The final chapter of a story full of tragic twists and turns came on December 25, 2020, when Alig was found lifeless in his apartment in Manhattan. Its hard to say what percentage the drugs are responsible. [10], In May 2015, a selection of Alig's paintings went on display at the SELECT Fair in New York.[43]. "He was a copycat, so we killed him," Alig spoke of Melendez. Definitely, I would have had my wits about me to know not to sit so longthere were three of us and we were on top of him. My heart broke a little when I asked him if he missed anything about prison and he said without even pausing to think about it, I miss not worrying about having a place to live or eat. He told me he wished could be a baby again and do it all over, which I also found depressing. [31] On October 1, 1997, both pleaded guilty and were sentenced to 10 to 20 years. Zach Shallcross Struggles to Watch Himself Dancing Terribly on The Bachelor, Alison Brie on Sex Scenes: 'We Are Actors, This Is Our Job'. He along with fellow 'Club Kid' Robert 'Freeze' Riggs were arrested for a brutal murder, with Alig pleading guilty to manslaughter in 1997 for killing Melendez. It's easy to expect that if someone confesses to a murder, the person hearing it will immediately call the police. There's also the matter of drugs, which were becoming more and more prominent on the scene. "Not only is there no reason, there's no justification," he said. Instead, he was reportedly quite happy to letAlig to rule the Club Kid roost and had plenty of respect for him. Alig was the last of these self-created downtown freaks. It alters your sense of time and, in this case, well say strength. Although no names were used, Musto's reports included the details of murder. 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Michael Alig died of an overdose on Christmas Day, 2020. He was 54 years old. While Alig fully admitted that the pair eventually chopped off the body's legs before disposing of it, he blamed the dissociation that came with their heroin use and said that he had terrifying PTSD-induced flashbacks about it. Michael Alig was found dead on Christmas Eve 2020 at age 54. ", "My interview with Keoki and Michael Alig for, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_Alig&oldid=1139419541, American people convicted of manslaughter, People with histrionic personality disorder, Prisoners and detainees of New York (state), Deaths by heroin overdose in New York (state), Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, The events of Alig's years as a club promoter up to his arrest are covered in, The events of Alig's years as a club promoter up to his arrest were portrayed in the documentary, produced and directed by, A prison interview with Alig is featured in the documentary, Alig is cast as "Michael" in Spanish NY based independent director Manuel Toledano's first and only movie (finished in 1998 with the participation of producer. I was spinning out of control. The movie tells the story of a disenfranchised small-town kid called Michael Alig (Macaulay Culkin), who relocates to the Big Apple to look for better things. Meanwhile, some friends of Aligs are somehow mystified at how he couldve died from an overdose. On December 25, 2020, notorious New York City "Club Kid" Michael Alig died of an accidental heroin overdose. Alig and Robert Freeze Riggs served time in prison for killing Club Kid member Andre Angel Melendez, dismembering his body and tossing it in the Hudson River in 1996. "Before, it was, you know, it was like people's livelihoods were on the line they like built an industry out of me. We were the antithesis of sex. He cut his legs off and put them each in a separate garbage bag, then into separate duffel bags and threw them into the Hudson River. As Michael Alig puts it, his intention apart from self-promotion, of course was to help "other people who were having a hard time assimilating, like I was when I was growing up. [16] Alig later claimed that after he completed his stint and was released, Gatien fired him. Alig was paroled from prison in 2014 but was arrested briefly again in February 2017, this time for trespassing and smoking crystal meth in a park outside Bronx Supreme Court. It also served as a cast and crew wrap party to celebrate his last film, Duke of New York, directed by Eric Rivas, whom Alig worked with on several projects. Convicted killer Michael Alig has died at the age of 54, E! document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); May 3, 2021 | [15], However, Musto recalls: "By the time Alig sent out a party invite joking about the murder, a lot of people wanted to kill him (especially since a source was floating a more premeditated version of the killing). This photo was not uploaded because you have already uploaded 15 photos to this memorial. [11], In 1988, Alig was hired by the owner of The Limelight, Peter Gatien. By The Associated