Anyone can read what you share. Retrieved April 2nd, 2007, from Factiva database. Mr. Anzilotti, doing his best not to betray any emotion, slowly pulled out his Blackberry and took notes. The Google Street View image above was taken in May of 2022. For decades, a string of killings of teenage girls haunted suburban New Jersey. Anzilotti and BCPO subsequently confirmed the "exceptional closures" of these three murders.[13][8]. I was able to get almostany woman to do whatever I wanted them to do . Taking a bus to another location, Cottingham and Blase spent some time together. The year 2020 arrived, and running his office through the coronavirus outbreak kept Mr. Anzilotti too busy for cold cases. 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. His yearbook photo shows a cross-country runner with blond hair slicked back. But beneath the veneer of normalcy was a heinous double-existence as a serial killer. 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. He continued to live here until the police eventually arrested him on May 22nd, 1980. Im leaving, he said. xb```"VV~g`0pt 9mzQ[2fXar9XcK',6=3Yb%^)= RZlr$:kX;e =_i& ` ?# 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. My whole life has been this, she said. His yearbook photo shows a cross-country runner with blond hair slicked back. 0000002831 00000 n But in. When a worker came to check on her, ODell cracked open the door and gave a hand signal asking for help. Authorities believed it to be, thus far, the oldest criminal case to be solved and prosecuted by direct DNA evidence. (1981, June 16). A woman walking to her car found them: two teenage girls, naked and dead in a sliver of woods behind an apartment parking lot. My parents couldnt handle it., She had called Bergen County every few months to ask about the case for 47 years, she said. He called his detectives and gave the word: Bring in Cottingham. 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. 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. (1981, June 16). 29 Vreeland St, Lodi, NJ is a single family home that contains 2,716 sq ft and was built in 1974. Vronsky, whose works also include an authoritative tome cataloging 17,000 years of pathological homicide, said Cottingham scouted his victims before transforming from a family man into a ferocious monster. Cottingham had kept these items as souvenirs so that he could remember his victims and relive his attacks. The Blase family agreed. 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. He rented an apartment in Midtown and told his wife he worked nights. <<8BD7E4F5B15F3F4A8993EB3A0150F7AC>]>> Goodarzi had come to the United States years prior from Iran. A judge sentenced him to 25 years to life after Cusicks brother and only child read emotional impact statements in court. Thats why [authorities are] not going to make another statement. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. Those cases were already closed. "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. Correctional officers found contraband and evidence of bookmaking and transferred Mr. Cottingham to solitary confinement. These include the Times Square Killer, the Torso Killer, and the Times Square Torso Ripper. 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. He had come further in closing cases than his younger self could have imagined. It represented closure, Moye said of this weeks hearing. I just ruled him out. On Dec 15, 1977, Carr was found dead in the parking lot of a Quality Inn motel, in Hasbrouck Heights. The chief agreed. He had his list of names, each one a dead girl and a crime long unsolved. The murder remained unsolved until Cottingham confessed and entered a guilty plea in August 2010. 0000007078 00000 n And at. His upcoming sentencing will add more time to a prison term that already extends beyond his remaining years. 0000005280 00000 n [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. The New York Times, p. 26. Richard Cottingham, a family man who denied everything in court, was convicted of killing five women in the early 1980s. This case was always haunting me.. A third the killing of 13-year-old Jackie Harp seemed to be the work of another killer. And considering the closure of yesterdays cases, I absolutely believe him.. 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. HKo0l06CYf,Y(v (I?0c9 It represented the opportunity to let the entire world know that Laverne Moye was a human being. Cottinghamss name came up several times, but it didnt fit for me, she said. On December 2, 1979, firemen in New York responded to an alarm at the Travel Inn motel[11] near Times Square. The house is close to Lodi High School, the Riverside Cemetery and Interstate 80. Just shy of his 21st birthday, Richard Cottingham began a vicious killing spree that tore through north New Jersey and New York City. He worked hard on this., There were never any meaningful updates, until a Monday this April, when detectives knocked on her door in Ocean County, N.J., and said they had obtained a confession. It was like a game to him, Anzilotti recently said. 0000001071 00000 n Cottingham was indicted in Cusicks killing in June after DNA evidence linked him to the cold-case slaying believed to be the oldest match to ever lead to a prosecution, Nassau County prosecutors said. Peter Karas/The Record, via USA Today Network. I was shocked that it was a serial killer, Moye said of his mothers confessed murderer. We've received your submission. Her attacker was caught as he ran away. 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. 0000003202 00000 n 0000010308 00000 n Look her up, she looks like her. Others he remembered from a haircut.. I was shocked that one human being was capable of all this carnage, Moye said of Cottingham. However, he started killing again in 1974, when he murdered Lorraine Marie Kelly and Mary Ann Pryor. Unfortunately, we were unable to find a photograph of Jean Reyner. I didnt know what to expect. He soon realized the woman had no head, the Daily News reported. But her light shines brightly against the backdrop of evil.. A married father of three, he lived in the. 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. Feech La Manna's house from The Sopranos. Years after her sisters death, she had found some comfort speaking to another from her tribe, Karen Miller, a sister of Denise Falasca. This is a somber day as we revisit the horrific acts and terror this man brought upon Bergen County nearly 50 years ago, the prosecutor said Tuesday. Before his arrest, he was a successful computer operator who worked at the Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurance company in Midtown Manhattan. Over the months that followed, Mr. Anzilotti cultivated an unusual relationship with Mr. Cottingham, sometimes testy, sometimes closer to a sort of warmth. Authorities tied him to the killings after police were called to a Hasbrouck Heights motel, where a maid had heard a woman screaming. The Google Street View image on the right was taken 38 years later, in June of 2018. She had been a teenager when her sister was killed. I could feel it.. He abducted Vogel and took her to a field in Montvale, where he strangled her. 