Richard was also connected to the murder of Valerie Street in New Jersey. One week later police were called to the same motel, but this time it was for a disturbance. He began torturing her, nearly biting off one of her nipples. Its also unclear whether or not he continued to do so. When she was found, she'd suffered beatings to her head and body, but her ultimate cause of death was suffocation. Over there, he began to torture and rape her repeatedly. Following his 1980 arrest, police found, in the locked room and in the trunk of his car, personal effects which they traced to several of his victims. Leslie told the authorities that Richard picked her up in New York City, New York, and brought her to the motel in New Jersey. Today, Times Square is a glittering tourist attraction. 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. They were raped and drowned in the bathtub of a New Jersey motel, In 2020, Cottingham admitted to murdering 13-year-old Jackie Harp (left) in 1968, and 15-year-old Denise Falasca (right) in 1969. Richard was arrested at a motel in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, in May 1980. [4], On May 3, 1970, Cottingham was married at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Queens Village, Queens. Did he intend on killing this poor girl? The Story Of Richard Cottingham, The Times Square Torso Ripper. 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. WickedWe is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. Today, Times Square is a glittering tourist attraction. With that horrific incident still lingering in their minds, they decided to phone the police. richard cottingham trophy room. Richard Cottingham, now 78, is a former computer programmer linked to at least 12 murders from the 60s and 70s. In April 1980, Cottinghams wife had filed for divorce, charging him with extreme cruelty and refusal to engage in marital sex since late 1976. The man climbed on her back and instead of rubbing her, he brandished a knife which he quickly pressed firmly against her throat. Things started well, a nice massage to relax things. 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. Youre in complete control of somebodys destiny.. Last edited on 16 February 2023, at 09:15, 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=1139676388. [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. Play it now! Richard Cottingham . Hed eventually leave the company and start working for Blue Cross, where he performed the same tasks. Her killer had cut her throat, left bite marks on her body, and severed her breasts. Later on, the police also found a room in the basement of Richards home that served as his trophy room. But there were signs that Richard Cottingham was living a double life. When found her head was hanging by a thread. Nobody at the time suspected that Cottingham's killing spree had began over a decade earlier with the murder ofNancy Vogel in 1967 and five New Jersey high school girls in 1968 and '69. Janet had even filed for divorce in 1979, though she reneged the next year. He took the girls to a motel, where he tortured and sexually assaulted them for days before drowning them in a bathtub. Her body would be left in the room and subsequently set ablaze by Cottingham before fleeing the scene. Haunted by a handful of unsolved New Jersey homicides, Detective Robert Anzilotti began to wonder if Cottingham had killed more people than police knew. Richard Cottingham Research Paper. When they entered the room they found a young girl handcuffed to the bed. Though Cottingham resisted at first, he slowly began to reveal details of his past crimes. Prison records indicate that Richard, now about 74 years old, remains incarcerated at South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton, New Jersey. Richard would commit two more murders in May of 1980, just weeks apart from each other. His fingerprint was found on the handcuffs on her arms when she was located in a motel. They had been doused with lighter fluid and set alight. So the detective started spending time with the Times Square Killer. He would grow up in a typical catholic household. The basement became known as the "trophy room." The "Torso Killer" had been found. She had recently been arrested in Miami for prostitution and was last seen getting picked up by a John in New York City on May 5, 1980. He would be charged with robbery, sodomy, and sexual assault but all charges would ultimately be dismissed. Richard also had a self-described obsession with bondage and had had numerous extramarital affairs. You're in complete control of somebody's destiny. Richard cut the woman's breasts off and ended her life via strangulation. The crime scene was particularly gruesome. Graduating, landing a solid job, marriage and having multiple children. 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Directed by serial killer-aficionado Joe Berlinger, the Netflix series features interviews with former detectives, police officers, sex workers. And Richard spent inordinate amounts of time in their basement, where Janet later found womens clothing, shoes, and jewelry. For about six months between 1979 and 1980, Cottingham murdered sex workers in brutal fashion. 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 ). [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). Investigation of the suspect's background revealed two arrests for consorting with hookers in the early 1970's, with both cases dismissed. richard cottingham trophy room. His wife withdrew the petition upon his arrest in May 1980, then completed the divorce after his 1981 conviction. Over the years, he confessed to killing several more women, with his earliest known murder in 1967. Later on, Richard took a job with Blue Cross Blue Shield in New York as a computer operator. Cottingham was apprehended in the hallway by arriving police officers. Homicide detectives linked the murder with that of the murder of teenage hooker Helen Sikes. Police would eventually link Richard to the case because of a fingerprint found on the set of handcuffs. Soon after their arrival then man tried to escape but was apprehended shortly thereafter. So, if youre curious to know what happened to Richard, weve got you covered. 