Goodarzi, of Trenton, was a sex worker who had been traveling to the then-seedy streets of midtown Manhattan, Vronsky said. He described things only the killer would know, like where hed thrown her car keys afterward. The bridge where Mallory Beach died in a boating accident. Its Godlike almost. He stood trial in New York and New Jersey in a coat and tie and denied everything, but he was convicted in all five killings. The murder remained unsolved until Cottingham confessed and entered a guilty plea in August 2010. He had three children, two boys and a girl, with his wife. The police believed they had given up on the bus and were trying to hitchhike to a mall. And before I go, I want to close out the Kelly-Pryor case., Mr. Cottingham urged the chief to reconsider leaving the force. But he carried those cold cases with him literally, his thick files in cardboard boxes that he moved from office to office chipping away at the false leads, seeking similarities in the victims and in the crime scenes. 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. Inside they found the bodies of 22-year-old sex worker Deedeh Goodarzi[9] and an unidentified woman estimated between 16 and 22. 0000002420 00000 n I think sometimes he grapples with his own gruesomeness back then., On March 12, a Friday, Mr. Anzilotti summoned the inmate. Its been half my career, he said. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Richard Cottingham, 74, appeared virtually in court Tuesday to admit to the slayings of 17-year-old Mary Ann Pryor and 16-year-old Lorraine Marie Kelly. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. Mr. Cottingham had a vulnerability, the chief realized: After divulging nothing during hours of questioning, hed sometimes loosen up on the drive back to prison, sitting in the back seat and believing the day was done. And I said, Hop in., He drove to the mall. K3nVxb;X)oxeHME~> Long-Buried Secrets: The Serial Killer and the Detective, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/13/nyregion/new-jersey-serial-killer-cottingham-anzilotti.html. In 2022, Cottingham also confessed to the 1968 murder of Diane Cusick after DNA evidence linked him to the crime. Once, he outright explained his hesitation: He said, I know once I give you that case, Ill never see you again, Mr. Anzilotti recalled last month. I was able to get almostany woman to do whatever I wanted them to do . I believe hes killed between 85 and 100, as he claims, Vronsky told The Post. Getting to that point wasnt easy, Anzilotti said. Cottingham has claimed in the past he. He was imprisoned. Therefore, you should be respectful and not step foot on the property without permission. Authorities tied him to the killings after police were called to a Hasbrouck Heights motel, where a maid had heard a woman screaming. On December 2, 1979, firemen in New York responded to an alarm at the Travel Inn motel[11] near Times Square. In this image taken from a New Jersey Courts virtual hearing, Richard Cottingham, center, known as the "Torso Killer," pleads guilty April 27, 2021, to two 1974 murders, finally closing the cold case deaths of teenage friends who had left home for a trip to the mall and never returned. xb```"WVf~g`0pt 9"~S?``Z V|bG!+N}TzYl@2 `QD2 @DACEDJaOs6x?+[Ihlrt ? 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. Justice was served and thats the end of it case closed. 7{(~tm LB IBJ*ZB`0 The potential payoff in return felt almost too important to describe. JUSTICE STORY: 'Torso Killer' Richard Cottingham left a bloody trail of He married in 1970 and became a father of three. These meetings went on for months, and then years, on top of Mr. Anzilottis regular caseload. [13][14] Anzilotti had spent 15 years interviewing Cottingham, working toward the confession. The Google Street View image on the right was taken 38 years later, in June of 2018. Over decades, through his rise from sergeant to detective to chief of detectives, Robert Anzilotti plugged away at cold cases in New Jersey involving young womens murders.CreditBryan Anselm for The New York Times. Fifty years after his mother was strangled and thrown from a Long Island bridge, John Moye finally got a glimpse of the wickedness that altered his life forever. [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. Anzilotti and BCPO subsequently confirmed the "exceptional closures" of these three murders.[13][8]. The clever killer slipped up, leaving a fingerprint on the cuffs. 