Richard Cottingham, 74, pleaded guilty Tuesday to murdering Mary Ann Pryor, 17, and Lorraine Marie Kelly, 16, both of North Bergen. Though hes best known for killing sex workers, Richard Cottingham often killed whenever he had the opportunity. He killed several women over five months and injured many more. Investigators were again able to quickly link this murder with many others due to the killers M.O. 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. Without heads and hands, authorities were unable to identify the victims. Straddling her back, he drew a knife and put it to her throat as he snapped a pair of handcuffs on her wrists. Keep up to date with our latest articles, creepy news, info and products and receive promo material for great deals on all your wicked products. As they burst into room 417, they saw two badly burned bodies on the twin beds. What drove this married father of three to kill? Cottingham targeted sex workers in Times Square before torturing and mutilating their bodies, often leaving only their torsos behind as evidence. [Cottingham] told me to shut up, that I was a whore and I had to be punished, ODell testified. Once again, the victim did not appear in further proceedings and the case was dismissed.[6]. Then in exchange for immunity from prosecution, he confessed to murdering three New Jersey schoolgirls. On March 12, 1974, Cottingham was arrested in New York City for robbery and unlawful imprisonment on the complaint of another prostitute. 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. [5] On May 15, 1980, Jean Reyner was strangled and her throat cut in New York's historic Seville Hotel. Published on January 3, 2022. 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. On May 22, 1980, Cottingham picked up Leslie Ann O'Dell in Midtown Manhattan and dragged her back to the same New Jersey motel where he mutilated his last victim just 18 days earlier. Cottingham was caught in 1980 when a maid heard a woman's screams coming from his motel room. 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. He would grow up in a typical catholic household. On May 15, they found the body of 25-year-old sex worker Jean Reyner in the Seville Motel. Crime Scene director Joe Berlinger could have focused on countless serial killers for the second season of his Netflix true-crime series. Investigation of the suspects background revealed two arrests for consorting with hookers in the early 1970s, with both cases dismissed. richard cottingham trophy room. They were three teenagers who became Cottingham's victims between 1968 and 1969. 4.8 (27 reviews) Towing. His fingerprint was found on the handcuffs on her arms when she was located in a motel. Over the years, he confessed to killing several more women, with his earliest known murder in 1967. [2] Four surviving abduction-rape victims testified against Cottingham; he was convicted in three of the cases and acquitted in one. Richard was arrested, and at the time, he had handcuffs, knives, prescription pills, and other suspicious items on him. Both 1974 cases would be dismissed. 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 motel in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, but police did not link the murder to Cottingham until his 1980 arrest at the same motel. It was the era when the Big Apple was nicknamed 'Fear City' and Times Square was a deviant drain of illicit thrills, pornography, prostitution and crooks - providing the sexual predator with the perfect hunting ground. Richards wife filed for divorce in 1979, after years of affairs, but it was never finalized. Richard Cottingham has confessed to a number of other murders in recent years. Growing up, he had trouble making friends, and after graduating high school, he worked for his fathers insurance company. 'It always weighs heavily over me. The cases had overwhelming evidence against Cottingham in the way of receipts with his writing, linking him to the hotel rooms, fingerprints, and testimony from three different survivors. Richard kept things like jewelry and trinkets as souvenirs from the slayings. And, thanks to a dogged New Jersey detective, the Times Square Killer has confessed to a number of additional murders. 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. In October 1966, he became a computer operator for Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, where he worked until his 1980 arrest. WickedWe is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. 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. 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. A respected family man from Lodi, New Jersey, he ran computers for a major health insurance firm. 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. With that in mind, many investigators as well as the hotel staff had a lingering question. Inside, they found the bodies of two women who were missing their heads and hands. On December 2, 1979, the authorities were called to a hotel room in New York City after a fire was reported. This murder was later linked to the 1977 murder of Maryann Carr, who was left in the same motel's parking lot. He pleaded innocent and for decades insisted he was being "framed", until admitting in 2009 that he had actually perpetrated those five murders. Emergency services. 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. 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. Premiering on Dec. 29, the three-part season explores the case of Richard Cottingham, a New Jersey man who was dubbed "The Torso Killer" and found guilty of killing 11 women between 1967 and. Richard Gere's wife Alejandra shares new photos of 73-year-old actor as they celebrate her 40th birthday in Mexico - after he was hospitalized with pneumonia Richard Gere is 'mostly recovered . Richard Cottingham, now 78, is a former computer programmer linked to at least 12 murders from the 60s and 70s. Goodarzi was only 22 when she was killed, beheaded and set on fire. Bergen County Prosecutors OfficeRichard Cottinghams mugshot. From afar, Richard appeared to be doing everything that was expected of him and lived a happy life. 