Strip Club Horror: 5 Shocking Facts About The Chippendales Murders

In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, the word Chippendales was synonymous for rock-hard abs and beefcake male strippers. But what a lot of people don’t know is that behind the G-strings and bowties there were scandals involving jealousy and murder.

Oxygen’s "Mysteries & Scandals" explores the tragic murder of Chippendales’ producer Nick De Noia. Here are some interesting things to keep in mind regarding the case.

Banerjee, originally from India, came to the United States and opened the night club known as Chippendales that would later have nightly shows featuring male strippers. Chippendales was originally named "Destiny 2," but Banerjee wanted a more elegant name. Banerjee's lawyer noted that the furniture in the club was "chippendales" style and renamed it as such.

 Paul Snider, who co-created Chippendales alongside Steve Banerjee, shot and killed his wife, actress Dorothy Stratten before turning the gun on himself. Stratten was credited for suggesting the bowtie and cuffs that were made famous by the Chippendales dancers at the peak of their popularity in the late 80s.

Nick De Noia, who had partnered with Banerjee to produce the Chippendales tour and live show, was shot dead at his desk in midtown Manhattan on April 7, 1987 according to The New York Times. De Noia was an Emmy-winning producer who was reeping a lot of the success and money from the Chippendales idea that Banerjee had created.

Fueled by jealousy of the monetary success Nick De Noia was receiving from the Chippendales tour, Banerjee felt that he had to protect the empire he had created. Banerjee hired Ray Colone to help carry out a plot for someone to walk into Nick De Noia's office, in the middle of the day, and shoot him point-blank at his desk. FBI agents tracked Banerjee down in a controlled sting and got a recording of Banerjee confessing his guilt and arrested him soon thereafter.

 In what was essentially the fourth Chippendales-related death, Banerjee was found hanging by his bed sheets in his jail cell in the morning before his sentencing after pleading guilty.