DOMINICK POLIFRONE
By many accounts, Richard Kuklinski was a loving husband and doting father. Elsewhere he was known as “The Iceman,” a contract killer who chopped his victims into pieces and stuffed them into ice boxes. He was brought to justice in 1986 in a federal sting operation, thanks in large measure to the brave undercover efforts of 1970 UNO graduate Dominick Polifrone, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. By then, Polifrone already was a standout with the agency. He was its first field agent to win the Treasury Department’s Gold Medallion, presented for undercover work that led to 45 arrests from five organized crime families. He nailed many a wise guy, including John Gotti’s kid brother, Vinny. The former standout football player at UNO even went undercover on a Sinatra movie location to bust a drug dealer working on the crew. His best work, though, might have come bringing the Iceman to justice. Polifrone spent 18 months posing as a “bad guy” while secretly recording Kuklinski at various times. It was enough to send Kuklinski to jail, where Kuklinski died in 2006. The story is documented by Anthony Bruno in the chilling book, “The Iceman,” is the subject of an HBO documentary, and in 2012 was presented as a movie, “The Iceman,” featuring Ray Liotta, Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder and Jay Giannone as Polifrone.