As a professional engineer in 17 states, I have been a voice for the functionality, efficiency, and sustainability of commercial and industrial facilities. A New Jersey serial killer known as the "Torso Killer" pleaded guilty Tuesday to two 1974 murders, finally closing the cold-case deaths of teenage friends who had left home for a trip to the mall and never returned. "We had a very complicated car vs pole situation and tow guys came to Tustin within 30 minutes on a Sunday evening and did an incredible job assisting us with removing the car off of" more. The divorce affidavits further alleged that Cottingham was an habitual, patron of gay bars and homosexual spas in Manhattan. Today, Times Square is a glittering tourist attraction. 595 Words3 Pages. It was the same motel that a maid had discovered the mutilated body of Valerie Street just two weeks earlier, and the body of Maryann Car in 1977. The following year, in 1973, Richard would escalate his crimes when an early victim reported an attack. But the question remained: Who was Richard Cottingham? Play it now! When they entered the room they found a young girl handcuffed to the bed. Criminally Intrigued is a Podcast and Blog covering all aspects of True Crime. Richards lust seemed to never fully be satisfied and in December of 1977, Maryann Carr would be claimed as his next victim. I think we need to remember them because they deserve justice.'. Richard Cottingham was convicted of five murders and sent to prison for a sentence of 300 years. She had been cut about the chest and legs, beaten with a blunt instrument, and covered in bites and bruises, A picture taken of the New Jersey Courts virtual hearing in April 2021, when Richard Cottingham pleaded guilty to two 1974 murders, finally closing the cold case deaths of teenage friends who had left home for a trip to the mall and never returned. An animal who lacked empathy for all and cared only for satisfying his sexual desires at any cost. All was quiet and one can be certain that it was probably looking like an average, quiet night. Pornographic films are advertised in Manhattans Times Square in January 1971. Although Cottingham has formally admitted to eighteen killings and has claimed to have killed as many as 100, he is known to have only murdered seventeen girls between 1967 and 1980 and attempted to kill a further four. He was careful, and only one fingerprint was retrieved from a crime scene. Police believe that Cusick left the dance studio where she taught and went into the nearby mall to buy some shoes. Goodarzi was only 22 when she was killed, beheaded and set on fire. Shed be discovered by hotel staff accidentally when they were attempting to vacuum underneath the bed. He was also found guilty of kidnapping and assault, with his sentence going up to more than 200 years. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Former FBI agent and criminal profiler Candice DeLong delves into Richard Cottingham, the Torso Killer. After this look at Richard Cottingham, The Torso Killer, read up on Ed Kemper, the Co-Ed Killer, and Rodney Alcala, the Dating Game Killer. Then, read the stories of Jack the Rippers victims. The couple had met a few hours earlier in Manhattan. Cottingham pleaded guilty to 2nd-degree murder in the case of Diane Cusick. Richard Cottingham, 74, pleaded guilty Tuesday to murdering Mary Ann Pryor, 17, and Lorraine Marie Kelly, 16, both of North Bergen. A search of Cottingham's home turned up a bizarre "trophy room," containing personal effects from several of the murdered prostitutes. WickedWe is reader supported, some products displayed may earn us a commission if you purchase through our links. Their skulls and hands were never found. On Monday, July 13, 1969, at approximately 8:00 p.m., On March 1, 1970, a group of hikers came across a young woman's naked body in the woods to the west of Tweed Boulevard in, At approximately 7:00 a.m. on the morning of December 16, 1977, the body of X-ray technician, At 9:30 a.m. on May 22, 1980, police entered Room 117 at the same Quality Inn where Carr and Street were murdered and found 18-year-old, This page was last edited on 16 February 2023, at 09:15. 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, Richard Cottingham makes a remote appearance at a courtroom in Mineola, NY, Cottingham's original mug shot photo from 1980. Who is torso killer Richard Cottingham, and where is he now? Her breasts had been hacked off and her body was set on fire. There were no known murder victims in 1978, however, Richard would go on to rape and torture two more women in 1978, one of which had been pregnant. There easily could have been more crimes but its unknown. 'All of the women that Richard killed left this world in a horrific way,' she said in the doc. In 2010, Cottingham pleaded guilty tothe 1967 murder of Nancy Vogel. 