Thankfully, Cottingham's reign of terror would not last forever. [13] In 2021, he pleaded guilty to the 1974 kidnapping, raping and drowning of Lorraine Marie Kelly and Mary Ann Pryor. He had three children, two boys and a girl, with his wife. union square hospitality group gift card; clubhouse baseball baseball; forest service lease cabin for sale utah. 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. Weiss was given up for adoption when she was less than two weeks old. 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. He decapitated the women and cut off their hands before setting them on fire. What drove this married father of three to kill? 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. 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. Police had no suspects and the case quickly grew cold, collecting dust in a file for years. Leslie told the authorities that Richard picked her up in New York City, New York, and brought her to the motel in New Jersey. top social media sites in bangladesh New York City was gripped with fear after the Travel Inn Motor Hotel murders went unsolved. They had been doused with lighter fluid and set alight. And less than a month after that, firefighters made yet another gruesome discovery near Times Square. It wasn't until she endeavored to reconnect with her biological mother in 2002, that she discovered the disturbing truth of her violent demise through old newspaper clippings. He would continue this line of work until his arrest. He later admitted that his psychopathic hobby for hunting sex workers in Times Square 'as a game.'. 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. Richards wife filed for divorce in 1979, after years of affairs, but it was never finalized. The police apprehended Richard Cottingham while trying to flee. Her arms were still handcuffed behind her back. A famous pamphlet made by NYPD during the 1970s advised tourists to 'stay off the streets after 6pm,' 'do not walk,' and 'never ride the subway for any reason whatsoever', Cops apprehended Richard Cottingham on May 22, 1980 in a New Jersey Quality Inn after staff alerted police of screams coming from a room. A search of Cottinghams home turned up a bizarre trophy room, containing personal effects from several of the murdered prostitutes. The other, a 16-year-old, remains a Jane Doe to this day. Not only was Times Square filled with porn shops, peep shows, and prostitutes, but it also became the hunting ground for serial killer Richard Cottingham, the Torso Killer. Jacalyn "Jackie" Harp, aged 13, was randomly ambushed as she walked home in the evening of July 17, 1968, from school band practice in Midland Park and strangled with the leather strap of her bag. The man climbed on her back and instead of rubbing her, he brandished a knife which he quickly pressed firmly against her throat. . On May 5, 1980, police found another prostitute, Valerie Streets, dead in a motel room. "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. 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. Shed be discovered by hotel staff accidentally when they were attempting to vacuum underneath the bed. Later on, Richard took a job with Blue Cross Blue Shield in New York as a computer operator. One week before Jean Reyner's body was discovered at a Manhattan hotel, a maid at the Quality Inn in New Jersey found the naked corpse of Valerie Ann Street under the bed, with her hands tightly handcuffed behind her back. An animal who lacked empathy for all and cared only for satisfying his sexual desires at any cost. 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). Police responded to a fire in Room 417, where two women had been discovered on a pair of twin beds. 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. 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. I was able to get almost any woman to do whatever I wanted them to do, psychologically,' said the sinister 75-year-old in a recent jailhouse interview with journalistNadia Fezzani. This time it seems the police were able to link this crime. Once in custody the man would be identified as Richard Francis Cottingham a father of 3 from Lodi, New Jersey. 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. Once again, the victim did not appear in further proceedings and the case was dismissed.[6]. The Torso Killer seemed to be escalating fast. Today, Times Square is a glittering tourist attraction. At one point, Leslie grabbed Richards gun and pointed it at him, only to realize that it was fake. Confounded, investigators used mannequins from nearby department stores and dressed them in the victims' clothing, hoping someone might come forward with information. Cottingham murdered Jennifer Weiss' birth mom Deedeh Goodarzi in a Times Square motel room in 1979. 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. Its unclear what he was stealing, if he was short on money or so there was no trail of him purchasing a specific item. Who Were Richard Cottingham's Victims? When they forced their way inside and put the fire out they found something more than burnt furniture. This murder was later linked to the 1977 murder of Maryann Carr, who was left in the same motel's parking lot. [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. Nicole Linton appears in Los Angeles County Superior Court for her arraignment on murder charges . But it soon came out that the Torso Killer had murdered many more than five victims. 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. Graduating, landing a solid job, marriage and having multiple children. [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. Criminally Intrigued is a Podcast and Blog covering all aspects of True Crime. [6] At Blue Cross, Cottingham worked in an office with Rodney Alcala, the fugitive child molester and future serial killer who lived in New York under the alias "John Berger". Firefighters responded quickly to the room and put out the fire, and were stunned at the horrific site of these mutilated corpses. But it had a much seedier reputation in the latter half of the 20th century. 