Gary Smith helped Kuklinski steal cars and resell them. There was a warrant out for Smith's arrest because of stealing and cashing checks. Kuklinski was afraid that if Smith was caught by police, he would talk. So, Kuklinski decided that it was time for Smith to "go to Florida", which means it was time for him to die. Kuklinski's other car thief accomplice was Danny Deppner. Danny agreed he would help with "sending Smith to Florida."
In December in the York Hotel off Route 3 near the Lincoln Tunnel Kuklinski decided to bring hamburgers to Deppner and Smith. Kuklinski handed the bag of food to Smith and handed the wrapped burger to Deppner, who knew that his was okay. After Smith had eaten two bites of the hamburger nothing happened, and Kuklinski grew nervous. Then Smith started to choke, but Kuklinski decided he wasn't dying fast enough so Deppner grabbed the cord on a lamp and wrapped it around Smith's throat until he died. After they killed Smith, Deppners wife was supposed to come with a car, but she never showed, so they ended up putting Smith's body beneath the mattress and the box springs in the hotel bed. Four days later, a couple rented the room and complained about the horrible smell, they then found Smith's body. After Deppner realized what he had done, he knew that he knew too much, he knew he was going to die soon. In may of 1983 a man saw a green trash bag with an arm and a head sticking out of it in a tree.
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