Michael Alig - Murder of Angel Melendez

Murder of Angel Melendez

Andre "Angel" Melendez worked at the Limelight, and after the bar's closure by federal agents, Melendez was fired. With no job he moved into Alig's apartment. Increasingly affected by substance abuse, Alig and his friend Robert "Freeze" Riggs murdered Melendez after an argument over many things including a long-standing drug debt. Alig has claimed many times that he was so high on drugs that the events are quite cloudy. On December 9, 1996, Riggs confessed to police that on March 17, 1996:

On a Sunday in March of 1996 I was at home ... and Michael Alig and Angel Melendez were loudly arguing ... and getting louder. I opened the room and started towards the other bedroom ... at which point Michael Alig was yelling, "Help me!" "Get him off of me" started shaking him violently and banging him against the wall. He was yelling "You better get my money or I'll break your neck" ... I grabbed the hammer ... and hit Angel over the head...

Then according to Riggs he hit Melendez a total of three times on the head. Then Alig grabbed a pillow and tried to smother him. When Melendez was unconscious Riggs went to the other room and when he came back he noticed a broken syringe on the floor. However, Alig's story was that he injected Melendez with Drano, while Riggs claims that Alig poured it down Melendez's throat and duct-taped his mouth closed. Since Alig and Riggs did not know what to do with the body they put it in the bath tub that they filled with ice. They kept the body from rotting, but after a few days the corpse began to smell. After discussing what to do next (and who should do it), Alig injected himself with heroin. He then cut the legs off the corpse, put them in a garbage bag and stuffed the rest in a box. Afterwards he threw the corpse into the Hudson River.