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There seems to be no end to the victims list of Richard Cottingham, aka the Times Square Killer or the Torso Killer, who was first found guilty of five murders in 1981, as per CNN, and was handed multiple life sentences. He has confessed to several other killings he committed between 1967 and 1980 in areas of New Jersey and New York over the years.
The US Sun reported that recently in December 2022, Cottingham pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in Diane Cusick's 1968 killing, receiving a 25-year prison sentence. He also confessed to the murders of four other young women from the 70s, but wasn't prosecuted in these four killings as part of the plea deal. To date, 16 young women and girls have been identified as his victims.
According to the New York Post, Richard Cottingham was serving his life sentence at the South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton, New Jersey, when he confessed last December.
Hosted by Donnie Wahlberg, Very Scary People on ID is slated to revisit Cottingham's crimes in an episode titled after his infamous moniker, The Time Square Killer. The all-new episode will air on the channel this Sunday, May 7, at 9:00 pm ET.
Richard Cottingham confessed to four other killings while serving life at a Bridgeton, New Jersey, prison since 1981
On December 5, 2022, Richard Cottingham, dubbed the Times Square Killer or the Torso Killer, a convicted serial killer who has been serving multiple life sentences since 1981, pleaded guilty to the 1968 murder of Diane Cusick, a 23-year-old dance teacher who was found strangled to death in her car outside a Long Island, New York mall. He also admitted to killing four other women in the early 1970s.
DNA testing led to Cottingham’s indictment in the killing of Cusick, who went to buy dance shoes at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, New York. As per ABC News, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 25 years to life by a judge. The 76-year-old serial killer is currently an inmate at the South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton, New Jersey.
Cottingham also admitted to murdering four other women, namely Maria Emerita Rosado Nieves, Laverne Moye, Sheila Heiman, and Mary Beth Heinz, but he was not prosecuted for the killings as part of the plea agreement and also because he is already serving life in prison for previous murder convictions in New York and New Jersey.
How was Richard Cottingham arrested in 1980?
Richard Cottingham was a father of three and insurance worker, who stalked his female victims - the youngest being 13 and oldest aged 29 - for 13 years, drowning, strangling, r*ping, and dismembering at least 16 young women and girls.
By the time Cottingham was arrested in 1980, the serial killer had been dubbed Times Square Killer for butchering s*x workers and setting their decapitated bodies on fire. He was arrested after a maid at a Garden State motel heard a woman screaming from inside one of the rooms.
A security guard stopped Cottingham's savage assault on the victim just in time for police to come and arrest him. He also acquired the tabloid alias, The Torso Killer. Ever since, Cottingham has spent more than half of his life in prison for the killings and has provided no justification for his murderous rampage. He initially bragged about having committed more than 100 murders during his time.
Watch a new episode of ID's Very Scary People this Sunday at 9:00 pm ET.