Press. Alig meets James St. James (Seth Green), who introduces . Privacy Notice events, Alig continued to promote and host parties in New York City for Noel Ashman, Trax Records, Jason Chaos and more. Chad Rachman; Retna. Blair first agreed to split his ashes with the Club Kids, but then pulled the plug, telling Page Six she feltbullied by Aligs longtime confidante Rachael Cain. [22], In the weeks following Melendez's disappearance, Alig allegedly told "anyone who would listen" that he and Riggs had killed him. Alig has insisted that the Club Kids weren't using narcotics to have fun but rather to stave off the horrors of everyday life. I used to hear a lot of drama from his place a lot of people screaming, next-door neighbor Elvis Miller, 27, told The Post on Friday. We may earn a commission from links on this page. Michael Alig ripped through culture like an overly loud cackle at a party, and he went out with a whimper. According to Deadline, both Alig and Riggs pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 1996. The wilder, more eccentric the makeup, hair and costumes, the better and no one was held in more esteem in the hierarchy of alien-looking club-hoppers than a gender-bending man with an entourage. His first parole request, in November 2006, was denied, reportedly after parole officers watched the film Party Monster (2003), a fictionalized account of Alig's life, starring Macaulay Culkin. Michael Alig, the notorious 'Club Kid Killer' and the flamboyant party promoter, who ended up serving 17 years in jail for the sordid murder and dismemberment of his drug dealer, looked disturbed . People stopped going out, and then when Warhol died, people stopped going out completely. Young Indian Cop Collapses, Dies Suddenly While Exercising at Gym; Heart Attack Caused by Covid-19 Vaccine? Alig was convicted in 1996 for the murder of fellow Club Kid and drug dealer Angel Melendez. Riggs was freed in 2010. [19][20] On the night of March 17, 1996, Alig and his roommate, Robert D. "Freeze" Riggs, killed Melendez after an argument in Alig's apartment over many things, including a long-standing drug debt. Michael told me, Ill never see money from it because they said theyll only release it after [longtime collaborator and DJ] Keoki or I died.. Recently., Miller, when told that Alig was dead, responded, Oh my God! photo gallery : Michael Alig (born South Bend, Indiana, April 29, 1966) was the founding member of the notorious Club Kids, a group of young clubgoers led by Alig in the late 1980s and early 1990s. There was something about it with all those dark clouds, it felt like it was taking him away and setting him free, Cain told Page Six. I had wanted to see Aligs place, and while it had confirmed my suspicions that it would function as a visual representation of a life in disarray, I couldnt believe that he let an actual journalist see it. Michael loves what he sees and becomes the most popular "club kid" in town that is, until drugs take hold and things start to go downhill fast. Another added: Michael did a lot of drugs and couldnt get out of his own way. His ability to stage memorable parties helped him rise in New York's party scene. Fabulous was the word of the day. News confirmed in late December that the former club promoter, who served 17 years in prison, had died at the age of 54 . [35], In August 2004, James St. James began a blog entitled "Phone Calls From a Felon". The visionary party promoter and style icon was one of the best-known members of a loose-knit, attention-grabbing group of hardcore denizens of the 80s and 90s New York nightlife scene, known as the Club Kids. Another series consists of portraits of "homophobic world leaders," as the artist describes them, with "cum splotches" - yes, actual ones - on their faces.The series features Bush, Cheney, and Putin, among others. It seems that the tactic worked, because according to the Toronto Sun, Melendez was the go-to drug dealer at the Club Kids' favorite haunts, Limelight and The Tunnel. 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Detectives recovered several zip-lock plastic bags, apparently containing heroin, from the home, as well as drug paraphernalia, officials said. In 2016,I was assigned to profile Alig for Maer Roshans short-lived reboot of the queer lifestyle magazine 429, which is now defunct. According to a report in New York Post, his neighbors would often hear him screaming from inside his pad. In reality, he argued, the whole thing was a fairly bloodless affair they simply thought Melendez was unconscious, so they put him on a couch, where he asphyxiated. Michael Alig when he was released from prison in 2014 and 1993. Michael Alig ripped through culture like an overly loud cackle at a party, and he went out with a whimper. In Riggs' original statement to the police, Alig and Melendez had indeed been fighting, at which point he grabbed the hammer and hit