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. He enjoys our time together., The chief also had another theory. 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. [2], In 2010, he pleaded guilty to the 1967 murder of Nancy Vogel. 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. [21] Cottingham was apparently "forensically aware" in the era before DNA analysis. And considering the closure of yesterdays cases, I absolutely believe him.. On May 4, 1980, the body of Street, a sex worker, was found at the same Quality Inn where Cottingham had dumped Carrs body. In 1964, Cottingham graduated from Pascack Valley High School in Hillsdale, New Jersey. The man has no heart, no soul, no emotion whatsoever, she said. Then he shared his intentions to retire. The murders committed by the Torso Killer bore little resemblance to the ones Mr. Anzilotti was investigating, but their timing matched up with Mr. Cottinghams settling in New Jersey. 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. In this image taken from a New Jersey Courts virtual hearing, Richard Cottingham, center, known as the "Torso Killer," pleads guilty Tuesday, April 27, 2021, to two 1974 murders. 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. I just ruled him out. Three days later, Mr. Anzilotti walked out of his office for good. The highly-respected law enforcement veteran knew the notorious killer was responsible for the deaths of the North Bergen teens, but Cottingham made him work for it. These include the Times Square Killer, the Torso Killer, and the Times Square Torso Ripper. The chief contacted the Blase family and told them what they had ached to know for decades: He knew who had killed Irene. Cottingham, who is also nicknamed "The Torso Killer," moved into this rented three-bedroom house in February of 1975. The Rent Zestimate for this home is $3,099/mo, which has increased by $3,099/mo in the last 30 days. Hes been chief of detectives nearly five years. 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. The plea leaves the question: Will they be Cottinghams final admissions? 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. But Cottingham had other victims, and he would later boast of killing 85 to 100 people. Cottingham, who is already serving a lifetime state prison sentence for killing several other women and girls, was brought to the office of Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella in Paramus to enter his pleas before Superior Court Judge Keith Bachmann in Hackensack. He rented an apartment in Midtown and told his wife he worked nights. He was imprisoned. 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. The investigators handed Ms. Mulder possessions of Jackies from half a century past. The little perks for the older man the pizza, the poker, the distraction from prison life were always in the service of the younger mans long game. In 2009, decades after his first five murder convictions, Cottingham told a journalist that he had committed at least 80 to 100 "perfect murders" of women in various regions of the United States. It was like a game to him, Anzilotti recently said. The police were called and Cottingham was apprehended while trying to flee. In April 1978, after his wife had initiated divorce proceedings, he kept a locked room in a basement apartment of the house in which they lived in Lodi, New Jersey. He pleaded innocent and for decades insisted he was being "framed", until admitting in 2009 that he had actually perpetrated those five murders. 0000012661 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. Peter Karas/The Record, via USA Today Network. He did not want his family hassled by reporters or the police, and he vowed to Mr. Anzilotti that he would never again allow himself to be thrust into the spotlight. With Cottinghams next victim, a killers hunting ground of sorts began to form. This story has been shared 151,197 times. On Dec. 2, 1979, the murders that earned Cottingham the nickname the "Torso Killer took place in New York City. Trophies like jewellery and other personal items belonging to his victims were taken by him. 0000008735 00000 n 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. Look her up, she looks like her. Others he remembered from a haircut.. Defense attorney John Bruno recited the details, which the white-bearded, 74-year-old killer acknowledged. He abducted Vogel and took her to a field in Montvale, where he strangled her. 0000001262 00000 n Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters. 0 ,X3ieG(>]/TUW#gI" p&gGgy`Un(aE6e#./"e3 Cottingham, whose attorney did not return messages seeking comment, has claimed to have killed as many as 100 women. On the way out, he bumped the author on the shins with a bag that felt like it contained bowling balls, Vronsky said. endstream endobj 34 0 obj<>stream Like a werewolf, Vronsky told The Post. 0000007658 00000 n But Cottingham flew under the radar precisely because of how he chose his victims and who his victims were. Cottingham had just raped, tortured and beheaded two sex workers in a room at the motel before setting it on fire. Cottingham didnt like the idea, apparently wanting to continue their dialogue. Anything that might close more cases, bring answers to more families. Correctional officers found contraband and evidence of bookmaking and transferred Mr. Cottingham to solitary confinement. 