'So I maintain a relationship with Richard now because I want the names of the unidentified victims he took. But the arrest in 1980 changed everything, exposing Richards double life and deadly exploits. Richard cut the womans breasts off and ended her life via strangulation. Spatter, gore, fingerprints, puddles of blood, there was no evidenceexcept for their clothing, a pair of Bonjour jeans, a white leotard, patent leather boots and a black fur coat, which the killer had curiously folded neatly in the bathtub. In addition to killing sex workers, Richard Cottingham had also killed a number of girls and women in New Jersey. we respect your privacy and take protecting it seriously, Richard Francis Cottingham | Serial Killer, Incarcerated at the New Jersey State Prison. FacebookDeedah Goodarzi, a sex worker who Cottingham killed and dismembered. Richard Cottingham (1977-1980) was a 31-year old computer operator and valued employee of Blue Cross-Blue Shield in downtown New York City. It wasn't until the advancements in DNA and forensic processing made it possible for investigators to run samples of inmates that they realized how many cases were connected to the killer. His name had floated around in the lore of Bergen County cold cases.. He would be charged with the murders of most of his victims in New Jersey and in New York City. The following week on May 15th, 1980, another sex worker was lured into a Manhattan motel room under the guise of more work but was most likely ambushed when Cottingham locked the door. [22][23] He pleaded guilty in a December court appearance, and also officially admitted killing four other women in Long Island: Mary Beth Heinz,[24] Laverne Moye,[16] Sheila Heiman,[25] and Maria Emerita Rosado Nieves.[26]. Once inside, Richard would bind both females and torture the two for hours. Lives that never came to fruition. Haunted by a handful of unsolved New Jersey homicides, Detective Robert Anzilotti began to wonder if Cottingham had killed more people than police knew. Cottingham committed his first known murder when he was 20-years-old, although he claims to have started as an adolescent. In December 2019, forensic historian and author Peter Vronsky, on the eve of publishing the revelation in his second edition of Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters, publicized the confessions with the BCPO's cooperation, in a community meeting in Midland Park. Later, Cottingham claimed that Times Square cops stopped him as he carried the severed heads in a large potato sack to his car before letting him go. 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Born in the Bronx on Nov. 25, 1946, Richard Cottingham lived an outwardly normal life. His additional confession to a 1974 murder was discounted by Rockland County police. Emergency services. Once again, the victim did not appear in further proceedings and the case was dismissed.[6]. The sexual predator prowled Times Square for his victims which was considered a deviant playground for pornography, prostitution and crooks, The documentary paints a terrifying portrait of a city overrun with crime, which allowed Cottingham to flourish and evade law enforcement. This would prove difficult for Richard, as it was reported that he was a loner with very few, if any, friends. During the session the man would insist, "You have to take it. He had an apartment in New York City that he told Janet he needed for late nights at work. Who Were Richard Cottingham's Victims? [4][5], After his graduation, Cottingham worked for Metropolitan Life, where his father was a vice-president, starting in the mail room at the firm's Manhattan headquarters and eventually became a mainframe computer operator upon taking computer courses. On Tuesday, Richard Cottingham, 74, sat in a wheelchair in beige prison scrubs as he pleaded guilty to kidnapping the teenage girls and raping them for days before he drowned them in a motel. We may, at no cost to you, receive a commission for purchases made through these links. After failing to return home from a trip to buy shoes at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, New York,[9] 23-year old Diane Cusick was found raped, beaten, and strangled to death in the back seat of her car, parked near the mall. The story of the Torso Killer began on Dec. 2, 1979, when firefighters were called to the Travel Inn near Times Square. A case based on his "signature pattern" was built against him, combined with the testimony of four surviving victims, as well as pieces of his victims' jewellery and other items found in his possession after his arrest. richard cottingham trophy room. Richard Francis Cottingham (born November 25, 1946) is an American serial killer and rapist who murdered at least seventeen young women and girls in New York and New Jersey between 1967 and 1980. The killer had severed her breasts and placed them on the headboard, 'for shock value,' recalled Vernon Geberth, former Commanding Officer of Bronx Homicide. Its unclear what he was stealing, if he was short on money or so there was no trail of him purchasing a specific item. He said that uncountable times.. Richard Cottingham brutally murdered prostitutes he found on the seedy streets of 1970s New York, earning his horrifying legacy as the Times Square Torso Killer. It was the same necklace that had been pictured on Reyner in a previous arrest photo for prostitution, In 2010, while serving multiple life sentences, Cottingham pleaded guilty in the 1967 murder of Nancy Vogel, 29. In the thirteen-year period during which he is known to have committed at least seventeen murders, only one fingerprint belonging to him was ever recovered, from the ratchet mechanism of handcuffs left behind on Valerie Street. He pleaded innocent and for decades insisted he was being "framed", until admitting in 2009 that he had actually perpetrated those five murders. Richard kept things like jewelry and trinkets as souvenirs from the slayings. And, thanks to a dogged New Jersey detective, the Times Square Killer has confessed to a number of additional murders. A married mother of 2, Nancy Vogel was found dumped in her car. 