American club promoter and murderer Michael Alig was BOTD in 1966. Born in South Bend, Indiana to German immigrant parents, he was an excellent student, but bullied from a young age for being gay. He escaped to New York in 1984 to study architecture at Fordham University, switching to the Fashion Institute of Technology. He began exploring New York nightlife, working as a busboy at Danceteria nightclub. He became a nightclub promoter, organising outrageous parties that helped boost his social standing. He and his entourage became known as the “Club Kids”, attracting considerable attention in the press in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1988, he was hired as a promoter by nightclub owner Peter Gatien, helping revitalise the downtown New York City social scene. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Alig developed an Olympian drug addiction, attempting rehab several times, and was eventually fired by Gatien. In 1996, Alig and his roommate Robert D. “Freeze” Riggs murdered fellow Club Kid and drug dealer Andre “Angel” Melendez, in an apparent argument over a drug debt. Alig dismembered Melendez’ body, bagging and dumping body parts in the Hudson River. In the weeks following the murder, Alig repeatedly told friends that he and Riggs had killed Melendez. Rumours of his crimes were reported by Village Voice gossip columnist Michael Musto, which was picked up by the mainstream press. When parts of Melendez’ body were recovered later that year, Alig fled New York with his boyfriend, and was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. In 1997, he pled guilty to first-degree manslaughter, and was sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison. He spent over 16 years in prison, spending two-and-a-half years in solitary confinement due to his drug use, and was repeatedly denied parole. During his incarceration, multiple films and documentaties were made about the murder case – notably the 2003 film Party Monster, starring Macaulay Culkin as Alig – which were thought to have damaged Alig’s chances of parole. Finally released in 2014, he attempted to revive his celebrity status, working as a nightclub promoter, exhibiting his paintings and undertaking multiple interviews. He died on Christmas Eve in 2020 of an accidental heroin overdose, aged 54.