Michael Alig was born April 29, 1966 in South Bend, Indiana and turned party promoter in the Manhattan club scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Alig was convicted in 1996 for the murder of fellow Club Kid and drug dealer Angel Melendez.
Growing up as a closeted homosexual in a small town, he felt out of place and had very few friends; his strong interests in fashion and art made him the object of constant bullying from fellow students and was ignored by girls and boys alike. Shortly after graduating from Penn High School (in Mishawaka, IN) in 1984, he moved to New York that autumn, looking for a place to fit in. Gradually, Alig generated an underground popularity storm with his Disco 2000 parties, known for their elaborate costumes, breakthrough dance music, and extensive drug use. He and his cast of party regulars became known as The Club Kids, and became infamous for their flamboyant, extravagant, and selfish antics. Alig aggressively promoted his own notoriety, occasionally performing public stunts. These included moving a party to a late night donut shop and holding a traveling dance party in a shipping container that crossed Manhattan on the back of a truck.
Alig learned from mentors, including James St. James, while rising in popularity and prominence in the national underground club scene. Alig was also influential in the early promotion of DJ Keoki, Jennytalia, Freeze, Richie Rich, and many other Club Kid personalities. The Club Kids' outrageousness resulted in their appearing on the news and the television talk show circuit.
Increasingly affected by substance abuse, Alig and his friend Robert "Freeze" Riggs murdered "Angel" Melendez over a long-standing drug debt. Angel was so angry at Alig that he began to strangle him. Then Freeze beat Angel over the head with a hammer. The rest of Angel's murder is debated, because Alig claims that he was injected with Draino, and "Freeze" claims that it was the act of pouring Draino down Angel's throat while his mouth was duct taped shut. About a week later, the smell of the body was becoming a bit apparent, so Alig and Freeze hatched a plan to "clean up the mess." Alig went into the bathroom with a knife, and proceeded to cut off Angel's legs. They then put the body in a cardboard box and threw it into the Hudson River. Alig bragged about the murder while filming a documentary. 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. He will be eligible for parole in 2006. He is currently at work on an autobiography entitled Alig-ula.
The events of Alig's years as a club promoter up to his arrest were examined in the 1998 documentary Party Monster, and recreated in a 2003 movie of the same name starring Macaulay Culkin as Alig and Seth Green as St. James. The events are also covered in St. James' memoir, Disco Bloodbath.
