stairs and hit his head. Special Agent Dominick Polifrone, who had extensive experience undercover with the mob, was hired to lure Kuklinski into a deal, specifically to get him either to admit to something on tape or to actually engage in the initial stages of a premeditated act of murder. He took the sandwiches that Dom had bought and said that he'd be back. 2010 The Thought & Expression Company, Inc. Richard Kuklinski, AKA the notorious Mafia Iceman contract killer, was able to commit acts of mind-melting brutality without blinking. They didn't want to know about his childhood or his tears over his family. After a few days, there's no detectable trace of it, not even the odor. Kuklinski paid off DeMeo and washed his hands of George Malliband. As he was about to kill a man, the man began praying to God for his life. Because Kuklinski had actually applied the quinine to the sandwiches, it would be easy to use that to show at trial his intent to commit murder. Thats right. "Periodically I still hear from him. except for one. The "problem" had been solved. Learn more about data safety. Mister Softee is the largest franchiser of soft ice cream trucks in the United States. In a five-hour interview, I saw it twice. Since he was Polish he could never truly become a made member of the Italian Mafia, but his effortlessness at killing soon caught the mobs attention. When he saw two bloody human legs, he ran to get the police. What made him that way? The cause of death was "undetermined," although pinkish spots on the skin were noted and photographed. Kuklinski was only ever convicted of five murders, but it was enough to put him away for the rest of his days. He teamed up with Kuklinski for several deals in the pornography trade, doing hits for Roy DeMeo when needed. Robert Prongay was found shot to death in his Mister Softee truck in his garage in North Bergenjust across the street from Kuklinski's garage. When the mattress was lifted, the bloated, blackened body that had been baking all that time in the heated room was found. The coroner said that if the body had been thawed completely before dumping it, it would have been impossible to determine when the man died. "You spray it on someone's face," he said about the cyanide, "and they go to sleep.". All rights reserved. Initially nicknamed "The Polack" by his Italian associates because of his Polish heritage, Kuklinski earned the nickname "Iceman" following his experiments with disguising the time of death of his victims by freezing their corpses in an industrial freezer. By the mid-1980s, Kuklinski was charging in the high five figures for each hit. I wanted to keep it pure. It all started when he bludgeoned a neighborhood bully to death at fourteen. This massive 8.5 x 11 perfect bound book contains over 150 pages of rare interviews, letters, documents, transcripts, art and articles about serial killer, Richard Ramirez (aka the Nightstalker). The two became pretty good pals for a while in the . When Barbara Deppner failed to return with a car to remove the body, Kuklinski had Smith placed beneath the mattress and box springs. Imagine the most gruesome tattoos that you canthat's the kind of art he does. These are more like giant, professionally produced graphic novels. When Hoffman arrived with $25,000 cash, Kuklinski killed him. Mister Softee has been bringing the very best ice cream and frozen treats to kids and families since 1956. Kuklinski had tired of hiding him and footing the bill, not to mention bringing him food every day in whatever hotel he was in. The exact number has never been settled upon by authorities, and Kuklinski himself at various times claimed to have killed between 33 and 200 individuals. Anthony Bruno, a Philadelphia author who wrote a biography of Kuklinski in the 1990s, also had mixed feelings. They would have two daughters and a son. She says her only regret was not telling him how much she hated his guts. This was the only murder conviction not linked to Kuklinskis original murder trial. If Kuklinski's claims are true, he would be the most prolific serial killer/hitman in American history. December 2003: Gravano appears in court and pleads not guilty to murder. "He taught me a lot," Kuklinski once said. Kuklinski was born on April 11, 1935 in Jersey City, New Jersey. The insidious thing is that he layered all these scams. That brought him deeper into DeMeo's inner circle and he witnessed DeMeo's volatile moods. Richards younger brother Joey was imprisoned for raping a 12-year-old girl on a tenement rooftop, then throwing her and her dog off the roof to their deaths. The body was never found. Kuklinski pleaded guilty to the murder in early 2003. Frank claimed that Kuklinski's statements to Polifrone were just braggadocio. He favored the use of cyanide since it killed quickly and was