0000001412 00000 n For more information, please read our Privacy & Cookie Policy. The 'Torso Killer' dismembered her mother. So why did this - nj No leads were forthcoming. Although first responders encountered thick smoke in the room, one noticed the shape of bodies on the pair of twin beds and attempted to administer CPR. She had been tied up and strangled, authorities said. The chief pressed ahead with his list. The inmate made it clear that pressure would not work. Vogel was found dead in her own car in Ridgefield Park, nude and bound. xref With Ms. Pryor and a judge watching on Zoom that day, Mr. Cottingham pleaded guilty to the two murders. Then he followed with an unusual request. In a candid interview, the Bergen County chief who spent 20 years trying to wrangle new confessions out of serial killer Richard Cottingham revealed the 74-year-old prisoner has "regrets". That girl was found drowned, similar to Blases killing, he said. Richard Cottingham was born in 1946 and grew up largely in New Jersey. NJ serial killer 'haunted' by teens he tortured for 3 days in 1974 This number may increase in the future, as he has stated in the past that his victim count is much higher. There were similarities in the two cases: the girls ages, the apparently hasty disposal of their bodies, even their appearance, both with long, dark hair. 0000013001 00000 n That man, Richard Cottingham, had been convicted of crimes that seemed to bear little resemblance to the murders of the girls. 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. [3], Cottingham was arrested on several lesser charges throughout his killing spree. 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. Richard Cottingham, New Jersey prison photo. Questioning Mr. Cottingham was complicated. 21 23 That night, city firefighters responded to a blaze at a motel in Times Square, the New York Daily News reported. Mr. Cottingham left behind no clues. At the time, Cottingham, who had not been arrested or identified, was dubbed the "Times Square Ripper.. It is situated at 29 Vreeland Street in Lodi, New Jersey. Thats not the natural order its supposed to go in.. 0000002882 00000 n Her glasses, a ring, a necklace, Ms. Mulder said. Richard Cottingham in NJ - Address & Phone Number | Whitepages HUMs@Wf~}m1`16N7NLf%=Io8. What started in 1967 with the discovery of a Ridgefield Park woman dead, nude and bound in her own car continued until 1980, when the hulking Cottingham, then 33, was arrested after the screams of a would-be victim pierced the walls of a Hasbrouck Heights motel room. Ms. Falasca was a 15-year-old who left her familys house in July 1969 and never returned. The police were called and Cottingham was apprehended while trying to flee. In the new docuseries, the second in Netflixs Crime Scene anthology, director Joe Berlinger dissects the Torso Killers murder spree against the backdrop of the sexually charged, crime-ridden culture of 1970s Times Square and how it provided the predator with a fertile hunting ground. endstream endobj 22 0 obj<> endobj 23 0 obj<> endobj 24 0 obj<>/ColorSpace<>/Font<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageC]/ExtGState<>>> endobj 25 0 obj<> endobj 26 0 obj<> endobj 27 0 obj<> endobj 28 0 obj[/ICCBased 41 0 R] endobj 29 0 obj<> endobj 30 0 obj<> endobj 31 0 obj<> endobj 32 0 obj<> endobj 33 0 obj<>stream 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. With Cottinghams next victim, a killers hunting ground of sorts began to form. He married in 1970 and had three children. Like a werewolf, Vronsky told The Post. Cottingham offered to give O'Dell a massage and she rolled onto her stomach. Then, in January of this year, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office made an announcement: The notorious serial killer Richard Cottingham, known as "The Torso Killer," had confessed to the murders. That was roughly one month after his arrest. Infamous New Jersey 'Torso Killer' admits to abducting, torturing and Other locations that are relatively close to this place. It could only be Jackie Harp.. Filming Location in Lodi, New Jersey, United States, Filming Location in Paterson, New Jersey, United States, Filming Location in Clifton, New Jersey, United States, Filming Location in Bloomfield, New Jersey, United States, Crime Location Wylie, Texas, United States, Crime Location Memphis, Tennessee, United States, Place of Interest Brooklyn, New York, United States, Crash Site Location Beaufort, South Carolina, United States. My parents couldnt handle it., She had called Bergen County every few months to ask about the case for 47 years, she said. About a week later, Big Apple authorities would find Reyners body, but still, no one in New Jersey connected them to the Times Square killer, says former NYPD detective Malcolm Reiman in the series. 