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. The following year, in 1973, Richard would escalate his crimes when an early victim reported an attack. And Richard spent inordinate amounts of time in their basement, where Janet later found womens clothing, shoes, and jewelry. All That's Interesting is a Brooklyn-based digital publisher that seeks out stories that illuminate the past, present, and future. In December 1979, Richard had tortured, raped, and killed Deedeh Goodarzi and an unidentified teenager (Jane Doe) in a hotel in New York. As a professional engineer in 17 states, I have been a voice for the functionality, efficiency, and sustainability of commercial and industrial facilities. the Torso Killer pleaded guilty to the 1968 murder of Long Island mother Diane Cusick Monday in front of a Nassau County, New York judge, as . we respect your privacy and take protecting it seriously, Richard Francis Cottingham | Serial Killer, Incarcerated at the New Jersey State Prison. Lives that never came to fruition. Richard would become increasingly more deranged as time went on. Its also unclear whether or not he continued to do so. 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. The other girls did, you have to take it, too. Once inside, Richard would bind both females and torture the two for hours. He would be charged with the murders of most of his victims in New Jersey and in New York City. On August 21, 1972, he is charged and convicted of shoplifting at a Stern's department store in Paramus, New Jersey, and was sentenced to pay a $50 fine or ten days in jail. [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. Soon after their arrival then man tried to escape but was apprehended shortly thereafter. Rehabilitation | Bring Back To Positive Condition, Capital Punishment | Killing Another As Punishment, A Writ of Habeas Corpus |That You Have The Body, Munchausen by Proxy | Factitious Disorder by Proxy, Histrionic Personality Disorder | Anti Social Disorder, Bipolar Personality Disorder | Manic Depression, Sociopathy | Antisocial Personality Disorder | Traits, Psychopathy | Antisocial Personality Disorder, Hanging | An Available Method of Execution Today, Parricide | The Act of Killing Ones Own Parents, Familicide | The Act of Family Annihilation, Maternal Filicide | Killing Ones Own Child/Children, Roger Kibbe / The I-5 Strangler of Sacramento, Anthony John Hardy / A Lust for Necrophilia, William George Bonin / Californias Freeway Killer / Hebephiliac Serial Killer, William Darrell Lindsey American Serial Killer, Daisuke Mori / Japanese Serial Killer / Medical Murder, Bevan Von Einem / Australian Serial Killer / The Family Murders, Jeff Doucet / The Pedophile Murdered in Baton Rouge Airport, Glenn Helzer and The Children of Thunder Murders, Grace Millane British Backpacker on Tinder Date With Death, Eugene Butler | Bones Under the House | Dead Men Dont Tell, William Parente / Methodical Murder/Suicide / AnomicFamilicide, Evan Ramsey / School Shooting / He Blamed Doom, Brenda Spencer / Juvenile Thrill Killer / School Shooting, James Bulger A Baby Boy Murdered By Two 10 Years Olds, David Brom / Juvenile Family Annihilator / Ax Murderer, Erin Caffey / Master Mind For Murder / Death and Flames, Michael McLendon / He Left A List Then Left To Kill, Ronald Lee Haskell / Mass Murder / Killing for Vengeance, George Jefferson Hassell / Mass Murder / Two Time Family Annihilator, George Emil Banks / Mass Murder in PA / Family Annihilator, Charles Merritt / The McStay Family Massacre / A Mystery Unraveled, Margaret Rudin / Did she really murder her husband then burn him in the desert, Stacey Castor Set Out To Frame Her Child For Murders She Herself Had Committed, Judy Buenoano / Floridas Female Serial Killer / The Black Widow, Patricia Columbo / Family Annihilator / Parricide To Inherit, Marie Noe / Serial Filicide / Murdered All 8 Of Her Babies, Amelia Dyer / Baby Farmer / Prolific Serial Murderer, Carroll Edward Cole / A Life of Murder and Mental Madness, John Crutchley / The Florida Vampire / Rapist and Serial Killer, Jack Unterweger / The Beloved Writer Who Committed Serial Murder. FROM THE FOUNDER. Deedah Goodarzi, a sex worker who Cottingham killed and dismembered. Things started well, a nice massage to relax things. He was careful, and only one fingerprint was retrieved from a crime scene. [4], On May 3, 1970, Cottingham was married at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Queens Village, Queens. [8] Vogel's nude and bound body was found on October 31, under a blanket behind the passenger seat of her car parked in nearby Ridgefield Park. At three different trials in New Jersey and New York, Richard was convicted for murdering Deedeh Goodarzi, Jane Doe, Jean Reyner, Valerie Street, and Maryann Carr (who was killed in 1977). He was known for his signature "trophy taking," keeping items belonging to his victims as mementos. Deedeh Goodarzi, Jane Doe, Jean Reyner, Valerie Street, and Maryann Carr (who was killed in 1977). Richard was born in Bronx, New York, in November 1946. In October 1966, he became a computer operator for Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, where he worked until his 1980 arrest. He said the other girls took it, and I had to take it, too. She then screamed, and the muffled noises were heard by a maid, leading to the police being called. On December 2, 1979, the authorities were called to a hotel room in New York City after a fire was reported. I thought he could be responsible for some, Anzilotti said, explaining that while the methods and victims were different, the timing matched. 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. When they entered the room they found a young girl handcuffed to the bed. There easily could have been more crimes but its unknown. 