When Richard realized Charley was dead he grabbed a car that he had stolen for a joyride and stuffed the body in the trunk…drove around for a while till he came to a bridge with a pond under it near a forest in South Jersey. He just wanted to lay a scare into the boy, not wanting to kill him. He confronted his tormentor only to have Charley threaten him with violence if he didn’t get out of his way to which Richard replied “Yeah, try.” Charley went to attack Richard but Richard replied with a smack in the head, just above the ear, with the pole he swiped from his house…Charley stepped back now filled with anger he went to attack again…and again Richard attacked Charley with the pole this time knocking him down to the ground where Richard kept hitting him until he didn’t move anymore. Just as he was ready to head inside he saw Charley in the distance.his nerves trembled with both fear and hatred to very strong feelings to feel all at once. He waited in the shadows for what felt like hours, hoping and knowing that Charley Lane (leader of the gang of boys that used to beat on Richard) would walk by the alley on his way home. Thoughts of going to the police went through his head but he kept telling himself “I’m no rat.” and would take matters into his own hands! It was a cold Friday night in January when Richard yanked a two-foot-long wooden pole out of the hall closet and went into the alley by his building. Richard had taken enough beatings and was fed up. He would even go as far as throwing animals into the incinerator in his building. He would tie dogs to the bumpers of buses, and throw dogs off of rooftops. By the age of 10 Richard was taking his anger out by torturing animals. Richard all to often was beat up by local bullies. His favourite thing in the whole world were true crime magazines. Richard grew up in the projects with his sister Roberta (who was born premature) and his other brother Joseph, both of which were his younger siblings. Even when he was sitting in jail being interviewed many years later he would attest how he regretted never killing his father for the pain he caused in his life. He forced Anna to tell family and police that Florian had fallen down the stairs and died that way! They would also witness Stanley’s abuse towards Anna on several occasions! One day in 1940 Stanley was beating Florian when he hit him too hard and killed him unintentionally. When Richard and Florian were growing up Stanley would often beat the 2 boys, sometimes so bad that he would literally knock them out cold. Richard was born second to his brother Florian. Anna worked at a meat packing plant and Stanley worked as a brakeman for the railroad.
His mother was a devoute Catholic and his father an abusive alcoholic. Richard was born in Jersey City, New Jersey on Thursday, Apto Anna and Stanley Kuklinski. There is one man, who was the epitome of all that and then some! His name…Richard Leonard Kuklinski. When you think of the Mafia you think of The Godfather, Goodfellas, The Sopranos, and you think of people like Al Capone, John Gotti, Sammy “The Bull” Gravano. Article BY Aaron Kirkland - Art by NICHOLAS RAIMO