Richard Francis Cottingham (born November 25, 1946) is an American

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

and rapist who murdered at least 17 young women and girls in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delawa ...

between 1967 and 1980. His confirmed killings include nine convictions and a further eight official confessions under non-prosecution agreements. He was nicknamed The Torso Killer and The Times Square Killer, since his crimes often targeted prostitutes and included mutilation. In 2009, decades after his first five murder convictions in 1981–1984, Cottingham told a journalist that he had committed at least 80 to 100 "perfect murders" of women in various regions of the United States. Four surviving abduction-rape victims testified against Cottingham; he was convicted in three of the cases and acquitted in one. He has been incarcerated in New Jersey state prisons since 1980, and has accumulated multiple life sentences.

Early life and education

Cottingham was born on November 25, 1946, in Mott Haven, Bronx, New York City, the first of four children (he has three sisters). In 1948, his family moved to

Dumont, New Jersey Dumont is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 17,479,River Vale, New Jersey River Vale is a township in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. River Vale is the easternmost municipality in an area of the county referred to as the Pascack Valley. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 9,6 ...

, where he began his fascination with

bondage pornography Bondage pornography is the depiction of sexual bondage or other BDSM activities using photographs, stories, films or drawings. Though often described as pornography, the genre involves the presentation of bondage fetishism or BDSM scenarios and do ...

. In 1964, Cottingham graduated from

Pascack Valley High School Pascack Valley High School (PVHS) is a four-year comprehensive regional public high school located in Hillsdale in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as one of two secondary schools in t ...

Hillsdale, New Jersey Hillsdale is a borough in the New York City metropolitan area in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 10,219,

Career

After his 1964 graduation, Cottingham began working for

Metropolitan Life MetLife, Inc. is the holding corporation for the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MLIC), better known as MetLife, and its affiliates. MetLife is among the largest global providers of insurance, annuities, and employee benefit programs, wi ...

, where his father was a vice-president, at the firm's headquarters office in Manhattan, New York City. He started in the mail room and eventually became a

mainframe A mainframe computer, informally called a mainframe or big iron, is a computer used primarily by large organizations for critical applications like bulk data processing for tasks such as censuses, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise ...

computer operator A computer operator is a role in IT which oversees the running of computer systems, ensuring that the machines, and computers are running properly. The job of a computer operator as defined by the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics is to ...

after taking computer courses. In October 1966, he became a computer operator for

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBS, BCBSA) is a federation, or supraorganization, of, in 2022, 34 independent and locally operated BCBSA companies that provide health insurance in the United States to more than 106 million people. It was ...

in New York, where he worked until his 1980 arrest. At Blue Cross, Cottingham worked in an office with

Rodney Alcala Rodney James Alcala (born Rodrigo Jacques Alcala Buquor; August 23, 1943 – July 24, 2021), dubbed the Dating Game Killer, was an American serial killer and sex offender who died of natural causes while on death row in California. He was se ...

, the fugitive child molester and future "Dating Game" serial killer who lived in New York during 1968–1971 under the alias "John Berger". 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.

Marriage and divorce

On May 3, 1970, Cottingham was married at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in

Queens Village, New York Queens Village is a mostly residential middle class neighborhood in the eastern part of the New York City borough of Queens. It is bound by Hollis to the west, Cambria Heights to the south, Bellerose to the east, and Oakland Gardens to the no ...

. He and his wife had three children, two boys and a girl. In April 1978, his wife filed for divorce on the grounds of "abandonment" and "mental cruelty" (refusing to have sex with her after the birth of their third child, staying out until early morning, and leaving her with insufficient household funds). His wife withdrew the petition upon his arrest in May 1980, then completed the divorce after his 1981 conviction for murder.

