Infamous America - THE ICEMAN Ep. 4 | “Mister Softee”

Episode Date: June 7, 2023

Richard Kuklinski helps Sammy “The Bull” Gravano and John Gotti exact revenge after a tragic accident. Kuklinski learns new techniques for using poison from a fellow contract killer named Robert Pronge, whom Richard will say was the most dangerous man he ever met. And Richard begins to commit the series of murders that will come back to haunt him. Join Black Barrel+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons: blackbarrel.supportingcast.fm/join Apple users join Noiser+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons. Click the Noiser+ banner on Apple or go to noiser.com/subscriptions to get started with a 7-day free trial. On YouTube, subscribe to INFAMOUS+ for ad-free episodes and bingeable seasons. Hit “JOIN” on the Infamous America YouTube homepage.  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCm4V_wVD7N1gEB045t7-V0w/featured For more details, please visit www.blackbarrelmedia.com. Our social media pages are: @blackbarrelmedia on Facebook and Instagram, and @bbarrelmedia on Twitter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Warning, this series contains scenes of graphic violence and is intended for mature audiences only. Listener discretion is advised. The odds of Richard Kuklinski and Robert Prongay ever meeting were probably a million to one. The odds of them randomly bumping into each other in an elevator were probably higher. But it happened. Robert Prongay was an ex-special forces soldier who was reportedly a demolitions expert. He was 36 years old, and he had one passion in life, killing people. Richard Kuklinski would later say that the two most dangerous men he ever met were Roy DeMayo and Robert Prongay,

and Prongay was by far the worst. They were at a Marriott Hotel in Queens. Richard's reason for being there was the same as always. He had a contract to fulfill. He'd been hired by the Decavalcante family to kill another mob guy. Prongay's reason for being at the hotel is more mysterious, but he was likely there for something similar to Richard. Prongay was a contract killer who had a brilliant and darkly funny cover scheme, which will be revealed in a minute. In the Marriott, they walked into the elevator,

neither having any idea who the other was, though each might have suspected what the other was. Richard was a giant at six foot five, two hundred ninety pounds. Robert was a small, somewhat bland-looking man with dark hair and wandering eyes. Richard's instincts instantly made him suspicious. Something was strange about the smaller man. Richard went to the hotel bathroom and was using the urinal when the stranger stepped up next to him. Richard was ready to reach for his gun, but they finished their business and went to the sinks to wash their hands. Each was suspicious that the other was following him, though they went their separate ways without conflict. Richard continued his pursuit of the man he was supposed to kill, and it wasn't easy.

The Marriott was supposed to be the best place to find and trap the victim, but the man was proving to be more elusive than expected. A few days after the run-in with the suspicious stranger, Richard was sitting in his van, continuing to wait and watch for his mark. and that was when one of the strangest moments of Richard's career happened. It was a hot day, and the sun was beating down on Richard while he idled in his van. He had run out of things to drink, and a cold beverage sounded nicer by the second. At about that time, he heard the distinctive jingle of a Mr. Softy ice cream truck driving down the street. The timing was fortunate, though Richard was about to find out that it wasn't entirely

a coincidence. Richard waved the truck down so he could buy a drink. When the truck stopped next to Richard's van, Richard looked at the driver. It was the guy from the hotel elevator and the restroom, the small, dark-haired, seemingly mild-mannered guy with the wandering eyes. He was Robert Prongay, former Special Forces soldier, part-time mad scientist, full-time killer, who used a Mr. Softy ice cream truck to surveil his victims in broad. daylight. Richard thought the cover scheme of the ice cream truck was genius, and he was about to learn a lot from the man he would later call extremely crazy. From Black Barrow Media, this is infamous America. I'm your host, Chris Wimmer, and this season we're telling the story of one of the most prolific,

notorious, and terrifying mafia hitmen of all time, the Ice Man. This is episode four, Mr. Softy. Richard had discovered a love of poison as his new method of murder, and his supplier was a crooked pharmacist named Paul Hoffman. Hoffman taught Richard how to mix the right dosage so that the victim looked like he suffered a heart attack rather than a fatal injection. Richard's next tutor, Robert Prongay, would take poison to a whole new level. But for now, Richard had a new idea of his own. Richard was struggling to carry out the hit for the Decavalcante family. The would-be victim knew he was a target, and he was extra careful to guard his exposure. And because the family had made the request that the victim had to suffer before dying,

Richard couldn't just shoot the guy in the Marriott parking lot and drive away. Then one day, Richard was watching the popular old TV show, Wild Kingdom, and he saw something that inspired him. It could make the process of setting up the victim to suffer much easier. On the show, Richard saw someone subdue a lion with a tranquilizer gun, and he thought that was the solution. Richard asked Phil Solomene if he could get one, with the darts and the tranquilizer. Solomene ran a store that sold stolen goods, and he seemed to be able to get his hands on anything.

