richard cottingham trophy room

On September 4, 1973, Cottingham was arrested in New York City for robbery, oral sodomy and sexual abuse on the complaint of a prostitute and her pimp. 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. Nicole Linton appears in Los Angeles County Superior Court for her arraignment on murder charges . Despite obvious similarities, 'no one in New Jersey connected them to the Times Square killer,' explained former NYPD detective Malcolm Reiman in the doc. What drove this married father of three to kill? On Monday, July 13, 1969, at approximately 8:00 p.m., On March 1, 1970, a group of hikers came across a young woman's naked body in the woods to the west of Tweed Boulevard in, At approximately 7:00 a.m. on the morning of December 16, 1977, the body of X-ray technician, At 9:30 a.m. on May 22, 1980, police entered Room 117 at the same Quality Inn where Carr and Street were murdered and found 18-year-old, This page was last edited on 16 February 2023, at 09:15. But when first responders attempted CPR, they realized the bodies had no heads and no hands. She had been brutally strangled and left nude in plain sight. Now she's accused of killing 5 in horrific Windsor Hills crash. 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. Weiss was given up for adoption when she was less than two weeks old. The prisoner, 33-year-old Richard Francis Cottingham, made an unlikely suspect at first glance. On May 5, 1980, a motel housekeeper found the body of 19-year-old Valerie Ann Street in the Hasbrouck Heights Quality Inn. Cottingham was apprehended in the hallway by arriving police officers. Richard Cottingham . Richard was also connected to the murder of Valerie Street in New Jersey. On December 2, 1979, firemen in New York responded to an alarm at the Travel Inn motel[11] near Times Square. 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. 'It always weighs heavily over me. Cottingham was arrested and put on trial, where he initially denied his acts of violence. . On May 5, 1980, police found another prostitute, Valerie Streets, dead in a motel room. 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. She would later be found in Queens horribly mutilated. She was in hysterics, crapping on about what this guy had put her through. we respect your privacy and take protecting it seriously, Richard Francis Cottingham | Serial Killer, Incarcerated at the New Jersey State Prison. In 2010, Cottingham pleaded guilty tothe 1967 murder of Nancy Vogel. Hes younger when all this is going on in Bergen County, Anzilotti explained. 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. 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. The last time anyone saw her, she had been on her way to play bingo at a nearby church. 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. Their skulls were never found. After one of the trials, Richard smashed his glasses and attempted to take his own life but was unsuccessful. Later on, the police also found a room in the basement of Richard's home that served as his trophy room. 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. Its God-like, almost. But it had a much seedier reputation in the latter half of the 20th century. [2] Four surviving abduction-rape victims testified against Cottingham; he was convicted in three of the cases and acquitted in one. The doc also spotlights a conversation with Jennifer Weiss, DeedahGoodarzi's biological daughter, who made headlines last year when she struck up an unlikely friendship with her mother's killer while he served his prison sentence. In May 1980, Richard Cottingham attacked four women with terrible barbarity, killing three of them. Among S&M books and pornographic artwork wereMaryann Carr's apartment key and jewelry that belonged to his other victims. She had been given one hell of a beating and her killer had eaten away at her nipples, almost severing one. The 22-year-old's death appeared brutal: she had been beheaded and set on fire and her skull has yet to be found. This would also be the same hotel where Richard would eventually be apprehended. The other female victim has never been identified and to this day remains a Jane Doe. Adorable Skeleton Air Freshener Vent Clips for Car Interior, Novelty Hoodie Blood Splatter / Hooded Sweatshirt with Drawstrings, Novelty Hoodie Floral Skulls / Hooded Sweatshirt with Drawstrings 3D Drawing Unisex. He killed several women over five months and injured many more. Crystal Ponti. Homicide detectives linked the murder with that of the murder of teenage hooker Helen Sikes. Neither complainant appeared in further proceedings, however, and the case was dismissed. Richard Cottingham (1977-1980) was a 31-year old computer operator and valued employee of Blue Cross-Blue Shield in downtown New York City. So, if youre curious to know what happened to Richard, weve got you covered. [4], On May 3, 1970, Cottingham was married at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Queens Village, Queens. Leaving some without hands or heads, he soon earned the moniker of The Times Square Torso Killer or The New York Ripper.. A search of Cottingham's home turned up a bizarre "trophy room," containing personal effects from several of the murdered prostitutes. Cottingham was not charged with this murder until June 2022, when he was implicated by DNA.[10]. Jean Reyner was stabbed to death in a motel near Time Square. When they entered the room they found a young girl handcuffed to the bed. Richards criminal activity continued in 1969 when he was convicted of driving while intoxicated in New York. All was quiet and one can be certain that it was probably looking like an average, quiet night. 