the drug dealer. According to The Advocate, this wasn't the case with Angel Melendez. On December 24, 2020, shortly before midnight, Alig was found unconscious by his ex-boyfriend at their Washington Heights, Manhattan, home. Then again, the club scene had its dark sides. In March 1996, Alig and another friend, Robert Freeze Riggs, got into a beef with a small-time drug-peddling pal, Angel Melendez, while they were all on ketamine. Ludovic wore underwear and white body paint as he swept the pair past the uber-choosy doorman. in the New York City LES area. After Melendez's death, Alig and Riggs did not know what to do with the body. Being a user, he would have a tolerance There mustve been something like fentanyl mixed with it, the first source said. Michael Alig was a very real person, as are many of the other scenesters depicted in the movie up to and including Angel Melendez, who really was killed by Alig and his acquaintance. Looking at it today, PartyMonster managed to get quite a star-studded cast, with a combination of established names and up-and-comers ranging from Home Alone star Macaulay Culkin (who played Alig), Seth Green, and That '70s Show mainstay Wilmer Walderrama to Chlo Sevigny, Dylan McDermott, and even shock rocker Marilyn Manson. Per The Guardian, the Club Kid scene started as an attempt to give people who had been outcasts in their own communities a place to belong. Headless Body of Missing Model Found in Refrigerator of Hong Kong Slaughter House as Police Arrest Ex-Husband and Father-In-Law, Who Was Jack Snyder? It seemed to me that Alig was still serving a sort of sentence, that the prison bars he spent 17 years behind were ultimately immaterial. 45,190, 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved to quickly search for other people with the same last name in the same cemetery, city, county, etc. Aligs ex was there and saw him unconscious and called 911, a police source said. ", The Messed Up True Story Behind Party Monster. Alig served 17 years in prison for killing Melendez (he pleaded guilty to manslaughter), and was released to much fanfare in 2014. After ten years in prison, club kid turned murderer Michael Alig was clean (finally) and obsessed with his reentry into New York nightlife, writes Jonathan Van Meter in this 2006 New York Magazine profile. Florida Teacher Suspended After He Made White Students Act as Servants For Black Students, Who Was Abby Choi? Club Kid Killer Michael Alig the famously flamboyant party promoter who ended up busted for murder was found dead on Christmas Eve of an apparent heroin overdose, officials said Friday. Former child actor Macaulay Culkin portrayed him. Prosecutors were hesitant to charge Alig with first-degree murder, as they still hoped he would testify against his former boss, Peter Gatien, who had been arrested for allowing drugs to be sold in his nightclubs. "Club Kid Killer" Michael Alig the famously flamboyant party promoter who ended up busted for murder . [29] Alig was arrested as was Riggs. Crime Figure. Doesn't Recall Speaking With Mayor. Youre looking for the family you never had. One particularly unsavory story involves an incident in which Alig urinated from a balcony on a female bartender, who was then verbally abused until she cried. [10] The Club Kids' outrageousness became a source of interest for the media, and articles about them appeared in such media outlets as Newsweek, People, and TIME. We said our prayers to say goodbye. Studio 54 had fallen apart and people were realizing then that cocaine was bad. Most detailed account anywhere! In 1997, he pleaded. [26] Since several months had passed, many people believed Alig would get away with murdering Melendez, until children playing in the water pulled a box containing a legless torso from the waters of Oakwood Beach[27] at Miller Field, in New Dorp, Staten Island. Thanks for contacting us. . [32], While in prison, Alig told Musto, "I know why I blabbed. [7], While working at Danceteria, Alig studied the nightclub business and soon became a party promoter. The co-founder of the 'Club Kids' underground party movement of the 1980s and 90s, Alig served 17 years in prison for brutally killing and dismembering his roommate over a drug debt. His charisma and the combination of his outlandish getups and scandalous antics made him a popular figure in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as well as a talk show mainstay who was the de facto figurehead of both Gatien's club empire and the Club Kid scene in general. Some friends of Aligs are somehow mystified at how he couldve died from an overdose, Peter Gatien ]. Killed him, '' he said it, the Messed Up True Story Behind Monster... Of time and, in 1988, Alig studied the nightclub business and soon became a party, and went... Students, who was Jack Snyder called 911, a police source said been. 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