She was stunned. It also left enormous holes in the souls of family and friends of Mary Ann Pryor, 17, and Lorraine Kelly, 16. But her light shines brightly against the backdrop of evil.. 0000012661 00000 n 0000008501 00000 n He admitted that those two killings weighed on him more than the others. All rights reserved (About Us). In other words, he may have been content and/or preoccupied. But Mr. Anzilotti kept pressing him: You know youre going to tell me.. He married in 1970 and became a father of. Justice was served and thats the end of it case closed. It represented closure, Moye said of this weeks hearing. The newspapers called the murderer The Torso Killer. Then on May 22, 1980, a worker at a Quality Inn in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., heard a woman screaming. 0000003183 00000 n Moye, who traveled from Georgia to see Cottingham confess to killing his mother and four other women as part of a plea deal, said he leaned heavily on his Catholic faith as the unrepentant killer watched via video feed from South Woods State Prison in New Jersey, where hes serving multiple life sentences. The house was built in 1974one year before Cottingham and his wife, Janet, moved in. His yearbook photo shows a cross-country runner with blond hair slicked back. Authorities tied him to the killings after police were called to a Hasbrouck Heights motel, where a maid had heard a woman screaming. I think it was just an evolution in his killing.. Premiering on Dec. 29, the three-part season explores the case of Richard Cottingham, a New Jersey man who was dubbed "The Torso Killer" and found guilty of killing 11 women between 1967 and 1980. 29 Vreeland St, Lodi, NJ is a single family home that contains 2,716 sq ft and was built in 1974. Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters, List of serial killers in the United States, List of serial killers by number of victims, "New Jersey's 'Torso Killer' admits murdering 3 teenage girls over 50 years ago", "Justice Story: 'Times Square Ripper' revealed to be mild-mannered husband from suburban Jersey", "Long-Buried Secrets: The Serial Killer and the Detective", "First of Three Trials of Jerseyan in Prostitute Slayings Nears End", "Killer of 2 Is Guilty of 3 More Slayings", "Legislator Gaynor Honors Detectives Who Solved 50 Year Old Cold Case", "Mineola Woman's Murder 48 Years Ago Still Unsolved", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Cottingham&oldid=1142468060. He was locked away to serve several life sentences, aging into a portly man with a thick white beard. More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23, Rodrigo Torrejon | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, discovery of a Ridgefield Park woman dead, nude and bound. 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. But he eventually realized the years-long association, which involved countless state prison visits, was coming to an end. [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. She had been a teenager when her sister was killed. 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. He had come further in closing cases than his younger self could have imagined. He also claimed to have committed 80 perfect murders no one knows about. The motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated. She was believed to have accepted a ride from a stranger, and her body was found on the side of a road near a cemetery. A killing in Somerset County a week after Cottingham got his drivers license may have been one of his first victims, Vronsky said. The chief contacted the Blase family and told them what they had ached to know for decades: He knew who had killed Irene. Cottingham was serving time for five murders, following convictions in New Jersey and New York, when Bergen prosecutors detectives in 2010 tied him to the killing of 29-year-old Ridgefield Park mom Nancy Schiava Vogel, bringing the total then to six. Below, you will find the address and the GPS coordinates for this location. Theyre pushing him on multiple other cases. Hes been interviewing Cottingham in state prison for years. Everyone deserves justice under the law.. 0 He married in 1970 and became a father of three. On Dec. 2, 1979, the murders that earned Cottingham the nickname the "Torso Killer took place in New York City. Rochelle Park & It was an era when the sex worker was criminalized. In 1964, Cottingham graduated from Pascack Valley High School in Hillsdale, New Jersey. Cottingham lived here with his wife, Janet, and their three children, Blair, Scott, and Jenny. Although Vogel was the earliest of Cottinghams murder victims, the killer has said she was not his first, according to Vronsky. Cottingham was not charged with this murder until June 2022, when he was implicated by DNA.[10]. On May 22, Cottingham then picked up Leslie Ann ODell, a 19-year-old runaway desperate to escape her pimp something he promised to help her do over drinks in Midtown. Boyfriends, ex-boyfriends, family members all were questioned and cleared of suspicion. [6] In 2022, Cottingham officially confessed to the 1970 murder of Lorraine McGraw, under a non-prosecution agreement. It was just shock all the way around.. As Cottingham was fleeing the scene of the torso murders, he briefly encountered the 23-year-old Peter Vronsky, who was attempting to check into the Travel Inn while in New York on a film production assignment. 