Serial
killer, rapist and robber, who terrorized the New Jersey area in 1958, then
again in 1981 to 1982. Preferred method of killing was with a knife or hand
gun.
His known victims: Stephen Sladowski, 47 (store owner) / Maria
Ciallella, 17 / Deborah Osborne, 17 / Betsy Bacon, 17 / Anna Olesiewicz, 18 /
William J. Ward, 34 (drug dealer)
Originally he was sentenced to life in prison in
1958. He was released in 1975. Arrested again and sentenced to death in 1983. That sentence was overturned. Then he was resentenced
to life in prison without parole. He died
in prison on March 10, 2008
***
Richard Fran Biegenwald (August 24, 1940 – March
10, 2008) was an American serial killer, who committed his crimes in Monmouth
County, New Jersey. Between 1958 and 1983, Biegenwald killed at least nine
people, and he is suspected in at least two other murders.
His early life:
He was born in Rockland County, New York, Biegenwald was frequently
beaten as a child by his alcoholic father. At the age of five, Biegenwald set
fire to their home and was sent for observation at a Rockland County
Psychiatric Center. By the age of eight,
Biegenwald was drinking and gambling; at age nine he underwent electroshock
therapy at New York's Bellevue Hospital. After his therapy, Biegenwald was
placed in the State Training School for Boys in Warwick, New York. During his
years there, Biegenwald was accused of theft and inciting other inmates to
escape. During trips to visit his mother
in Staten Island, he would steal money from her. When he was 11 years old, he
set himself on fire in his mother's home. When Biegenwald was 16 years old, he
graduated eighth grade and was released from the Training School to attend high
school. Biegenwald dropped out of high school after only a few weeks. Soon after dropping out of school, Biegenwald
went to Nashville, Tennessee, where he stayed for two years. Biegenwald stole a
car in Nashville, and was arrested in Kentucky by federal agents for
transporting a stolen car across state lines. He was returned to his mother on
Staten Island in 1958.
His first murder: After being returned to his mother,
Biegenwald stole another car and went to Bayonne, New Jersey. There, Biegenwald
robbed a grocery store, shooting and killing the clerk, Steven Sladowski. He fled the state after the murder, but was
captured two days later in Salisbury, Maryland, after shooting a police officer
there. He was extradited to New Jersey, where he was convicted of murder and
given a life sentence. Biegenwald was then released in 1974 for good behavior
after 16 years imprisonment.
While back in society: He worked odd jobs for
the next three years and kept a low profile. In 1977, however, Biegenwald was suspected in a rape, and was
wanted for failing to report to his parole officer. He was arrested in Brooklyn
in 1980 on the rape charge, but was released after the victim failed to pick
him out of a lineup. He then got married
after being released, and he and his wife moved to Asbury Park, New Jersey.
There, Biegenwald was befriended by Dherran Fitzgerald, who would play a role
in several of his future murders.
Biegenwald struck again on January 4, 1983, when
he shot and killed 18-year-old Anna Olesiewicz in Ocean Township, New Jersey.
He had found the young woman walking down the boardwalk in Asbury Park, and
lured her into his car. Olesiewicz's body was found by children playing in a
wooded lot behind a Burger King on Route 35 and Sunset Avenue, fully clothed
with no signs of sexual assault and with four bullets in her head. A friend of
Biegenwald's wife went to police after Biegenwald showed her another young
woman's body that he had hidden inside his Asbury Park home's garage.
His capture:
Police surrounded Biegenwald's home on January 22, 1983, while Dherran
Fitzgerald was visiting. Both Biegenwald and Fitzgerald were arrested, and a
search of the home revealed a small cache of weapons and drugs. Police
confiscated a pipe bomb, handguns, a machine gun, Rohypnol, marijuana and a
live puff adder, as well as floor plans for several area businesses. During
questioning, Fitzgerald told of a body of a third young woman that Biegenwald
had showed him hidden in his garage. Fitzgerald told police that he helped
Biegenwald transport the body to his mother's house in Staten Island and bury
it in the basement. Fitzgerald went on to say that while he was digging in the
basement, he exhumed a body that Biegenwald had buried there some time before.
Fitzgerald led police to three other bodies in addition to the two buried in
Staten Island.
As the investigation went on, police located a
ninth victim, William Ward, who was buried in a shallow grave in Neptune City,
New Jersey. Ward was a prison escapee whom Biegenwald had befriended. The
friendship was apparently short lived, as Biegenwald shot Ward five times in
the head and then disposed of the body. Police only had enough evidence to
charge Biegenwald with five counts of first degree murder. Fitzgerald turned
state's evidence and his testimony was crucial in convicting Biegenwald. In
return for his testimony, Fitzgerald was only charged with one count of
possession of a weapon and one count of accessory to murder after the fact, and
served a 10-year prison sentence. Fitzgerald was released from New Jersey State
Prison in 1994.
His sentencing:
A Monmouth County jury found Biegenwald guilty on all five counts of
first degree murder. Biegenwald was sentenced to death by lethal injection, but
the sentence would later be overturned by an Appellate Court. Until his death,
he was serving four life sentences without the possibility of parole at New
Jersey State Prison.
His death:
Biegenwald died at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton, New Jersey,
said Corrections Department spokeswoman Deirdre Fedkenheuer in an interview to
the Associated Press. An autopsy revealed that Biegenwald died of respiratory
and kidney failure.
His known victims
Stephen Sladowski -- Shot to death in 1958 after a robbery attempt in
Bayonne, NJ.
Maria
Ciallella -- Shot and dismembered on November 1, 1981. She was buried at
Biegenwald's mother's house.
Deborah Osbourne -- Stabbed to death on April 8, 1982. She was buried on
top of Ciallella's body at Biegenwald's mother's house.
Anna
Olesiewicz -- Shot four times in the head on August 28, 1982 after being lured
away from the Asbury Park boardwalk. Her body was left behind a Burger King in
Ocean Township, NJ.
William Ward -- Drug dealer shot and killed by Biegenwald at his home in
Asbury Park in September 1982
The more we understand these people, the more we
are aware of their tactics, and the better we are prepared for the next one
coming in the future.
As always, stay safe!
- Bird
***
