Mr. Anzilotti would arrange to have the inmate transported to his office more than hours drive from the prison. And before I go, I want to close out the Kelly-Pryor case., Mr. Cottingham urged the chief to reconsider leaving the force. Soon, the chief closed that case two down. [4][5], After his graduation, Cottingham worked for Metropolitan Life, where his father was a vice-president, starting in the mail room at the firm's Manhattan headquarters and eventually became a mainframe computer operator upon taking computer courses. 0000007658 00000 n Cottingham, a former computer programmer whose wrath of terror spanned from 1967 to 1980, also copped on Monday to strangling Mary Beth Heinz, 21, in May 1972, three months before he killed Moye and dumped her body in the same creek. The house was built in 1974one year before Cottingham and his wife, Janet, moved in. This is a "Then and Now" photograph of Cottingham's former house at 29 Vreeland Street. I was an immediate adult when it happened, she said later in an interview. He had not yet put in for retirement, or even told his boss he planned to do that the following week. The girls vanished Aug. 9, 1974, while hitchhiking to a mall in . Moye, 55, stared down serial murderer and rapist Richard Cottingham in a Nassau County courtroom Monday as the 76-year-old notorious Torso Killer admitted to five more sadistic slayings decades earlier, bringing his known tally to 17 although experts believe that figure could be as high as 100 victims. Everything that I was taught about evil was evident in his presence, in his demeanor, in the gaze of his eyes, Moye told The Post. Hed been a married father of three, but the Lodi resident - who would brutalize his victims bodies, cutting off limbs, heads and breasts - would later become known as the Torso Killer" for what he left behind. During his trial, he testified that he had been fascinated by bondage since he was a young child. In recent years, he had asked Mr. Cottingham about the case, and the inmate had simultaneously denied responsibility and let on that he knew more than he would share. I didnt know what to expect. 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.. He had three children, two boys and a girl, with his wife. Cottingham murdered at least twelve women between 1967 and 1980. Richard Cottingham - Wikipedia Unfortunately, we were unable to find a photograph of Jean Reyner. 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. Years ticked past, 1974 into 1975, into the 1980s, the 1990s. The people listed below were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Lodi, New Jersey. A Detective's Work Ends: Lodi Serial Killer Admits Raping, Drowning He asked to quietly close their daughters murder case without formally charging the killer. Hes been chief of detectives nearly five years. The New York Times, p. 26. At the time, Cottingham, who had not been arrested or identified, was dubbed the "Times Square Ripper.. 0000002831 00000 n [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). In December 2019, forensic historian and author Peter Vronsky, on the eve of publishing the revelation in his second edition of Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters, publicized the confessions with the BCPO's cooperation, in a community meeting in Midland Park. [7] On October 28, 1967, he strangled Nancy Schiava Vogel, a 29-year-old married mother of two, in Little Ferry, New Jersey. 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. He also claims that his true victim count is at least 85. FPh_3Gj Nt%Q[r L`%/9QTh/| Q4_g8KI}u'?xbif`H>;wNQ|sd2(? 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 rented an apartment in Midtown and told his wife he worked nights. To this day, I dont even think they would have ever said anything. He lived with his wife and kids in. In October 1966, he became a computer operator for Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, where he worked until his 1980 arrest. But first, he wanted to return to those two murders from 47 years ago. Richard Cottingham was born in 1946 and grew up largely in New Jersey. It represented closure, Moye said of this weeks hearing. Cottingham, who is also nicknamed "The Torso Killer," moved into this rented three-bedroom house in February of 1975. xb```"VV~g`0pt 9mzQ[2fXar9XcK',6=3Yb%^)= RZlr$:kX;e =_i& ` ?# 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. Then came Tuesdays pleas. I lost so much more than just my mother that day, Altman said. Authorities executed a warrant on his Lodi home, which had a private room containing evidence linking him to the Torso Killer. He didnt have the decency or the dignity to ask for forgiveness or to even address the victims families. 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. A local investigator began to wonder: Could there be a link to a series of infamous Times Square murders? He said he wouldn't have done it if I wasn't retiring.. Richard Cottingham, New Jersey prison photo. His yearbook photo shows a cross-country runner with blond hair slicked back. HUMs@Wf~}m1`16N7NLf%=Io8. Richard Cottingham, the notorious North Jersey serial killer known for dismembering the young women who were so often his victims, publicly confessed Tuesday to drowning two North Bergen girls. Eventually, Mr. Cottingham began to loosen up, and he spoke about killing the prostitutes. 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. As you can see, he didn't always look like Santa Claus. . But the arrest in 1980 changed everything, exposing Richard's double life and deadly exploits. The newspapers called the murderer The Torso Killer. Then on May 22, 1980, a worker at a Quality Inn in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., heard a woman screaming. <<69EF7C237A736942AE760EBDB9B8F80B>]>> You can change your choice at any time by using the Privacy Center link in our footer. But in. The Zestimate for this house is $598,600, which has decreased by $7,680 in the last 30 days. [6] At Blue Cross, Cottingham worked in an office with Rodney Alcala, the fugitive child molester and future serial killer who lived in New York under the alias "John Berger". In 2010, Bergen County authorities announced hed pleaded guilty to a sixth murder, a 1967 strangling in Bergen County. Peter Karas/The Record, via USA Today Network. 