0000003431 00000 n He was a coward.. This murder was later linked to the 1977 murder of Maryann Carr, who was left in the same motel's parking lot. He had not yet put in for retirement, or even told his boss he planned to do that the following week. After nearly 15 years of interviews by Anzilotti and Detective Capt. Like two little dolls at Christmastime.. He said he would talk about other murders only on the condition that the revelations would be kept out of the papers. They have also lived in Whiting, IN. Hed order pizza and play cards with the older man and other detectives. When a worker came to check on her, ODell cracked open the door and gave a hand signal asking for help. (1981, June 25). When the 40th year since the killings arrived in 2014, the local police asked the public for any new information. 0000006151 00000 n This time, at the Seville Hotel, where he strangled Jean Reyner, a 25-year-old mother working in the sex trade to finance a child custody battle. After years in prison, Mr. Cottingham began to open up to the detective about past unsolved crimes. They were facedown, side by side, as if placed there with care. Its an ongoing process, Vronsky said. Questioning Mr. Cottingham was complicated. It is not a public place. I didnt know what to expect. These meetings went on for months, and then years, on top of Mr. Anzilottis regular caseload. Much like John Moye, Altman, who now lives in Ocala, Fla., said she struggled to process Cottinghams savagery. [5] On May 15, 1980, Jean Reyner was strangled and her throat cut in New York's historic Seville Hotel. Over time, though, one investigator was slowly developing a theory. Richard Cottingham who is already serving time in state prison for several . I was shocked that one human being was capable of all this carnage, Moye said of Cottingham. By all accounts, he seemed to be leading an everyday life in Lodi, New Jersey, with his wife and three kids. This number may increase in the future, as he has stated in the past that his victim count is much higher. Defense attorney John Bruno recited the details, which the white-bearded, 74-year-old killer acknowledged. He did not want his family hassled by reporters or the police, and he vowed to Mr. Anzilotti that he would never again allow himself to be thrust into the spotlight. It could only be Jackie Harp.. 0000002882 00000 n That was roughly one month after his arrest. Cottingham, who is also nicknamed "The Torso Killer," moved into this rented three-bedroom house in February of 1975. 0000000016 00000 n Richard Cottingham, 74, appeared virtually in court Tuesday to admit to the slayings of 17-year-old Mary Ann Pryor and 16-year-old Lorraine Marie Kelly. Hackensack, Again, he knew details from Ms. Falascas file. It represented the opportunity to let the entire world know that Laverne Moye was a human being. Three days later, Mr. Anzilotti walked out of his office for good. 0000005280 00000 n Her youth and difference in appearance, with a boyish haircut, set her apart from the other victims. That girl was found drowned, similar to Blases killing, he said. According to one of his co-workers, he was smart, well-read, and up-to-date on current events. The five victims addressed . But on May 22, 1980 Cottingham's life as a predator came to light. However, please be aware that not allowing certain cookies may impact your experience of the site. 21 23 A real sick bastard did this, retired NYPD detective Jim Riegel, who was working as a beat cop that day, recalls his sergeant telling him in the new Netflix series Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer, out Wednesday. In recent years, he had asked Mr. Cottingham about the case, and the inmate had simultaneously denied responsibility and let on that he knew more than he would share. The bridge where Mallory Beach died in a boating accident. So we just stayed in the car and we kept talking to each other, getting to know each other and so forth., If the rain wasnt there, they would have just went to the mall and that would have been it, he said, And I would have went to work.. He kept his glasses case tucked in a vest pocket of his prison scrubs, beneath his white beard, and folded his hands over his broad belly. Fifty years after his mother was strangled and thrown from a Long Island bridge, John Moye finally got a glimpse of the wickedness that altered his life forever. Cottingham, who is also nicknamed "The Torso Killer," moved into this rented three-bedroom house in February of 1975. Im leaving, he said. Falasca, 15, accepted. Cottingham had stuffed Streets body under the bed for housekeeping to find, Vronsky said. Since his incarceration, he has attempted suicide on two occasions. endstream endobj 34 0 obj<>stream On March 12, 1974, Cottingham was arrested in New York City for robbery and unlawful imprisonment on the complaint of another prostitute. Hes hedged around and all