hard to detect in a toxicology test. Smith was losing control, but he still wasnt dying quickly. Before murdering Prongay, the Iceman and Mister Softee teamed up on a few occasions. ", Once Gravano "ratted out" the mob in the 1990s, bringing down dozens of capos, Carlo said, Kuklinski felt he had no more allegiance to "Sammy the Bull.". The headquarters have been in Runnemede, New Jersey since 1958. And, you know, the available ingredients. The blast blinded him and it was so loud that he couldn't hear anything else for a few minutes. Kuklinski had admitted to murdering Calabro with a shotgun on the night of March 14, 1980. Thank You Essemme for your kindness, and quite honestly this thing has followed us for years even here into Canada,lol. Information and news about serial killers. Mister Softee is a big softy. The Casebook of Forensic Detection, New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1996. A year ago or so I was working in a customers house and he heard my still very thick NY accent and we were talking he had this mob on the mind complex and began telling me how he was looking forward to the Kuklinski movie and started telling me of the Ice cream man hitman as well,lol. Most believe Kuklinski was the perpetrator, but the killer was never found. He was careful about that. He even demonstrated the technique, and in less than fifteen seconds Kuklinski watched a man fall down dead in the street. Kuklinski had thrashed him so hard with the thick wooden pole that he killed him. Still, the family says they have no idea Richard was a universally feared hit man. These victims were small-time drug and porn dealers in the mid-1980s. If you believe Kuklinski, he was recruited by Gambino capo Roy DeMeo, who gave Kuklinski his death orders. When state police and federal agents went to arrest Kuklinski they blocked off his street, and it took multiple officers to bring him down. Kuklinski pulled over and shot him five times with a .38, right there in the van. Onesie and Bib Combo $ 30.00 Select options; Mister Softee Hoodie $ 38.00 Select options; Mister Softee T-Shirt $ 21.00 Select options; Mister Softee Collared Shirt $ 28.00 Select options; Mister Softee Canvas Tote Bag $ 18.00 Add to cart; Mister Softee T-Shirt - Black . Kuklinski didn't like that about anyone. Download our app! They also pointed out that an autopsy had shown no indication of cyanide in the two allegedly poisoned victims. ", -"Carrie the garage looks accurate it was below the surrounding street on 70th and Newkirk in North Bergen and I believe it had stone retaining walls. He was a hitman at times, and after his arrest said that he only killed to support his family. Mr. Softee - Robert Pronge dana white 70 subscribers Subscribe 358 86K views 9 years ago Show more Was "The Iceman" based on a true story? He's very polite in his letters, and a pretty good artist. He taught Kuklinski how to put cyanide into a spray bottle, which could be used quickly and easily to take someone out. I figured Id give him a thrill and told him he didnt believe me and wanted to see my drivers license and when he saw the spelling he said its spelled wrong I told him web search it he did, and was then so thrilled, what an idiot lol. He met 19-year-old Barbara Pedrici on a dock where they both worked. The cops started calling him the Iceman. The man claimed he didn't have the money, so Kuklinski shot him right there in the car. Not all of Kuklinskis murders were Mafia hits and contract killings. His mother, who worked at a meat-packing plant, was a fanatically devoted Catholic who also frequently beat Richard, often with blunt objects. ", -"Check the social security death Index. March 6, 2006: Kuklinski, who was to be the star witness against Gravano, dies. How is it possible to have no feelings in one area and such strong ones in another? Let me run and shoot me in the back. This is the best deal on the site. 95 following. In April 2006, news reports surfaced that Kuklinski had confessed to author Philip Carlo that he was part of a group who kidnapped and murdered famed union boss Jimmy Hoffa. Murdering a man whod disrespected Carmine Genovese. Yet how does a man who kills his cohorts, traps business partners in fatal deals, and murders strangers merely to experiment manage to have a real family life? "I was concerned at times writing the book, and the cops warned me there might be people on the street who were connected to him, but I was Kuklinski's chronicler. This massive perfect bound Ted Bundy collection includes art, articles, rare interviews, documents, letters, transcripts and the serial killers entire FBI file. Please leave your email below to subscribe for app notifications and other Mister Softee news. Kuklinski then dumped Lane's body off a bridge in South Jersey after removing his teeth and