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. For over 40 years, its been folklore in this county.. Retrieved April 2nd, 2007, from Factiva database. Location of first contact Maryann Carr = her apartment; Prostitutes = street or bar . Taking a bus to another location, Cottingham and Blase spent some time together. [6] The confession was extracted by Detective Anzilotti weeks before his retirement and was facilitated by historian Vronsky and by Jennifer Weiss, the daughter of Deedeh Goodarzi, one of Cottingham's later victims. She, too, had been strangled. Mr. Cottingham mentioned details of the killing that matched what Mr. Anzilotti knew from the case file. It was Aug. 14, 1974, in Montvale, N.J., a suburb just over the New York state line. This location belongs to the following categories: Follow us on Facebook or Twitter to see future locations. My parents couldnt handle it., She had called Bergen County every few months to ask about the case for 47 years, she said. Her killer, Richard Cottingham, was a computer operator, married with three children of his own, living a seemingly normal life. He married in 1970 and became a father of three. Berlinger said well never truly know how many women died at Cottinghams hands, but his story had long fascinated the director, who sees a social justice component aspect to telling his story. Instead, he drove her to the Quality Inn, where he tortured, beat and sexually assaulted her for hours, until a maid heard her scream. Crime: Cottingham, a Lodi resident, killed six women in New Jersey and New York between 1967 and 1980. Thats why [authorities are] not going to make another statement. He did a U-turn in a bank parking lot and approached, he said. The third result is Richard Eric Cunningham age 50s in Skillman, NJ. 0000001412 00000 n Over time, though, one investigator was slowly developing a theory. [5] On May 15, 1980, Jean Reyner was strangled and her throat cut in New York's historic Seville Hotel. Knowing better, Harp, just 13 years old, refused. Canadian author Peter Vronsky is now writing his second book on the horrifying killing spree that culminated in May 1980 at a New Jersey motel, where cops arrested Cottingham after he handcuffed, stabbed and bit an 18-year-old woman. It was pure evil. His murders were not the outcome of stalking or planning but of fleeting encounters. 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. 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. Anzilotti and BCPO subsequently confirmed the "exceptional closures" of these three murders.[13][8]. The following is a list of his victims in chronological order. 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. Absolutely, its completely plausible. The case also had parallels to a previously unsolved murder of nurse Maryann Carr, who was found dead in the same motel three years earlier. She was a mother, she was a wife, a daughter and a grandmother taken far too early. With Ms. Pryor and a judge watching on Zoom that day, Mr. Cottingham pleaded guilty to the two murders. 0000010308 00000 n Those cases were already closed. 0000001425 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. They have also lived in Whiting, IN. In other words, he may have been content and/or preoccupied. You can change your choice at any time by using the Privacy Center link in our footer. Altman, who was just 3 years old at the time, said her parents had separated prior to Cusicks killing. To this day, the other young female has never been identified. Mr. Anzilotti, by then a sergeant, arranged a surprise search of the inmates cell the day after the Super Bowl. 0000001982 00000 n 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. 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 . The clever killer slipped up, leaving a fingerprint on the cuffs. Cusicks daughter, Darlene Altman, told Nassau County Judge Caryn Fink her late grandparents raised her after her mothers shocking slaying. They were never able to fully recover from the monumental loss, she said. The police hunted for leads, questioning prostitutes about suspicious men, examining the handwriting of the guest who had checked into Room 417: Carl Wilson of Merlin, N.J., a fake name from a fake place. 0000001082 00000 n Cottingham has been given various nicknames over the years. It took some effort to convince him to go to court and let me make it public, Anzilotti said Tuesday. Cottingham, who is also nicknamed "The Torso Killer," moved into this rented three-bedroom house in February of 1975. 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. On August 21, 1972, he is charged and convicted of shoplifting at a Stern's department store in Paramus, New Jersey, and was sentenced to pay a $50 fine or ten days in jail. Cottingham then confessed to more murders including Nancy Vogel, whom he killed in 1967, and five teenaged victims from New Jersey, none of whom were in the sex trade. One day, Cottingham told his co-worker that he had stolen a sex worker's money and clothes while she was sleeping. Goodarzi, of Trenton, was a sex worker who had been traveling to the then-seedy streets of midtown Manhattan, Vronsky said. He enjoys our relationship. In 1981, he was found guilty of her murder and sentenced to nearly 200 years in prison. The chief pressed ahead with his list. But it was a way to get him comfortable to talk to me about murders.. FPh_3Gj Nt%Q[r L`%/9QTh/| Q4_g8KI}u'?xbif`H>;wNQ|sd2(? Cottingham admitted during the plea hearing that he brought Mary Ann and Lorraine to a hotel, where he raped both and bound the girls to keep them from getting away. Its Godlike almost. I can go all the way back to the first detective on the case. Cottingham was convicted of five murders and numerous counts of kidnapping and sexual assault and sentenced to 173 to 197 years, which he is serving in Trenton's New Jersey State Prison. Other locations that are relatively close to this place. However, his family moved to River Vale, New Jersey, when he was 12 years old. Mr. Anzilotti would arrange to have the inmate transported to his office more than hours drive from the prison. Then in exchange for immunity from prosecution, he confessed to murdering three New Jersey schoolgirls. His search for a killer led him to a man already locked away, in New Jersey State Prison, 75 miles from his office. 0000003202 00000 n He was also extremely fidgety and unable to sit still. Richard Cottingham, New Jersey prison photo. 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. He recalled the exact place in the woods where he left the bodies. ADVERTISEMENT. 