AMERICAN serial killer Richard Cottingham left a trail of horror and fear with his gruesome crimes.
He confessed to hundreds of brutal killings which have made him one of the most prolific criminals – here’s everything you need to know.
Richard Francis Cottingham, born November 25, 1946, grew up in the Bronx of New York City.
As a young boy he moved to New Jersey with his family – where graduated from Pascack Valley High School.
It was during this time that he developed a fascination for bondage pornography.
In 1966 he became a computer operator at the Blue Cross Shield Association.
In 1970 he married his wife, Janet, and had three children – Blair, Scott, and Jenny.
A decade later, his wife filed for divorce citing “extreme cruelty” and accusing Cottingham of going to gay bars.
After the split, his prolific criminal career started with several minor charges prior to his killing spree.
Some of the charges included drunk driving , robbery, and sexual abuse.
Richard is commonly known as the ‘Times Square killer‘ – referencing the location were he perpetuated his heinous crimes.
Two women were found dead at a motel near Times Square in 1979.
He was also dubbed the ‘Torso killer’ after being convicted of three horrific murders that included mutilation.
He was accused of brutally dismembering two women – who were both found with heads and hands missing.
The former computer programmer was originally found guilty of the murder of five women.
But later confessed to other deaths, naming his victims and how they died.
Cottingham bragged that he had murdered more than 100 women in various parts of the United States throughout his active years.
He admitted to more murders as recently as April 2021.
Richard Cottingham was arrested in May 1980 after a maid heard a woman’s screams coming from his motel room.
Although the woman survived the torture, police found her tied up and suffering from knife wounds and human teeth marks.
Cottingham’s DNA was collected from her body, although DNA wasn’t used in solving crimes at the time.
He was linked to several other women’s deaths later on once his DNA began being run against cold cases in the area.
His first known murder was in 1967 when he was only 21 years old.
Cottingham strangled Nancy Schiava Vogel, a 29-year-old mother of two, in her car in Ridgefield Park, New Jersey.
Later from 1968 to 1969, he killed three teen girls – only admitting to the crimes decades later.
The youngest was 13-year-old Jackie Harp, as well as strangled 18-year-old Irene Blase and 15-year-old Denise Falasca.
Just six months later, Cottingham abducted Mary Ann Pryor, 17, and Lorraine Kelly, 16.
He reportedly dumped their bodies in a parking lot after taking them to a motel and drowning them in a bathtub.
Confessing to the crimes, he said: “I was with them for a couple of days… and got to know them.
“To this day, I don’t even think they would have ever said anything. And that’s what bothers me because I probably didn’t have to do anything to them.”
The serial killer, now aged 77, remains imprisoned in New Jersey.
Cottingham pleaded guilty to 2nd-degree murder in the case of Diane Cusick.
Police believe that Cusick left the dance studio where she taught and went into the nearby mall to buy some shoes.
When she left, they believed that Cottingham posed as a security guard and accused her of shoplifting to get her to stop, then abducted her.
When she was found, she’d suffered beatings to her head and body, but her ultimate cause of death was suffocation.
Netflix released a docuseries on the serial killer’s called ‘Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer’.
The series delves into the 1980s New York where Cottingham started his killings.
The documentary suggests he could have gotten away with many more murders during his 18 years of bloodshed.
