Michael Alig

Michael Alig
Daniel Genis and Michael Alig (right) in 2015
Born	(1966-04-29) April 29, 1966 (age 50) South Bend, Indiana, U.S.
Criminal charge	First-degree manslaughter
Criminal penalty	10 to 20 years
Criminal status	Released on parole
Conviction(s)	First-degree manslaughter
Partner(s)	Robert D. "Freeze" Riggs
Killings
Victims	Andre "Angel" Melendez
Date	March 17, 1996
Country	United States
State(s)	New York
Location(s)	New York City
Date apprehended	November 1997

Michael Alig (born April 29, 1966) is an American former club promoter, musician, and writer who served almost 17 years in prison for manslaughter. Alig was a co-founder and ringleader of the Club Kids, a group of young New York City clubgoers that became a cultural phenomenon during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

In March 1996, Alig and his roommate, Robert D. "Freeze" Riggs, killed fellow Club Kid Andre "Angel" Melendez in a confrontation over a delinquent debt. In October 1997, Alig pled guilty to first-degree manslaughter. Both men were sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison; Riggs was released on parole in 2010, Alig on May 5, 2014.

Born and raised in South Bend, Indiana, Alig is the second of two sons born to John and Elke Alig. His mother Elke, a native of Bremerhaven, Germany, moved to the United States after marrying John Alig, a computer programmer. The.couple divorced when Alig was four years old.

Alig attended Grissom Middle School and Penn High School, where he was a straight A student and graduated in the top 8% of his class. During his teenage years, Alig reported that he was often bullied because of his homosexuality. Seeking a less conservative social environment after graduating in 1984, he attended Fordham University in New York City, on a scholarship. He studied architecture there before transferring to the Fashion Institute of Technology. There, he met the boyfriend of artist Keith Haring, who introduced Alig to New York City nightlife. Alig soon dropped out of school and began working at Danceteria as a bus boy.