Cops tagged her with the moniker “Montauk Mary,” which is a decidedly better handle than Jane Doe.
asserted
which → tag → Doe
The older woman’s body was discovered by a United States Air Force member on his lunch break in a wooded area near Montauk, NY, at the extreme eastern end of Long Island.
asserted
body → discover → Island
She was lying face up, staring into oblivion and carrying no identification.
asserted
She → lie → identification
Shot four times with a .22
Cops revealed their victim had died just hours before she was discovered She had been shot four times – three shots to the legs and a clincher to the chest.
asserted
She → shoot → chest
The bullets were rare short rounds and came from a .22 calibre handgun.
asserted
bullets → come → handgun
For homicides detectives, clearing Montauk Mary’s murder would take a staggering 48 years.
asserted
clearing → clear → years
There was a paucity of clues: She was wearing an untagged plaid tweed coat, a multicoloured dress and orange slippers.
asserted
She → be → coat
Several witnesses believed they had recognized her as a regular at a local restaurant and had seen her driving a 1960s-era yellow convertible.
asserted
her → believe → convertible
The cops never forgot “Montauk Mary” – and this past week they announced she has finally been identified.
asserted
she → forgot → Mary
She was a 73-year-old from New Jersey named Sofia Margherita Marrone, born in 1905.
asserted
She → name → 1905
Detectives were also certain they knew who murdered Marrone – and why.
asserted
who → know → Marrone
Marrone was last seen six days before her death, on March 16, 1978, as she left Shore Memorial Hospital in Somers Point, New Jersey, Suffolk County DA Raymond Tierney said.
asserted
Tierney → see → Point
Biegenwald ‘linked to nine murders’
asserted
Biegenwald → link → murders
Cops believe her killer was Richard Biegenwald, a serial killer called the “Jersey Shore Thrill Killer.”
asserted
killer → believe → ?
He would not be around to answer questions because he pegged out in a Garden State prison in 2008.
asserted
he → answer → 2008
But the gun and the bullets used to kill Marrone matched those used in a slew of other murders.
asserted
gun → use → murders
Between 1958 and 1982, Biegenwald murdered at least eight other men and women and detectives suspect there were more.
asserted
detectives → murder → men
“Mr. Biegenwald caught our attention because he was linked to nine murders, six of which he was convicted of in New Jersey,” Tierney said, adding the killer “was known to pick up his female victims while they were walking in towns along the Jersey Shore.”
asserted
they → catch → Shore
One witness said on the morning Marrone’s body was discovered that a man with a beard in a gold-coloured car with New Jersey tags was in the area.
asserted
man → say → area
The description matched Biegenwald.
asserted
description → match → Biegenwald
First murder at 18 in 1958
Born in Staten Island in 1940, the son of a violent, alcoholic father, Biegenwald was on the fast tract to doom from childhood.
asserted
Biegenwald → bear → childhood
There were the developmental and behavioral problems from the get go and he was institutionalized for a brief time.
asserted
he → be → time
He set fire to the family home and was gambling and drinking by the time he was eight.
asserted
he → set → time
When on furlough from kiddie jail, he would steal money from his mother.
asserted
he → steal → mother
When Biegenwald was sprung in 1958, he graduated to the big time.
asserted
he → spring → time
On Dec. 18, 1958, Biegenwald robbed a Bayonne, New Jersey grocery store with an accomplice, and store proprietor Stephen Sladowski was shot and killed.
asserted
Sladowski → rob → accomplice
The teen killer was picked up two days later in Salisbury, Maryland following a police-involved shooting.
asserted
killer → pick → shooting
He sounds great, right?
asserted
He → sound → ?
The thrill killer did 17 years in the big house before someone thought it was a good idea to release Biegenwald on parole.
asserted
it → do → parole
But after his release in 1975, his bloodlust could not be quenched but temporarily.
uncertain
bloodlust → quench → 1975
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‘Hunting for someone to kill’
“Mr. Biegenwald was not hunting for drugs, he was hunting for someone to kill,” District Attorney James Fagen told reporters in 1983.
asserted
Fagen → recommend → 1983
And kill he did.
asserted
he → kill → kill
When it came to his first victim, John P. Petrone, it was very personal for Biegenwald, who suspected the ex-con was a jailhouse rat and was trying to extort his dear old mom.
asserted
con → come → mom
He was rubbed out in June 1978 – 20 years after the killer last committed a homicide in Jersey.
asserted
killer → rub → Jersey
More victims followed: Maria Ciallella (1981); Deborah Osbourne (1982); Virginia Clayton (1982); Anna Olesiewicz (1982), and drug dealer William Ward, 34, was the grand finale.
asserted
Ciallella → follow → ?
On Sept. 21, 1982, Ward was shot to death in the backyard of Biegenwald’s Asbury Park apartment.
asserted
Ward → shoot → apartment
Ward had been struggling with a Biegenwald pal when the serial killer parked five bullets into his head.
asserted
killer → struggle → head
On Jan. 22, 1983, the violent weirdo was arrested charged with five of the murders.
asserted
weirdo → arrest → murders
One of victims was an 18-year-old named Anna Olesiewicz.
asserted
One → name → victims
For killing her, Biegenwald was sentenced to die in the state’s electric chair.
asserted
Biegenwald → kill → chair
…and 8 more, not listed.
The Aporia