Early arrests for lesser crimes

Cottingham was arrested on several lesser charges throughout his killing spree. The police were not aware of his murders at the time, nor were they aware that an active

was at large in the New York-New Jersey area. On October 3, 1969, Cottingham was charged and convicted of

drunk driving Drunk driving (or drink-driving in British English) is the act of driving under the influence of alcohol. A small increase in the blood alcohol content increases the relative risk of a motor vehicle crash. In the United States, alcohol is i ...

in New York City, and sentenced to a $50 fine (). On August 21, 1972, Cottingham was charged and convicted of shoplifting at Stern's Department Store in

Paramus, New Jersey Paramus ( Waggoner, Walter H ''The New York Times'', February 16, 1966. Accessed October 16, 2018. "Paramus – pronounced puh-RAHM-us, with the accent on the second syllable – may have taken its name from 'perremus' or 'perymus,' Indian for ...

, and was sentenced to pay a $50 fine or ten days in jail. He paid the fine. On September 4, 1973, Cottingham was arrested in New York City for robbery, oral

sodomy Sodomy () or buggery (British English) is generally anal or oral sex between people, or sexual activity between a person and a non-human animal ( bestiality), but it may also mean any non- procreative sexual activity. Originally, the term ''s ...

and sex abuse, on the complaint of a prostitute and her pimp. Neither complainant appeared in further proceedings, however, and the case was dismissed. On March 12, 1974, Cottingham was arrested in New York City for robbery and unlawful imprisonment on the complaint of a prostitute. Once again, the victim did not appear in further proceedings, and the case was dismissed.

Murders

Cottingham committed his first known murder when he was 20 years old. On October 28, 1967, he strangled Nancy Schiava Vogel, a 29-year-old married mother of two, in

Little Ferry, New Jersey Little Ferry is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 10,626, Her nude body, hands bound in front of her, was found on October 31, under a blanket behind the passenger seat of her car parked in nearby

Ridgefield Park, New Jersey Ridgefield Park is a village in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the village's population was 12,729,Green Acres Mall in

Valley Stream, New York Valley Stream is a village in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population in the Village of Valley Stream was 37,511 at the 2010 census. The incorporated Village of Valley Stream is within the Town of Hempstead, ...

, 23-year old Diane Cusick was found raped, beaten, and strangled to death in the back seat of her car, parked near the mall. Cottingham was not charged with this murder until June 2022, when he was implicated by DNA. Starting in 2014, Cottingham confidentially admitted to Detective Robert Anzilotti of the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office, New Jersey, the murders of three teenage females in 1968 and 1969: *Jacalyn (Jackie) Harp, age 13, July 17, 1968, who was randomly ambushed as she walked home in the evening from school band practice in

Midland Park, New Jersey Midland Park is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 7,128,Hackensack, New Jersey Hackensack is a city in and the county seat of Bergen County, New Jersey, United States.New Jer ...

, and was found face down in four feet of water in the Saddle River, strangled with a wire, a cord, or perhaps the chain of a crucifix she was wearing; *Denise Falasca, age 15, abducted July 14, 1969, in

Emerson, New Jersey Emerson is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, a suburb in the New York City metropolitan area. Emerson is the most southern town in an area of the county referred to as the Pascack Valley. As of the 2010 United States Cens ...

, while walking to a friend's home and found the next morning in Saddle Brook, New Jersey, by the side of a road next to a cemetery, strangled with a cord or the chain of her crucifix. The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office (BCPO) "exceptionally closed" the three

cold case A cold case is a crime, or a suspected crime, that has not yet been fully resolved and is not the subject of a current criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, new or r ...

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. In December 2019, forensic historian and author

Peter Vronsky Peter Vronsky is a Canadian author, filmmaker and investigative historian. He holds a PhD in criminal justice history and espionage in international relations from the University of Toronto. He is the author of the bestseller true crime histori ...

