Richard's parents' wedding photo of his mother Hanna and his father Stanley. His mother was also very abusive and would hit him as well as his father. His mother believed in harsh punishment. He says he grew to dislike his mother (Iceman Tapes)
Richard Kuklinski's background
It appears Richard Kuklinski's mother, Anna McNally had been abused both sexually and mentally as a young girl at Sacred Heart Orphanage. Religion was forced upon the children, and Anna had the fear of God, hell, and damnation beaten into her by sadistic nuns who treated their children as though they were personal servants and whipping posts (Carlo, 2007). So the mother carried over that abuse to her children where she was very strict with her children and reportedly beat them with broom handles and other household objects. His father Stanley also abused him and his brothers. Richard was the second of four children. His elder brother Florian died in 1940 as a result of vicious beatings from their father (Carlo, 2007). Kuklinski was five-years-old at the time and his parents tried to cover it up, saying he fell down the stairs and hit his head. Stanley Kuklinski abandoned his family shortly after the birth of his fourth child. One can only imagine how much trauma that must have caused Richard, to loose his brother at such a young age from his father beating him, then to go on and grow up without a father. Any child would drastically be effected by those circumstances which we're seeing in Richard's case. His other brother also took a 13 year-old girl where he raped and killed her he is serving a life sentence. Obviously Richard was not the only one in the family affected by the troubled youth years of abuse and neglect.
Some parents believed that by being harsh disciplinarians, it would "toughen" the child. Instead, it often creates a lack of love between parent and child that can have disastrous results. If the child doesn't bond with its primary caretakers, there is no foundation for trusting others later in life (Scott, 2008). This can lead to isolation, where intense violent fantasies become the primary source of gratification. "Instead of developing positive traits of trust, security, and autonomy, child development becomes dependent on fantasy life and its dominant themes, rather than on social interaction," writes Robert Ressler, Ann Burgess and John Douglas in Sexual Homicide: Patterns and Motives. When the child grows up, according to these authors, all they know are their fantasies of domination and control. They have not developed compassion for others. Instead, humans become flattened-out symbols for them to enact their violent fantasies. Richard was an angry person if someone insulted him he was known to kill them (Carlo, 2007).
Richard suffered abuse from both his parents. Not to have a nurturing mother at that young age must have been extremely hard. It was made even harder because he was beaten by her. In some of his documentaries, Kuklinski described murdering with no emotion but then spoke of his love for his family and even shed tears at the thought that he had hurt the only people he ever really loved (Carlo, 2007). His view on why he had turned into a killer was due to suffering abuse as a child, this is a perfect example of what serial killers do, they put the blame on their family for their actions (Scott, 2008). He's claimed he was sorry he had not killed his father. For someone to be sorry that they didn't kill their father is by no means normal. That is just another point that Richard was not healthy in any way and he was filled with hate. Kuklinski stated he had never killed any children and that he probably would never kill a woman.
This video part 1 from "The Mind of a Mafia Hitman" touches on some aspects of his childhood and the abuse he suffered from both his mother and father. He also admits to disliking them both. It also talks about how he tortured animals growing up which is part of the homicidal triad. He did torture some of his victims and was not affected by it in any way. When asked, he said "he feels nothing while doing that kind of stuff" (Iceman Tapes). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8mnorevGRk&feature=related
Part 2- this video really shows his temper. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOll_RK7z40&NR=1
Part 3- this shows how he feels after murders, no feeling, no remorse, he's not affected in any way, he ate pizza after dismembering bodies, he is not your typical person. I'm starting to see he has serial killer instincts. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOll_RK7z40&NR=1
Part 4-talks about his abuse with his wife, he calls a hate/love relationship where he trusted her more than anybody else but still abused her. He then asks the Doctor what he thinks about him, why he is the way he is? It's very interesting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Vl0cnvvtOM&NR=1
Part 5-continued diagnosis of Richard Kuklinski I think the doctor was right on point with his description, it makes alot of sense. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1aPhTA70Cw&feature=related