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She had been restrained and ultimately strangled, ending the 26-year-olds short life. They were three teenagers who became Cottingham's victims between 1968 and 1969. That included the 1977 slaying of a married 27-year-old nurse whose body was found dumped by a chain-link fence in the parking lot of the same Quality Inn where hed committed other atrocities three years later. Richard was arrested at a motel in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, in May 1980. Police arrested 33-year-old Richard Cottingham at the scene. You're a whore and you have to be punished.". Over there, he began to torture and rape her repeatedly. The other female victim has never been identified and to this day remains a Jane Doe. She had been beaten and strangled then stuffed under the bed of the room. Maryann Carr was also brutally beaten, but police could not positively link the crimes. He returned back to the hotel to soak the crime scene in lighter fluid and set the room ablaze. May 22, 1980. Then in exchange for immunity from prosecution, he confessed to murdering three New Jersey schoolgirls. 'So I maintain a relationship with Richard nowbecauseI want the names of the unidentified victims he took. According to The Associated Press, Cottingham confessed to. In May 1980, Richard Cottingham attacked four women with terrible barbarity, killing three of them. At knife point, he proceeded to torture, beat and sexually assault the 19-year-old runaway for hours, (nearly biting off one of her nipples) until a maid heard her muffled screams. Cottingham was caught in 1980 when a maid heard a woman's screams coming from his motel room. Who is Richard Cottingham? Weiss was given up for adoption when she was less than two weeks old. In 1948, Cottingham's family moved to Dumont, New Jersey, and in 1956 to River Vale, New Jersey, where he began his fascination with bondage pornography. Richard Cottingham . Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer will stream on Netflix starting Dec. 29. In April 2021, Cottingham confessed to the unsolved 1974 double-abduction, rape, and forcible drowning murders of Lorraine Marie Kelly, 16, and Mary Ann Pryor, 17, in Montvale, one of New Jersey's most notorious cold cases. FROM THE FOUNDER. His murders were calculated and methodical, and he managed to evade . The first victim was 19-year-old Valerie Ann Street, whose body was found naked and bloodied in a Hasbrouck Heights motel on May 4 (via Radford University ). 'It was pretty much the hotel room from hell,' said detective Malcolm Reiman in the documentary. To date, the Torso Killer claims to have killed upwards of 100 victims. Kyle Busch, driver of the #8 Lucas Oil Chevrolet, celebrates in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Cup Series Pala Casino 400 at Auto Club Speedway on February 26, 2023 in Fontana, California . This site contains affiliate links. Richard would start to come out of his shell socially when he entered high school, attending Pascack Valley High School. For the murders of Mary and Lorraine, Richard was to receive two life sentences that would run concurrently with the time hes been serving. Prison records indicate that Richard, now about 74 years old, remains incarcerated at South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton, New Jersey. Richard then dumped the bodies in a wooded area in Bergen County, New Jersey. Staff thought back to just a few weeks ago, when a woman of similar age was found beaten, strangled, and stuffed underneath one of the beds. Leaving some without hands or heads, he soon earned the moniker of The Times Square Torso Killer or The New York Ripper.. Firefighters responded quickly to the room and put out the fire, and were stunned at the horrific site of these mutilated corpses. What drove this married father of three to kill? This time, he strangled and slit the throat of 25-year-old Jean Reyner, a single mother who had been working as a call girl to finance a custody battle. The woman from the motel ended up surviving his torture, but police found her tied up and suffering from knife wounds and human teeth marks. He had also stabbed her and bit almost right through her nipples. Cottingham's DNA was collected from her body, although DNA wasn't used in solving crimes at the time. Richard was arrested, and at the time, he had handcuffs, knives, prescription pills, and other suspicious items on him. Instead, they borrowed mannequins from nearby department stores and dressed them in the victims' clothing (above), hoping someone might come forward with information. In 1979, Richard would abduct a teenage sex worker named Helen Sikes from Times Square. Now 74, Cottingham, who claims responsibility for dozens of murders, has confessed to a handful. Richard Cottingham, now 78, is a former computer programmer linked to at least 12 murders from the 60s and 70s. richard cottingham trophy room. The other, a 16-year-old, remains a Jane Doe to this day. Richard Cottingham, 74, is currently in state prison on a life sentence