Andre Melendez
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Andre Melendez[1] (c. 1963 - March 17, 1996), better known as Angel Melendez, was a Club Kid and drug dealer who lived and worked in New York City. Melendez and his family arrived in New York from Colombia when Melendez was eight years old. Melendez became a drug dealer during the early 1990s after he met Peter Gatien, owner of the Limelight Club in New York. Melendez became a regular dealer in Gatien's clubs. He was frequently seen at Manhattan clubs wearing his trademark feathered wings.
Melendez met Michael Alig, the famed founder of the Club Kids and the Disco 2000 party groups. Alig became an important customer, leading Melendez to the world of the Club Kids, including James St. James and DJ Keoki. Melendez was murdered by Alig and Robert "Freeze" Riggs after going to Alig's apartment to collect on a bad drug debt. He was hit on the head with a hammer, restrained with duct tape and either injected with or forced to drink Drano. Later his body was dismembered and dumped in the Hudson River.
On October 1, 1997 Michael Alig and Robert Riggs were sentenced to ten to twenty years in prison for Melendez's murder after each pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter.
Alig's murder of Angel Melendez is documented in the memoir Disco Bloodbath, written by James St. James. The book chronicled the life of Michael Alig and the Club Kids. A 1998 documentary film titled Party Monster was based on the events leading up to and surrounding the murder. A feature film by the same name was released in 2003, starring Macaulay Culkin, Seth Green and Marilyn Manson.
[edit] References
- ^ JOHN SULLIVAN (September 11, 1997). 2 Men Plead Guilty in Killing of Club Denizen (HTML). New York Times. Retrieved on 2008-03-23. “Mr. Alig, who pleaded guilty in State Supreme Court in Manhattan to one count of first degree manslaughter, admitted that he and a friend smothered Andre Melendez, known as Angel, chopped up his body and threw it into the Hudson River.”
