Michael Alig | The Killer Club Kid
Michael Alig was born on April 29, 1966. His mother, who was a native of Bremerhaven, Germany, had moved to the United States after marrying his father, John, a computer programmer. The marriage was rocky from the start, but the couple got a divorce when Michael was four years old.
After attending Grissom Middle School, he went to Penn High School. There, he was a straight-A student, but got bullied because of his homosexuality. He graduated in 1984, then went on to attend the Fordham University in New York City before transferring to the Fashion Institute of Technology. There, he met the boyfriend of artist Keith Haring. The boyfriend introduced Michael to New York nightlife, which Michael took a great interest in. While I was researching this case, I found out that many people blamed Michael's parents for what he did later in life (I will go over that later), because they let him hang out with an artist who expressed his love of the drug, Rohypnol, through his art, at a fairly young age. What do you guys think? Anyways, he soon dropped out of school and began working at Danceteria as a busboy.
Michael started studying the nightclub business and became a party promoter. Soon, he and other clubbers began creating personas and were known as “Club Kids”. They would perform in various places like Burger King, Dunkin’ Donuts, abandoned houses and subways, in outrageous costumes. They were also known for their frequent use of Ketamine (Special K), Ecstasy, Rohypnol, Heroin and Cocaine. The “Club Kids” appeared on different media outlets such as Newsweek, People, TIME, Donahue, Geraldo and The Joan Rivers Show. In 1988, Michael was hired by the owner of Limelight, Peter Gatien.
Over time, Michael’s parties became notorious due to his own ‘bad behavior’. Michael would throw $100 bills on crowded dance floors just to watch people scramble for them. He would also urinate in club goers’ drinks- sometimes even on the club goers themselves- and would engage in fights where he would knock people out. His drug use also grew- he was arrested several times for drug abuse and went to rehab. In 1995, his boss, Peter Gatien, sent him to rehab again and when Michael was released, Gatien fired him.
Around the time that Michael got fired, Andre “Angel” Melendez worked at Limelight. He was fired after getting caught selling drugs. Shortly after, Andre moved into Michael’s Riverbank West apartment. On the night of March 17, 1996, Michael and Andre had gotten into a big fight about a long- standing drug debt and many other things. The fight escalated and at some point, Andre became so angry at Michael that he began to strangle him.
So, Andre is standing there, strangling Michael, while Michael tries to fight back but fails. Just then, Michael’s roommate, Robert “Freeze” Riggs walked in, saw the scene, grabbed a hammer and beat Andre with it, knocking him out. Andre is knocked unconscious on the floor and Michael and Robert are standing over him, thinking of what they should do now. For unknown reasons, Robert decided to leave the room for a second and when he came back, he saw that Michael was next to Andre’s body, injecting Drano into him. So Robert ran up to them, pushed Michael away, he’s freaked out, he tries to feel a pulse, but it was too late. Andre Melendez was deceased.
Michael did not know what to do with the body, so he turned to his roommate and asked if he would help dispose of it. Robert hesitated, but ended up agreeing and saying fine. Initially, they left it in the bathtub and filled it with ice, but the body started to decompose and become malodorous. After further discussing what to do with the body and who should do it, “Freeze” Riggs went to Macy’s to buy knives and a box.
Michael agreed to dismember Melendez’s body in exchange for 10 bags of Heroin. He cut off his “Angel”’s legs, put them into garbage bags, which he put into separate duffel bags. The rest of the body was put into a large box which Riggs found in the basement of their apartment. Then, he drove to the Hudson River and dumped the body there. I watched an interview with Andre Melendez's brother and it was heartbreaking. The brother explained how it was very upsetting that a friend, someone the family thought they could trust, killed his baby brother over some drugs? Anyways, Andre was reported missing not long after, but it was said that police didn’t care much about a Colombian drug dealer.
Michael realized that no one really cared about the disappearance of Andre Melendez, he went around telling people that he and Riggs had killed Melendez, but no one believed him, (1) because he was so high on drugs all the time and (2) people were aware of Michael’s attention seeking behaviors. Even the people who did believe that Michael had killed Melendez wouldn’t do anything because they didn’t want to be the one to turn on him. Soon, the claims and the disappearance of Andre “Angel” Melendez just became rumors.
Through September 1996, Michael had still not been questioned by police, instead they focused on Peter Gaiten, owner of Limelight, and wanted Michael to testify against him. It was believed that Michael Alig had gotten away with murder until a dismembered body was pulled out of Hudson River. In November of that year, the coroner confirmed that it was indeed the body of drug dealer Andre “Angel” Melendez. After hearing this, Michael fled.
He went to New York where he stayed in a hotel with a former boyfriend, but the police had the place surrounded. After getting caught, Michael gave a full confession. He pled Not Guilty to the charge of 1st degree murder because he said that he fought back in self-defense. However, lawyers felt that the heavy drug use and the dismemberment said otherwise. In December 1997, Michael Alig and Robert Riggs pled guilty to manslaughter and were sentenced 10 to 20 years in prison.
Michael was eligible for parole in 2006. His first parole request was denied after officers watched the film Party Monster (2003), a fictionalized account of his life. He was denied parole again in July 2008 after failing many drug tests. In March 2009, Michael Alig said that he would stop using drugs. Spoiler: He didn’t. Alig was paroled on May 5, 2014. He returned to New York City. He was required to abide an 8 PM curfew, undergo drug and anger management counseling and job readiness training. On February 2, 2017, Michael was arrested for trespassing and smoking crystal meth in Joyce Kilmer Park in Concourse, outside of the Bronx Supreme Court at approximately 1:30 AM. On December 24, 2020, shortly before midnight, at age 54, Michael Alig died of a heroin overdose.
This is a very sad case. The biggest reason that I despise this Michael Alig guy is because it seemed like he didn't learn anything from his mistakes. It seemed like he didn't give a crap about the consequences of the murder, he was just thrilled that it got him famous. I hope that nothing like this ever happen again in the future, but realistically, it probably will. Nonetheless, stay safe out there and remember to always carry around a bottle of pepper spray. Stay alive, guys. Bye!