With only torsos, police were unable to identify the victims. Valerie Street's body was covered in bite marks and brutally beaten in a chillingly similar manner to the murder of 26-year-old Maryann Carr, that had occurred in the same motel three years earlier. On March 12, 1974, Cottingham was arrested in New York City for robbery and unlawful imprisonment on the complaint of another prostitute. Cottingham would confess to many murders after being put behind bars. Inside, they found the bodies of two women who were missing their heads and hands. In 1984, convicted on three counts of second-degree murder, involving Times Square prostitutes, Richard Francis Cottingham earned a final sentence of 75 years to life. Walter Leporati/Getty ImagesPornographic films are advertised in Manhattans Times Square in January 1971. Leslie told the authorities that Richard picked her up in New York City, New York, and brought her to the motel in New Jersey. He later admitted that his psychopathic hobby for hunting sex workers in Times Square 'as a game.'. Cottingham primarily sought prostitutes who were petite blondes in their late teens to mid-twenties. He has officially been charged with 11 murders but says he's killed over 100 women, Netflix's new 'Crime Scene' docuseries examines the notorious case of Richard Cottingham who left a bloody trail of victims between 1967 and 1980. He has officially been charged with 11 murders but according to Cottingham himself, has committed as many as 105 total slayings over the course of his homicidal career - 80 of which he described as 'perfect murders.'. Even before he confessed to additional killings after his conviction, Cottingham was given life in prison with a sentence of more than 300 years. Thankfully, Cottinghams reign of terror would not last forever. At knife point, he proceeded to torture, beat and sexually assault the 19-year-old runaway for hours, (nearly biting off one of her nipples) until a maid heard her muffled screams. Not only was Times Square filled with porn shops, peep shows, and prostitutes, but it also became the hunting ground for serial killer Richard Cottingham, the Torso Killer. This murder was later linked to the 1977 murder of Maryann Carr, who was left in the same motel's parking lot. One slain woman was positively identified througha cesarean-section scar as 22-year-old, Iranian prostitute, Deedeh Goodarzi. Play it now! But beneath the veneer of normalcy was a heinous double-existence as a serial killer. This murder was linked to an earlier murder in the same motel. 595 Words3 Pages. 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. Trophies like jewellery and other personal items belonging to his victims were taken by him. The victim's hands were tightly handcuffed behind her back and police would later lift a fingerprint matching Cottingham, the only fingerprint successfully found from any of his known murders. Richard would become increasingly more deranged as time went on. Once he had his fill, Richard decided to light the bodies on fire and flee the scene. You're in complete control of somebody's destiny. Neither complainant appeared in further proceedings, however, and the case was dismissed. Weiss was given up for adoption when she was less than two weeks old. Goodarzi was only 22 when she was killed, beheaded and set on fire. 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. On May 15th another prostitute was found murdered in a motel room. 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. Investigation of the suspect's background revealed two arrests for consorting with hookers in the early 1970's, with both cases dismissed. Straddling her back, he drew a knife and put it to her throat as he snapped a pair of handcuffs on her wrists. You're a whore and you have to be punished.". The crime scene was particularly gruesome, Cottingham severed her breasts and placed them on the headboard before torching the room. To date, the Torso Killer himself claims that he could have as many as 100 victims. we respect your privacy and take protecting it seriously, Richard Francis Cottingham | Serial Killer, Incarcerated at the New Jersey State Prison. richard cottingham trophy room. Hasbrouck Heights, NJ. 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. Later on, the police also found a room in the basement of Richards home that served as his trophy room. Richard Cottingham . 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. She then screamed, and the muffled noises were heard by a maid, leading to the police being called. 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. . I founded J.R. Miller Associates over four decades ago. In the thirteen-year period during which he is known to have committed at least seventeen murders, only one fingerprint belonging to him was ever recovered, from the ratchet mechanism of handcuffs left behind on Valerie Street. She had gone missing from Times Square in January 1979. After the abduction of Leslie Ann ODell, authorities were able to quickly build a case against the deranged suspect. So the detective started spending time with the Times Square Killer. Deedeh Goodarzi, Jane Doe, Jean Reyner, Valerie Street, and Maryann Carr (who was killed in 1977). 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 contained many items that linked him to the murders. 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. He also confessed under immunity to the 1968 and 1969 homicides of New Jersey teenagers Jackie Harp, Irene Blase, and Denise Falasca. In a similar case, Richard killed Jean Reyner, a sex worker, in another hotel in New York. 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. Ailing serial killer Richard Cottingham a.k.a. The last time anyone saw her, she had been on her way to play bingo at a nearby church. Soon after checking in, the 18-year-old girls screams began to echo throughout the halls of the hotel. Richard then dumped the bodies in a wooded area in Bergen County, New Jersey. 