The 22-year-old's death appeared brutal: she had been beheaded and set on fire and her skull has yet to be found. What drove this married father of three to kill? She later testified that he said, "You have to take it. Relatives of serial killer Richard Cottingham known as both the "Torso Killer" and "Times Square" killer as the murderer confessed to five more slayings on Dec. 5, 2022, bringing his known . Tow Guys Towing. She was a respected nurse. Former FBI agent and criminal profiler Candice DeLong delves into Richard Cottingham, the Torso Killer. Published on January 3, 2022. They had been doused with lighter fluid and set alight. Richard Gere's wife Alejandra shares new photos of 73-year-old actor as they celebrate her 40th birthday in Mexico - after he was hospitalized with pneumonia Richard Gere is 'mostly recovered . [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. Richard Cottingham was found guilty of five murders and numerous counts of kidnapping and s*xual assault using evidence found in his 'trophy room' combined with a matching fingerprint left on the handcuffs used in the Valerie Street murder. 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. Like before, the murderous butcher had set the room on fire, which immediately tipped off authorities that they had a serial killer on their hands. richard cottingham trophy room. Richards lust seemed to never fully be satisfied and in December of 1977, Maryann Carr would be claimed as his next victim. "Richard Cottingham is a serial rapist and killer that used the streets of New York and New Jersey as his hunting ground in the 1970s. 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. All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. In October 1966, he became a computer operator for Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, where he worked until his 1980 arrest. Richard then dumped the bodies in a wooded area in Bergen County, New Jersey. When she was found, she'd suffered beatings to her head and body, but her ultimate cause of death was suffocation. Richard Cottingham was born on November 25th, 1946 in the Bronx, New York. He decapitated the women and cut off their hands before setting them on fire. Their skulls and hands were never found. 24/7 Availability. North-jersey.comA father of three, Richard Cottingham seemed an unlikely killer. [3], Cottingham was arrested on several lesser charges throughout his killing spree. He took the girls to a motel, where he tortured and sexually assaulted them for days before drowning them in a bathtub. He was sentenced to 173 to 197 years, which he is currently serving in Trenton's New Jersey State Prison. In a sign of things to come, Cottingham had kidnapped Pryor and Kelly after they asked him for a ride. Richards criminal activity continued in 1969 when he was convicted of driving while intoxicated in New York. 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 was a game to me. . Richard Cottingham wasconvicted of five murders and numerous counts of kidnapping and sexual assault using evidence found in his 'trophy room' combined with a matching fingerprint left on handcuffs used in the murder of Valerie Street. 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. except 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. By all accounts, he seemed to be leading an everyday life in Lodi, New Jersey, with his wife and three kids. Once inside, Richard would torture the girl repeatedly through various means; beatings, bites, cuts and rapes. Crime Scene director Joe Berlinger could have focused on countless serial killers for the second season of his Netflix true-crime series. She was positively identified through a cesarean-section scar after a friend recognized her clothing. The baffled police had few clues to follow. The series begins with a grisly discovery at the Travel Inn Motor Hotel in Times Square on December 2, 1979. 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. She had been beaten and strangled then stuffed under the bed of the room. After one of the trials, Richard smashed his glasses and attempted to take his own life but was unsuccessful. The victim's hands were tightly handcuffed behind her back and police would later lift a fingerprint matching Cottingham, the only fingerprint successfully found from any of his known murders. Goodarzi gave up her daughter for adoption when she was less than two weeks old, it wasn't until Weiss tried to reconnect with her biological mother in 2002 that she discovered the disturbing truth of her violent demise, 'All of the women that Richard killed left this world in a horrific way,' said Jennifer Weiss in the doc. This would prove difficult for Richard, as it was reported that he was a loner with very few, if any, friends. December of 1979, would be Richards most vicious attack to date. Richard Cottingham, now 78, is a former computer programmer linked to at least 12 murders from the 60s and 70s. By all accounts, he was 'an average guy who drove an average car and lived in an average house' explained reporter Rod Leith in the series. In August 2022, with a non-prosecution agreement, officials in Rockland County, New York, corroborated and accepted Cottingham's confession to the murder of 26-year-old Lorraine McGraw, who was beaten and killed March 1, 1970. But Cottinghams depravity was much deeper than police realized at the time of his arrest. Following his 1980 arrest, police found, in the locked room and in the trunk of his car, personal effects which they traced to several of his victims. Cottingham is currently in state prison on a . [13] In 2021, he pleaded guilty to the 1974 kidnapping, raping and drowning of Lorraine Marie Kelly and Mary Ann Pryor. A year later, conviction on second-degree murder charges in the death of Maryann Carr added another sentence of 20 years to life. So the detective started spending time with the Times Square Killer. 