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. He brought Cottingham to his office and offered him pizza and card games. Deedeh Goodarzi and another unknown female had joined Richard in a hotel room near his stomping grounds of Times Square. Richard had abducted the woman and brought her to a hotel. Non-hormonal contraceptive tablet can prevent 99% of pregnancies, trial finds, 'You can bang the gavel as loud as you want': Cruz fumes at Democrat Durbin for cutting him off after grilling Ketanji Brown Jackson on why she can't define the word 'woman' and why she halved the sentence of a pedophile, Baby formula manufacturer Abbott's production line was filthy around the same time firm was linked to bacterial outbreak that killed two babies and sickened others, FDA report reveals. On March 12, 1974, Cottingham was arrested in New York City for robbery and unlawful imprisonment on the complaint of another prostitute. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. The baffled police had few clues to follow. 'It's God-like, almost. In a sign of things to come, Cottingham had kidnapped Pryor and Kelly after they asked him for a ride. He would grow up in a typical catholic household. So, if youre curious to know what happened to Richard, weve got you covered. Someone had called about a girl screaming, as if she was being tortured. Within his home, detectives were able to find his trophy room which contained multiple personal items and keepsakes which belonged to his victims. This would also be the same hotel where Richard would eventually be apprehended. Over the years, he confessed to killing several more women, with his earliest known murder in 1967. 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 . 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. 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. richard cottingham trophy room. All was quiet and one can be certain that it was probably looking like an average, quiet night. Cottingham's DNA was collected from her body, although DNA wasn't used in solving crimes at the time. 'All of the women that Richard killed left this world in a horrific way,' she said in the doc. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group, PICTURED: Two of six teenage girls killed when trucker slammed his semitrailer into their Chevy Spark as they pulled a U-turn on Oklahoma highway, Woke Disney workers threaten more strikes unless it suspends building new rides in Florida parks - in protest over state's 'Don't Say Gay' bill: Guardians of the Galaxy attraction and Tron rollercoaster at risk, DAN WOOTTON: Shame on Meghan Markle as her propagandists use the fantasy that the Royal Family is racist to derail Wills and Kate's Jamaican tour and destroy the Commonwealth, Democrats push for $300 a month stimulus checks to help Americans struggling to pay for sky-high gas prices as a gallon soars past $6 in LA and 73% of voters say they back tax breaks, Bob Saget's showrunner reveals he told her he 'didn't feel good,' his hearing was off, he had sore throat and had to talk himself up just before taking stage for final performance, Canadian Home Depot is slammed for posting staff notice that warned about 'white privilege' and included a checklist for workers who are 'white, male, Christian, cisgender, able-bodied and heterosexual', 'Come to your squares, make yourselves visible and heard, say that people matter': Zelensky urges millions around the world to take to the streets and protest against Putin's invasion to mark one month since it began, How the pandemic and remote learning has destroyed education: Children are still performing worse at EVERY level in math and reading than they were before start of COVID, data from 7.3m tests across US reveals, Oral surgeon is charged with 'depraved heart' murder after his girlfriend overdosed on clinic drugs he fed her through IV: Victim's sister cracked case after handing cops evidence including text 'I think ketamine works well for you', British businessman, 47, is trapped in Costa Rica after suffering gangrene of the genitals following a horror reaction to routine surgery - as his family battle to bring him home for treatment, Biden lands in Brussels for NATO summit after saying there was 'real threat' Putin will use chemical weapons and called for America to lead a 'new world order', 75% of swing voters say Democrats are 'out of touch' and 'condescending' and two-thirds say they are spending too much money in D.C. according to new Republican poll showing the GOP sweeping the midterms, First female Secretary of State Madeleine Albright dies aged 84: Revered diplomat who fled Nazis and communists as a child and was central to Clinton's foreign policy passes away from cancer, Sarah Palin launches legal bid for new defamation trial against New York Times and criticizes judge who presided over first trial for being 'partial and predisposed', Russian defense minister Sergei Shoigu vanishes 'with heart problems' as strains appear in his relationship with Putin over Ukraine war - and his daughter poses in Ukraine colors, Upper East Side PTA treasurer is charged with stealing $185,000 from his daughter's public elementary school to fund lavish trips to the Caribbean, Fendi, and to pay off fines for stealing from his last job, Conor McGregor is arrested for dangerous driving in his $180,000 Bentley on a Irish highway, 'We should put their a***s in jail': Lindsey Graham reacts with fury when SCOTUS nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson attempts to justify 'supervision' as adequate deterrent for pedophiles in ANOTHER tense Senate exchange, Ketanji Brown Jackson tells Ted Cruz she would RECUSE herself from Harvard affirmative action case if she is confirmed to SCOTUS because she's a member of its Board of Overseers, Kamala snapped at Biden for making her 'border czar', wanted to look after softball Nordic countries instead and felt DISRESPECTED by President's 'white inner circle', bombshell new book claims, Moderna says its COVID-19 vaccine safe for children as young as six months old after 'successfully' completing clinical trial, One step closer to giving men the Pill! 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 ). 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 . Stretched out on the beds were two headless corpses.