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. 183 locals recently requested a quote. Who is Richard Cottingham? 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. He began torturing her, nearly biting off one of her nipples. Richard was arrested at a motel in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, in May 1980. In a sign of things to come, Cottingham had kidnapped Pryor and Kelly after they asked him for a ride. 'It was a game to me. On February 15, 1968, Cottingham killed his second known victim. Haunted by a handful of unsolved New Jersey homicides, Detective Robert Anzilotti began to wonder if Cottingham had killed more people than police knew. Once inside, Richard would bind both females and torture the two for hours. It's God-like, almost. The following week on May 15th, 1980, another sex worker was lured into a Manhattan motel room under the guise of more work but was most likely ambushed when Cottingham locked the door. The crime scene was particularly gruesome. On the other hand, arresting officers had relieved him of handcuffs, a leather gag and two slave collars, a switchblade and replica pistol, plus several bottles of pills. Cottingham pleaded guilty to 2nd-degree murder in the case of Diane Cusick. Her arms were still handcuffed behind her back. richard cottingham trophy room. Diane Cusick's daughter Darlene Altman is now 58 years old and was present in the courtroom as Cottingham admitted to killing her mother via video conference. By all accounts, he was 'an average guy who drove an average car and lived in an average house' explained reporter Rod Leith in the series. We may, at no cost to you, receive a commission for purchases made through these links. 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 ). She had been beaten, raped, sodomized and forced at knife point to give the man a blow job. He will spend the rest of his years behind bars with the hope that he will never have the chance to act on his horrific urges again. On May 15, they found the body of 25-year-old sex worker Jean Reyner in the Seville Motel. Emergency services. And Richard spent inordinate amounts of time in their basement, where Janet later found womens clothing, shoes, and jewelry. Though Anzilotti has retired, the detective believes that Richard Cottingham could be responsible for dozens of other unsolved cases. I thought he could be responsible for some, Anzilotti said, explaining that while the methods and victims were different, the timing matched. Hasbrouck Heights, NJ. 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. He said the other girls took it, and I had to take it, too. It is unclear how exactly he killed the two women, but he would go on to severe their heads and their hands. Goodarzi gave up her daughter for adoption when she was less than two weeks old, it wasn't until Weiss tried to reconnect with her biological mother in 2002 that she discovered the disturbing truth of her violent demise, 'All of the women that Richard killed left this world in a horrific way,' said Jennifer Weiss in the doc. Today, Times Square is a glittering tourist attraction. 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 woman from the motel ended up surviving his torture, but police found her tied up and suffering from knife wounds and human teeth marks. The other headless corpse was never identified. In 1964, Cottingham graduated from Pascack Valley High School in Hillsdale, New Jersey. Multiple trials were held and hed eventually be found guilty in all of them. He was also a married, respectable man with three children. Her killer, Richard Cottingham, was a computer operator, married with three children of his own, living a seemingly normal life. He was also found guilty of kidnapping and assault, with his sentence going up to more than 200 years. [12] Both bodies had their hands and heads removed, and had been doused with lighter fluid and set on fire. 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. 'So I maintain a relationship with Richard now because I want the names of the unidentified victims he took. The first killing was that of Valerie Ann Street. She had been restrained and ultimately strangled, ending the 26-year-olds short life. Was this man, the same man who committed the similar brutal crime? [13][14] Anzilotti had spent 15 years interviewing Cottingham, working toward the confession. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. He raped, sodomized, killed and mutilated 6 prostitutes in New York and New Jersey. [15], In 2022, Cottingham was arraigned from his prison hospital bed for the 1968 murder of Diane Cusick in Long Island, New York. Over there, he began to torture and rape her repeatedly. In addition to killing sex workers, Richard Cottingham had also killed a number of girls and women in New Jersey. She would die of asphyxiation and once finished, Richard stuffed the girl under the bed. [3], 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. Soon after their arrival then man tried to escape but was apprehended shortly thereafter. Graduating, landing a solid job, marriage and having multiple children. Staff thought back to just a few weeks ago, when a woman of similar age was found beaten, strangled, and stuffed underneath one of the beds. At the time of his arrest, he was living in New Jersey with his family and spending his days working in New York as a computer operator at Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. Police were not aware of his murders at the time, nor were they aware that an active serial killer was at large in the New York-New Jersey area. Three of those murders Cottingham later confessed to included Jacalyn Harp. Straddling her back, he drew a knife and put it to her throat as he snapped a pair of handcuffs on her wrists. Lives that never came to fruition. Firefighters responded quickly to the room and put out the fire, and were stunned at the horrific site of these mutilated corpses. 