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". ADVERTISEMENT. His crimes were discovered in May 1980, when a maid at a Hasbrouck Heights motel heard. 0000001425 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. Hearing prosecutors detail grisly crime scenes like where Laverne was found was especially difficult to endure, her son said. Soon, Cottingham persuaded Blase to go for a drink with him. She was found strangled to death the next day in Saddle Brook. Her glasses, a ring, a necklace, Ms. Mulder said. He was also extremely fidgety and unable to sit still. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. 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. But as he considered retirement, he kept returning to the two girls found dead in the woods. Ms. The confessed killer then fatally bludgeoned Sheila Heiman, a 33-year-old mother of three, in July 1973, at her North Woodmere, NY, home, where her husband found her upon returning from shopping, authorities said. 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). Richard Cottingham of Lodi (NJ) is sentenced to 173-179 years in prison. He was eventually convicted of five murders in New Jersey and New York and sent to a New Jersey state prison in the early 1980s. But he told Mr. Cottingham. She later testified that he said, "You have to take it. But on May 22, 1980 Cottingham's life as a predator came to light. These objects, along with his fingerprint on the handcuffs, were presented as evidence by prosecutors at his trial. 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. Shed been abducted by Cottingham from the Ledgewood Terrace apartments, in Little Ferry, where Cottingham had previously lived, said Vronsky. 0000001982 00000 n startxref 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. The sergeant was undeterred. Serial killer Richard Cottingham made his admission in the cold case murders of the high school girls, acknowledging that he kidnapped, raped and finally drowned the pair inside a motel room. 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. 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. As the New Jersey press reported on Cottinghams arrest, the NYPD started to take notice. Again and again, for 15 years, Mr. Anzilotti met with the inmate, seeking the truth. 0000003107 00000 n Her killer, Richard Cottingham, was a computer operator, married with three children of his own, living a seemingly normal life. He continued to live here until the police eventually arrested him on May 22nd, 1980. 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. 21 23 The potential payoff in return felt almost too important to describe. 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 [12] Both bodies had their hands and heads removed, and had been doused with lighter fluid and set on fire. 0000008735 00000 n You are in complete control of somebodys destiny, he told Fezzani in footage shown in the series. [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). New documentary The 12th Victim: Is Fugate a Natural Born Killer or Starkweather victim? 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. 43 0 obj<>stream No one could find any clues in the girls backgrounds: no drugs, no trouble with the law. When you have a series of crimes today, everything goes through the computers, andwe have computer analysis and a wayof moving these through jurisdictionalboundaries. Goodarzi, of Trenton, was a sex worker who had been traveling to the then-seedy streets of midtown Manhattan, Vronsky said. 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. Cottingham had stuffed Streets body under the bed for housekeeping to find, Vronsky said. Cusick, an instructor at a dance school in the Oceanside community of Long Island, went to Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream to buy a pair of shoes. But something a hunch, past investigative speculation, the proximity of the crimes drew Mr. Anzilotti to the prisoner. Cookie Settings/Do Not Sell My Personal Information. 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. 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. 0000002435 00000 n She, too, had been strangled. After nearly 15 years of interviews by Anzilotti and Detective Capt. You can change your choice at any time by using the Privacy Center link in our footer. For more details, please read our Privacy & Cookie Policy. Like two little dolls at Christmastime.. Cottingham, who is also nicknamed "The Torso Killer," moved into this rented three-bedroom house in February of 1975. Anzilottihas spent all but 4 years of his law enforcement career with the prosecutors office after coming over from the Woodcliff Lake Police Department. Anything that might close more cases, bring answers to more families. Despite the gruesome nature of his murders, the butcher, named Richard Cottingham, never warranted the breathless news coverage of David Son of Sam Berkowitz, who only three years prior paralyzed the Big Apple with fear. Then in exchange for immunity from prosecution, he confessed to murdering three New Jersey schoolgirls. That made 11 murders Cottingham that admitted since his arrest more than 30 years ago. Vronsky, who frequently visits Cottingham in prison, said he had a freak, random elevator encounter with the serial killer on the early morning of Dec. 2, 1979, as he tried to check into the Travel Inn Motel near a seedy and sex-crazed Times Square. Its not something you can ever get over, Altman, 58, told The Post. Like a werewolf, Vronsky told The Post. And even worse, the rape laws were particularly onerous, and you had to provide a witness to bring an allegation of rape. This story has been shared 151,197 times. iP^ -KvWZvxhc'm$93tSz =oBTmD]+)bTJ T|u>/. Cottingham severed the victim's breasts and posed them on the headboard of the bed, and set fire to the mattress under her body before fleeing, similar to the Travel Inn torso killings. You can set your cookie preferences below. Accused serial killer nurse allegedly tried to murder premature infant twice. It was just shock all the way around.. 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. She agreed to have sex with him for money.
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