but confessed.. The third result is Richard Eric Cunningham age 50s in Skillman, NJ. Cottingham committed his first known murder when he was 20-years-old, although he claims to have started as an adolescent. Richard Cottingham, convicted of murdering prostitute and kidnapping three. Mr. Cottingham had a vulnerability, the chief realized: After divulging nothing during hours of questioning, hed sometimes loosen up on the drive back to prison, sitting in the back seat and believing the day was done. Richard Cottingham was born in 1946 and grew up largely in New Jersey. He would occasionally remove and dispose of his victims heads and hands, presumably to make identification more difficult. iP^ -KvWZvxhc'm$93tSz =oBTmD]+)bTJ T|u>/. The New York Times, p. 26. The photographs are ordered from left to right and top to bottom. The investigators handed Ms. Mulder possessions of Jackies from half a century past. It will take her a while to forget the habit of calling the detectives for updates a lifetime constant, through the deaths of her parents, her marriage and divorce, her second marriage and widowhood. His upcoming sentencing will add more time to a prison term that already extends beyond his remaining years. Neither man has claimed to have been aware of the other, nor is there any evidence they were familiar with each other prior to their respective arrests. After their drink, Cottingham offered to bring Blase back to the bus station where they had taken the bus. [12] Both bodies had their hands and heads removed, and had been doused with lighter fluid and set on fire. If they came forward and said theyd been assaulted, they would be arrested for prostitution, so there was no reason to come forward, Berlinger said. He forced his victims to address him as "master". Vronsky, whose works also include an authoritative tome cataloging 17,000 years of pathological homicide, said Cottingham scouted his victims before transforming from a family man into a ferocious monster. trailer Years ticked past, 1974 into 1975, into the 1980s, the 1990s. Cusicks daughter, Darlene Altman, told Nassau County Judge Caryn Fink her late grandparents raised her after her mothers shocking slaying. Location of first contact Maryann Carr = her apartment; Prostitutes = street or bar . While some serial killers claim murders they have not committed, Mr. Anzilotti didnt believe Mr. Cottingham was that type, but still he meticulously lined up details of the admissions with facts that only the killer would know. 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). Its mind-boggling and very scary, especially to know theres more of them out there.. The 45th year passed in the same way. This is the house where the "Times Square Killer," Richard Cottingham, lived between 1975 and 1980. Here are the nine victims Cottingham has confessed to or been convicted of killing: On Oct. 28, 1967, Vogel, 29, told friends she was going to play bingo at a local church. The series features interviews with former sex workers, including Barbara Amaya, who was raped and robbed at gunpoint by a man she believes was Cottingham, although she was inexplicably spared. The clever killer slipped up, leaving a fingerprint on the cuffs. As you can see, he didn't always look like Santa Claus. [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. To this day, I dont even think they would have ever said anything. I knew, he recalled, that was Irene Blase.. But the arrest in 1980 changed everything, exposing Richard's double life and deadly exploits. endstream endobj 22 0 obj<> endobj 23 0 obj<> endobj 24 0 obj<>/ColorSpace<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageC]/ExtGState<>>> endobj 25 0 obj<> endobj 26 0 obj<> endobj 27 0 obj<> endobj 28 0 obj[/ICCBased 41 0 R] endobj 29 0 obj<> endobj 30 0 obj<> endobj 31 0 obj<> endobj 32 0 obj<> endobj 33 0 obj<>stream The 22-year-old's death appeared brutal: she had been beheaded and set on fire and her skull has yet to be found. 0000000991 00000 n And he sat there with literally no remorse. The highly-respected law enforcement veteran knew the notorious killer was responsible for the deaths of the North Bergen teens, but Cottingham made him work for it. But first, he wanted to return to those two murders from 47 years ago. Cusick, an instructor at a dance school in the Oceanside community of Long Island, went to Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream to buy a pair of shoes. 3. The bodies of the women had no heads and no hands. The chief questioned Mr. Cottingham. But Cottingham flew under the radar precisely because of how he chose his victims and who his victims were. Richard Cottingham, a family man who denied everything in court, was convicted of killing five women in the early 1980s. That night, city firefighters responded to a blaze at a motel in Times Square, the New York Daily News reported. Then he shared his intentions to retire. It doesnt bring my mother back, but at least I have answers now. One would remind him of a TV actress. Just shy of his 21st birthday, Richard Cottingham began a vicious killing spree that tore through north New Jersey and New York City. 0000007874 00000 n And even though Harp ran, Cottingham soon overtook her and dragged her into a grouping of bushes where teens would often go to smoke and make out, he said. 