Surviving that attempt and two others, he was held under $250,000 bond while detectives built their overwhelming case against him. In 2009, decades after his first five murder convictions, Cottingham told a journalist that he had committed at least 80 to 100 "perfect murders" of women in various regions of the United States. Her legs had also been hacked off, and were eventually found a block away from the rest of the body. Officers began linking the then 33-year-old to more unsolved murders and violent attacks across New York State and New Jersey. The man climbed on her back and instead of rubbing her, he brandished a knife which he quickly pressed firmly against her throat. Richards wife filed for divorce in 1979, after years of affairs, but it was never finalized. [12] Both bodies had their hands and heads removed, and had been doused with lighter fluid and set on fire. 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. His additional confession to a 1974 murder was discounted by Rockland County police. . In April 1978, after his wife had initiated divorce proceedings, he kept a locked room in a basement apartment of the house in which they lived in Lodi, New Jersey. 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. As the smoke cleared, the firefighters realized theyd stumbled onto a gruesome crime scene. 'It's God-like, almost. She had been beaten, raped, sodomized and forced at knife point to give the man a blow job. Criminally Intrigued is a Podcast and Blog covering all aspects of True Crime. It contained many items that linked him to the murders. 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. Police responded to a fire in Room 417, where two women had been discovered on a pair of twin beds. [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]. Cottingham was caught in 1980 when a maid heard a woman's screams coming from his motel room. 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. Cottingham is currently in state prison on a . Cottingham targeted sex workers in Times Square before torturing and mutilating their bodies, often leaving only their torsos behind as evidence. The other girls did, you have to take it, too. With only torsos, police were unable to identify the victims. A married mother of 2, Nancy Vogel was found dumped in her car. Over the years, he confessed to killing several more women, with his earliest known murder in 1967. She had recently been arrested in Miami for prostitution and was last seen getting picked up by a John in New York City on May 5, 1980. Born in the Bronx on Nov. 25, 1946, Richard Cottingham lived an outwardly normal life. [15], In 2022, Cottingham was arraigned from his prison hospital bed for the 1968 murder of Diane Cusick in Long Island, New York. Stretched out on the beds were two headless corpses. 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 ). We dont know if hes the one who rented the room, Deputy Chief Richard Nicastro said at the time. Still, the extent of Richard Cottinghams crimes shocked New York and New Jersey. Richard Cottingham (1977-1980) was a 31-year old computer operator and valued employee of Blue Cross-Blue Shield in downtown New York City. The last time anyone saw her, she had been on her way to play bingo at a nearby church. He returned back to the hotel to soak the crime scene in lighter fluid and set the room ablaze. Cottingham was convicted of five murders in a series of three trials between 1981 and 1984 (two in New Jersey and one in New York). On December 2, 1979, fireman in New York responded to an alarm at a shitty little hotel near Times Square. ODell, whod survived her encounter with the Torso Killer, described how he tortured his victims. Richard Cottingham was convicted 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. 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 . Thankfully, Cottinghams reign of terror would not last forever. 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. Though Anzilotti has retired, the detective believes that Richard Cottingham could be responsible for dozens of other unsolved cases. She was positively identified through a cesarean-section scar after a friend recognized her clothing. The body of 25-year-old Jean Reyner, a single mother who was turning tricks to finance a child custody battle, was found violently murdered on May 15, 1980 in a midtown hotel. 