Richard Kuklinski - First Murder

First Murder

In 1949, Kuklinski, 13, ambushed and beat Charley Lane, the leader of a small gang of teenagers known as "The Project Boys," who had bullied him for some time. Following a particularly bad beating Kuklinski sought revenge, attacking Lane with a wooden stick, eventually beating him to death, although he denied wanting to kill Lane. Kuklinski then dumped Lane's body off a bridge in South Jersey after removing his teeth and chopping off his finger tips with a hatchet in an effort to prevent identification of the body. He then went on to savagely beat the remaining six boys in Lane's gang. Remarking on his first murder after a childhood filled with physical abuse he explained "Giving is better than receiving."