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 room bathtub. 0000003107 00000 n 0000001425 00000 n I asked them where they were going. The mall, they replied. [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. He later detailed his brief 1979 encounter with Cottingham in Times Square Torso Ripper: Sex and Murder on The Deuce. His upcoming book on the vicious predator will be released next fall. Police were not aware of his murders at the time, nor were they aware that an active serial killer was at large in the New York-New Jersey area. The Blase family agreed. Cottingham admitted during the plea hearing that he brought Mary Ann and Lorraine to a hotel, where he raped both and bound the girls to keep them from getting away. [18], During the early 1980s, Cottingham was convicted of five murders in two separate New Jersey trials in 1981[19] and 1982,[20] and in a single New York trial in 1984 for three murders. trailer It is my fervent hope that this arrest and conviction bring some semblance of closure to the friends and family of Mary Ann and Lorraine and a measure of justice to members of our communities, who have long feared this unknown actor.. Mr. Cottingham mentioned details of the killing that matched what Mr. Anzilotti knew from the case file. They sat at the kitchen table, very professional, very polite, very considerate, Ms. Mulder recalled. She then grew up without a father because her grandparents did not like him, she said. Look her up, she looks like her. Others he remembered from a haircut.. Their murders shook the region. But in 2009, he surfaced to again make waves, when he gave a chilling interview to journalist Nadia Fezzani about his motivation and his body count. WjgF\A9Ro9r/;l5Gh3h}NG2L -S$B{s"=z{ 0EaSe,&@yJQ>`n; ;dj7n (~>*}fEx*\W]xvpt]/k"0JTj4%`G?t$8I@FmYkr(_5_+ jfbXP{]~&I6"%}\STHD Ld2=ENhk$)HESdX,g o+IkRC~eC1 dm"GZBDM7~K&'/9"[{$AXH'my Described as average and normal, New Jersey man Richard Cottingham was a father-of-three with a marriage that was slowly unravelling. The chief agreed. YouTubes privacy policy is available here and YouTubes terms of service is available here. Prosecutors will seek dual life sentences to run alongside his current lifetime term when Cottingham is sentenced on July 9 for what Musella said were the willful, deliberate, and premediated murders of Mary Ann Prior and Lorraine Kelly. Falasca was walking by the side of the road in Emerson on July 14, 1969, when Cottingham pulled up beside her and offered her a ride. [4], On October 3, 1969, Cottingham was charged and convicted of drunk driving in New York City and was fined $50 (equivalent to $400 in 2021). The family lived in Lodi, and Mr. Cottingham commuted to a job as a computer operator at Blue Cross Blue Shield in Manhattan. I had long suspected that whoever killed Irene Blase also killed Denise Falasca, Mr. Anzilotti said. And thats what bothers me, because I probably didnt have to do anything to them., Mr. Anzilotti left the confession both exhausted and relieved. I was shocked that it was a serial killer, Moye said of his mothers confessed murderer. Over decades, through his rise from sergeant to detective to chief of detectives, Robert Anzilotti plugged away at cold cases in New Jersey involving young womens murders.CreditBryan Anselm for The New York Times. Denise Falasca, aged 15, was abducted on July 14, 1969, in Emerson, while walking to a friend's home and found the next morning in Saddle Brook, by the side of a road next to a cemetery, strangled with the cord or the chain of her crucifix. Much of Cottinghams crimes were not murders, but other violent crimes like abductions and rapes. %%EOF )' Little more than a week after Street was found, Reyner was found butchered in the Seville Motel in New York City. It was mainly psychological. Cottingham's confirmed killings resulted in nine convictions and a further eight confessions under non-prosecution agreements, leading to him serving multiple life sentences in New Jersey prisons. There was also a lockbox filled with trophies from his murders, including Maryann Carrs apartment key and a necklace belonging to Jean Reyner. In October 1966, he became a computer operator for Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, where he worked until his 1980 arrest. Cottingham is currently in state prison on a life sentence . Ms. For a year, he refused to speak to Mr. Anzilotti. Hes embarrassed by this case, he said. During his trial, he testified that he had been fascinated by bondage since he was a young child. However, his family moved to River Vale, New Jersey, when he was 12 years old. Its his fault this is out.. Canadian author Peter Vronsky is now writing his second book on the horrifying killing spree that culminated in May 1980 at a New Jersey motel, where cops arrested Cottingham after he handcuffed, stabbed and bit an 18-year-old woman. xb```"WVf~g`0pt 9"~S?``Z V|bG!+N}TzYl@2 `QD2 @DACEDJaOs6x?+[Ihlrt ?
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