Then one day in January 1983, there were no more trips to motels for Kuklinski. Since there was a warrant out for him for burglary and car theft, like Smith, he was being kept in a variety of motels, compliments of Kuklinski. Deppner knew that his turn was next and there was nothing he could do about it. When people learned too much about his business, they were gone. While Deppner did the killing, he realized that now he knew too much. When the mattress was lifted, the bloated, blackened body that had been baking all that time in the heated room was found. Four days later, just after Christmas, the fourth couple to rent the room complained to management of an ungodly odor. Let someone else find the guy.Īnd someone did. When Barbara Deppner failed to return with a car to remove the body, Kuklinski had Smith placed beneath the mattress and box springs. Even as he performed this grisly task, he probably knew he was watching how his own death would play out one day…maybe soon. He tightened it several times until his colleague-in-crime was no longer breathing. Deppner took a lamp cord and put it around Smith's throat. Kuklinski signaled to Deppner that it was time for the next step. Smith was losing control, but he still wasn't dying quickly. He'd mixed cyanide in ketchup and it was supposed to work pretty fast, but Smith wasn't showing any sign of it. They both watched as Smith wolfed down the other burger, but nothing happened. Kuklinski handed over the bag of food, giving one wrapped burger to Deppner, who knew that his was okay. Smith liked burgers, so that made things easier. One evening in December, in the York Motel off Route 3 near the Lincoln Tunnel, Kuklinski brought hamburgers to room 31.
If Kuklinski was anything, he was careful. 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.
Kuklinski had tired of hiding him and footing the bill, not to mention bringing him food every day in whatever hotel he was in. Kuklinski let Deppner know through his estranged wife, Barbara, that it was time for Gary to "go to Florida," which meant it was time for him to die. There was clearly no way to control him….except for one.įellow car thief Danny Deppner assisted him, but there was a warrant out for Deppner as well, and he, too, could not keep his mouth shut. Already he'd defied orders and hitchhiked home to see his daughter. It was that he was afraid that the man would talk. It was just before Christmas in 1982 and to shield Smith, Kuklinski was moving him around from one New Jersey motel to another. There was a warrant out for Smith's arrest on the charges of stealing and cashing checks. Gary Smith helped him steal cars to resell for profit, but he was a weak man and the police were on to him.
#ICEMAN KILLER YOU MAD ME MAD HOW TO#
Richard Kuklinski, a scam artist, had learned how to use cyanide to take out those who stressed him, and now he had to take care of one of his own associates. That requires getting close and even developing a bit of trust. Murder by poison is usually committed in families or close groups, because the victim generally must ingest it. However, if detected before the body absorbs it, a bitter almond smell lingers in the corpse's mouth, tipping savvy investigators to cyanide's use.
#ICEMAN KILLER YOU MAD ME MAD SKIN#
Often the pathologist doesn't think to look for cyanide as a cause, because the pinkish spots on the skin are consistent with carbon monoxide poisoning as well. While it's possible to survive cyanide, it's a fast-acting poison that tortures as it kills. If ingested, there's a burning in the mouth and throat, and the victim quickly grows dizzy and disoriented. It interferes with the cellular enzyme system that processes the body's utilization of oxygen: The victim asphyxiates as the cells starve. Cyanide poisoning is a terrible way to die.