Two days later, Richard had the gun, 35 darts, and enough tranquilizer to put an entire zoo to sleep. Richard drove to the Marriott Hotel in Queens and waited. A little after midnight, the Mark left the hotel and approached his car. Just as he reached it, Richard shot him in the butt with a tranquilizer dart. The Mark reached for his weapon, but collapsed in a heap before he could get the gun out. Richard tossed him in his van like a rag doll, handcuffed his hands and feet together, put duct tape over his arm,

his mouth and headed out to the caves in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Richard positioned the victim to be eaten by rats and he set up his video camera to record the horror. Two days later, he retrieved the camera and took the video to Hoboken, New Jersey to show the Decaval Conte captain who'd hired him. Richard received a standing ovation. The captain stuffed $40,000 in Richard's pocket to show his appreciation. another successful, gruesome contract had been fulfilled.

About a week later, Richard got a call from Robert Prongay. When they had first talked next to Robert's Mr. Softie truck, Richard had been intrigued. Prongay was a contract killer just like Richard, and he used the ice cream truck to do surveillance in plain sight. And it was a working truck. As Richard put it in an interview years later, Robert would, go into a neighborhood, sell ice cream to the kids, and maybe kill one of their fathers. After that meeting, Prongay invited Richard to a garage where he stored the truck. Richard made the journey, but he kept one hand near his gun.

He didn't have friends, and he was naturally suspicious of everyone, especially other killers. But Prongay was too interesting to ignore. In a storage locker, Prongay showed Richard grenades and boxes of ammunition. Prongay had books and magazines about explosives, poisons, and booby traps. He showed Richard how to wire a hand grenade so he could be detonated by remote control. Richard thought he was a connoisseur of the dark arts, but he was nothing compared to Prongay. And then after Richard finished the Marriott Hotel job and received a call from Prongay, he witnessed the coolest trick he'd ever seen.

Prongay invited Richard to ride with him to Connecticut while Prongay did a job. It was nighttime, and for a hit like this, he drove a regular car, not the Mr. Softie truck. They parked about a hundred feet from the Target's house and waited for the man to return home. While they waited, Prongay evaluated and approved of the weather conditions. It was dark and there was no wind. He told Richard that he should never use the device that was about to be demonstrated if it was windy. Then the target pulled up to his house. Prongay pulled out a pair of gloves and told his new friend that he'd be right back. By the time the target parked, Prongay was at the driver's side

door. The moment the door opened, Prongay sprayed the man in the face with a fine mist from a small container that looked like it could have been breath freshener. The man stumbled out of the car, took half a dozen steps, and fell over dead. Prongay walked back. back to his car and drove off, with Richard staring in disbelief from the passenger seat. Two little sprays, and the man had been dead in seconds. Robert Prongay had developed a cyanide spray that essentially killed on contact. Richard loved it, but he would have to wait to use it himself. Phil Soleimine's contraband store in Patterson, New Jersey, was a haven for criminals.

His store was a drab building with no sign because it wasn't open to the public. Everything he sold was stolen. He and Richard had pulled some schemes together, and he was as friendly with Richard as Richard would allow. Richard had met his poison supplier through Phil Solomene, and through Solomene he had also met the man who would be his next victim, George Malaband. Malaband was a loud, overweight guy with a gambling problem. Richard and George did some business together and were occasional hunting partners, and George went to Richard for help with his latest gambling situation.