'Torso Killer' Admits to '68 Strangling and 4 More Cold-Case Murders Follow him on Twitter @rodrigotorrejon. When they arrived, one firefighter attempted mouth-to-mouth resuscitation of a woman they found on the bed. Everyone deserves justice under the law.. But something a hunch, past investigative speculation, the proximity of the crimes drew Mr. Anzilotti to the prisoner. Select this result to view Richard P Cunningham's phone number, address, and more. One day in 2014, the chief and a partner were driving the inmate back to prison when, from the back seat, Mr. Cottingham, who by then had spent almost half of his 68 years in prison, began describing a girl he once spotted near a store in Hackensack. He had been dubbed the Times Square Torso Ripper setting off Vronskys lifelong fascination of serial killers. Richard is related to Rosemarie Marie Cunningham and Larry J Cunningham as well as 3 additional people. WjgF\A9Ro9r/;l5Gh3h}NG2L -S$B{s"=z{ 0EaSe,&@yJQ>`n; ;dj7n (~>*}fEx*\W]xvpt]/k"0JTj4%`G?t$8I@FmYkr(_5_+ jfbXP{]~&I6"%}\STHD Ld2=ENhk$)HESdX,g o+IkRC~eC1 dm"GZBDM7~K&'/9"[{$AXH'my The other girls did, you have to take it, too. To this day, the other young female has never been identified. Infamous New Jersey 'Torso Killer' admits to abducting, torturing and If they came forward and said theyd been assaulted, they would be arrested for prostitution, so there was no reason to come forward, Berlinger said. 0000009264 00000 n <<8BD7E4F5B15F3F4A8993EB3A0150F7AC>]>> But eventually, their old give-and-take resumed. Richard Cottingham was born in 1946 and grew up largely in New Jersey. Cottingham fled the scene with the victims heads and hands. Why NJ serial killer Richard Cottingham confessed to 1974 murders 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. The details stopped him cold. [15] In December 2022, Cottingham was convicted of Diane Cusick's 1968 murder and, under a non-prosecution agreement, officially admitted to killing another four women during 19721973 in Long Island, New York: Mary Beth Heinz, Laverne Moye, Sheila Heiman, and Maria Emerita Rosado Nieves. Mr. Cottingham was summoned before a judge on April 27, remotely, via Zoom, sitting in a wheelchair in a conference room at the prosecutors office. He said he would talk about other murders only on the condition that the revelations would be kept out of the papers. They sat at the kitchen table, very professional, very polite, very considerate, Ms. Mulder recalled. That made 11 murders Cottingham that admitted since his arrest more than 30 years ago. Denise Falasca, 15, of Closter, New Jersey. Before his arrest, he was a successful computer operator who worked at the Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurance company in Midtown Manhattan. In early December 1979, firefighters were called to the Travel Inn Motor Hotel on 42nd Street as a fire burned in room 417. A few days later, Mr. Anzilotti visited Mr. Cottingham in his new surroundings and told him, I put you here.. 'The Torso Killer' Who Hunted Prostitutes in Times Square 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.. Here are the nine victims Cottingham has confessed to or been convicted of killing: On Oct. 28, 1967, Vogel, 29, told friends she was going to play bingo at a local church. It was an era when the sex worker was criminalized. Blase was found strangled to death in 4 feet of water in Saddle River the next day. Cottingham is currently in state prison on a life sentence . The bodies of the women had no heads and no hands. Hes embarrassed by this case, he said. Its mind-boggling and very scary, especially to know theres more of them out there.. Those cases were already closed. . For over 40 years, its been folklore in this county.. He was the Torso Killer. 29 Vreeland St, Lodi, NJ is a single family home that contains 2,716 sq ft and was built in 1974. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. The picture in the top left corner shows Cottingham during one of his trials. Richard Cunningham in NJ - Address & Phone Number | Whitepages [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). The five victims addressed . He was also extremely fidgety and unable to sit still. 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. After years in prison, Mr. Cottingham began to open up to the detective about past unsolved crimes. In May of 1980, police arrested Cottingham while he was torturing a sex worker at a motel room in New Jersey. Its an ongoing process, Vronsky said. Investigators noted the crime scene was devoid of evidence and they were unable to identify the victims. After their drink, Cottingham offered to bring Blase back to the bus station where they had taken the bus. 