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. Richard would start to come out of his shell socially when he entered high school, attending Pascack Valley High School. They increasingly became louder and louder as time went on. He was sentenced to 173 to 197 years, which he is currently serving at Trenton State Prison in New Jersey. Richard Cottingham was found guilty of five murders and numerous counts of kidnapping and s*xual assault using evidence found in his 'trophy room' combined with a matching fingerprint left on the handcuffs used in the Valerie Street murder. He returned back to the hotel to soak the crime scene in lighter fluid and set the room ablaze. 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. It also came out at one of Cottinghams trials that hed killed a fifth victim 28-year-old X-ray technician Maryanne Carr, whose body was found at the Quality Inn in 1977. The young lady explained how she had arrived in New York earlier that week and was quickly taken advantage of, becoming victim to the number of pimps in the area and trafficked into sex work. This time, he strangled and slit the throat of 25-year-old Jean Reyner, a single mother who had been working as a call girl to finance a custody battle. Netflix's documentary Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer examines the notorious case of Richard Cottingham - also known as 'The Torso Killer' -who claimed to have raped, slaughtered and mutilated more than 100 women between 1967 and 1980. Leslie Ann ODell recalled what had happened and how things escalated so quickly. Among S&M books and pornographic artwork wereMaryann Carr's apartment key and jewelry that belonged to his other victims. One of these cases was of Diane Cusick, a 23-year-old dance teacher. Police responded to a fire in Room 417, where two women had been discovered on a pair of twin beds. Post author: Post published: February 17, 2022; Post category: miami university facilities management; Post comments: . Cottingham was caught in 1980 when a maid heard a woman's screams coming from his motel room. She agreed to have sex with him for money. 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. Cottingham was arrested and put on trial, where he initially denied his acts of violence. Deedeh Goodarzi and another unknown female had joined Richard in a hotel room near his stomping grounds of Times Square. I think we need to remember them because they deserve justice'. ODell, whod survived her encounter with the Torso Killer, described how he tortured his victims. The Torso Killer seemed to be escalating fast. He admitted that he brought the two girls to a motel room where he tied them up, raped them, then drowned them in bathtub. It wasn't until the advancements in DNA and forensic processing made it possible for investigators to run samples of inmates that they realized how many cases were connected to the killer. 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. And less than a month after that, firefighters made yet another gruesome discovery near Times Square. It is believed that she was his first victim, In 2021Cottingham confessed and pleaded guilty to the double kidnapping and murders of Lorraine Marie Kelly, 16 and Mary Ann Pryor, 17 in 1974. During the session the man would insist, "You have to take it. Over the years, he confessed to killing several more women, with his earliest known murder in 1967. We dont know if hes the one who rented the room, Deputy Chief Richard Nicastro said at the time. 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. One slain woman was positively identified througha cesarean-section scar as 22-year-old, Iranian prostitute, Deedeh Goodarzi. Subscribe to our mailing list and get interesting stuff and updates to your email inbox. He would occasionally remove and dispose of his victims heads and hands, presumably to make identification more difficult. The murder remained unsolved until Cottingham confessed and entered a guilty plea in August 2010. For the murders of Mary and Lorraine, Richard was to receive two life sentences that would run concurrently with the time hes been serving. She was also the mother of a then-four-year-old girl. The other headless corpse was never identified. She had been beaten and strangled then stuffed under the bed of the room. 3 years later, in 1972, Richard would be caught shoplifting from a local store. He would continue this line of work until his arrest. Officers began linking the then 33-year-old to more unsolved murders and violent attacks across New York State and New Jersey. FROM THE FOUNDER. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. [5] On May 15, 1980, Jean Reyner was strangled and her throat cut in New York's historic Seville Hotel. Richard would dump her along a chain link fence near the apartment complex he once called home, the ligature still tied around her neck. Despondent in custody, Cottingham smashed a lens of his spectacles and attempted suicide by slashing his wrists with the glass. On December 2, 1979, firemen in New York responded to an alarm at the Travel Inn motel[11] near Times Square. To date, the Torso Killer himself claims that he could have as many as 100 victims. Cottingham pleaded guilty to 2nd-degree murder in the case of Diane Cusick. Dominick Volpe, a former colleague at BlueCross BlueShield, testifies to Cottingham's perverse sexual tendencies. Even before he confessed to additional killings after his conviction, Cottingham was given life in prison with a sentence of more than 300 years. "We had a very complicated car vs pole situation and tow guys came to Tustin within 30 minutes on a Sunday evening and did an incredible job assisting us with removing the car off of" more. Cottingham primarily sought prostitutes who were petite blondes in their late teens to mid-twenties. She had been brutally strangled and left nude in plain sight. 