Michael Alig - Parole hearing in Sept. 2008 for founding member of the notorious Club Kids 

 

Michael Alig - 1997

Michael Alig (born South Bend, Indiana, April 29, 1966) was the founding member of the notorious Club Kids, a group of young club goers led by Alig in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1996 Alig was convicted of the murder of Angel Melendez in a confrontation over a drug debt.

Increasingly affected by substance abuse, Alig and his friend Robert "Freeze" Riggs murdered "Angel" Melendez over a long-standing drug debt. Alig has stated many times that he was so high on drugs that the events are quite cloudy.

Inside of Alig's apartment, Melendez began arguing with Freeze and the fights turned physical. Melendez pushed Alig against glass and Freeze grabbed a hammer and "lightly" hit Melendez three times on the head. Melendez then grabbed Alig's chest with a strong grip, which caused Alig to grab a pillow or sweater (the detail he cannot clarify) and restrain Melendez with it. After a few seconds Melendez collapse and was found to be dead by the two other men. A few hours later, the two men took Melendez's body into the bathroom and filled the tub with ice to prevent the body from smelling. Furthermore, Alig poured Drano into Melendez mouth and duct taped it shut. A few days later it started to smell, so they dismembered the body and put it in a cork lined box.

A few days later, Alig called his mother, crying hysterically, saying he should be dead and he is going to kill himself, but he was so high on drugs that she brushed the conversation off. A couple days later they put the body in a cardboard box and threw it into the Hudson River.

Michael Alig went around telling people he was in fact the killer, but there was so much drug use being done that no one believed it, Even if they did, nobody wanted to be the one to turn on Michael Alig. Soon the claims, along with the "disappearance" of Melendez just became rumors. While Alig was in rehab, those rumors were reported on in the Village Voice by Michael Musto. Although no names were used, it stated the details of the murder. Over the coming weeks, the Village Voice continued to report and make accusations about the murder of "Angel" Melendez, however the cops were not that concerned about the disappearance of a Colombian drug dealer.

Through September the police had still not questioned Alig about the murder, they were concerned about nailing his partner Peter Gaiten, and wanted Alig to testify against him. Since several months had passed many people believed Alig would get away with it, until a dismembered body was pulled from the Hudson River. In November 1996, the coroner reported the body was that of known drug dealer "Angel" Melendez. Every rumor was confirmed by the appearance Angel's body, and the police could not ignore it. Alig could not brush it off as coincidence and he fled NY, holing up in a hotel in New Jersey with a former boyfriend before the cops surrounded the hotel. Alig went quietly and gave a full confession, but pled not guilty to the charge of 1st degree murder because he felt he was attacked and only fought back in self-defense. However, his lawyers felt because of his strong drug use and the dismemberment of the body he would be found guilty.

In December 1997, Alig and his accomplice Robert Riggs pled guilty to manslaughter and were sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison for Melendez's murder. Alig became eligible for parole in 2006. His first parole request, in October 2006, was denied. He will be up for parole again in September 2008.

While in prison Michael Alig told Musto, who first reported that Alig had committed the 1996 murder of drug dealer Angel Melendez, "I know why I blabbed. I must have wanted to stop me. I was spinning out of control. It's like the old saying 'What do you have to do to get attention around here - kill somebody?'"

He is currently at work on an autobiography entitled Alig-ula.