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. Cottingham primarily sought prostitutes who were petite blondes in their late teens to mid-twenties. Within his home, detectives were able to find his trophy room which contained multiple personal items and keepsakes which belonged to his victims. Richard was arrested, and at the time, he had handcuffs, knives, prescription pills, and other suspicious items on him. A search of Cottinghams home turned up a bizarre trophy room, containing personal effects from several of the murdered prostitutes. Netflixs Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer is a three-part docuseries that explores the horrific crimes committed by serial killer Richard Cottingham. The missing body part were never found, but once x-rayed one victim was identified as Deedeh Goodarzi, 22, an immigrant from Kuwait who was working as a prostitute. He was sentenced to 173 to 197 years, which he is currently serving at Trenton State Prison in New Jersey. Former FBI agent and criminal profiler Candice DeLong delves into Richard Cottingham, the Torso Killer. [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. Diane Cusick's daughter Darlene Altman is now 58 years old and was present in the courtroom as Cottingham admitted to killing her mother via video conference. He raped, sodomized, killed and mutilated 6 prostitutes in New York and New Jersey. On September 4, 1973, Cottingham was arrested in New York City for robbery, oral sodomy and sexual abuse on the complaint of a prostitute and her pimp. In his possession were handcuffs, a leather gag, two slave collars, a switchblade, replica pistols and a stockpile of sedatives. Even before he confessed to additional killings after his conviction, Cottingham was given life in prison with a sentence of more than 300 years. 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 slipped the noose of law enforcement by deliberately preying on marginalized sex workers during a time when crime-ridden New York City descended into lawlessness. 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. Cottingham committed his first known murder when he was 20-years-old, although he claims to have started as an adolescent. He is currently being held at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, NJ, and is not eligible for parole. 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. Deedeh Goodarzi, Jane Doe, Jean Reyner, Valerie Street, and Maryann Carr (who was killed in 1977). [13] In 2021, he pleaded guilty to the 1974 kidnapping, raping and drowning of Lorraine Marie Kelly and Mary Ann Pryor. 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. One more detail about this case was that the severed body parts of the two women were never located and are still a mystery as to what Richard did with them. Dominick Volpe, a former colleague at BlueCross BlueShield, testifies to Cottingham's perverse sexual tendencies. Subscribe to our mailing list and get interesting stuff and updates to your email inbox. Without heads and hands, authorities were unable to identify the victims. 183 locals recently requested a quote. In April 1980, Cottinghams wife had filed for divorce, charging him with extreme cruelty and refusal to engage in marital sex since late 1976. The other, a 16-year-old, remains a Jane Doe to this day. Unfortunately that would not be the case. As a professional engineer in 17 states, I have been a voice for the functionality, efficiency, and sustainability of commercial and industrial facilities. 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. Richards lust seemed to never fully be satisfied and in December of 1977, Maryann Carr would be claimed as his next victim. According to Janet, Richard spent a lot of time in a room in the basement where she later discovered female clothing, shoes, handbags, jewelry, and other . He would continue this line of work until his arrest. Inside, they found the bodies of two women who were missing their heads and hands. He was also found guilty of kidnapping and assault, with his sentence going up to more than 200 years. deviant drain of illicit thrills, pornography, prostitution and crooks - providing. He was also a married, respectable man with three children. Her killer had cut her throat, left bite marks on her body, and severed her breasts. [4], The BCPO "exceptionally closed" the three cold case murders with agreement from the victims' families and evidence corroborating the confessions, but for several years kept this secret from the public to keep Cottingham talking about other cases. O'Dell's muffled cries of pain became so loud that the motel staff, already uneased by the previous two murders of Carr and Street, called police and then rushed to the room demanding that Cottingham open the door. Responds in about 10 minutes. Cottingham had been in the process of torturing his latest victim, 19-year-old Leslie Ann O'Dell, who survived the attack and testified against him during his trial. A respected family man from Lodi, New Jersey, he ran computers for a major health insurance firm. It was the era when the Big Apple was nicknamed 'Fear City' and Times Square was a deviant drain of illicit thrills, pornography, prostitution and crooks - providing the sexual predator with the perfect hunting ground. He had an apartment in New York City that he told Janet he needed for late nights at work. So, if youre curious to know what happened to Richard, weve got you covered. In addition to multiple murder counts, Richard Francis Cottingham was linked with the brutal abduction and rape of three surviving victims including two prostitutes and a young housewife during 1978. Police would eventually link Richard to the case because of a fingerprint found on the set of handcuffs. One of the unsolved cases was solved when he admitted guilt in the 1967 murder of Nancy Vogel, in 2010. 