Maliband had borrowed money from loan sharks so that he could keep gambling in the hope that he would win the money that he needed to pay everyone back, but he quickly lost the loan money. Richard introduced Malaband to Roy DeMaio, who loaned Malaband $35,000. The loan allowed Malaband to pay. off the loan sharks and his debts in Las Vegas. But now, of course, he owed Roy DeMeo $35,000 with interest. When DeMeo asked about repayment, Malaband offered only excuses. Richard reminded Malaband of the

consequences if Malaband continued to stall. Malaband's response could best be characterized as ill-advised. Richard and Malaband were driving in Richard's van when Malaband were driving in Richard's van when Malaband said, Big Guy, I know too much about what you do. I don't think you'd ever let DeMayo hurt me. Fact is, I know you won't. Remember, big guy, I know where you live, where your family lives. You won't let anything happen to me.

Richard became enraged. A threat to his family was crossing the line. Richard pulled over, took out a 38, and shot Malaband five times. Richard drove Malaband's body to his north. Bergen, New Jersey garage that doubled as a warehouse and a place to kill people. It wasn't far from the garage where Robber Prongay kept his Mr. Softie truck. Malaband was too big to stuff into a 55-gallon barrel, so adjustments had to be made. Richard got a saw and cut off one of Malaband's legs. He then sealed the black metal drum, and despite it weighing nearly 350 pounds, Richard easily lifted it into his van.

Now it was off to Jersey City. He knew of a big chemical plant called Chemtecs, where out back, people often dumped things. It was a frigid February day and snowing. Richard backed his van into the makeshift dumping area, pulled the 55-gallon drum out of the van, and rolled it down a hill. Then he got back in the van and left,

never again thinking about George Malaband. He assumed the body would be missing forever, but he assumed wrong. Unbeknownst to Richard, when he rolled the barrel down the embankment, it hit a rock near the bottom. The top of the barrel popped off, and moments later, the owner of the chemical plant stepped outside to smoke a cigarette. Something caught his eye. It appeared that a man's leg was sticking out of a black barrel in the distance.

He investigated and saw that a very large, very dead man was stuffed inside the barrel. The plant owner called the police. Because Malaband had been killed so recently, his identity was quickly established and his family contacted. His brother said George was meeting Richard Kukklinsky the day he disappeared. Richard was questioned by the police. He denied everything. However, for the first time in his life,

after perhaps hundreds of murders, he was finally connected to a homicide. Richard was haunted by his mistake. He was always so meticulous in every phase of the process. This was a rare, unforced error. He should have just buried Malaband, or driven him to the caves and given him to the rats. It was maybe the earliest signal that he was slipping just a little bit.

There would be more evidence of slippage in a couple years, but in the near term, he vowed to be more careful, which was essential when handling a task for a mobster as high profile as John Gotti. On Tuesday, March 18, 1980, a 12-year-old named Frank learned he had made his school's football team. Overjoyed, he borrowed a friend's motorized dirt bike. He never made it home for dinner that night. A car driven by a neighbor, John Favara, hit Frank and dragged him down the entire block. 51-year-old Favara, a factory worker, was allegedly so drunk he had no idea he had hit anyone,

that day in Howard's Beach, Queens. Unfortunately for Favara, he had just killed John Gotti's youngest son. Gotti was a notorious captain in the Gambino family, and beyond the heartbreak of losing a child, he was furious about the incident.

Favara was drunk and extremely negligent, but it was still an accident. As such, Gadi might have been able to forgive Favara if Favara had handled it properly. But Favara continued to drive the car around the neighborhood for months as if nothing had happened, and he never went to the gaudy household to apologize. It was also reported that Favara drunkenly shouted,

what the fuck was he doing in the street, when he finally realized he had killed a child. Favara couldn't have handled it worse if he had tried. Sammy the Bull Gravano knew about the talents of Richard Kuklinski and asked Richard if he'd be interested in evening the score for four. Frank Gotti's death. Naturally, the answer was yes. Sammy was a made man and a soldier in the Gambino family, and he was a favorite of current

boss, Paul Costellano. But when Richard said yes, the foundation was laid for a future collaboration of these three men, John Gotti, Sammy Gravano, and Richard Keklinski. That would be the coup that removed Paul Castellano and replaced him with John Gotti. And it started right here, form. months after John Gotti's son was killed. On July 28th, 1980, Richard met John Gotti's crew, which included Gotti's younger brother Gene. The crew, now with the addition of Richard Kuklinski, drove in a van to the Long Island Furniture factory where Favara worked. They grabbed Favara as he