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). But it was a way to get him comfortable to talk to me about murders.. Richard Cottingham, 76, pleaded guilty to the February 1968 murder of Diane Cusick, 23, and admitted to strangling four additional women in the 1970s in Nassau County. He later detailed his brief 1979 encounter with Cottingham in Times Square Torso Ripper: Sex and Murder on The Deuce. His upcoming book on the vicious predator will be released next fall. On July 17, 1968, Harp, of Midland Park, was walking home from band practice when a strange man, Cottingham, tried to coax her into his car, Vronsky said. Richard Cottingham of Lodi (NJ) is sentenced to 173-179 years in prison. By all accounts, he seemed to be leading an everyday life in Lodi, New Jersey, with his wife and three kids. Then in exchange for immunity from prosecution, he confessed to murdering three New Jersey schoolgirls. Soon, Cottingham persuaded Blase to go for a drink with him. 'Crime Scene' reveals true depravity of 'Times Square Killer' What they want is an outright statement and a sign-off of Yes thats me,' Vronsky continued. He then drowned them in a bathtub, he said, and dumped their bodies in the woods in a wooded area behind Rolling Ridge Road in Montvale. Cottinghams luck began to unravel in early May 1980 when the maid at the Quality Inn found the naked corpse of a handcuffed woman under the bed. Richard Cottingham of Lodi (NJ) is sentenced to 173-179 years in prison. Shed been abducted by Cottingham from the Ledgewood Terrace apartments, in Little Ferry, where Cottingham had previously lived, said Vronsky. 0000007078 00000 n He recalled the exact place in the woods where he left the bodies. Anyone can read what you share. The killer would suddenly recall picking a girl up from a store somewhere, and the chief, in the front passenger seat as a detective drove, surreptitiously took notes. Her name was Nancy Schiava Vogel. 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. Since his conviction, Cottingham has pleaded guilty to 12 murders. %PDF-1.4 % Cottingham's reign of terror on both sides of the Hudson River is the subject of Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer, whose tale begins on Dec. 2, 1979, with New York City police and fire. One day, Cottingham told his co-worker that he had stolen a sex worker's money and clothes while she was sleeping. 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. 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. During a search of the house, investigators discovered personal items belonging to some of his victims. 0000000016 00000 n I was an immediate adult when it happened, she said later in an interview. The investigators handed Ms. Mulder possessions of Jackies from half a century past. NJ's infamous 'Torso Killer' confesses to 1974 murders of two Garden According to one of his co-workers, he was smart, well-read, and up-to-date on current events. He also claimed to have committed 80 perfect murders no one knows about. For years, the three confessions remained a secret, until January 2020, when a true-crime writer who had been visiting Mr. Cottingham in prison, Peter Vronsky, announced that the inmate had revealed his crimes in interviews for a forthcoming book. It took some effort to convince him to go to court and let me make it public, Anzilotti said Tuesday. On April 7, 1969, Cottingham saw Blase, 18, shopping in Hackensack, Vronsky said. 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. 0000006081 00000 n In his possession, the 33-year-old had a stash of handcuffs, tape and sedatives. Richard Cottingham, Lorraine . But the arrest in 1980 changed everything, exposing Richard's double life and deadly exploits. [2], In 2010, he pleaded guilty to the 1967 murder of Nancy Vogel. Below, you will find the address and the GPS coordinates for this location. 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. He admitted that those two killings weighed on him more than the others. Detective Anzilotti was startled to discover the same man killed all three. Then hed clear the room until only he and Mr. Cottingham faced each another, and begin with his questions. The Zestimate for this house is $598,600, which has decreased by $7,680 in the last 30 days. His crimes were discovered in May 1980, when a maid at a Hasbrouck Heights motel heard. "From the sense of other things that Im uncovering, he was a very busy boy., I think the math worked out to one every six weeks, Vronsky also said. [12] Both bodies had their hands and heads removed, and had been doused with lighter fluid and set on fire. HKo0l06CYf,Y(v (I?0c9 In August 2022, with a non-prosecution agreement, officials in Rockland County, New York, corroborated and accepted Cottingham's confession to the murder of 26-year-old Lorraine McGraw, who was beaten and killed March 1, 1970. 0000000756 00000 n Like two little dolls at Christmastime.. xb```"VV~g`0pt 9mzQ[2fXar9XcK',6=3Yb%^)= RZlr$:kX;e =_i& ` ?