'All of the women that Richard killed left this world in a horrific way,' she said in the doc. [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. All was quiet and one can be certain that it was probably looking like an average, quiet night. Richard would dump her along a chain link fence near the apartment complex he once called home, the ligature still tied around her neck. She was also the mother of a then-four-year-old girl. [15] In December 2022, Cottingham was convicted of Diane Cusick's 1968 murder and, under a non-prosecution agreement, officially admitted to killing another four women during 19721973 in Long Island, New York: Mary Beth Heinz, Laverne Moye, Sheila Heiman, and Maria Emerita Rosado Nieves. 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. Cottingham would confess to many murders after being put behind bars. He subdued the helpless girl with handcuffs and began the torture session. A search of Cottingham's home turned up a bizarre "trophy room," containing personal effects from several of the murdered prostitutes. [Cottingham] told me to shut up, that I was a whore and I had to be punished, ODell testified. His fingerprint was found on the handcuffs on her arms when she was located in a motel. 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. The baffled police had few clues to follow. A few months later, on May 5, 1980, a housekeeper at a Quality Inn in New Jersey found the body of 19-year old Valerie Ann Street stuffed under the bed. The doc also spotlights a conversation with Jennifer Weiss, DeedahGoodarzi's biological daughter, who made headlines last year when she struck up an unlikely friendship with her mother's killer while he served his prison sentence. 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. The other female victim has never been identified and to this day remains a Jane Doe. He would commute daily to New York for his job, but once in a while, when the mood struck, Richard would not go home after work. Soon after their arrival then man tried to escape but was apprehended shortly thereafter. Richard was born in Bronx, New York, in November 1946. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. 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? [7] On October 28, 1967, he strangled Nancy Schiava Vogel, a 29-year-old married mother of two, in Little Ferry, New Jersey. 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. She had been restrained and ultimately strangled, ending the 26-year-olds short life. Thankfully, Cottingham's reign of terror would not last forever. Haunted by a handful of unsolved New Jersey homicides, Detective Robert Anzilotti began to wonder if Cottingham had killed more people than police knew. For the murders of Mary and Lorraine, Richard was to receive two life sentences that would run concurrently with the time hes been serving. Youre in complete control of somebodys destiny.. Its also unclear whether or not he continued to do so. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. In 1979, Richard would abduct a teenage sex worker named Helen Sikes from Times Square. 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Firefighters responded quickly to the room and put out the fire, and were stunned at the horrific site of these mutilated corpses. Three of those murders Cottingham later confessed to included Jacalyn Harp. A few months later he would be charged with robbery and sodomy. Was this man, the same man who committed the similar brutal crime? I think we need to remember them because they deserve justice'. Hed spent his childhood in New Jersey, married his wife Janet in 1970, and had three children. union square hospitality group gift card; clubhouse baseball baseball; forest service lease cabin for sale utah. On March 12, 1974, Cottingham was arrested in New York City for robbery and unlawful imprisonment on the complaint of another prostitute. [6] In 2022, Cottingham officially confessed to the 1970 murder of Lorraine McGraw, under a non-prosecution agreement. There easily could have been more crimes but its unknown. Authorities believed it to be, thus far, the oldest criminal case to be solved and prosecuted by direct DNA evidence. The crime scene was particularly gruesome. He brought Cottingham to his office and offered him pizza and card games. A year later, conviction on second-degree murder charges in the death of Maryann Carr added another sentence of 20 years to life. Crystal Ponti. By all accounts, he seemed to be leading an everyday life in Lodi, New Jersey, with his wife and three kids. 'When you're looking for a killer in 1970s Times Square, you're looking for a needle in a haystack,' said Geberth. Its God-like, almost. FROM THE FOUNDER. He has officially been charged with 11 murders but according to Cottingham himself, has committed as many as 105 total slayings over the course of his homicidal career - 80 of which he described as 'perfect murders.'. 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