, on the eve of publishing the revelation in his second edition of '' Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters'', made it public, with BCPO cooperation, in a community meeting in Midland Park, the site of Jacalyn Harp's murder. Anzilotti and BCPO subsequently confirmed the "exceptional closures" of the three schoolgirl murders from 1968 and 1969. In August 2022, with a non-prosecution agreement, officials in

Rockland County, New York Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. It is about from the Bronx at their closest points. The county's population, as of ...

, corroborated and accepted Cottingham's confession to the murder of 26-year-old Lorraine McGraw, who was beaten and killed March 1, 1970. 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 1972–1973 in

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United States and the 18t ...

: Mary Beth Heinz, Laverne Moye, Sheila Heiman, and Maria Emerita Rosado Nieves. In April 2021, Cottingham confessed to the unsolved August 9–11, 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. The confession was extracted by Detective Anzilotti weeks before his retirement and was facilitated by historian Vronsky and by Jennifer Weiss, the daughter of Deedeh Goodarzi, one of Cottingham's later victims. Vronsky and Weiss had been meeting with Cottingham in prison since the spring of 2017, counseling him to make the confession. Anzilotti had spent 15 years interviewing Cottingham, working toward the confession, which raised the total number of victims officially attributed to Cottingham to 11 at that time. He claims to have committed between 85 and 100 murders. Cottingham was convicted of five 1977–1980 murders in a series of three trials during 1981–1984, two in New Jersey and one in New York: *On December 15, 1977, the body of x-ray technician Maryann Carr, 26, was found brutally beaten and strangled in the parking lot of the

Quality Inn Choice Hotels brands Quality Inn is an American multinational chain of hotels based in Rockville, Maryland. It is a part of Choice Hotels International family of brands which has operations in more than 40 countries. Quality Inn is the foundi ...

motel in

Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey Hasbrouck Heights (pronounced HAZ-brook /ˈhæz.bɹʊk/) is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 11,842, near

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

. Inside they found the bodies of 22-year-old sex worker Deedeh Goodarzi and another unidentified woman. Both bodies had their hands and heads removed, and had been doused with lighter fluid and set on fire. The missing body parts were never found. As Cottingham was fleeing the scene of the torso murders, he briefly encountered the 23-year-old

, who was attempting to check into the Travel Inn while in New York on a film production assignment. 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. 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. *On May 5, 1980, a motel housekeeper found the body of 19-year-old Valerie Ann Street in the Hasbrouck Heights Quality Inn. 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. Street had been bruised and beaten around her head and body and bitten on the breast, and had traces of adhesive tape on her lips. Numerous shallow cuts were found on her breasts as well, indicative of torture. Street had died of asphyxiation. This murder was later linked to the 1977 murder of Maryann Carr, who was left in the same motel's parking lot. *On May 15, 1980, Jean Reyner was strangled and her throat cut in New York's historic Seville Hotel. Cottingham severed the victim's breasts and posed them on the headboard of the bed, and set fire to the mattress under her body before fleeing, similar to the Travel Inn torso killings.

1980 arrest and charges

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 Lexington Avenue, often colloquially abbreviated as "Lex", is an avenue on the East Side of the borough of Manhattan in New York City that carries southbound one-way traffic from East 131st Street to Gramercy Park at East 21st Street. Along i ...

and 25th Street. At some point, she agreed to have sex with him for money. Around dawn, they checked into the same Hasbrouck Heights Quality Inn where he had, 17 days earlier, left Valerie Street's handcuffed body under a bed to be discovered by a housekeeper. Cottingham offered to give O'Dell a massage and she rolled onto her stomach. Straddling her back, he drew a knife and put it to her throat as he snapped a pair of handcuffs on her wrists. He began torturing her, nearly biting off one of her nipples. She later testified that he said, "You have to take it. The other girls did, you have to take it, too. You're a whore and you have to be punished." O'Dell's muffled cries of pain became so loud that the motel staff, already spooked by the murder 17 days earlier, called police and then rushed to the room demanding that Cottingham open the door. Cottingham was apprehended in the hallway by arriving police officers. When arrested, he had handcuffs, a leather gag, two slave collars, a

switchblade knife A switchblade (aka switch knife, automatic knife, pushbutton knife, ejector knife, flick knife, Stiletto, flick blade, or spring knife (Sprenger,Benson, Ragnar (1989). ''Switchblade: The Ace of Blades''. Paladin Press. pp. 1–14. . The sw ...

