NJ NJ - Richard Biegenwald 'Thrill Killer' Jersey Shore

Richard Fran Biegenwald (August 24, 1940 – March 12, 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.

Early life

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.

[edit] 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 police of a third body, that of a young woman, that Biegenwald had shown 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.

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[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Biegenwald"]Richard Biegenwald - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

[BJersey Shore 'Thrill Killer' Richard Biegenwald accused of killing five in early '80s][/B]

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When Maria Ciallella, 17, set out on the evening of Oct. 31, 1981, it was likely she was going to run into all manner of ghosts, goblins and ghouls, all in the spirit of Halloween.

But Ciallella never dreamed that she was also about to encounter a real-life monster.

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http://articles.nydailynews.com/2010-10-31/news/27079750_1_reform-school-halloween-night-psychiatric-hospital

Richard Biegenwald, ‘Thrill Killer’ of Five People, Dies at 67

TRENTON (AP) — Richard Biegenwald, who was known as the Thrill Killer and was convicted of killing five people, including three young women, died on Monday, a state corrections official said.

A Corrections Department spokeswoman said that Mr. Biegenwald, 67, died at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton, which treats inmates of New Jersey State Prison, where he was serving his sentence.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/nyregion/11biegenwald.html

Part One Trial of Richard Biegenwald

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwPYdoase_s"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwPYdoase_s[/ame]

Richard Biegenwald

New Jersey's 'Thrill Killer,' Richard Biegenwald, dies at 67



Richard Biegenwald, the "Thrill Killer" who took the lives of at least five people but quashed the state's attempts to execute him, died Monday, a state official said. He was 67.

Biegenwald died at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton, said Corrections Department spokeswoman Deirdre Fedkenheuer. He had been ill, but the cause of death was not determined Monday, she said.

Biegenwald tried to burn down his family's home at age 5 and was taken to a psychiatric hospital in New York. Three years later, records from a private school for disturbed children showed he had a drinking problem, according to a 1983 New York Times article.

Biegenwald was 18 when he killed Stephen Sladowski, a store owner in Bayonne and an assistant city prosecutor, in a robbery in 1958. He was paroled in 1975 and spent the next several years in and out of jail for parole violations.

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http://www.tributes.com/show/Richard-Biegenwald-83731092

882 F.2d 748: Richard F. Biegenwald, Appellant, v. William H. Fauver, Both Individually and in His Officialcapacity As the Commissioner of the New Jersey Department Ofcorrections; Howard L. Beyer, Both Individually and in Hisofficial Capacity As the Warden of Trenton State Prison;and W. Cary Edwards, Both Individually and in His Officialcapacity As the Attorney General of the State of New Jersey,and His Predecessors

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http://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/882/748/207458/

Richard Biegenwald vs Robert Charles Browne

http://www.lastcombat.com/Richard_Biegenwald_vs_Robert_Charles_Browne.html

FIVE KILLINGS: A FEARFUL SILENCE IS BROKEN

For five months, Anna Olesiewicz's parents waited. Their 18-yearold daughter had disappeared from the boardwalk in Asbury Park, N.J., last August, but it was not until the morning of Jan. 14 that two boys, building a fort in dense underbrush behind a fast-food restaurant in Ocean Township, stumbled upon her body.

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http://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/09/nyregion/five-killings-a-fearful-silence-is-broken.html

Biegenwald received his first life sentence after being convicted of killing Sladowski; he was released in 1974. In 1977 he stopped reporting to his parole officer and the system seemed simply to forget him. He was picked up on a rape charge, which was dismissed, but he served time for the parole violation.


http://www.essortment.com/richard-biegenwald-bioghraphy-59308.html

Betsy Bacon was a neighbor of my parents, when my Dad was stationed on the East coast. I remember my Mom talking to Betsy's Mom; Maria Ciallella's Mom had talked to her about being asked to come to the police station to identify jewelry they believed may have been Maria's. When Mrs. C. walked in the room there were 2 tables with a lot of jewelry laid on the tables. She asked the detective 'how many girls did he kill?'. The response was that they did not know yet.

Maria C. was an atheletic girl, Biegenwald had cut her legs from her body, Mrs. C. believed it was because Maria fought back and kicked him.


The same goes for serial killer Richard Biegenwald, who died last week in the prison ward of a Trenton hospital.

He had no visitors or family at his bedside, and now lies unclaimed in the Mercer County morgue. In time, he will be buried or cremated with other unclaimed persons. The notorious with the anonymous.

Biegenwald left the world a far worse place than when he entered. He killed at least six people, mostly young girls, mostly in the early 1980s. Anna M. Olesiewicz, 18, of Camden. Betsy Bacon, 19, of Sea Girt. Maria Ciallella, 17, of Brick. Deborah Osborne, 17, of Seaside Heights.

http://blog.nj.com/njv_mark_diionno/2008/03/for_cold_killers_a_lonely_end.html

There were many other deaths that occurred within Biegenwald's 'reach'. He lived next to a rooming house in Point Pleasant Beach, NJ that burned and people died in the fire. Biegenwald was seen watching the fire. Another neighbor, an elderly lady that Beigenwald had done some handyman work for, was found dead in a trunk in her attic. Another neighbor, a pregnant woman who commuted on a train that Beigenwald also took was found murdered in her home. None of these cirmes were ever solved.