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. He was known for his signature "trophy taking," keeping items belonging to his victims as mementos. 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. Subscribe to our mailing list and get interesting stuff and updates to your email inbox. Things started well, a nice massage to relax things. He raped, sodomized, killed and mutilated 6 prostitutes in New York and New Jersey. [21] Cottingham was apparently "forensically aware" in the era before DNA analysis. Today, Times Square is a glittering tourist attraction. He was also a married, respectable man with three children. Cottingham was arrested and put on trial, where he initially denied his acts of violence. Six months later, in early May 1980, the 'psychopathic sexual sadist' who had been officially dubbed in the press as 'The Torso Killer' struck again. Cottingham had been in the process of torturing his latest victim, 19-year-old Leslie Ann O'Dell, who survived the attack and testified against him during his trial. [13] In 2021, he pleaded guilty to the 1974 kidnapping, raping and drowning of Lorraine Marie Kelly and Mary Ann Pryor. Someone had called about a girl screaming, as if she was being tortured. Authorities believed it to be, thus far, the oldest criminal case to be solved and prosecuted by direct DNA evidence. Janet had even filed for divorce in 1979, though she reneged the next year. Deedeh Goodarzi and another unknown female had joined Richard in a hotel room near his stomping grounds of Times Square. Responds in about 10 minutes. Richard had also kidnapped 17-year-old Mary Ann Pryor and 16-year-old Lorraine Marie Kelly in August 1974 Manhattan, New York. In the early morning hours, a couple decided to check in to a Quality Inn Hotel. Richard Francis Cottingham was linked with the brutal . It contained many items that linked him to the murders. When police arrived they caught a man trying to flee the room. I founded J.R. Miller Associates over four decades ago. Cottingham was eventually arrested in May 1980 after committing a string of grisly murders across Manhattan and New Jersey, with the same hallmark traits, Cottingham evaded law enforcement by deliberately preying on marginalized sex workers during a time when crime-ridden New York City was dubbed 'Fear City.' I think we need to remember them because they deserve justice'. 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, 2021). He seemed nice enough. [1] He was nicknamed the New York Ripper, the Torso Killer and the Times Square Killer, since his crimes often targeted prostitutes and included mutilation. 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. Their monster would end up being 33-year-old Richard Cottingham, a married milquetoast father of three from Lodi, New Jersey, who worked as a computer operator for BlueCross BlueShield in Manhattan. Tow Guys Towing. Deedeh Goodarzi, Jane Doe, Jean Reyner, Valerie Street, and Maryann Carr (who was killed in 1977). 24/7 Availability. 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. He returned back to the hotel to soak the crime scene in lighter fluid and set the room ablaze. Later on, the police also found a room in the basement of Richards home that served as his trophy room. One of the unsolved cases was solved when he admitted guilt in the 1967 murder of Nancy Vogel, in 2010. The murder remained unsolved until Cottingham confessed and entered a guilty plea in August 2010. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. At one point, Leslie grabbed Richards gun and pointed it at him, only to realize that it was fake. Like before, the murderous butcher had set the room on fire, which immediately tipped off authorities that they had a serial killer on their hands. This site contains affiliate links. except for their clothing, a pair of Bonjour jeans, a white leotard, patent leather boots and a black fur coat, which the killer had curiously folded neatly in the bathtub. Most recently, in April 2021, Cottingham confessed and pleaded guilty to the double kidnapping and murdersof Lorraine Marie Kelly, 16 and Mary Ann Pryor, 17 in 1974. Police would eventually link Richard to the case because of a fingerprint found on the set of handcuffs. Despondent in custody, Cottingham smashed a lens of his spectacles and attempted suicide by slashing his wrists with the glass. [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. Her body would be left in the room and subsequently set ablaze by Cottingham before fleeing the scene. [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. [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). Richard Cottingham, 74, is currently in state prison on a life sentence for other murders. I think it was just an evolution in his killing.. All was quiet and one can be certain that it was probably looking like an average, quiet night. I think we need to remember them because they deserve justice.'. I am proud of the growth and achievements of JRMA and the community of talented architects, engineers, and project . A year after the previous charges he would then be charged with unlawful imprisonment and robbery. The series begins with a grisly discovery at the Travel Inn Motor Hotel in Times Square on December 2, 1979. Officers began linking the then 33-year-old to more unsolved murders and violent attacks across New York State and New Jersey. Today, Times Square is a glittering tourist attraction. He brought them to a hotel room, tortured them, and dumped their nude bodies. When they entered the room they found a young girl handcuffed to the bed. He would continue this line of work until his arrest. Ailing serial killer Richard Cottingham a.k.a. 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