True Crime Friday: Richard Fran Biegenwald, the Thrill Serial Killer

Richard Fran Biegenwald was born August 24, 1940, in New York. He was a serial killer who murdered at least six people. The murders happened on Staten Island. He would eventually travel to Nashville, Tennessee and Kentucky where he would find victims. He murdered men and women and told his friends how much he enjoyed killing. He was also suspected of several rapes in the area.

The Early Childhood of Richard Biegenwald

Richard Fran Biegenwald was severely beaten during his formative years by his father. He set the house on fire at the age of five years old. This event sent him to a Psychiatric Center for evaluation. At the tender age of eight he was drinking and gambling his life away. Because of his constant disruptive behavior, he was sent for electroshock therapy at Bellevue Hospital. Eventually, he was placed in a boys training school for rehabilitation. Biegenwald was accused of theft and inciting other inmates to escape. When he visited his mother on Staten Island, he stole money from her purse.

He set himself on fire while visiting his mother’s home. When he was in the eighth grade, he was released from training school and started high school where he dropped out. Biegenwald, would eventually make his way to Nashville, Tennessee. Again, he continued his crimes by stealing a car. He was eventually arrested in Kentucky and sent back to New York to serve his time. Frank Spardoff participated in the burglaries, and he was an accomplice to the murder of Stephen Sladowskiz. Biegenwald served seventeen years in prison before being released.

The Victims of Richard Biegenwald

• Stephen Sladowski
• Anna Olesiewicz
• John Petrone
• Virginia Clayton
• Maria Ciallella.
• Deborah Osbourne
• William Ward
• Unknown Victim

The Accomplices of Richard Biegenwald

• Frank Spardoff
• Dherran Fitzgerald

Biegenwald was married when his wife brought a coworker home. The three formed a sexual relationship. Biegenwald asked Dherran Fitzgerald to help him commit murder and she agreed to assist him. There was a warrant for his arrest, but he was able to dodge the law for a while. He was taken into custody after a few years when a victim said that he had raped her, but he was set free once again when the victim could not identify him as her attacker. Biegenwald was suspected in the killing of a confidential informant. He was also suspected in the killing of Virgina Clayton.

Lady Justice

Authorities received a tip from the public and surrounded Biegenwald's home on January 22, 1983. Of course, his accomplice Dherran Fitzgerald was also arrested at the home. Police lured Biegenwald out of his house using a ruse and when he stepped off his back porch he was arrested. Biegenwald had lots of weapons and illegal drugs, and pipe bombs at his home. He also has maps and floor plans of businesses that he had robbed and of those he had planned to rob. Richard Fran Biegenwald died in prison on March 10, 2008.

References

Justia - State v. Biegenwald
Murderpedia - Richard Biegenwald
Wikipedia - Richard Biegenwald