October 12, 2016
Bones found at former home of convicted serial killer Richard Biegenwald

Police were called to 507 Sixth Ave. around 11 a.m. when contractors working on the home apparently found bones underneath the porch. The house was once the home of known serial killer Richard Biegenwald.

http://newjersey.news12.com/news/bo...d-serial-killer-richard-biegenwald-1.12447796

Al Ka said:

October 12, 2016
Bones found at former home of convicted serial killer Richard Biegenwald

Police were called to 507 Sixth Ave. around 11 a.m. when contractors working on the home apparently found bones underneath the porch. The house was once the home of known serial killer Richard Biegenwald.

http://newjersey.news12.com/news/bo...d-serial-killer-richard-biegenwald-1.12447796

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WATCH: Animal bones likely found under home of dead serial killer

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NJ murders: These are the six most notorious NJ serial killers


Richard BiegenwaldDeemed the “Thrill Killer” because he killed people “for the hell of it,” Richard Bigenwald showed signs of violent behavior at a young age. At age five, he attempted to burn down his family’s Staten Island home, earning him a stay at the Rockland County Psychiatric Center. He committed his first crime at age 18 when he killed Bayonne store-owner Stephen Sladowski during a robbery in 1958. Biegenwald was arrested for the crime and sentenced to life in prison but was granted parole in 1974. He eventually married and moved to Asbury Park where, in 1982, Biegenwald lured 18-year-old Annie Olesiewicz into his car after he saw her walking down the boardwalk. He shot her four times in the head and dumped her body behind a Burger King where it was discovered five months later. ---- PHOTO: Convicted serial killer Richard Biegenwald in Monmouth Superior Court in Freehold on December 8, 1983. File Photo






Garage behind Richard Biegenwald's Sixth Avenue, Asbury Park, home held body of a dead girl for a time.


New York City policeman dug up a section of the back yard at 420 Sharrotts Road, Staten Island, in a futile search for more bodies. Two were found on the property, which was owned by the mother of murder suspect Richard Biegenwald.


Dherran Fitzgerald and Richard Biegenwald at their arraignment on murder charges in Asbury Pk. courtroom.


Biegenwald mentioned here: If Richard Biegenwald got a fair trial in Monmouth County, so can Joseph Villani: judge

Asbury Park police and other investigators examine a dig site at a city home where bones were found. The house was the former home of late serial killer Richard Biegenwald., 2016. The bones, however, turned out to be those of a cat.

NJ murders: These are the six most notorious NJ serial killers

Jacie Estes said:

There were many other deaths that occurred within Biegenwald's 'reach'. He lived next to a rooming house in Point Pleasant Beach, NJ that burned and people died in the fire. Biegenwald was seen watching the fire. Another neighbor, an elderly lady that Beigenwald had done some handyman work for, was found dead in a trunk in her attic. Another neighbor, a pregnant woman who commuted on a train that Beigenwald also took was found murdered in her home. None of these cirmes were ever solved.

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I grew in Point Pleasant Beach (PPB) and was in my late teens when Biegenwald was around and you are absolutely right when you state there were many other other deaths within his reach. Some of the popular narratives state he came to town around 1981 after being released from prison due to a parole violation. Yet he was implicated in the 1978 murder of John Petrone, a criminal associate of his who was living in PPB at the time. In one newspaper account the Monmouth County prosecutor states that Biegenwald lived in a nearby rooming house when the murder took place. The 1979 murder of the elderly lady you cited, Margaret King, took place on October 1, 1979 about 2 blocks from my house, her body was found stuffed in a trunk. A New York Times account of Biegenwald's trial notes he worked as a maintenance man for a local real estate agency and the family had recently moved in. Another probable victim was someone who I knew quite well, a guy named Edward Herlick who disappeared without a trace on Mother's day in 1981. Ed was a deeply troubled young man with substance abuse issues and the story goes he ripped off Biegenwald who publicly threatened to kill him.

The case does hit home for me because I actually met Biegenwald a few times when he lived in PPB and knew one of this probable victims. It was so long ago but I do remember thinking it was creepy that this rather degenerate looking older guy was always hanging out with people half his age. Apparently the house he rented near the boardwalk was quite the party place.

When the Thrill Killer book by the retired state trooper came out it got me thinking about the case again. Although pretty well written, in some ways it I felt it was incomplete and some big questions were unanswered. In no particular order these are:

What was he doing the 5 years between his prison sentence for his original murder and his later imprisonment for parole violation? One tantalizing newspaper account I read was from a state police detective who said he had interviewed Biegenwald about the decapitation murder of a woman in western NJ during the late 70's. Why was he on the police radar? He was also implicated in the 1978 murder of John Petrone, who was living in Point Pleasant Beach at that time was suspected in the murder of an elderly lady in PPB as well as the arson/homicide of a rooming house that took place around then. My suspicion is that there are many other victims from that time frame.

Was he involved with organized crime? I ask this for several reasons. When he was arrested on rape charges in 1980 he was represented by Louis Diamond, a Staten Island attorney well known for representing mob members. I imagine he is rather expensive to retain, how does an alleged handyman come up with that kind of money?

Another factor is the murder of William Ward, an escapee from Leesburg Prison who was in the meth trade. He had reached out to Biegenwald's partner Dherran Fitzgerald to commit a murder for hire on someone who was interfering with his drug operation. A dispute arose and Biegenwald shot Ward in the head. How did Ward know to seek out to this pair for a contract killing ? The murder took place in Asbury Park in 1982. There was a heavy outlaw biker presence in the area at that time and meth is a racket they control.

Also, I have heard from several locals who knew officers involved with the take down and arrest of Biegenwald that they told him he was lucky they got to him first as the father of one of his victims was in organized crime and had put a contract out on him.