by Dave Mendonca

Created on: May 24, 2007   Last Updated: May 25, 2007

On early Friday morning, I was introduced to a monster.
It wasn't Jason or Freddy Kreuger or even Sully from Monster's Inc.
No, this was the ultimate definition of evil. His name was Richard
"Iceman" Kuklinski. He was a contract killer who worked for
the Gambino crime family in the 60s, 70s and 80s. There was
an A&E special on Kuklinski which involved him being interviewed

by a psychologist inside a jail.

It was disturbing and intriguing to see this Goliath of a man
(he was 6 foot 5 and 300 pounds) discuss in detail his various
killings. He had no remorse concerning any of the nearly 200
people he disposed of. He killed by all methods. He was gruesome.
Whether it was sawing someone's limbs off or putting a bullet in
somebody's head, he did it without hesitation or guilt.

At one point, the psychologist asked if he felt any sort of
emotion when he killed someone. Kuklinski answered no.
This man felt only one feeling in his heart - hate.

His father beat him up as kid and his mother was abusive as well.
His brother, Joey, was no saint either. He went to jail when
he was 25 after raping and killing a 12 year old girl and then
throwing her body from the roof of a building.

The Iceman had nothing but rage in his body. He hated his
Dad and the rest of his family.

As well, he was leading a double life. His wife and two
daughters had NO idea he was a contract killer.

Imagine that? Finding out one day your father was a merciless
assassin. How do you react? You definitely feel betrayed because
of all the lies. You are also scared because you don't know
what a man in his mental state is capable of.

The Iceman got his nickname because he used to put some
of the people he killed into a big freezer. He did that so
when he eventually dumped the bodies in a river, once they
were found and an autopsy was done, doctors couldn't
figure out the day of their death.

It's soo frightening to know there are people like Kuklinski
out there. They have no regard for the fragility of life.
They don't care about the ramifications of their actions.
They don't care if they hurt many people as a result of
their evil.

Kuklinski died of unknown causes at the age of 70 on March 5th of
last year.

So, that's one terrible human being that will not unleash his
terror on society anymore.

However, there are many others who are probably like
the Iceman out there now. People who have come from
broken homes or have suffered through physical and/or mental
abuse through their parents and/or relatives or have mental
illness to begin with which hasn't been properly treated. All of
these could be factors in why there are some very disturbed
and vicious people out there.

Ultimately, it's up to the individual to be responsible and
accountable for his/her own actions. You can't blame everyone
else for what you do because you control your own actions.

Seeing the Iceman though, it was chilling.
To know, a human being can slaughter another person
with no hint of remorse or feeling, it's sickening.

It's apart of the package, though, living in this crazy world today.
There are ruthless people, like Kuklinski, out there.

Let's just hope you and I will never have to deal with one
in person.

Learn more about this author, Dave Mendonca.
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