New York City Clubgoer Killed, Butchered, Dumped in Hudson River Over Drug Money

The source provides an extensive history of the Club Kids subculture in 1990s New York City, characterizing it as a hedonistic period of excess and spectacle in major venues like The Limelight. It focuses particularly on the rise and fall of promoter Michael Alig, the self-proclaimed "King of the Club Kids," under the aegis of club mogul Peter Gatien. The core of the episode details the 1996 murder of Andre "Angel" Melendez, a fellow Club Kid and drug dealer, by Alig and his roommate Robert "Freeze" Riggs, stemming from a dispute over drug money. The episode chronicles the grisly cover-up, including the dismemberment and disposal of Melendez’s body in the Hudson River, the subsequent investigation driven by media rumors, and the eventual arrests and convictions of both perpetrators for manslaughter. Finally, the source traces the cultural legacy of the murder, noting how the event brought down the Club Kids scene and was immortalized in books, documentaries, and the film Party Monster.

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