Ray Colon Was Hired to Arrange a Murder What Happened to Him?
In the Nineteen Eighties, Chippendales founder Steve Banerjee hired Ray Colon to arrange the murder of his industry partner, Nick De Noia. Here's what happened.
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He opened the primary Chippendales club in 1979, where oiled, scantily clad males would dance and gyrate as empowered (and became on) girls cheered and screamed. It was a gorgeous thing — this is until Steve started working with Emmy-winning choreographer Nick De Noia, who was identified for his work on NBC youngsters's program Unicorn Tales.
Nick brought a polished, Vegas-like aptitude to Chippendales, which ultimately fed his starving ego. What started as a quite adverse business partnership between owner and creative director quickly morphed into a petty rivalry — one who ended in a pool of blood.
When issues got here to a boil, Steve hired middle-man Ray Colon to care for the murder of Nick De Noia. But what happened to Ray after the reality?
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How was Ray Colon caught?
See, when Chippendales' New York membership opened in the Nineteen Eighties, it was an even bigger hit. Around this time, Nick began to appear on popular communicate displays (like those hosted through Phil Donohue and Sally Jesse Raphael) claiming to be "Mr. Chippendales" — aka the genius in the back of the empire.
Not handiest that, however Nick proposed a deal, scribbled on a literal serviette, pronouncing he’d own the rights to long term Chippendales tours in perpetuity. In a baffling transfer, Steve signed the wrinkly square of paper. It wasn't lengthy ahead of Nick was rolling in dough.
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Eventually, Steve hired former Palm Springs police officer and living room room entertainer Ray Colon to find anyone to murder Nick De Noia. In Welcome to Chippendales, Ray — a unswerving "handyman" — is played by Robin de Jesús (Tick, Tick... Boom!).
"That is when I sold my soul," Ray said of the crime, as featured in A&E's Secrets of the Chippendales Murders. Ray then sought out Gilberto Rivera Lopez, who mentioned he'd kill the choreographer for $25,000.
On April 7, 1987, Gilberto and Ray traveled to the Chippendales NYC workplace development, where Gilberto fatally shooting Nick.
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When not anything connected Steve to the murder, he were given awfully cocky. He hired Ray again, this time to poison staff of competing male strip club Adonis. Ray obeyed, hiring a man referred to as "Strawberry" to perform the deed.
"[Colon] gave them an eyedropper bottle full of cyanide," mentioned former FBI agent Scott Garriola, according to ABC News. "[Strawberry] took all this, he flew over there, got cold feet." This was the beginning of the top.
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Scott Garriola relayed that Strawberry went immediately to the FBI to spill the beans. Ray Colon was arrested in a while after this. The middle-man confessed to the whole thing, which led authorities to arrange a sting operation in hopes of getting Steve to admit to his scheming.
"We're going to construct a ruse where we're going to take Colon out of the country, make believe that he has become a fugitive," Scott shared. Once he got to Switzerland, Ray called Steve to join up.
"We hear Banerjee confess to his complicity in hiring Ray Colon for the murder of De Noia. They talk about the attempted murders of Read Scot and other dancers," Garriola persevered. "We're able to get the evidence that we needed."
Steve Banerjee was arrested in September 1993. He plead guilty to racketeering and arranging the murder of Nick De Noia. Sadly, Steve hanged himself in jail on Oct. 23, 1994.
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Where Is Ray Colon Now?
Of direction, Ray Colon's sentence was decreased due to his cooperation with the FBI. According to ABC7 Chicago, he pleaded accountable to conspiracy and murder for rent.
After Steve's passing, Ray "served an additional two years in a federal prison and house arrest, and was released in 1996." Though we are demise to know what existence was like for Ray after his unlock, he is saved a very low profile since his connection to Chippendales.
New episodes of Welcome to Chippendales premiere on Tuesdays on Hulu.
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