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Long Island cops say ‘Thrill Killer’ may be suspect as 6 cold case victims finally ID’d

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Cruz, B., & Oliveira, A. (2026, November 12). Long Island cops say ‘Thrill Killer’ may be suspect as 6 cold case victims finally ID’d. New York Post. https://nypost.com/2026/11/12/us-news/long-island-cops-say-thrill-killer-may-be-suspect-as-6-cold-case-victims-finally-idd/

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New York Post · collected 2026-11-12 · by Brandon Cruz, Alex Oliveira

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AI analysis

Story summary

Long Island investigators have identified the remains of six cold case victims dating back 50 years, including one possibly murdered by serial killer Richard Biegenwald, known as the "Thrill Killer." Among the identified victims is 73-year-old Sofia Margherita Marrone, found in Montauk in 1978 with four gunshot wounds to the chest. The same DNA testing that helped identify the Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann in 2023 was used to identify these remains. Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney announced the identities, providing closure to the families of the victims. Marrone was last seen alive in Pleasantville, New Jersey, and her body was found hours away in Montauk, leading investigators to suspect Biegenwald as the murderer.

Written for “Thrill Killer Suspect Identified” on 2026-11-14, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 24% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Fox News
Hedges 4 of 39 claims Outlet record 67/100
“While both articles discuss cold case identifications using DNA and mention a possible link to the 'Thrill Killer', Article A talks about identifying remains of six victims dating back 50 years, while Article B focuses on a specific victim, Sofia Margherita Marrone, known as 'Montauk Mary'.”

Story

Thrill Killer Suspect Identified
Crime & Law · 1 article(s) covering the same event.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
17
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
24%
4 of 17 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
New York Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-14 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

New York Post · 20013 article(s) · 40 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 40 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Brandon Cruz
42 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
Exactly how Marrone ended up hours away in Montauk remains unclear but investigators suspect she may have fallen victim to Biegenwald, who was known as the “Thrill Killer” and murdered at least six victims across the Jersey Shore before his 1983 arrest.
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Also by Brandon Cruz
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 42 articles by Brandon Cruz →
Alex Oliveira
60 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
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Exactly how Marrone ended up hours away in Montauk remains unclear but investigators suspect she may have fallen victim to Biegenwald, who was known as the “Thrill Killer” and murdered at least six victims across the Jersey Shore before his 1983 arrest.
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Also by Alex Oliveira
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 60 articles by Alex Oliveira →

Topics

Gilgo Beach Long Island New Jersey Suffolk the Garden State’s

Subjects

Biegenwald PERSON · 3× Marrone PERSON · 3× Tierney PERSON · 2× Gilgo Beach GPE · 1× Jane Does PERSON · 1× John PERSON · 1× Long Island GPE · 1× Ray Tierney PERSON · 1× Rex Heuermann PERSON · 1× Suffolk GPE · 1×

Narrative

Among them was a victim long-known as “Montauk Mary” — an elderly woman discovered with four gunshots to the chest in the coastal town in 1978 — who was identified as 73-year-old Sofia Margherita Marrone and is believed to have been murdered by serial killer Richard Biegenwald.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-14
Exactly how Marrone ended up hours away in Montauk remains unclear but investigators suspect she may have fallen victim to Biegenwald, who was known as the “Thrill Killer” and murdered at least six victims across the Jersey Shore before his 1983 arrest.

Claims (17 extracted, 4 hedged)

Long Island investigators identified the remains of six cold case victims dating back 50 years — including one possibly murdered by the infamous Jersey Shore “Thrill Killer.” uncertain
investigators → identify → Killer
The same cutting edge DNA testing that helped nab notorious Gilgo Beach killer Rex Heuermann in 2023 was used to identify the John and Jane Does, three of whom are believed to be murder victims. asserted
three → help → whom
“We’ve given back their names,” Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney told reporters Thursday. asserted
Tierney → give → reporters
“We have made full progress in restoring the identities of these individuals, providing answers to their loved ones and advancing the pursuit of justice on their behalf.” asserted
We → make → behalf
Among them was a victim long-known as “Montauk Mary” — an elderly woman discovered with four gunshots to the chest in the coastal town in 1978 — who was identified as 73-year-old Sofia Margherita Marrone and is believed to have been murdered by serial killer Richard Biegenwald. asserted
who → know → Biegenwald
Marrone’s body was far from her New Jersey home — she was last seen alive leaving the Garden State’s Shore Memorial Hospital down the road from her Pleasantville residence days earlier. asserted
she → see → residence
Exactly how Marrone ended up hours away in Montauk remains unclear but investigators suspect she may have fallen victim to Biegenwald, who was known as the “Thrill Killer” and murdered at least six victims across the Jersey Shore before his 1983 arrest. uncertain
who → end → arrest
Biegenwald is suspected in Marrone’s murder because she was riddled with the exact same bullets he used in his killings — .22-caliber short rounds — though police clarified it couldn’t be said for certain yet whether he was the gunman. asserted
he → suspect → killings
Biegenwald died behind bars in 2008. asserted
Biegenwald → die → 2008
The other victims included 41-year-old Ramon Perez Y Rivera — long known as Raymond Doe for a tattoo on his body — who was found in 1976 by hunters in Deer Park with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. asserted
who → include → abdomen
The Puerto Rico native was living in Brooklyn when he died. asserted
he → live → Brooklyn
Antionette Rugg, 27, was also identified. asserted
Rugg → identify → ?
She was found in Islip in 1978 after a dog began scratching at the ground and dug up a human skull, while a belt was also found tightly cinched around her neck. asserted
belt → find → neck
The other victims were identified as 32-year-old South Korean Kyong-Ok Kim — found in Riverhead Town in 1990 and whose cause of death remains under investigation — and 27-year-old Omelios Steward and 27-year-old German Andreas Kupke, who were found in 1990 and 1999. asserted
who → identify → 1990
Steward was believed to have drowned while Kupke’s cause of death remains unclear. uncertain
cause → believe → death
“We have made full progress in restoring the identities of these individuals, providing answers to their loved ones and advancing the pursuit of justice on their behalf,” Tierney said. asserted
Tierney → make → behalf
Suffolk County still has some 244 unsolved death cases spanning from 1970 to 2025. And there are about 210 victims in those cases still unidentified, with Tierney explaining his office was still working to identify them and would use the same DNA tech to investigate if they could. uncertain
they → have → tech
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