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. Five months later, the serial slayer struck again, strangling Maria Emerita Rosado Nieves, an 18-year-old Manhattan woman originally from Puerto Rico. 0000003107 00000 n 29 Vreeland St, Lodi, NJ is a single family home that contains 2,716 sq ft and was built in 1974. That was roughly one month after his arrest. Unfortunately, we were unable to find a photograph of Jean Reyner. 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. It is not a public place. It was just shock all the way around.. Ms. Falasca was a 15-year-old who left her familys house in July 1969 and never returned. Mr. Anzilotti insisted that this case be resolved in open court. Accused serial killer nurse allegedly tried to murder premature infant twice. His "justification" for doing this was that he "didn't like anyone getting one over" on him. A friend of one victim came forward and the slain woman was later positively identified through a cesarean-section scar and chest X-ray as 22-year-old prostitute Deedeh Goodarzi. Investigators noted the crime scene was devoid of evidence and they were unable to identify the victims. The people listed below were born in, residents of, or otherwise closely associated with Lodi, New Jersey. The series features interviews with former sex workers, including Barbara Amaya, who was raped and robbed at gunpoint by a man she believes was Cottingham, although she was inexplicably spared. Her youth and difference in appearance, with a boyish haircut, set her apart from the other victims. In 2010, Bergen County authorities announced hed pleaded guilty to a sixth murder, a 1967 strangling in Bergen County. 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. After nearly 15 years of interviews by Anzilotti and Detective Capt. Hes younger when all this is going on in Bergen County, he said. HUMs@Wf~}m1`16N7NLf%=Io8. 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. I didnt know what to expect. I never thought I would get caught, he added. 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. 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. Justice was served and thats the end of it case closed. Eventually, Mr. Cottingham began to loosen up, and he spoke about killing the prostitutes. 0000002847 00000 n You can set your cookie preferences below. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. The other girls did, you have to take it, too. . The Blase family agreed. New documentary The 12th Victim: Is Fugate a Natural Born Killer or Starkweather victim? Furthermore, one of the women that he murdered in 1979 is still unidentified. View Richard Cottingham's record in Manchester, NJ including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. 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. 0000005280 00000 n Ms. Iran hangs protester in first execution over nationwide pr Canadian teacher with size-Z prosthetic breasts placed on paid leave, Buster Murdaugh got 'very drunk' with dad 2 months after mom, brother murdered: source, What's next for Buster Murdaugh after dad's murder conviction, life sentence, Prince Harry was scared to lose Meghan Markle after fight that led to therapy, Prince Harry says psychedelics are fundamental part of his life, Inside Scheana Shay, Raquel Leviss heated confrontation about Tom Sandoval affair, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant allegedly flashes gun at a strip club, Tom Sizemore And The Dangerous Burden of Desperation, Kellyanne Conway and George Conway to divorce. 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 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. 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. 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. A third the killing of 13-year-old Jackie Harp seemed to be the work of another killer. The 22-year-old's death appeared brutal: she had been beheaded and set on fire and her skull has yet to be found. 0000002420 00000 n This case was always haunting me.. Those old enough to remember can recall the fear that many felt after the bodies of two girls from North Bergen whod gone missing after a shopping trip to Paramus were found raped, beaten and drowned in Bergen County. They have also lived in Manasquan, NJ and Ada, MI. Much like John Moye, Altman, who now lives in Ocala, Fla., said she struggled to process Cottinghams savagery. That man, Richard Cottingham, had been convicted of crimes that seemed to bear little resemblance to the murders of the girls. Harp was found strangled to death the next day. 21 0 obj <> endobj She knew that Mr. Anzilotti had solved Denises killing, too. Among the other faces in separate windows on the Zoom screen was a 66-year-old woman, identified simply as Nancy. Maywood, The schoolgirl murder confessions increased that to to nine. He called his detectives and gave the word: Bring in Cottingham. However, he started killing again in 1974, when he murdered Lorraine Marie Kelly and Mary Ann Pryor. . 0 Straddling her back, he drew a knife and put it to her throat as he snapped a pair of handcuffs on her wrists. Mr. Anzilotti, doing his best not to betray any emotion, slowly pulled out his Blackberry and took notes. Cottingham was convicted of five murders in a series of three trials between 1981 and 1984 (two in New Jersey and one in New York). Falasca, 15, accepted. On March 12, 1974, Cottingham was arrested in New York City for robbery and unlawful imprisonment on the complaint of another prostitute. . And he sat there with literally no remorse. This girl did everything right, Vronsky said. Blase was found strangled to death in 4 feet of water in Saddle River the next day. He would occasionally remove and dispose of his victims heads and hands, presumably to make identification more difficult. Cottingham offered to give O'Dell a massage and she rolled onto her stomach. But eventually, their old give-and-take resumed. Get the latest updates right in your inbox. When Mr. Cottingham entered prison in 1981, Robert Anzilotti was not yet a teenager. It is situated at 29 Vreeland Street in Lodi, New Jersey. Notably, none of his crimes took place on the property. <<69EF7C237A736942AE760EBDB9B8F80B>]>>
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