Michael Alig born 29 April 1966Michael Alig (born South Bend, Indiana) was a founding member of the notorious Club Kids, a group of young clubgoers led by Alig in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Alig came to New York and started out at as a busboy at Danceteria in 1983. A natural at throwing parties with little or no resources he soon began to rise in New York's party scene. Alig was mentored by socialite James St James and club owner Peter Gatien, while rising in popularity and prominence in the national underground club scene. Alig was also influential in the early promotion of Superstar DJ Keoki (whom he dated on and off). Other protegés included Gitzie, Jennytalia, Freeze, Richie Rich, Amanda Lepore and many other Club Kid personalities. The Club Kids' outrageousness resulted in their appearing on the news and the television talk show circuit.
Alig's most notorious parties were held at The Limelight, owned by Gatien and designed by Ari Bahat. The Limelight was closed by the police for supposed drug trafficking, but subsequently reopened several times during the 1990s.He found a whole new level of notoriety in 1996 when, increasingly affected by substance abuse, Alig and his friend Robert 'Freeze' Riggs murdered their drug dealer Andre 'Angel' Melendez.
Melendez was murdered by Alig and Riggs after going to Alig's apartment to collect on a longstanding drug debt. After getting into a struggle with Alig he was hit on the head with a hammer, restrained with duct tape and either injected with or forced to drink Drano, a highly caustic drain cleaner. Later - after the body had begun to decompose in their apartment - they attempted to dismember it by cutting off Melendez's legs. They then put the body in a cardboard box and threw it into the Hudson River.Alig 'jokingly' mentioned the murder while filming a documentary, presumably to shake off persistent rumours of the yet unproven incident. The media presumed it was a publicity stunt until Melendez's body washed ashore. In December 1996, Alig was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison for Melendez's murder. Alig was eligible for parole in November 2006, but was denied. He was again denied in September 2008, and was not eligible again until his conditional release date in March 2010. Due to him receiving another ticket for prescription drug use, Michael Alig could not be released in March, 2010. Alig is next eligible for parole in 2012.
The events of Alig's years as a club promoter up to his arrest were portrayed in the 1998 documentary Party Monster, and recreated in a 2003 film of the same name starring Macaulay Culkin as Alig and Seth Green as St James. The events are also covered in St James's memoir, Disco Bloodbath. Alig is reportedly working on an autobiography called Alig-ula.
Party Boy in a Cage