walked to his car, the same car he had been driving when he killed Goddy's son. They drove to East New York and parked in a junkyard. There, Gene Gotti and the crew beat Favara mercilessly, breaking bones, knocking out teeth, and dislodging an eye. Then Richard took over. He tore off Favara's clothes, tied him up, and used road flares to burn him in some truly terrible ways, just like he had done to a farmer who had stolen from him several years earlier. Remarkably, Favara survived, and Gene Gadi finished the job with a lead pipe. Richard then stuffed Favara into a 55-gallon barrel and made it disappear. A week after the murder, FBI agents confronted John Gotti

and asked if he knew anything about Favara's sudden disappearance. Gotti politely replied that he knew nothing, and no one was ever charged with the murder. That first big job with Sammy the Bull and John Gotti would eventually lead to Richard's final high-profile murder. maybe his final murder, period. But it was the one that happened after the gory Favara murder that helped lead to the end of the Iceman.

There were five murders that were the beginning of the end for Richard Kuklinski. George Malaband was one of them, the overweight gambler whom Richard had stuffed in a barrel, which was then discovered by the owner of a chemical plant. The next two were numbers two and three on that list. Lewis Maskeye owned a general store in Fort, Pennsylvania. Lewis also bought truckloads of blank videotapes that Richard had stolen. And like many others before him, Lewis recklessly pestered Richard for more merchandise.

On July 1, 1981, a year after Richard helped John Gotti and Sammy the Bull, Lewis Maske made a trip to Phil Soleimine's store in Patterson, New Jersey. Lewis frequently participated in the illegal poker games that Solomene hosted at his store, but this time he was there to buy more stolen videotapes. Solomene slipped away and called Richard. Solomene said Maske was at the store right now and had the cash to make a purchase. An hour later, Richard walked into the store. Maske was in the bathroom.

Richard opened the door and found Maskeye sitting on the toilet. Richard pulled out a 22-caliber pistol with a suppressor on the end and shot Maske above the left eye. Then to ensure the job was complete, Richard shot him in the head again. Richard apologized to Salamine for killing in the store, and Solomene, wisely, told the deadliest man he knew not to worry about it. Kuklinski and Solomene dumped Maske's body into a black plastic bag, then went out to Maske's van and pried open the side of the size of the side of the door. Inside was $90,000, right where Maske said it would be. Kukkinski and Solomene split the money evenly, and then Richard hauled Maske's body out to his warehouse in North Bergen, New Jersey.

In the back of the space, there was an old well that was full of ice-cold spring water. A few years earlier, Richard had helped another hitman's store a dead body in a meat freezer so the dead man's wife could collect the insurance money. For the scam to work, it had to appear that the man had died long after the actual murder. So they kept the man on ice until the new widow could collect her money. The plan worked to perfection, and Richard collected a healthy portion of the widow's insurance money.

Kuklinski hoped the frozen sequel would be as successful. He thought that the ice-cold water would slow the decomposition of Maske's body. Richard dumped Maskeye inside the well, put a tire on top of him, then a strip of plywood, and finally poured cement over the hole. He figured he'd leave Maskei in the well

for a handful of months until winter arrived, then remove the body and dump it somewhere where it could be found. Lewis Maske's disappearance would probably prompt an investigation, but when there were no immediate leads, the police would move on to other things.

Then, when Maske's body turned up and there were still no leads, the police would probably file it away as another unsolvable murder that wasn't worth their time to pursue. The plan was logical, and most of it worked just as Richard hoped. But it was that last part, the part where the police didn't bother to pursue the investigation that became the problem. By the time Lewis Maske's body was discovered, Richard's career was slipping fast. murders and disposals were getting sloppy, and people were turning against him. Richard was always worried about the people around him knowing too much,

and the person who knew the most was Phil Solomene, and Solomene would know a whole lot more before it was all over. Paul Hoffman kept pestering Richard and Phil Solomene to find him some stolen Tagamette, a drug used to treat ulcer pain. Hoffman was Richard's poison supplier, and the crooked pharmacist and the professor, professional hitmen had been introduced by Solomene. Hoffman was currently requesting Tagamit because it was really popular and easy for Hoffman to sell for marked up prices. When the flow of

drugs went this direction, Richard and his crew would hijack the shipment and give it to Solomene, and Solomene would sell it to a buyer like Hoffman. Hoffman kept reminding Solomine he had the money, he just needed the product. And saying something like that to feel Will Solomene was a bad idea, because Hoffman didn't know that Solomene and Richard ran a side business, where Solomene would lure a buyer into his store, Richard would kill the buyer, and then Solomine and Richard would split the buyer's cash. When Paul Hoffman showed up at Solomene's store with $25,000 and said he wanted the tagamit that Richard had repeatedly promised was available, Hoffman walked himself into a trap. Solomine called Richard.

