Richard Leonard Kuklinski (/kʊˈklɪnski/: April 11, 1935 – March 5, 2006), also known by his nickname the Iceman, was an American criminal and leader of a New Jersey-based burglary ring. He engaged in criminal activities for most of his adult life that began when he distributed pirated pornography and eventually escalated to at least five murders committed between 1980 and 1984 for personal profit. His nickname derives from him freezing the body of one of his victims in an attempt to disguise the time of death.

At the time of his crimes, Kuklinski lived with his wife and children in the New Jersey suburb of Dumont. His family stated that they were unaware of his crimes. Kuklinski's modus operandi was to lure men to clandestine meetings with the promise of lucrative business deals then kill them and steal their money. He also killed two associates to prevent them from becoming informants. Eventually, Kuklinski came to the attention of law enforcement when an investigation into his burglary gang linked him to several murders since he was the last person to have seen five missing men alive. An 18-month-long undercover operation led to his arrest in December 1986. In 1988, he was convicted of four murders and sentenced to life imprisonment. In 2003, Kuklinski received an additional 30-year sentence after confessing to the 1980 murder of an NYPD detective.

After his murder convictions, Kuklinski gave interviews to writers, prosecutors, criminologists and psychiatrists. He claimed to have murdered anywhere from 100 to 200 men, often in gruesome fashion. None of these additional murders have been corroborated. In 2020, ATF Special Agent Dominick Polifrone said, "I don't believe he killed 200 people. I don't believe he killed a hundred people. I'll go as high as 15, maybe." Kuklinski also claimed to have worked as a hitman for the Mafia. He said he participated in several famous Mafia killings, including the disappearance and presumed murder of Teamsters' president Jimmy Hoffa. Law enforcement and organized crime experts have expressed skepticism about Kuklinski's claimed Mafia ties. He was the subject of three HBO documentaries aired in 1992, 2001 and 2003; several biographies, and a 2012 feature film The Iceman.

Richard Kuklinski was born on April 11, 1935 in his family's apartment on 4th Street in Jersey City, New Jersey, to Anna and Stanley Kuklinski (né Stanisław Kukliński; 1906–1977), a Polish immigrant from Karwacz, Masovian Voivodeship. His father worked as a brakeman on the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad. His mother was Anna Cecilia McNally (1911–1972) from Harsimus, a devoutly Catholic first-generation Irish American who worked in a meat-packing plant. He was the second of four children. According to Kuklinski, his father was a violent alcoholic who beat his children regularly and sometimes beat his wife. Stanley abandoned the family while Richard was still a child but came back periodically, usually drunk and his returns were often followed by more beatings for Richard. In 1941, Stanley's beatings caused the death of Kuklinski's older brother, seven-year-old Florian Kuklinski (1933–1941). Stanley and Anna hid the cause of the child's death from the authorities, saying he had fallen down a flight of steps. Kuklinski's younger brother, Joseph Michael Kuklinski (1944–2003), was convicted in 1970 of raping 12-year-old Pamela Dial and murdering her by throwing her off the top of a five-story building. When asked about his brother's crimes, Kuklinski replied: "We come from the same father."

Anna reportedly was often abusive too. She would beat Richard with broom handles (sometimes breaking the handle on his body during the assaults) and other household objects. He recalled an incident during his pre-teen years when his mother attempted to kill his father with a kitchen knife. Anna was a zealous Catholic and believed that stern discipline should be accompanied by a strict religious upbringing so Richard was raised in the Roman Catholic Church and served as an altar boy. Kuklinski later rejected Catholicism and regarded his mother as a "cancer" who destroyed everything she touched. Kuklinski and his first wife, Linda, had two sons, Richard Jr. and David. While working for a trucking company, he met Barbara Pedrici, a secretary at the same firm. Richard and Linda divorced, and he married Barbara in September 1961 and had two daughters, Merrick and Christin, and a son, Dwayne.

Kuklinski's family and Dumont, New Jersey neighbors were unaware of his criminal activities and instead believed he was a successful businessman. Barbara described him as a "wholesale distributor" and said he employed an accountant. She did suspect that some of his income was from illegal activities due to their lifestyle and the large amounts of cash he often possessed. However, given his volatility, she never expressed these worries to him instead maintaining a "don't ask questions" philosophy when it came to his business life or associates. If Richard suddenly left the house in the middle of the night, Barbara would never ask where he was going. The Kuklinskis divorced in 1993 when Richard was in prison. Barbara said the divorce was for "money reasons." She continued to visit him in prison but only about once a year. On June 6, 1984, Kuklinski filed for personal bankruptcy listing debts of $160,697, and assets of only $300.

Barbara Kuklinski described her husband's behavior as alternating between "good Richie" and "bad Richie." "Good Richie" was a hard-working provider and an affectionate father and loving husband, who enjoyed time with his family. Barbara remembered that when Merrick became seriously ill soon after she was born, Richard stayed up night after night to care for her.

In contrast, "bad Richie" – who would appear at irregular intervals, sometimes one day after another, other times not appearing for months – was prone to unpredictable fits of rage, smashing furniture and being violent to his family. During these periods, he was physically abusive to his wife, breaking her nose three times and once trying to run her over with his car. His abuse also caused her to have several miscarriages. He was emotionally abusive towards his children but, according to Barbara, never laid a hand on them because she threatened to kill him if he did. Merrick said that he once killed her dog right in front of her to punish her for coming home late.