NEW YORK—Notorious “club kid” killer Michael Alig, who served 17 years in prison for killing his roommate over a drug debt in a case that became a book and film, has died of a suspected drug overdose six years after his release, police said. He was 54.
Alig’s death late Thursday or early Friday is being investigated as a possible drug overdose, police said. No official cause had been determined, Aja Worthy-Davis, a spokesperson for the New York City medical examiner’s office, said Saturday.
Alig was part of a decadent 1990s party scene characterized by wild costumes and rampant drug use. He pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 1997 for killing Andre “Angel” Melendez.
Alig admitted that he and Robert “Freeze” Riggs killed Melendez, cut the body up and dumped the parts in the Hudson River.
Riggs also pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He was released in 2010.
The story was turned into the 2003 movie “Party Monster,” in which Macaulay Culkin played Alig.
Alig maintained a social media presence while behind bars, although he had no access to a computer and dictated tweets to a friend over the prison phone.