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. But when first responders attempted CPR, they realized the bodies had no heads and no hands. Soon after checking in, the 18-year-old girls screams began to echo throughout the halls of the hotel. The other headless corpse was never identified. The young lady explained how she had arrived in New York earlier that week and was quickly taken advantage of, becoming victim to the number of pimps in the area and trafficked into sex work. Richard Cottingham, serial killer from New Jersey operating in New York between 1967 and 1980. [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. He was careful, and only one fingerprint was retrieved from a crime scene. Cottingham committed his first known murder when he was 20-years-old, although he claims to have started as an adolescent. Richard Cottingham's arrest in May 1980 closed the doors on one of the most violent crime sprees to have ever occurred. [3], Richard Francis Cottingham was born on November 25, 1946, in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City, the first of four children. June 12, 2022 | tj maxx distribution center san antonio | Category: . Haunted by a handful of unsolved New Jersey homicides, Detective Robert Anzilotti began to wonder if Cottingham had killed more people than police knew. One of these cases was of Diane Cusick, a 23-year-old dance teacher. We dont know if hes the one who rented the room, Deputy Chief Richard Nicastro said at the time. And, thanks to a dogged New Jersey detective, the Times Square Killer has confessed to a number of additional murders. For the murders of Mary and Lorraine, Richard was to receive two life sentences that would run concurrently with the time hes been serving. [12] Both bodies had their hands and heads removed, and had been doused with lighter fluid and set on fire. Richard would become increasingly more deranged as time went on. Thanks to Anzilottis persistence, Richard Cottingham confessed to killing 29-year-old Nancy Vogel in 1967, 13-year-old Jackie Harp in 1968, 18-year-old Irene Blase and 15-year-old Denise Falasca in 1969, and 17-year-old Mary Ann Pryor and 16-year-old Lorraine Kelly in 1974. Nobody at the time suspected that Cottingham's killing spree had began over a decade earlier with the murder ofNancy Vogel in 1967 and five New Jersey high school girls in 1968 and '69. The following year, in 1973, Richard would escalate his crimes when an early victim reported an attack. Then in exchange for immunity from prosecution, he confessed to murdering three New Jersey schoolgirls. Richard kept things like jewelry and trinkets as souvenirs from the slayings. They offered a possible description of a man in his 30s, about 510 and 175 pounds, with brown hair. He said the other girls took it and I had to take it, too. He began torturing her, nearly biting off one of her nipples. His name had floated around in the lore of Bergen County cold cases.. And Richard spent inordinate amounts of time in their basement, where Janet later found womens clothing, shoes, and jewelry. But it had a much seedier reputation in the latter half of the 20th century. Hes younger when all this is going on in Bergen County, Anzilotti explained. Multiple trials were held and hed eventually be found guilty in all of them. Over the years, he confessed to killing several more women, with his earliest known murder in 1967. One of Cottinghams only admissions of guilt was, I have a problem with women. Weeks after his arrest, his wife was able to finalize the divorce from the monster. When they forced their way inside and put the fire out they found something more than burnt furniture. 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 . Cops eventually tied him to the crime when they found Reyner's necklace among his 'trophies.' [2], In 2010, he pleaded guilty to the 1967 murder of Nancy Vogel. Post author: Post published: February 17, 2022; Post category: miami university facilities management; Post comments: . Richard cut the woman's breasts off and ended her life via strangulation. Had he killed more? Hopefully new developments are made and one day we will know the full scope of Cottinghams crimes, as well as hold him accountable for his actions. 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. Most recently, in April 2021, Cottingham confessed and pleaded guilty to the double kidnapping and murdersof Lorraine Marie Kelly, 16 and Mary Ann Pryor, 17 in 1974. NYPD realized they had a serial killer on their hands in December 1979, after they uncovered the charred, mutilated remains of two women at the Travel Inn Motor Hotel in Times Square. Confounded, investigators used mannequins from nearby department stores and dressed them in the victims' clothing, hoping someone might come forward with information. [6] In 2022, Cottingham officially confessed to the 1970 murder of Lorraine McGraw, under a non-prosecution agreement. WickedWe is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. One victim was recognized as Deedeh Goodarzi while the other slain woman remains unknown to this day, Deedeh Goodarzi was a 22-year-old high-end prostitute from Iran whose family immigrated to Long Island when she was a teenager. 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 ). Richard Cottingham was convicted of six murders and numerous counts of kidnapping and sexual assault using evidence found in his 'trophy room' combined with a matching fingerprint left on. [15], In 2022, Cottingham was arraigned from his prison hospital bed for the 1968 murder of Diane Cusick in Long Island, New York. On December 2, 1979, the authorities were called to a hotel room in New York City after a fire was reported. He was sentenced to 173 to 197 years, which he is currently serving at Trenton State Prison in New Jersey. [Cottingham] told me to shut up, that I was a whore and I had to be punished, ODell testified. She would die of asphyxiation and once finished, Richard stuffed the girl under the bed. 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