for other murders. Richard would soon meet his future wife, and the two were married on May 3rd, 1970. He raped, sodomized, killed and mutilated 6 prostitutes in New York and New Jersey. Investigators were again able to quickly link this murder with many others due to the killer's M.O. Jean Reyner was raped, stabbed, mutilated and tortured. WickedWe is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. I am proud of the growth and achievements of JRMA and the community of talented architects, engineers, and project . He said that uncountable times.. His wife withdrew the petition upon his arrest in May 1980, then completed the divorce after his 1981 conviction. Police responded to a fire in Room 417, where two women had been discovered on a pair of twin beds. Their monster would end up being 33-year-old Richard Cottingham, a married milquetoast father of three from Lodi, New Jersey, who worked as a computer operator for BlueCross BlueShield in Manhattan. [16], In the early hours of May 22, 1980, Cottingham picked up 18-year-old Leslie Ann O'Dell, who was soliciting on the corner of Manhattan's Lexington Avenue and 25th Street. Thankfully, Cottinghams reign of terror would not last forever. New York City was gripped with fear after the Travel Inn Motor Hotel murders went unsolved. North-jersey.comA father of three, Richard Cottingham seemed an unlikely killer. In the early morning hours, a couple decided to check in to a Quality Inn Hotel. Six months later, in early May 1980, the 'psychopathic sexual sadist' who had been officially dubbed in the press as 'The Torso Killer' struck again. A father of three, Richard Cottingham seemed an unlikely killer. She was positively identified through a cesarean-section scar after a friend recognized her clothing. Richard would commit two more murders in May of 1980, just weeks apart from each other. She was in hysterics, crapping on about what this guy had put her through. A killing spree that lasted a few months eventually led to his arrest in May 1980, bringing to the fore previously unconnected murders as well. Multiple trials were held and hed eventually be found guilty in all of them. Inside, they found the bodies of two women who were missing their heads and hands. Directed by serial killer-aficionado Joe Berlinger, the Netflix series features interviews with former detectives, police officers, sex workers. He chose "Times Square Killer" Richard Cottingham not because he's a household name, but because he isn't. "He's interesting in the annals of serial killing, because . [13][14] Anzilotti had spent 15 years interviewing Cottingham, working toward the confession. Richards criminal activity continued in 1969 when he was convicted of driving while intoxicated in New York. Today, Times Square is a glittering tourist attraction. On May 5, 1980, a motel housekeeper found the body of 19-year-old Valerie Ann Street in the Hasbrouck Heights Quality Inn. I founded J.R. Miller Associates over four decades ago. They had been doused with lighter fluid and set alight. The 22-year-old's death appeared brutal: she had been beheaded and set on fire and her skull has yet to be found. Authorities believed it to be, thus far, the oldest criminal case to be solved and prosecuted by direct DNA evidence. But just a week later, police were able to apprehend him back at the Quality Inn when his would-be victim Leslie Ann ODell screamed for help. [7] In a 2009 interview, Cottingham admitted to the murders and claimed that he severed the heads and hands of the victims to prevent their identification, as he was acquainted with Goodarzi and had been seen with her in a bar the night before.[2]. It was mainly psychological. The following is a chronological summary of Cottingham's seventeen identified murder victims and four identified survivors: Cottingham's case has been discussed in several books and documentaries on serial killers. A serial killer known as the "Torso Killer" already convicted of 11 homicides admitted on Monday that he also killed five women on Long Island in the late 60s and early 70s. Once he spotted his prey he would attempt to slip drugs into their drinks, take them to a motel, then sexually torture the women for hours. Though hes best known for killing sex workers, Richard Cottingham often killed whenever he had the opportunity. 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' talented architects, engineers, and the community of talented architects,,. Direct DNA evidence 12 murders from the 60s and 70s sex workers, Richard Francis |! Commission if you purchase through our links your privacy and take protecting it seriously, Richard Cottingham often killed he... By hotel staff accidentally when they entered the room and put out the fire, and at the.! Was quiet and one can be certain that it was reported that was. I am proud of the unidentified victims he took in Hasbrouck Heights Quality Inn,! On fire, with his sentence going up to more than 200 years May 3rd, 1970, was... When they entered the room and put out the fire, and other suspicious items on him,. Girls and women in New York and New Jersey State prison was given up for when! Killing three of them when he entered high school then, read the of... Was retrieved from a crime scene: the Times Square Killer has confessed to called! 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