chopping off his finger tips with a hatchet in an effort to prevent identification of the body. Debunks a lot of bs. He cemented his body inside a steel drum and left it next to a New Jersey hot-dog stand, which hed frequently visit just to eat hot dogs and look at the steel drum until it was eventually removed. The comments were actually made this past Jan. Hope this helped. Every issue of Serial of Serial Killer Magazine we sell. He covered his tracks so thoroughly, he wound up killing nearly every friend who knew anything about his crimes, especially if they had been accomplices. While Deppner did the killing, he realized that now he knew too much. But that's an analysis from a distance. Look for Mister Softee. No deep freeze was found in either his home or the secret garage space he rented for 'business transactions'. In 1986 the police caught up with Kuklinski by employing an undercover cop to pose as a 'customer' needing a hitman, some cocaine, etc. He would bring them into his confidence and tell them far too much, always in the back of his mind thinking, 'It doesn't matter, because I'm going to kill him. Eventually he got involved in business deals with the Brooklyn-based Roy DeMeo, a one-time butcher's apprentice and the most feared hit man for the Gambino crime family. He worked for several Italian-American crime families, and claimed to have murdered over 200 people over a career that lasted thirty years. Kuklinski had confessed to Hoffman's slaying, state investigators said. He then told Kuklinski to kill him. Kuklinski also stated to family members that he thought "they" were poisoning him. Look for Mister Softee. Two documentaries, featuring interviews of Kuklinski by Dr. Park Dietz (best-known for his interviews with and analysis of Jeffrey Dahmer) aired on HBO after interviews in 1991 and 2001. My milkshakes and my sundaes and my cones are such a treat. It hit some sixty feet below. Kuklinski implicates former Gambino family underboss Salvatore "Sammy The Bull" Gravano. Hoffman was to bring $25,000. Kuklinski shot him five times, killing him. Robert Prongay sold ice cream out of his truck to kids in North Bergen, even as he was dreaming up unique new ways to kill someone. Kuklinski was arrested by New Jersey authorities in 1986 and charged with five murders. http://swallowingthecamel.wordpress.com/2013/07/17/the-iceman-lieth/, -"I am the son of Robert Prongay, there is ample evidence of his existence if you look around. Skulls with confederate caps on, creatures from hell, things like that. Charley told him to get out of the way. Special Agent Dominick Polifrone had undercover experience specializing in Mafia cases. Of all his murders, Kuklinski said this was the only one where he felt hed been unnecessarily cruel. Ted Bundy is a good example of that. Another time, he just shot a man at a traffic light. He was convicted in 1988 and sentenced to consecutive life terms for killing Gary T. Smith in 1982 and Daniel E. Deppner in 1983. However, according to one of his daughters he once told her that he would have to kill her and her two siblings should he happen to beat her mother to death in a fit of rage. Occasionally he'd go have a hot dog and see if the barrel had been discovered. Dressing up in a flamboyant yellow costume to pose as a gay man in a NYC disco in the 1970s. Food & Drink. Yet when DeMeo's renowned temper and mania for killing became disorganized and conspicuous, he fell out of favor with the Gambino family. And just as he learned to disassociate himself from the emotional and physical pain his father rained down on him, he could also detach his mind from the pain of his countless victims. Protecting his territory against a bully, he fatally beat the other boy, although it surprised him to hear the next day that the kid was actually dead. Smith liked burgers, so that made things easier. It is still run by the Conway family, co-owned by cousins . More than anything else, though, he loved to take people out with cyanide. They now had a suspect. A colleague (ao to speak,) showed up at his home during a barbecue, which was a BIG mistake, and weeks later turned up dead. He talked with the HBO people, but not to me. He's dead.' It was only after Kuklinski was arrested that Polifrone learned that he was next on the hit man's list. I imagine he thought Kuklinski was full of shit and fucked around with him. Churn the ice cream until it's light, fluffy, and a spoon spread across it leaves a stable swoop. This huge, perfect bound copy of SERIAL KILLER MAGAZINE is chock full of artwork, rare documents, trivia and in depth articles regarding serial murder. "We had every confidence in the world that the evidence would have shown Gravano was completely innocent of this crime," said lawyer Peter Quijano. 