Richard dropped what he was doing and drove to the store with two handguns and a hunting knife. When he arrived, Hoffman again bragged that he had the cash. Richard said it was perfect timing. The tagamette had come in and it was at his warehouse in North Bergen. Richard never liked Paul Hoffman. He rarely liked anyone, but he felt Hoffman was a, quote, greedy scumbag. The only reason the pharmacist was still breathing was because he was Richard's poison supplier. But Hoffman wasn't the only person who could supply poison, and he had conveniently

delivered himself with a care package of $25,000. Hoffman followed Richard to a warehouse on a desolate street in North Bergen, New Jersey. They walked in, and Richard pointed to the back wall. Boxes were stacked against the wall, and Richard said they were full of tagamette. That was a lie, of course. The boxes were empty, but Hoffman was excited. and he pulled his car into the warehouse to load the drugs. The moment Hoffman put his car in park, Richard pulled out a 25-caliber handgun and shot Hoffman in the neck.

Richard thought one shot would do it, but Hoffman was still moving. Richard pulled the trigger a second time, but the gun jammed. Hoffman was not a large guy or a strong guy, but a surge of adrenaline turned him into Superman. Despite his bleeding neck, he charged out of the car and attacked Richard.

Paul Hoffman came miraculously close to winning a battle with Richard Kuklinski, but his chances for victory ended when Richard grabbed a tire iron. Richard bashed Hoffman over the head and eventually bludgeoned him to death. There was blood everywhere, all over the warehouse floor, all over Richard's clothes, even in his shoes. But that was part of Richard's business. He washed up and put on fresh clothes. and then stuffed Paul Hoffman into a 55-gallon metal barrel. Richard sealed the drum and lifted it into his van.

He drove over to Phil Solomene's store and offered to split the $25,000 with him, but Solomene told Richard to keep it all. Richard had done all the work. Richard had to get rid of the body, but he was hungry. So he drove to Harry's luncheonette in Hackensack and ate a roast beef sandwich which, while Paul Hoffman's 55-gallon tomb sat in the back of his van outside.

As Richard sipped a diet Pepsi, he decided to make the disposal easy on himself. He deposited the barrel behind the restaurant, and there it sat for weeks or maybe months. Everyone probably assumed it belonged to the diner, or was a piece of garbage that was waiting to be picked up. Richard returned to Harry's luncheonette on a regular basis to eat lunch and check on the barrel. Sometimes, he ate his sandwich out back and used the barrel as a table. He thought it was hilarious. Then one day, the barrel was gone. Richard never found out what happened to it, or the body of Paul Hoffman. But since he never heard anything about it again, the barrel was likely

picked up by garbage collectors and thrown into a landfill or something like that, and the workers never knew what was inside. Next time on Infamous America, Richard fired. Finally exacts revenge on a nemesis, but things start to fall apart around him. He eliminates people he no longer trusts at the same time that a New Jersey detective starts an investigation that soon leads to an undercover operation by the ATF. That's next week on Infamous America. Members of our Black Barrel Plus program don't have to wait week to week for new episodes. They receive the entire season to binge all at once with no commercials, and they also receive

exclusive bonus episodes. Sign up now through the link in the show notes or on our website, blackbarrelmedia.com. Memberships begin at just $5 per month. This series was researched and written by Brian Frazier. Original music by Rob Valier. I'm your host and producer, Chris Wimmer. Find us at our website, blackbarrelmedia.com or on our social media channels. We're Black Barrel Media on Facebook and Instagram and B-Barrell media on Twitter,

and you can stream all our episodes on YouTube. Just search for Infamous America Podcast. Thanks for listening.