The Club Kids Murder- The Case of Andre ‘Angel’ Melendez
I watched an episode of Deadliest Decade: The 1990’s, for this case. It’s season 1 episode 3, titled ‘Death of an Angel.' This case involves partying, drugs and a brutal murder. There’s also a documentary about this case called Party Monster: The Shockumentary, but I haven’t seen that, but it’s definitely on my list.
Background
Andre was born on May 1, 1971 in the country of Colombia. He moved with his family from Colombia to New York City when he was just 8 years old.
The Club Kids Scene
The Club Kids consisted of a group of drug crazed people in the 1980 to 1990’s, who went to clubs, and were described as colorful and flamboyant.
Andre was reportedly a drug dealer, which is how he got involved with this group of colorful personalities.
Andre, who started going by Angel due to his costume of feathered angel wings, met a club owner named Peter Gatien. He owned The Limelight and several other clubs in New York. Angel would frequently go to Peter’s club and sell drugs.
Angel Melendez
Angel also met a man named Michael Alig, who is known to have created the Club Kids. Michael would recruit drug dealers to work in Peter’s club and they would be added to his payroll. New club goers would become addicted to drugs.
Michael Alig
Murder
On March 17, 1996, Angel went with Michael Alig to his apartment called the Riverbank West apartments. Michael lived with his roommate, Robert D. “Freeze” Riggs.
Robert “Freeze” Riggs
Michael and Angel reportedly got in a brutal fight over debt. According to Wikipedia, Angel was able to takeover the fight, and Michael called out for help. Robert Riggs then joined in t0 help Michael, and hit Angel in the head with a hammer three times, causing Angel to go down. Michael finished the job by smothering Angel with a pillow. He also poured a cleaning chemical in his mouth, and wrapped duct tape around it.
Then, they stripped Angel and placed him in their bathtub. He was in the apartment for 5-7 days. Robert Riggs went to Macy’s, and purchased 2 knives that were described as chef knives, and a cleaver.
Riggs claimed he didn’t have the stomach to dismember Angel, so he offered Michael 10 bags of heroin to do it. Michael went into the bathroom alone to dismember Angel’s legs, wrapped them in separate garbage bags and duffel bags. The two murderers then disposed of Angel’s legs into the Hudson River.
They weren’t done yet. They wrapped Angel’s upper body in a bed sheet and a garbage bag, and then put it in a cardboard box. Alig and Riggs carried the box through their apartment lobby, and took a cab. They also threw this box in the river.
Discovery of Angel’s Body
Around March or April of 1996, one of the boxes was found on a beach in Staten Island, a tropical storm had carried it there.
On September 8, 1996, the other box was found by a homeless woman. She had fished it out by a pier in the Harlem River.
Investigation
After the second box was found, the police started putting out the case to the media, and started their investigation. During the autopsy, they realized Angel’s head was in a weird angle and his mouth was open. One of the detectives in the episode on Investigation Discovery said he noticed how white Angel’s teeth were. He said “they were whiter than a movie stars.” They also guessed that his nationality was Asian-Mongolian.
On November 2, 1996, the body was confirmed as belonging to Angel. The rumors started right away that it was Riggs and Alig who killed him.
Michael Alig moved to Toms River, New Jersey, and was staying with his boyfriend in a motel. He was arrested on December 5, 1996 and Riggs was arrested the same day in Manhattan.
Interrogation
Michael told the police that he and Riggs killed Angel in self defense and only disposed of his body because they panicked. However, Michael confessed to Angel’s brother, Johnny that he killed Angel because Peter Gatien was going to be in trouble over drugs, and Angel had known everything, and was going to turn Peter in.
Trial and Convictions
Michael and Riggs were both given plea deals of 10-20 years, if they pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
On October 1, 1997, they both pleaded guilty, and sentenced to 10-20 years in prison.
Other
Riggs was released on parole in 2010, and Alig was released on May 5, 2014.
Michael Alig came up for parole many times before he was eventually released. The first time was in 2006, but parole officers had watched the movie Party Monsters about the murder of Angel, and he was denied. He came up for parole again in June 2008, but was denied because he failed several drug tests.
On February 2, 2017, Alig was arrested for trespassing and smoking crystal meth in Joyce Kilmer Park around 1:30am. He pleaded guilty to trespassing for a conditional discharge.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I 100% think both of them should be in prison for life, especially Michael. He clearly has severe drug issues, and maybe needs help. Riggs has stayed out of trouble for now, but this crime was BRUTAL. Angel didn’t deserve to die, especially in the way he did. I’m also happy that the club kids scene died down, because I’m sure a lot of people had gotten hooked on drugs, and maybe it cost them the life they had before it.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Melendez
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Alig
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Club_Kids
