GRUESOME CASE
Who is American serial killer Richard Cottingham and why is he known as ‘The Times Square Killer’ and the ‘Torso Killer’
Plus where he is now
AMERICAN serial killer Richard Cottingham left a trail of horror and fear with his gruesome crimes.
He confessed to hundreds of brutal killings which has made him one of the most prolific criminals ever. Here's everything you need to know.
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Who is Richard Cottingham?
Richard Francis Cottingham was born on November 25, 1946, and grew up in the Bronx, New York.
As a young boy, he moved to New Jersey with his family and graduated from Pascack Valley High School.
It was during this time that he developed a fascination for bondage pornography.
In 1966 he became a computer operator at the Blue Cross Shield Association.
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He married Janet in 1970, with whom he had three children - Blair, Scott, and Jenny.
A decade later, his wife filed for divorce citing "extreme cruelty" and accusing Cottingham of going to gay bars.
After the split, his prolific criminal career began with several minor charges before his killing spree.
Some of the charges included drunk driving, robbery, and sexual abuse.
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Why is Richard Cottingham known as the 'Times Square killer' and the 'torso killer'?
Cottingham is commonly known as the 'Times Square killer' - referencing the location were he perpetuated his heinous crimes.
Two women were found dead at the Travel Inn Motor Hotel on 42nd Street, near Times Square, in 1979.
He was also dubbed the "torso killer" after being convicted of three horrific murders that included mutilation.
He was accused of brutally dismembering two women - they were both found with heads and hands missing.
What happened to Richard Cottingham?
The former computer programmer was originally found guilty of the murder of five women.
He later confessed to other deaths, naming his victims and how they died.
Cottingham bragged that he had murdered more than 100 women in various parts of the throughout his active years.
How did they catch Richard Cottingham?
Cottingham was arrested in May 1980 after a maid heard a woman's screams coming from his motel room.
Although the woman survived the torture, police found her tied up and suffering from knife wounds and teeth marks.
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Cottingham's DNA was collected from her body, although DNA wasn't used in solving crimes at the time.
He was retrospectively linked to several other deaths once his DNA was run against cold cases in the area.
Who were Richard Cottingham's victims?
His first known murder was in 1967 when he was only 21.
Cottingham strangled Nancy Schiava Vogel, a 29-year-old mother of two, in her car in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey.
From 1968 to 1969, he killed three teen girls - only admitting to the crimes decades later.
The youngest was Jackie Harp, 13.
He also strangled 15-year-old Denise Falasca and Irene Blase, 18.
Just six months later, Cottingham abducted Mary Ann Pryor, 17, and Lorraine Kelly, 16.
He reportedly dumped their bodies in a parking lot after taking them to a motel and drowning them in a bathtub.
Confessing to the crimes, he said: "I was with them for a couple of days… and got to know them.
"To this day, I don't even think they would have ever said anything. And that's what bothers me because I probably didn't have to do anything to them."
In 2022, Cottingham confessed to five more unsolved killings, that of Diane Cusick (1968), Mary Beth Heinz (1972), Laverne Moye (1972), Sheila Heiman (1973), and Maria Nieves (1973).
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Where is Richard Cottingham now?
The remains imprisoned in New Jersey serving a life sentence.
He had two trials in New Jersey where he was convicted of three non-fatal assaults and the murders of Maryann Carr, 26, and Valerie Street, 19.
In 1984 he stood trial in New York and was found guilty of the murders of Deedeh Goodarzi, 22, Manhattan Jane Doe - who remains unidentified - and Mary Ann Jean Reyner, 25.
In 2022, Cottingham pleaded guilty to 2nd-degree murder in the case of Diane Cusick.
Police believe that Cusick left the dance studio where she taught and went into the nearby mall to buy some shoes.
When she left, they believed that Cottingham posed as a security guard and accused her of shoplifting to get her to stop, then abducted her.
When she was found, she'd suffered beatings to her head and body, but her ultimate cause of death was suffocation.
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How to find out more about Richard Cottingham's crimes?
Netflix released a docuseries on the serial killer's called Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer.
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The series delves into the 1980s New York where Cottingham started his killings.
The documentary suggests he could have gotten away with many more murders during his 18 years of bloodshed.
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