Andre Melendez
| Angel Melendez | |
|---|---|
Angel Melendez with gold wings, pointy ears, and blue hair
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| Born |
Andre Melendez May 1, 1971 Colombia |
| Died | March 17, 1996 (aged 24) 560 West 43 Street, Apartment 3K, New York City |
| Occupation | Club Kid, purported drug dealer |
Andre Melendez (c. May 1, 1971 – March 17, 1996), better known as Angel Melendez, was a member of the Club Kids and purported drug dealer who lived and worked in New York City. He was murdered by Michael Alig and Robert "Freeze" Riggs on March 17, 1996.
Melendez and his family arrived in New York from Colombia when Melendez was 8 years old. Melendez purportedly became a drug dealer during the early 1990s after he met Peter Gatien, owner of the The Limelight and several other nightclubs in New York City, and became a regular dealer in Gatien's clubs. He was frequently seen at Manhattan clubs wearing his signature feathered wings.
Michael Alig, a night club party promoter, known as "King of the Club Kids", became an important customer, leading Melendez into the world of the Club Kids, which group included such members as Alig's mentor/rival James St. James, boyfriend DJ Keoki, and drug dealer/roommate Robert D. "Freeze" Riggs.
On Sunday, March 17, 1996, Melendez was killed by Alig and Alig's roommate, Robert D. "Freeze" Riggs, after going to their Riverbank West apartment (at 560 West 43 Street, Apartment 3K, at 11 Avenue) and engaging with Alig in an argument, purportedly about a delinquent debt. According to various statements made by Alig and Riggs, the confrontation became violent, and Melendez got the better of Alig, who cried out for help. Riggs then hit Melendez on the head with a hammer, three times (until Melendez "went down"), after which Alig smothered him (either with a pillow or sweatshirt, depending upon the source), next poured a "cleaner or chemical" into his mouth, and then wrapped duct tape around it.
The two then stripped Melendez's body and placed it in the bathtub, where it remained for 5–7 days. According to Riggs, he then purchased "2 chef knives and 1 cleaver" at Macy's, with which he said Alig dismembered Melendez's legs, which the roommates wrapped separately in garbage bags, placed into individual duffle bags, and dumped in the Hudson River.
The following day, they wrapped the upper body in a sheet and plastic garbage bag, placed it in a cardboard box from which Riggs had removed the UPC code, and together took the heavy box down the elevator and through the main lobby, and then placed it in the trunk of a Yellow Cab "that happened to be right outside the door." Riggs confessed: "We took the body to the Westside Highway around 25th Street. The taxi drive off, and we threw the box into the river."
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