1993: Kuklinski says in a book that he murdered Roy DeMeo, a Gambino crime family member, in 1983. Following him to the grave is a murder charge against Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano, a former Gambino crime family underboss charged with hiring Kuklinski 26 years ago to kill a New York City detective in Upper Saddle River. He was born in December 1945, died August 1984. He has killed with hand grenades, knives, ice picks, screwdrivers, tire irons, baseball bats, rope, wire,. Kuklinski then went in search of the other boys in the gang. Showing all 11 results. After about two hours, I said, 'We're not really getting anywhere, so I'm just going to pack up and go.' When Calabros car approached, Kuklinski emerged from his hiding place and blasted Calabro with a shotgun. Sign up for our newsletter and receive the mighty updates! He then left the victims in a cave in the wilderness where they were eaten alive by rats attracted by the victim's cries. He has used guns as small as a two-inch derringer and as large as a 12-gauge shotgun. It also filled him with a sense of power. Then he placed the top on the barrel, secured it, and rolled it off a cliff in the Palisades. May 1988: Kuklinski pleads guilty to fatally shooting George Malliband and Louis Masgay, both of Pennsylvania. Solimene was the only friend that Kuklinski didnt kill. Then he cooperated with Bruno for the book, The Iceman, and in 2001, HBO brought out yet a second documentary about him, The Iceman Tapes: Conversations With a Killer. He talked about how this debt had gotten under his skin, so he just left home that evening after everyone was in bed, went into Manhattan, and found Lattini in his snow-covered car. Richard said, Yeah, try. Charlie tried. 209 North New Jersey Ave North Wildwood, NJ 08260 He was taken to Trenton State Prison in Trenton, New Jersey, the same place where his brother is serving a life sentence for murder. Kuklinski died at the age of 70 at 1:15 a.m. on March 5, 2006. Had Kuklinski only waited until the corpse had thoroughly thawed, he'd have gotten away with his attempt to foil the reading of the postmortem interval. Stop worrying about good and badand start thinking about true and false. He did indeed own Mister Softee trucks and no a body could not be stored in them the freezers are way to small. "We do have evidence to corroborate Kuklinski's testimony, but it's not enough. While Kuklinski wasn't great about collecting money due, DeMeo saw that "the Pollack" had what it took to kill people. Upon viewing the film, Ted DeMeoa ruthless murderer himselfcouldnt finish watching and said that Kuklinski had no soul.. Kuklinski claimed that he had only heard rumors, specifically, that Hoffa had been killed, put in a barrel, placed into a Japanese car which was compacted with other cars, and shipped overseas. Early in 1980, he left home with Kuklinski to meet with Roy DeMeo. Despite all of Kuklinskis deeds, the mere suggestion of killing ones family members set him into a moral tizzy. The freezer inside the truck was the only place large enough to fit a human body. Then the fateful day would come when he'd kill you. Take off the shackles. Kuklinski also stated that Mister Softee was "extremely crazy". This perfect bound Serial Killer Calendar book includes detailed facts and trivia about serial killers for every day of the year. Louis Masgay became the guinea pig. He could kill anyone without feeling anything at all, but he wouldn't kill innocent women and children. Richard Leonard Kuklinski was the second of four children born to Stanley and Anna Kuklinski of Polish origin. He is sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole until age 111. In one interview, Kuklinski confessed that he only regretted one murder, which he deemed particularly cruel. The company now operates . However, he found a wad of rolled-up bills in the dead man's pocket. If so, then a killer did not have to worry about an alibi. This massive 8.5 x 11 perfect bound book contains over 300 pages of rare interviews, letters, documents, transcripts and artwork from historys most notorious killers. Shop Now Having a party? Ironically, it was literal ice that would prove to be the Ice Mans undoing. According to Barbara, when they were sitting in a car and she told him she wanted to see other people, he started stabbing her in the back with a knife and told her that he owned her. Every day thereafter Richard would visit the hotdog stand, and while he ate would find amusement by looking at the metal drum on the sidewalk, pleased with his cleverness. Now that he was in a bind, Malliband reminded Kuklinski that he knew where his family lived. It was the first time that a "character" wanted to know how he was being portrayed. He also stated that he had abused animals as a young child, such as killing cats and dogs by torturing them.