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. Police had no suspects and the case quickly grew cold, collecting dust in a file for years. On December 2, 1979, firemen in New York responded to an alarm at the Travel Inn motel[11] near Times Square. 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. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. 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. For about six months between 1979 and 1980, Cottingham murdered sex workers in brutal fashion. She had been beaten, raped, sodomized and forced at knife point to give the man a blow job. But the question remained: Who was Richard Cottingham? 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. [4], On May 3, 1970, Cottingham was married at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Queens Village, Queens. But the arrest in 1980 changed everything, exposing Richards double life and deadly exploits. He took the girls to a motel, where he tortured and sexually assaulted them for days before drowning them in a bathtub. Youre in complete control of somebodys destiny.. The baffled police had few clues to follow. He also cut off her breasts and placed them on the headboard in the room. Richard Cottingham, 74, pleaded guilty Tuesday to murdering Mary Ann Pryor, 17, and Lorraine Marie Kelly, 16, both of North Bergen. Richard Cottingham, 74, is currently in state prison on a life sentence for other murders. Both 1974 cases would be dismissed. In a sign of things to come, Cottingham had kidnapped Pryor and Kelly after they asked him for a ride. Cottingham was caught in 1980 when a maid heard a woman's screams coming from his motel room. He killed several women over five months and injured many more. The sexual predator prowled Times Square for his victims which was considered a deviant playground for pornography, prostitution and crooks, The documentary paints a terrifying portrait of a city overrun with crime, which allowed Cottingham to flourish and evade law enforcement. In his possession police found a murder kit which consisted of handcuffs, leather gags, slave collars, knives, pistols, and pills. He said that uncountable times.. 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[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). The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. [13][14] Anzilotti had spent 15 years interviewing Cottingham, working toward the confession. Her throat had been cut so severely that he nearly severed her head. 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. ', Over four trials in the early 1980s, three in Jersey and one in New York, Richard Cottingham was convicted of five murders. [5] On May 15, 1980, Jean Reyner was strangled and her throat cut in New York's historic Seville Hotel. WickedWe is reader supported, some products displayed may earn us a commission if you purchase through our links. 2020 THE SUN, US, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | TERMS OF USE | PRIVACY | YOUR AD CHOICES | SITEMAP, Richard Cottingham makes a remote appearance at a courtroom in Mineola, NY, Cottingham's original mug shot photo from 1980. Who is torso killer Richard Cottingham, and where is he now? 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Within his home, detectives were able to find his trophy room which contained multiple personal items and keepsakes which belonged to his victims. richard cottingham trophy room. 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. Deedeh Goodarzi and another unknown female had joined Richard in a hotel room near his stomping grounds of Times Square. 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. Richard Cottingham, now 78, is a former computer programmer linked to at least 12 murders from the 60s and 70s. Richard Cottingham was born on November 25th, 1946 in the Bronx, New York. Former FBI agent and criminal profiler Candice DeLong delves into Richard Cottingham, Show Killer Psyche, Ep Richard Cottingham: The Torso Killer - Mar 7, 2023 Richard was arrested, and at the time, he had handcuffs, knives, prescription pills, and other suspicious items on him. Once again, the victim did not appear in further proceedings and the case was dismissed.[6]. When she was found, she'd suffered beatings to her head and body, but her ultimate cause of death was suffocation. In his possession were handcuffs, a leather gag, two slave collars, a switchblade, replica pistols and a stockpile of sedatives. The daughter of one of serial killer Richard Cottingham's victims is helping to close other murder cases to which he is connected by using her relationship with him. Biting, raping and beating the girl. The teenagers were last seen on Aug. 9, 1974, in North Bergen. Richard Cottingham was convicted of six murders and numerous counts of kidnapping and sexual assault using evidence found in his 'trophy room' combined with a matching fingerprint left on. Richard was born in Bronx, New York, in November 1946. A father of three, Richard Cottingham seemed an unlikely killer. 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. Her killer, Richard Cottingham, was a computer operator, married with three children of his own, living a seemingly normal life. She was a respected nurse. Cottingham committed his first known murder when he was 20-years-old, although he claims to have started as an adolescent. 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. 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. Richard also had a self-described obsession with bondage and had had numerous extramarital affairs. 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. Police responded to a fire in Room 417, where two women had been discovered on a pair of twin beds. 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