# These include the Times Square Killer, the Torso Killer, and the Times Square Torso Ripper. Where Is The Torso Killer Now? Richard Cottingham Is In Prison - Bustle They have also lived in Whiting, IN. trailer However, he started killing again in 1974, when he murdered Lorraine Marie Kelly and Mary Ann Pryor. On May 22, Cottingham then picked up Leslie Ann ODell, a 19-year-old runaway desperate to escape her pimp something he promised to help her do over drinks in Midtown. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. When a worker came to check on her, ODell cracked open the door and gave a hand signal asking for help. Sitting in a conference room, Mr. Cottingham calmly reached back more than 40 years and described how hed murdered a woman whose name he couldnt remember, a 29-year-old mother found strangled in her car in Ridgefield Park, N.J., in 1967. The year 2020 arrived, and running his office through the coronavirus outbreak kept Mr. Anzilotti too busy for cold cases. Author Peter Vronsky, who has a forthcoming book on Cottingham, and was first to publicly announce that the imprisoned Cottingham was responsible for the three 50-year-old crimes, says authorities want to add more to the list. However, his family moved to River Vale, New Jersey, when he was 12 years old. The 22-year-old's death appeared brutal: she had been beheaded and set on fire and her skull has yet to be found. He asked to quietly close their daughters murder case without formally charging the killer. The motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated. Location of first contact Maryann Carr = her apartment; Prostitutes = street or bar . Vronsky, who aided investigators in obtaining Junes indictment, is trying to coax as many confessions out of the aging, 300-pound serial killer as possible, but the clock is ticking since he suffers from diabetes and kidney disease, he said. On more than one occasion, he would openly talk about his experiences with sex workers. I was shocked that it was a serial killer, Moye said of his mothers confessed murderer. Richard Francis Cottingham (born November 25, 1946) is an American serial killer and rapist who murdered at least eighteen young women and girls in New York and New Jersey between 1967 and 1980. They'd left home for a trip 13 miles (21 kilometers) north to . Netflix details Times Square torso killer Richard Cottingham who 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. Through the years, other people were assigned. Right up to Mr. Anzilotti. I never thought I would get caught, he added. I had long suspected that whoever killed Irene Blase also killed Denise Falasca, Mr. Anzilotti said. I thought he could be responsible for some, Mr. Anzilotti said. She, too, had been strangled. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. Richard Cottingham - Wikipedia Richard Cottingham pleaded guilty to murder in the death of one Long Island woman and admitted under oath to killing four others. 0 Mr. Anzilotti insisted that this case be resolved in open court. As Cottingham was fleeing the scene of the torso murders, he briefly encountered the 23-year-old Peter Vronsky, who was attempting to check into the Travel Inn while in New York on a film production assignment. This is the house where the "Times Square Killer," Richard Cottingham, lived between 1975 and 1980. Click here to follow Daily Voice Hackensack and receive free news updates. New documentary The 12th Victim: Is Fugate a Natural Born Killer or Starkweather victim? Harp was found strangled to death the next day. She knew that Mr. Anzilotti had solved Denises killing, too. In the case of Diane Cusick, it was a drive-in that no longer exists there He remembers the victims characteristics, but he doesnt remember their names.. Note that there seems to have been a "lull" between 1970 and 1973. endstream endobj 34 0 obj<>stream 0000000991 00000 n He rented an apartment in Midtown and told his wife he worked nights. Mr. Anzilotti had begun to believe, he said in a recent interview, that Mr. Cottingham, between his history and the suspicions of detectives that came before me, could be responsible for one or more of those deaths. Goodarzi was later identified as the woman who had been tortured, killed, beheaded and had her hands cut off by Cottingham. 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. They have also lived in Manasquan, NJ and Ada, MI. The body of Laverne Moye, of St. Albans, Queens, was discovered in a Rockville Centre creek on July 20, 1972. He lived with his wife and kids in. She had been a teenager when her sister was killed. 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. As you can see, he didn't always look like Santa Claus. He would occasionally remove and dispose of his victims heads and hands, presumably to make identification more difficult.
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