Published on January 3, 2022. She was in hysterics, crapping on about what this guy had put her through. Richard Cottingham, now 78, is a former computer programmer linked to at least 12 murders from the 60s and 70s. The daughter of one of serial killer Richard Cottingham's victims is helping to close other murder cases to which he is connected by using her relationship with him. 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. Instead, they borrowed mannequins from nearby department stores and dressed them in the victims' clothing (above), hoping someone might come forward with information. Without heads and hands, authorities were unable to identify the victims. Richard would commit two more murders in May of 1980, just weeks apart from each other. FROM THE FOUNDER. [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 beaten and strangled then stuffed under the bed of the room. Still, the extent of Richard Cottinghams crimes shocked New York and New Jersey. It's God-like, almost. The series begins with a grisly discovery at the Travel Inn Motor Hotel in Times Square on December 2, 1979. I was preparing to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, the firefighter said, when I suddenly noticed there was no head.. "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. The killer had severed her breasts and placed them on the headboard, 'for shock value,' recalled Vernon Geberth, former Commanding Officer of Bronx Homicide. WickedWe is reader supported, some products displayed may earn us a commission if you purchase through our links. 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. When arrested, he had handcuffs, a leather gag, two slave collars, a switchblade knife, replica pistols, and a stockpile of prescription pills. The Full Story Of The Hamilton-Burr Duel And The Tragic Death Of Alexander Hamilton, The Full Story Behind Columbine High School Shooters Eric Harris And Dylan Klebold, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. In his possession police found a murder kit which consisted of handcuffs, leather gags, slave collars, knives, pistols, and pills. Once he had his fill, Richard decided to light the bodies on fire and flee the scene. Once inside, Richard would torture the girl repeatedly through various means; beatings, bites, cuts and rapes. Later on, the police also found a room in the basement of Richards home that served as his trophy room. Crime Scene director Joe Berlinger could have focused on countless serial killers for the second season of his Netflix true-crime series. There easily could have been more crimes but its unknown. She had been restrained and ultimately strangled, ending the 26-year-olds short life. 'When you're looking for a killer in 1970s Times Square, you're looking for a needle in a haystack,' said Geberth. 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. Today, Times Square is a glittering tourist attraction. Its God-like, almost. He was known for his signature "trophy taking," keeping items belonging to his victims as mementos. Before doing so the pair agreed on a price and after awhile found themselves checking in to a room. According to The Associated Press, Cottingham confessed to. 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. At the time of his arrest, he was living in New Jersey with his family and spending his days working in New York as a computer operator at Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. A respected family man from Lodi, New Jersey, he ran computers for a major health insurance firm. He had three children, two boys and a girl, with his wife. I think we need to remember them because they deserve justice'. To date, the Torso Killer himself claims that he could have as many as 100 victims. [13][14] Anzilotti had spent 15 years interviewing Cottingham, working toward the confession. He was sentenced to 173 to 197 years, which he is currently serving at Trenton State Prison in New Jersey. Richard Cottingham by his own admission claims to have killed upwards of 100 women and remains a suspect in dozens of unsolved cases. Tow Guys Towing. She was a respected nurse. 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. He would be charged with the murders of most of his victims in New Jersey and in New York City. Her legs had been severed and dumped a few blocks away. Goodarzi was only 22 when she was killed, beheaded and set on fire. He also cut off her breasts and placed them on the headboard in the room. 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. Richard cut the womans breasts off and ended her life via strangulation. Biting, raping and beating the girl. The women left in the room had been strangled, their heads and hands cut off, before the killer doused them both with lighter fluid and fled. Police would eventually link Richard to the case because of a fingerprint found on the set of handcuffs. But Cottinghams depravity was much deeper than police realized at the time of his arrest. The man listened and suggested he could drive her to a different bus terminal in New Jersey to get her back home, away from her abusive pimp. 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. This would prove difficult for Richard, as it was reported that he was a loner with very few, if any, friends. Youre in complete control of somebodys destiny.. Richard would dump her along a chain link fence near the apartment complex he once called home, the ligature still tied around her neck. North-jersey.comA father of three, Richard Cottingham seemed an unlikely killer. Pornographic films are advertised in Manhattans Times Square in January 1971. The other girls did, you have to take it too. Now 74, Cottingham, who claims responsibility for dozens of murders, has confessed to a handful. In May 1980, Richard Cottingham attacked four women with terrible barbarity, killing three of them. Richard Cottingham . 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. Her body would be left in the room and subsequently set ablaze by Cottingham before fleeing the scene. Richard Cottingham, serial killer from New Jersey operating in New York between 1967 and 1980. He was also found guilty of kidnapping and assault, with his sentence going up to more than 200 years. 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. 595 Words3 Pages. Richard Cottingham was born on November 25th, 1946 in the Bronx, New York. The first killing was that of Valerie Ann Street. The legs were laying side by side as if still attached to a body. He decapitated the women and cut off their hands before setting them on fire. Had he killed more? Inside they found the bodies of 22-year-old sex worker Deedeh Goodarzi[9] and an unidentified woman estimated between 16 and 22. the sexual predator with the perfect hunting ground. The comments below have not been moderated. The serial killer remains imprisoned in New Jersey. Firefighters responded quickly to the room and put out the fire, and were stunned at the horrific site of these mutilated corpses. The brief encounter later inspired Vronsky to write his serial killer histories and paved the way for his prison meetings with Cottingham four decades later. Today, Times Square is a glittering tourist attraction. Former FBI agent and criminal profiler Candice DeLong delves into Richard Cottingham, Show Killer Psyche, Ep Richard Cottingham: The Torso Killer - Mar 7, 2023 Homicide detectives linked the murder with that of the murder of teenage hooker Helen Sikes. Someone had called about a girl screaming, as if she was being tortured. The other, a 16-year-old, remains a Jane Doe to this day. Leaving some without hands or heads, he soon earned the moniker of The Times Square Torso Killer or The New York Ripper.. 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Their skulls were never found. FacebookDeedah Goodarzi, a sex worker who Cottingham killed and dismembered. He has officially been charged with 11 murders but says he's killed over 100 women, Netflix's new 'Crime Scene' docuseries examines the notorious case of Richard Cottingham who left a bloody trail of victims between 1967 and 1980. On May 15th another prostitute was found murdered in a motel room. Neither complainant appeared in further proceedings, however, and the case was dismissed. He forced his victims to address him as "master". Richard would soon meet his future wife, and the two were married on May 3rd, 1970. Both girls were strangled to death. 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. On February 15, 1968, Cottingham killed his second known victim. Its also unclear whether or not he continued to do so. 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