Richard Biegenwald

Case identification

Richard Fran Biegenwald (August 24, 1940 – March 10, 2008) was an American serial killer who committed crimes in Monmouth County, New Jersey.

Timeline

• August 24, 1940 — Richard Fran Biegenwald was born.
• 1958 — Biegenwald was returned to his mother on Staten Island.
• 1958 — Biegenwald stole another car, went to Bayonne, New Jersey, robbed a grocery store, and shot and killed the clerk, Steven Sladowski; he was later convicted of murder and given a life sentence.
• 1974 — Biegenwald was released for good behavior after 16 years imprisonment.
• January 4, 1983 — Biegenwald shot and killed 18-year-old Anna Olesiewicz in Ocean Township, New Jersey.
• August 28, 1982 — Anna Olesiewicz was shot four times in the head after being lured away from the Asbury Park boardwalk.
• September 1982 — William Ward, a prison escapee, was drug dealer; Biegenwald befriended him and later shot him five times in the head and disposed of the body.
• October 31, 1981 — Maria Ciallella was last seen leaving home and later her remains were found.
• November 1, 1981 — Maria Ciallella was shot and dismembered.
• April 8, 1982 — Deborah Osbourne was stabbed to death.
• September 8, 1982 — Virginia Clayton was abducted and killed.
• January 22, 1983 — Police surrounded Biegenwald’s home while Dherran Fitzgerald was visiting; both were arrested.
• January 28, 1982 — Biegenwald was arrested on a rape charge in Brooklyn; he was released after the victim failed to pick him out of a lineup.
• March 10, 2008 — Biegenwald died in prison.

Background

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, he 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.

The offence

First murder and robbery

After being returned to his mother, Biegenwald stole another car and went to Bayonne, New Jersey. There, Biegenwald robbed a grocery store and shot and killed the clerk, Steven Sladowski.

Biegenwald later fled the state after the murder.

1981–1982 killings discovered through Fitzgerald

Maria Ciallella was shot and dismembered on November 1, 1981. She was buried at Biegenwald’s mother’s house. Deborah Osbourne was stabbed to death on April 8, 1982. She was buried on top of Ciallella’s body at Biegenwald’s mother’s house.

Anna Olesiewicz was shot four times in the head after being lured away from the Asbury Park boardwalk and was killed in Ocean Township, New Jersey. Her 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. Another account stated her body was left behind a Burger King in Ocean Township, New Jersey.

As the investigation developed, police also located a prison escapee, William Ward, who was buried in a shallow grave in Neptune City, New Jersey. Biegenwald shot Ward five times in the head and then disposed of the body.

Biegenwald was suspected, but not charged, in two additional killings, including the shooting death of John Petrone, who was an ex-convict and sometime police informer; his body was unearthed “minus his jawbone” on a remote New Jersey wildlife preserve. The other suspected killing involved Virginia Clayton, 17, who was abducted and killed on September 8, 1982; her body was found three days later four miles from the site where Petrone was buried.

Deaths and bodies mentioned in the investigation period

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.

Fitzgerald told police that he helped Biegenwald transport a body to Biegenwald’s mother’s house in Staten Island and bury it in the basement. Fitzgerald led police to three other bodies in addition to two buried in Staten Island.

As described during the questioning, Fitzgerald remarked that Biegenwald had showed him a woman’s corpse in the garage, explaining that she had been killed “for business reasons.” Fitzgerald accidentally uncovered a second dead woman as he was digging the grave.

Investigation and evidence

Police surrounded Biegenwald’s home on January 22, 1983, while Dherran Fitzgerald was visiting. Both Biegenwald and Fitzgerald were arrested. A search of the home revealed a small cache of weapons and drugs.

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 Biegenwald’s 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.

Police stated there was enough evidence to charge Biegenwald with five counts of first degree murder. Fitzgerald’s testimony was crucial in convicting Biegenwald.

Arrests

Biegenwald was arrested in Brooklyn on a rape charge, but was released after the victim failed to pick him out of a lineup.

In the first murder case, Biegenwald was captured two days later in Salisbury, Maryland, after shooting a police officer there. He was extradited to New Jersey.

Police surrounded Biegenwald’s home on January 22, 1983 while Dherran Fitzgerald was visiting and both were arrested.

Trial

Murder counts and verdict

A Monmouth County jury found Biegenwald guilty on all five counts of first degree murder.

Fitzgerald turned state's evidence and his testimony was crucial in convicting Biegenwald.

Sentencing

Biegenwald was sentenced to death by lethal injection. 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.

Biegenwald had a death sentence in 1983, and it was overturned. He was then resentenced to life in prison without parole.

Fitzgerald’s disposition

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.

Another account stated Fitzgerald turned state's evidence, pleading guilty on counts of weapons possession and hindering Biegenwald’s arrest (by concealing bodies), receiving a sentence of five years on each count.

Outcome

Biegenwald was convicted and sentenced to death by lethal injection, but the death sentence was overturned by an Appellate Court. He was resentenced to life in prison without parole.

Death

Biegenwald died at St. Francis Medical Center in Trenton, New Jersey. Corrections Department spokeswoman Deirdre Fedkenheuer said he died there. An autopsy revealed that Biegenwald died of respiratory and kidney failure.

Known victims

• Steven Sladowski — Shot to death in 1958 after a robbery attempt in Bayonne, NJ.
• Maria Ciallella — Shot and dismembered on November 1, 1981; buried at Biegenwald’s mother's house.
• Deborah Osbourne — Stabbed to death on April 8, 1982; 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.
• John Petrone — Shooting death; his body was unearthed “minus his jawbone” on a remote New Jersey wildlife preserve.
• Virginia Clayton — 17; abducted and killed on September 8, 1982; her body was found three days later, four miles from the site where Petrone was buried.

Other details

Biegenwald’s wife’s friend notified police after Biegenwald showed her another young woman's body that he had hidden inside his Asbury Park home’s garage.

Police confiscated floor plans for several area businesses.

Biegenwald worked odd jobs after his release.

Biegenwald struck again on January 4, 1983, when he shot and killed 18-year-old Anna Olesiewicz in Ocean Township, New Jersey.

Fitzgerald told police that he helped bury a body at the home of Biegenwald’s mother, and that he accidentally uncovered a second dead body while digging the grave.

Biegenwald was indicted by New Jersey authorities on five counts of first degree murder.