It was just shock all the way around.. This case was always haunting me.. Cottingham was serving time for five murders, following convictions in New Jersey and New York, when Bergen prosecutors detectives in 2010 tied him to the killing of 29-year-old Ridgefield Park mom Nancy Schiava Vogel, bringing the total then to six. In this case, instead, he removed her breasts and placed them on the headboard for shock value, former Commanding Officer of Bronx Homicide and criminal profiler Vernon Geberth says in the series, noting it convinced him of one thing: Still, at the time, no one suspected the scope of this sexual sadists homicidal footprint, which stretched into the Garden State and had started more than a decade prior. On April 14, in a recorded interview, Mr. Cottingham said he remembered Mary Ann Pryor and Lorraine Kelly, and Mr. Anzilotti asked why he knew their names, when he hadnt in past cases. Richard Cottingham, 74, pleaded guilty Tuesday to murdering Mary Ann Pryor, 17, and Lorraine Marie Kelly, 16, both of North Bergen. He married in 1970 and became a father of. [5] On May 15, 1980, Jean Reyner was strangled and her throat cut in New York's historic Seville Hotel. View Richard Cottingham's record in Manchester, NJ including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. The teenagers were last seen on Aug. 9, 1974, in North Bergen. It will take her a while to forget the habit of calling the detectives for updates a lifetime constant, through the deaths of her parents, her marriage and divorce, her second marriage and widowhood. Richard Cottingham's house in Lodi - The Times Square Killer. - Odd Stops Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. 43 0 obj <>stream PDF Richard Francis Cottingham 0000000756 00000 n 'Torso Killer' pleads guilty in 1974 cold-case murders - AP NEWS HKo0l06CYf,Y(v (I?0c9 Then hed clear the room until only he and Mr. Cottingham faced each another, and begin with his questions. This location belongs to the following categories: Follow us on Facebook or Twitter to see future locations. Because I was with them for a couple of days, he replied, according to a transcript, and got to know them., It was raining that day in August 1974, and Mr. Cottingham, then 28, was driving to work in Manhattan when he passed the two girls walking in the opposite direction. With an uncomplicated enthusiasm for his work, Detective Anzilotti rose through the ranks, eventually becoming the chief of detectives with a busy office to lead. FPh_3Gj Nt%Q[r L`%/9QTh/| Q4_g8KI}u'?xbif`H>;wNQ|sd2(? You're a whore and you have to be punished." Times Square Torso Killer: Grisly crimes of Richard Cottingham laid Around dawn, they checked into the same Hasbrouck Heights Quality Inn where he had left Valerie Street's handcuffed body under a bed to be discovered by a housekeeper. [12] Both bodies had their hands and heads removed, and had been doused with lighter fluid and set on fire. Years ticked past, 1974 into 1975, into the 1980s, the 1990s. [13] In 2021, he pleaded guilty to the 1974 kidnapping, raping and drowning of Lorraine Marie Kelly and Mary Ann Pryor. I just kind of looked at it and touched it and put it in a box where I had some dried flowers for my mother when she passed.. He continued to live here until the police eventually arrested him on May 22nd, 1980. Between 1970 and 1974, Cottingham and his wife, Janet, lived at an apartment block called Ledgewood Terrace in Little Ferry, New Jersey. [7] On October 28, 1967, he strangled Nancy Schiava Vogel, a 29-year-old married mother of two, in Little Ferry, New Jersey. %%EOF He did a U-turn in a bank parking lot and approached, he said. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). Maywood, Now I just have to go on with my life.. It was mainly psychological. The five victims addressed . Anyone can read what you share. A notorious New Jersey serial killer pleaded guilty Tuesday to the cold case murders of two teenage girls in 1974. Over the months that followed, Mr. Anzilotti cultivated an unusual relationship with Mr. Cottingham, sometimes testy, sometimes closer to a sort of warmth. 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=1142468060. Richard Cottingham - Wikipedia In 2004, Vronsky published his first book on homicidal maniacs, Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters, an exhaustive look at executioners slayings dating back to ancient Rome. Blase was found strangled to death in 4 feet of water in Saddle River the next day. I was shocked that it was a serial killer, Moye said of his mothers confessed murderer. The family lived in Lodi, and Mr. Cottingham commuted to a job as a computer operator at Blue Cross Blue Shield in Manhattan. [3], Cottingham was arrested on several lesser charges throughout his killing spree. My parents couldnt handle it., She had called Bergen County every few months to ask about the case for 47 years, she said. 0000008735 00000 n The confessed killer then fatally bludgeoned Sheila Heiman, a 33-year-old mother of three, in July 1973, at her North Woodmere, NY, home, where her husband found her upon returning from shopping, authorities said. Cottingham, who grew up in River Vale, has been in prison since the 1980s, when he was convicted of the first five murders to which he was linked. [5][17], 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, amobarbital and diazepam). [18], During the early 1980s, Cottingham was convicted of five murders in two separate New Jersey trials in 1981[19] and 1982,[20] and in a single New York trial in 1984 for three murders. It would take about five months after the grisly Travel Inn slayings for investigators to arrest their man, a married father of three from Lodi, New Jersey, who preyed on sex workers in Times Square, then a seedy nucleus of pornography, prostitution and crime. Anything that might close more cases, bring answers to more families. The items included necklaces, broaches, earrings, and other pieces of jewelry. If hes going to confess to some others, if they can get him to talk, just for those families if he can confess to those, that right there would be I dont know the right word to say, Ms. Mulder said. She was a mother, she was a wife, a daughter and a grandmother taken far too early. The clever killer slipped up, leaving a fingerprint on the cuffs. Falasca, 15, accepted. "From the sense of other things that Im uncovering, he was a very busy boy., I think the math worked out to one every six weeks, Vronsky also said. I believe hes killed between 85 and 100, as he claims, Vronsky told The Post. 