So how many murders did the Iceman really commit?

He was convicted of murdering two car thieves who worked for him, Gary Smith and Danny Deppner.  In a plea deal that included dropping criminal charges against his wife and son, Kuklinski confessed to two more, Pennsylvania business man Louis Masgay and hustler George Malliband.  Authorities believe that he's also responsible for the deaths of another criminal associate, Robert Prongay, and pharmacist Paul Hoffman, but there was not enough evidence to prosecute him on either of those murders.  But beyond that, Kuklinski's actual body count is anybody's guess.

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Richard with his wife Barbara

There's no question that Richard Kuklinski was a heinous killer, but it's doubtful that he killed even 100 people.  He personally told me about 33 murders.  Of those, he might have committed some; others he might have just heard about and decided to take as his own.  Despite his fantastic claims of having killed hundreds of people, he was not a serial killer.  He did not have a psycho-sexual compulsion to kill.  In most cases he only did it for the money.  He was an angry person, a sociopath who carried deep emotional scars from his childhood, but he was not the living embodiment of Hannibal Lecter.  Not even close.

Author Philip Carlo dubs Kuklinski a "homicide superstar" and "the Mick Jagger of murder."  But Mafia expert Jerry Capeci has another take on the Iceman, calling him the "Forrest Gump of mob hits."  Gump was the simple-minded fictional character played by Tom Hanks in the movie Forrest Gump who managed to be present at every major public event in his lifetime.  If we are to believe the Iceman and his co-author, Kuklinski took part in nearly every major mob murder in his lifetime.  Capeci characterizes Carlo's 240 hours of interviews with Kuklinski as "demented ramblings."

DVD cover: Forrest Gump

As bad as Richard Kuklinski was, his inflated reputation was enhanced and embellished by the media.  He had a natural gift for manipulating people, and he enjoyed spinning tales about his alleged exploits, which he gladly did for whoever would listen to him.  Philip Carlo's book is just the latest example of Kuklinski polishing his larger-than-life image.    

Paul Smith, who was a key member of the Operation Iceman task force, says, "It's unfortunate that this author chose to take Kuklinski's word for everything, and that he did not check his facts with the people who actually investigated him.  He also leaves the impression that the investigation was essentially a one-man effort headed by a lone detective from the State Police.  That couldn't be farther from the truth.  It was a team effort that included several state and federal agencies working together.  I would have expected this kind of gross distortion in a movie, not in a book that's supposed to be non-fiction." 

Carlo can be excused for not interviewing one law-enforcement officer mentioned in his book.  He identifies "Captain John Brialy" as one member of the Operation Iceman task force and even quotes him, which is a neat trick, considering that he doesn't exist.  I invented him for my book on Kuklinski.  As I wrote in my Author's Note, "'Captain John Brealy' is a composite character representing several individuals who had little faith in Special Agent Dominick Polifrone's chances of getting close to Richard Kuklinski."   Bob Carroll confirmed that there was no "Captain Brialy" or "Brealy" on the task force. 

Perhaps Mr. Carlo's publisher will do the right thing in future editions of the book and identify it for what it is, fiction.

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