Opinion ID: 1960299
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 15

Heading: RICHARD BIEGENWALD I and II

Text: These cases involve the murder of Anna Olesiewicz ( Biegenwald IA, IB, & IC) and that of William Ward ( Biegenwald II). On August 27, 1982, eighteen-year-old Anna Olesiewicz and a friend, Denise Hunter, drove from Camden to Neptune City to spend the evening at the Asbury Park boardwalk and then stay at the home of Hunter's uncle. While at the boardwalk, Olesiewicz sat on a bench and Hunter went to the women's room. When Hunter returned, she could not find Olesiewicz. Hunter returned to her uncle's home, and the next morning filed a missing persons report. On January 14, 1983, Olesiewicz's remains were discovered in a vacant lot behind a fast-food restaurant. Biegenwald had encouraged Theresa Smith, whom he considered a protege, to become tough by killing someone. When Smith reneged on a plan to kill one of her co-workers, Biegenwald decided to kill Olesiewicz. He lured the victim to his house by promising her marijuana. Then he shot her in the head four times. Biegenwald removed a gold ring from the victim's finger and gave it to Smith. The State alleged two aggravating factors: the prior-murder-conviction factor, c(4)(a), and the depraved-mind factor, c(4)(c). Biegenwald asserted three mitigating factors: extreme emotional disturbance, c(5)(a); mental disease or defect, c(5)(d); and the catch-all factor, c(5)(h). In support of the mental-disease and catch-all factors, Biegenwald presented the videotaped testimony of a forensic psychiatrist who claimed that Biegenwald had been abused as a child and had been institutionalized at the age of eight. During his institutionalization, Biegenwald had been diagnosed as schizophrenic and subjected on twenty occasions to electro-shock treatment. The psychiatrist diagnosed Biegenwald as suffering from an anti-social personality disorder with paranoid traits, a condition that prevented him from appreciating the wrongfulness of his conduct. The jury found both aggravating factors, but rejected extreme emotional disturbance as a mitigating factor. Three jurors found mental disease or defect, and four jurors found the catch-all factor. After weighing the two aggravating factors against the two mitigating factors, the jury sentenced Biegenwald to death. Biegenwald 1A, supra, 106 N.J. at 18-25, 524 A. 2d 130. We affirmed the conviction, but remanded for a new sentencing proceeding because the jury had not been instructed to find that the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating factors beyond a reasonable doubt. Id. at 67, 524 A. 2d 130. A second jury sentenced Biegenwald to death, but this Court reversed that sentence because of a defective voir dire. Biegenwald IB, supra, 126 N.J. at 43, 594 A. 2d 172. After this Court reversed the two death sentences imposed on Biegenwald for the Olesiewicz murder, a third jury sentenced Biegenwald to a life sentence. In the Ward murder, Biegenwald and the State's principal witness, hit-man Dherren Fitzgerald, met with William Ward to arrange the terms of a hit that Fitzgerald wanted to perform for $25,000. Fitzgerald joined Ward in Ward's car and the two drove to Fitzgerald's home. Biegenwald followed them in Fitzgerald's car. Before Biegenwald arrived at Fitzgerald's apartment, Fitzgerald and Ward discussed the terms of the hit. Fitzgerald, who wanted no witnesses, refused to permit Ward to watch the hit. Ward responded by displaying his revolver. The men wrestled over the gun. Fitzgerald claims the gun went off, shooting him in either his shoulder or neck. Fitzgerald then reached for a .22 caliber pistol with a silencer. Because he could not cock the gun with one hand, Fitzgerald hit Ward on the head with the barrel, rendering the gun inoperable. The struggle ended with Fitzgerald on top of Ward, who was on his back, still clutching the gun. Fitzgerald stated that Biegenwald then appeared and shot Ward in the head five times. Biegenwald and Fitzgerald then stuffed Ward into the car, returned home, and stored the body in the garage until they buried it. The prosecution served notice of only one aggravating factor, the prior-murder-conviction factor, c(4)(a). Biegenwald presented two mitigating factors: mental disease or defect, c(5)(d), and the catch-all factor, c(5)(h). The jury found the aggravating factor and both mitigating factors, but was unable to reach a verdict. Therefore, the court sentenced Biegenwald to life imprisonment with a thirty-year parole disqualifier. The Appellate Division affirmed in an unreported opinion.