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. In April 2021, Cottingham confessed to the unsolved 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. Where Is The Torso Killer Now? Richard Cottingham Is In Prison - Bustle K3nVxb;X)oxeHME~> To Mr. Anzilotti, what had once seemed like a great disparity between the two series of murders one a group of suburban teenagers and the other mostly sex workers in the city now made sense. Ive never seen rain like that, he said. The bodies of the women had no heads and no hands. Soon, Cottingham persuaded Blase to go for a drink with him. More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23, Rodrigo Torrejon | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, discovery of a Ridgefield Park woman dead, nude and bound. But he eventually realized the years-long association, which involved countless state prison visits, was coming to an end. It doesnt bring my mother back, but at least I have answers now. Cottingham is currently in state prison on a life sentence . To bring Mr. Cottingham back to court, where the case would certainly draw attention, would stop him from talking about other open cases, the chief explained. The Google Street View image on the right was taken 38 years later, in June of 2018. trailer Therefore, you should be respectful and not step foot on the property without permission. The people listed below were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Lodi, New Jersey. [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. After failing to return home from a trip to buy shoes at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, New York,[9] 23-year old Diane Cusick was found raped, beaten, and strangled to death in the back seat of her car, parked near the mall. 0000002435 00000 n A number of killings of young women and girls in New Jersey and New York had gone unsolved for years before a night in May 1980 when a maid at a Hasbrouck Heights hotel called police saying shed heard a woman screaming. Which is entirely possible, especially in those days.. Richard Cottingham who is already serving time in state prison for several . Once again, the victim did not appear in further proceedings and the case was dismissed.[6]. I was shocked that one human being was capable of all this carnage, Moye said of Cottingham. Retrieved April 2nd, 2007, from Factiva database. But it was a way to get him comfortable to talk to me about murders.. It is not a public place. Mr. Anzilotti, by then a sergeant, arranged a surprise search of the inmates cell the day after the Super Bowl. 0000004535 00000 n Starting in 2014, Cottingham confidentially admitted to Detective Robert Anzilotti of the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office (BCPO) to being the perpetrator of the murders of three teenage females between 1968 and 1969. Cottingham has confessed to murdering 12 women. Her attacker was caught as he ran away. These include the Times Square Killer, the Torso Killer, and the Times Square Torso Ripper. 0 For more information, please read our Privacy & Cookie Policy. In fact, Mr. Cottingham lurked around the fringes of a seedy Times Square and the prostitutes who worked its streets. On Dec. 2, 1979, the murders that earned Cottingham the nickname the "Torso Killer took place in New York City. However, please be aware that not allowing certain cookies may impact your experience of the site. She agreed to have sex with him for money. 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. Denise Falasca, 15, of Closter, New Jersey. But beneath the veneer of normalcy was a heinous double-existence as a serial killer. He drove his car ahead of Harp, pulled over and walked back toward her, Vronsky said. This story has been shared 151,197 times. And even though Harp ran, Cottingham soon overtook her and dragged her into a grouping of bushes where teens would often go to smoke and make out, he said. Months later, in May 1980, another prostitute from Times Square was found dead, this time in a New Jersey motel; that murder was linked to yet another at the same location. But in. In his possession, the 33-year-old had a stash of handcuffs, tape and sedatives. Richard Cottingham pleaded guilty to murder in the death of one Long Island woman and admitted under oath to killing four others. (1981, June 25). The victim, Valerie Street, had just been busted in Miami for prostitution, and was last seen getting picked up by a man in New York City. The picture in the top left corner shows Cottingham during one of his trials. 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. Questioning Mr. Cottingham was complicated. Cottingham was apprehended in the hallway by arriving police officers. That man, Richard Cottingham, had been convicted of crimes that seemed to bear little resemblance to the murders of the girls. Cottingham, 75, admitted before state Superior Court Judge Keith Bachmann in April 2021 that he had killed Mary Ann Pryor, 17, and her friend Lorraine Kelly, 16, when the pair went shopping for. I never broke my promise to him, all these years later, the chief said. No leads were forthcoming. Cottingham lived here with his wife, Janet, and their three children, Blair, Scott, and Jenny. . Geberth noted that this was a time before the proliferation of surveillance cameras and the use of computer analysis to establish patterns and share information across jurisdictions. Vronsky, whose works also include an authoritative tome cataloging 17,000 years of pathological homicide, said Cottingham scouted his victims before transforming from a family man into a ferocious monster. But Cottingham had other victims, and he would later boast of killing 85 to 100 people. 0 xref NJ serial killer 'haunted' by teens he tortured for 3 days in 1974 Hed order pizza and play cards with the older man and other detectives. The latitude and longitude coordinates for the house are: To view directions on how to get there, you can use the Google Maps shortcut below: 29 Vreeland StreetLodiNew JerseyNJ 07644United States. He enjoys our time together., The chief also had another theory. Altman, who was just 3 years old at the time, said her parents had separated prior to Cusicks killing.
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