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. Cottingham would confess to many murders after being put behind bars. He seemed nice enough. 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. He said the other girls took it and I had to take it, too. Richard Cottingham has confessed to a number of other murders in recent years. Inside, they found the bodies of two women who were missing their heads and hands. Who is Richard Cottingham? 4.8 (27 reviews) Towing. The first killing was that of Valerie Ann Street. [16], 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 and 25th Street. A year later, conviction on second-degree murder charges in the death of Maryann Carr added another sentence of 20 years to life. Thanks to Anzilottis persistence, Richard Cottingham confessed to killing 29-year-old Nancy Vogel in 1967, 13-year-old Jackie Harp in 1968, 18-year-old Irene Blase and 15-year-old Denise Falasca in 1969, and 17-year-old Mary Ann Pryor and 16-year-old Lorraine Kelly in 1974. Farm Heroes Saga, the #4 Game on iTunes. It contained many items that linked him to the murders. She would die of asphyxiation and once finished, Richard stuffed the girl under the bed. In 2010, Cottingham pleaded guilty tothe 1967 murder of Nancy Vogel. He was with Leslie ODell, a teenage sex worker. The missing body part were never found, but once x-rayed one victim was identified as Deedeh Goodarzi, 22, an immigrant from Kuwait who was working as a prostitute. Deedah Goodarzi, a sex worker who Cottingham killed and dismembered. [7] On October 28, 1967, he strangled Nancy Schiava Vogel, a 29-year-old married mother of two, in Little Ferry, New Jersey. Former FBI agent and criminal profiler Candice DeLong delves into Richard Cottingham, Show Killer Psyche, Ep Richard Cottingham: The Torso Killer - Mar 7, 2023 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. FacebookDeedah Goodarzi, a sex worker who Cottingham killed and dismembered. Born in the Bronx on Nov. 25, 1946, Richard Cottingham lived an outwardly normal life. One of Richards earliest crimes was committed in 1968. 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. For the murders of Mary and Lorraine, Richard was to. It was mainly psychological. In a strange turn of events,Deedah Goodarzi's biological daughter, Jennifer Weiss has forged an unlikely friendship with the man who strangled and beheaded her mother in 1979. [2] Four surviving abduction-rape victims testified against Cottingham; he was convicted in three of the cases and acquitted in one. Trophies like jewellery and other personal items belonging to his victims were taken by him. Beneath the happy exterior lurked an incredibly dangerous and vicious animal. May 22, 1980. 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. 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. He was known for his signature "trophy taking," keeping items belonging to his victims as mementos. He is currently being held at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton, NJ, and is not eligible for parole. Leaving some without hands or heads, he soon earned the moniker of The Times Square Torso Killer or The New York Ripper.. A killing spree that lasted a few months eventually led to his arrest in May 1980, bringing to the fore previously unconnected murders as well. Though Anzilotti has retired, the detective believes that Richard Cottingham could be responsible for dozens of other unsolved cases. Pornographic films are advertised in Manhattans Times Square in January 1971. Over the years, the two would go on to have 3 children. When arrested, he had handcuffs, a leather gag, two slave collars, a switchblade knife, replica pistols, and a stockpile of prescription pills. Both 1974 cases would be dismissed. He bragged to police officers and fellow inmates that he had murdered more than 100 women in various parts of the United States throughout his active years. In August 2022, with a non-prosecution agreement, officials in Rockland County, New York, corroborated and accepted Cottingham's confession to the murder of 26-year-old Lorraine McGraw, who was beaten and killed March 1, 1970. When they forced their way inside and put the fire out they found something more than burnt furniture. He was also found guilty of kidnapping and assault, with his sentence going up to more than 200 years. Cottingham later described his motives as a game and mainly psychological., I was able to get almost any woman to do whatever I wanted them to do, psychologically, he said decades after being found guilty of five murders. 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. On December 2, 1979, fireman in New York responded to an alarm at a shitty little hotel near Times Square. Once inside, Richard would torture the girl repeatedly through various means; beatings, bites, cuts and rapes. Goodarzi was only 22 when she was killed, beheaded and set on fire. Cops had a lucky break in the case almost six months after the two headless torsos were first found in Times Square. Cottingham targeted sex workers in Times Square before torturing and mutilating their bodies, often leaving only their torsos behind as evidence. He subdued the helpless girl with handcuffs and began the torture session. Richard Cottingham wasconvicted 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 handcuffs used in the murder of Valerie Street. 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.
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