In the early 1980s, a 37-year-old male named Gary Smith became entangled with a burglary gang, a decision that would ultimately lead to his demise in North Bergen, New Jersey. As law enforcement began to close in on the group, members of the gang, including Smith, were advised to lay low. A room was rented for Smith and another associate, Daniel Deppner, at the York Motel in North Bergen to serve as a hideout.
Smith's desire to leave the criminal life behind and 'go straight' was
perceived as a significant threat by the gang's leader, Richard Kuklinski. Fearing that Smith would turn into an informant to save himself, Kuklinski decided that he had to be silenced permanently. The plan to eliminate Smith was then set into motion within the confines of the motel room that was supposed to be his sanctuary.
The execution of the murder was both calculated and brutal. Smith was given a hamburger that had been secretly laced with cyanide. When the poison didn't act quickly enough for Kuklinski's liking, his accomplice, Daniel Deppner, took a more direct approach, strangling Smith with a lamp cord. The combination of the poison and the strangulation ensured his death. Following the murder, Smith's body was hidden between the mattress and the box spring of the motel bed, where it remained for several days, despite the room being rented out to other patrons. The discovery of the body, along with the clear ligature marks on his neck, left no doubt for investigators that he had been murdered. Richard Kuklinski was later found guilty of the murder of Gary Smith and was sentenced to a lengthy prison term.