7{(~tm LB IBJ*ZB`0 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. 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. 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. PB| After their drink, Cottingham offered to bring Blase back to the bus station where they had taken the bus. Look her up, she looks like her. Others he remembered from a haircut.. Its been half my career, he said. He then left the scene with their severed heads and hands. After his wife filed for divorce in April of 1979, it seems as though his killings became far more frequent. Richard Cottingham was born in 1946 and grew up largely in New Jersey. On one occasion, he dismembered two sex workers and set fire to their torsos at a hotel near Times Square. There were at least five unsolved killings of girls, each an open wound for families seeking resolution. This time, at the Seville Hotel, where he strangled Jean Reyner, a 25-year-old mother working in the sex trade to finance a child custody battle. trailer Since his incarceration, he has attempted suicide on two occasions. %%EOF Boyfriends, ex-boyfriends, family members all were questioned and cleared of suspicion. He admitted that those two killings weighed on him more than the others. After years in prison, Mr. Cottingham began to open up to the detective about past unsolved crimes. He had no relationship to his victims. 0000002865 00000 n Other locations that are relatively close to this place. 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. Mr. Anzilotti insisted that this case be resolved in open court. Richard Cottingham of Lodi (NJ) is sentenced to 173-179 years in prison. At the mall, Cottingham, then a tall, brown-haired young man, met Vogel, a married mother of two. In March, looking back on 25 years with the office, Mr. Anzilotti decided it was time to move on from the job. To this day, the other young female has never been identified. 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. Denise Falasca, 15, of Closter, New Jersey. Goodarzi was later identified as the woman who had been tortured, killed, beheaded and had her hands cut off by Cottingham. A real sick bastard did this, retired NYPD detective Jim Riegel, who was working as a beat cop that day, recalls his sergeant telling him in the new Netflix series Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer, out Wednesday. It doesnt bring my mother back, but at least I have answers now. 43 0 obj <>stream 0000003686 00000 n Anzilotti and BCPO subsequently confirmed the "exceptional closures" of these three murders.[13][8]. But there was an even bigger problem. iP^ -KvWZvxhc'm$93tSz =oBTmD]+)bTJ T|u>/. Over the months that followed, Mr. Anzilotti cultivated an unusual relationship with Mr. Cottingham, sometimes testy, sometimes closer to a sort of warmth. 0000007078 00000 n The chief questioned Mr. Cottingham. And considering the closure of yesterdays cases, I absolutely believe him.. And later that same month, a fifth woman was found mutilated in the former Hotel Seville near Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The house is close to Lodi High School, the Riverside Cemetery and Interstate 80. 0 Six months later, Vronsky would learn that the man he encountered on the elevator was Cottingham as the killers face appeared in newspapers across the region. My whole life has been this, she said. God rest their souls," Bergen County Prosecutor's Chief of Detective Robert Anzilotti said Tuesday after Richard Cottingham of Lodi admitted killing both in 1974. . He called his detectives and gave the word: Bring in Cottingham. 0000001001 00000 n 0000001982 00000 n 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. I couldnt even imagine losing a child. He would describe to me certain routes he would drive, Vronsky said of Cottinghamm relaying his murderous spree in letters and interviews over the span of five years. JUSTICE STORY: 'Torso Killer' Richard Cottingham left a bloody trail of 0000000991 00000 n Moye, who traveled from Georgia to see Cottingham confess to killing his mother and four other women as part of a plea deal, said he leaned heavily on his Catholic faith as the unrepentant killer watched via video feed from South Woods State Prison in New Jersey, where hes serving multiple life sentences. One day, Cottingham told his co-worker that he had stolen a sex worker's money and clothes while she was sleeping. 0000000756 00000 n Cottingham has been given various nicknames over the years. His "justification" for doing this was that he "didn't like anyone getting one over" on him. trailer The third result is Richard Eric Cunningham age 50s in Skillman, NJ. A hotel worker arrived at Room 417 to find smoke and a horrible scene: the scorched remains of two women on a bed. That girl was found drowned, similar to Blases killing, he said. 0000002882 00000 n 0000003707 00000 n Long-Buried Secrets: The Serial Killer and the Detective Over time, though, one investigator was slowly developing a theory. Harp was found strangled to death the next day. He enjoys our relationship. He would let his guard down, Mr. Anzilotti said. I asked them where they were going. The mall, they replied. Times Square Torso Killer: Grisly crimes of Richard Cottingham laid [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. Then he followed with an unusual request. Zestimate Home Value: $598,600.
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