, replica pistols, and a stockpile of prescription pills. The charges listed in Cottingham's New Jersey indictment included kidnapping, attempted murder, aggravated assault, aggravated assault with deadly weapon, aggravated sexual assault while armed (rape), aggravated sexual assault while armed (sodomy), aggravated sexual assault while armed (fellatio), possession of a weapon (switchblade knife), and possession of controlled substances (

secobarbital Secobarbital (as the sodium salt, originally marketed by Eli Lilly and Company for the treatment of insomnia, and subsequently by other companies as described below, under the brand name Seconal) is a short-acting barbiturate derivative drug that ...

amobarbital Amobarbital (formerly known as amylobarbitone or sodium amytal as the soluble sodium salt) is a drug that is a barbiturate derivative. It has sedative-hypnotic properties. It is a white crystalline powder with no odor and a slightly bitter taste. ...

and

diazepam Diazepam, first marketed as Valium, is a medicine of the benzodiazepine family that acts as an anxiolytic. It is commonly used to treat a range of conditions, including anxiety, seizures, alcohol withdrawal syndrome, muscle spasms, insomnia, ...

). 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 Lodi (; ) is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the borough's population was 24,136,DNA analysis Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...

. In the 13-year period during which he is known to have committed at least 17 murders, only one fingerprint belonging to him was ever recovered, from the ratchet mechanism of handcuffs left behind on Valerie Street. 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' jewelry and other items found in his possession after his arrest. He pleaded innocent and for decades insisted he was being "framed", until admitting in 2009 that he had actually perpetrated those five murders. In 2010, he pleaded guilty to the 1967 murder of Nancy Vogel. Then during 2014–2017, in exchange for

immunity from prosecution Legal immunity, or immunity from prosecution, is a legal status wherein an individual or entity cannot be held liable for a violation of the law, in order to facilitate societal aims that outweigh the value of imposing liability in such cases. Su ...

, he confessed to murdering three New Jersey schoolgirls in 1968–1969. In 2021, he pleaded guilty to the 1974 kidnapping, raping and drowning of Lorraine Marie Kelly and Mary Ann Pryor. In 2022, Cottingham officially confessed to the 1970 murder of Lorraine McGraw, under a non-prosecution agreement. His additional confession to a 1974 murder was discounted by Rockland County police. In 2022, Cottingham was arraigned from his prison hospital bed for the 1968 murder of Diane Cusick in Long Island, New York. Authorities believed it to be, thus far, the oldest criminal case to be solved and prosecuted by direct DNA evidence. He pleaded guilty in a December court appearance, and also officially admitted killing four other women in Long Island during 1972–1973: Mary Beth Heinz, Laverne Moye, Sheila Heiman, and Maria Emerita Rosado Nieves.

Books and documentaries

Cottingham's case has been discussed in several books and documentaries on serial killers. Two focused entirely on him: Rod Leith's ''The Prostitute Murders: The People vs. Richard Cottingham'' (Lyle Stuart Inc., 1983) and '' Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer'' (

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

, 2021).

References

External links

New Jersey Girl Murders Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cottingham, Richard 1946 births 1967 murders in the United States 20th-century American criminals American male criminals American people convicted of murder American people convicted of rape American people convicted of sexual assault American prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment American serial killers Criminals from New Jersey Criminals from New York City Living people Male serial killers Pascack Valley High School alumni People convicted of murder by New Jersey People convicted of murder by New York (state) People from Lodi, New Jersey People from River Vale, New Jersey People from the Bronx Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by New Jersey Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by New York (state) Violence against women in the United States