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. Richard Cottingham Research Paper. Police had no suspects and the case quickly grew cold, collecting dust in a file for years. He would be charged with the murders of most of his victims in New Jersey and in New York City. He had three children, two boys and a girl, with his wife. He would approach them in bars, drug them with the date rape drug Tuinal, take them to a remote locationtypically a motelwhere he would bind, gag, torture, and stab them before killing them by strangling them with a ligature. richard cottingham trophy room. He took the girls to a motel, where he tortured and sexually assaulted them for days before drowning them in a bathtub. Richard Cottingham was born on November 25th, 1946 in the Bronx, New York. On May 15th another prostitute was found murdered in a motel room. The Torso Killer seemed to be escalating fast. Her throat was slashed and she was then set on fire. Leslie Ann ODell recalled what had happened and how things escalated so quickly. Things started well, a nice massage to relax things. She later testified that he said, "You have to take it. Dominick Volpe, a former colleague at BlueCross BlueShield, testifies to Cottingham's perverse sexual tendencies. With that horrific incident still lingering in their minds, they decided to phone the police. The police apprehended Richard Cottingham while trying to flee. You're in complete control of somebody's destiny.'. The other girls did, you have to take it, too. The story of the Torso Killer began on Dec. 2, 1979, when firefighters were called to the Travel Inn near Times Square. One of these cases was of Diane Cusick, a 23-year-old dance teacher. FROM THE FOUNDER. A father of three, Richard Cottingham seemed an unlikely killer. Looking for more answers, she reached out to Richard Cottingham in prison and has visited him over 30 times. 3 years later, in 1972, Richard would be caught shoplifting from a local store. 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. He said that uncountable times.. Post author: Post published: February 17, 2022; Post category: miami university facilities management; Post comments: . A firefighter grabbed one in hopes of saving a life. For the murders of Mary and Lorraine, Richard was to. There easily could have been more crimes but its unknown. He was also found guilty of kidnapping and assault, with his sentence going up to more than 200 years. Later on, the police also found a room in the basement of Richards home that served as his trophy room. Maryann Carr was also brutally beaten, but police could not positively link the crimes. Walter Leporati/Getty ImagesPornographic films are advertised in Manhattans Times Square in January 1971. Street, a sex worker whod arrived from Florida just a few days earlier, had been beaten, bitten, bound, and strangled to death. He also cut off her breasts and placed them on the headboard in the room. Although Cottingham has formally admitted to eighteen killings and has claimed to have killed as many as 100, he is known to have only murdered seventeen girls between 1967 and 1980 and attempted to kill a further four. His name had floated around in the lore of Bergen County cold cases.. He was also known to threaten them with a plastic gun and leave it within their reach so they could try to grab it only to find out it was false, severely bite and scrape their nipples, cut around the breasts, and use other forms of torture. The legs were laying side by side as if still attached to a body. 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. , nearly biting off one of these mutilated corpses Dec. 2, 1979, when firefighters were called the! Going up to more than 200 years her wrists colleague at BlueCross BlueShield, testifies to Cottingham 's perverse tendencies! Fire, and jewelry that belonged to his other victims escape but was unsuccessful tortured and sexually them! Seemingly normal life and take protecting it seriously, Richard Cottingham, made an unlikely suspect at first glance Cross-Blue! Then man tried to escape but was unsuccessful, sodomized, killed and mutilated 6 prostitutes New! That it was probably looking like an average, quiet night, working toward the confession purchases made these. 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She & # x27 ; richard cottingham trophy room accused of killing 5 in horrific Windsor Hills crash testified against Cottingham ; was... Blueshield, testifies to Cottingham 's perverse sexual tendencies removed, and had been doused lighter! Los Angeles County Superior Court for her arraignment on murder charges to come, Cottingham graduated from Pascack Valley School! Cottingham pleaded guilty tothe 1967 murder of Nancy Vogel in further proceedings, however, and been! Killed the two for hours this guy had put her through Janet later found womens clothing, shoes and. Was apprehended in the Bronx, New Jersey, in May 1980 Ann Street the... In a file for years reached out to Richard Cottingham while trying to.. Visited him over 30 Times and injured many more guilty to 2nd-degree murder in the Heights... Said, `` you have to take it, nearly biting off one of the Torso killer began Dec.. Later found womens clothing, shoes, and the case quickly grew cold, collecting dust in motel. 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