Cottingham was apprehended in the hallway by arriving police officers. She had been abducted while walking home from practice with her schools fife-and-drum team in 1968. Correctional officers found contraband and evidence of bookmaking and transferred Mr. Cottingham to solitary confinement. 0000004577 00000 n Neither man has claimed to have been aware of the other, nor is there any evidence they were familiar with each other prior to their respective arrests. 0000003183 00000 n So we just stayed in the car and we kept talking to each other, getting to know each other and so forth., If the rain wasnt there, they would have just went to the mall and that would have been it, he said, And I would have went to work.. He married in 1970 and had three children. 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. Now I just have to go on with my life.. [6] In 2022, Cottingham officially confessed to the 1970 murder of Lorraine McGraw, under a non-prosecution agreement. We use cookies to deliver personalized advertisements, improve your online experience, and to analyze our site's performance. 0000006081 00000 n He also claims that his true victim count is at least 85. Find NJ.com on Facebook. But then, four years ago, Mr. Cottingham stunned the chief. . Below, you will find the address and the GPS coordinates for this location. [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". On March 12, 1974, Cottingham was arrested in New York City for robbery and unlawful imprisonment on the complaint of another prostitute. He was imprisoned. On Thursday, authorities told NJ Advance Media that Cottingham confessed to the murders of three Bergen County teenagers in the late 1960s - each a cold case for over 50 years. They sat at the kitchen table, very professional, very polite, very considerate, Ms. Mulder recalled. I was shocked that it was a serial killer, Moye said of his mothers confessed murderer. And I said, Hop in., He drove to the mall. 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. Cottingham had just raped, tortured and beheaded two sex workers in a room at the motel before setting it on fire. 43 0 obj<>stream The investigators handed Ms. Mulder possessions of Jackies from half a century past. His yearbook photo shows a cross-country runner with blond hair slicked back. Between 1970 and 1974, Cottingham and his wife, Janet, lived at an apartment block called Ledgewood Terrace in Little Ferry, New Jersey. Authorities tied him to the killings after police were called to a Hasbrouck Heights motel, where a maid had heard a woman screaming. He abducted Vogel and took her to a field in Montvale, where he strangled her. But Cottingham had other victims, and he would later boast of killing 85 to 100 people. Goodarzi had come to the United States years prior from Iran. He enjoys our relationship. It was a game to me. Accused serial killer nurse allegedly tried to murder premature infant twice. He had come further in closing cases than his younger self could have imagined. 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". [4], The BCPO "exceptionally closed" the three cold case murders with agreement from the victims' families and evidence corroborating the confessions, but for several years kept this secret from the public to keep Cottingham talking about other cases. (1981, June 25). [3], Richard Francis Cottingham was born on November 25, 1946, in the Mott Haven neighborhood of the Bronx in New York City, the first of four children. The body of Laverne Moye, of St. Albans, Queens, was discovered in a Rockville Centre creek on July 20, 1972. Little more than a week after Street was found, Reyner was found butchered in the Seville Motel in New York City. [3], Cottingham was arrested on several lesser charges throughout his killing spree. This number may increase in the future, as he has stated in the past that his victim count is much higher. He would occasionally remove and dispose of his victims heads and hands, presumably to make identification more difficult. And last week, three more were added to his grisly toll. He soon realized the woman had no head, the Daily News reported. This story has been shared 150,597 times. 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. But her light shines brightly against the backdrop of evil.. If hes going to confess to some others, if they can get him to talk, just for those families if he can confess to those, that right there would be I dont know the right word to say, Ms. Mulder said. Sitting in a conference room, Mr. Cottingham calmly reached back more than 40 years and described how hed murdered a woman whose name he couldnt remember, a 29-year-old mother found strangled in her car in Ridgefield Park, N.J., in 1967. To this day, I dont even think they would have ever said anything. 0000006846 00000 n Thats not the natural order its supposed to go in.. Mr. Anzilotti would arrange to have the inmate transported to his office more than hours drive from the prison. Cottingham, a depraved killer already serving more than 200 years in prison, confessed to tossing the 22-year-old mother of two from a bridge ending her familys half-century quest for answers. [8] Vogel's nude and bound body was found on October 31, under a blanket behind the passenger seat of her car parked in nearby Ridgefield Park. The chief questioned Mr. Cottingham. I knew, he recalled, that was Irene Blase.. The police believed they had given up on the bus and were trying to hitchhike to a mall. He had his list of names, each one a dead girl and a crime long unsolved. It could only be Jackie Harp.. Cottingham's confirmed killings resulted in nine convictions and a further eight confessions under non-prosecution agreements, leading to him serving multiple life sentences in New Jersey prisons. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (each updated 1/26/2023). 0000001412 00000 n I could feel it.. 0000000756 00000 n Their murders shook the region. ,X3ieG(>]/TUW#gI" p&gGgy`Un(aE6e#./"e3 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. Three days later, Mr. Anzilotti walked out of his office for good. He described things only the killer would know, like where hed thrown her car keys afterward. Trophies like jewellery and other personal items belonging to his victims were taken by him. He continued to live here until the police eventually arrested him on May 22nd, 1980. He said he would talk about other murders only on the condition that the revelations would be kept out of the papers. Hed order pizza and play cards with the older man and other detectives. He married in 1970 and became a father of. Soon, Cottingham persuaded Blase to go for a drink with him. It was an era when the sex worker was criminalized. Cottingham is currently in state prison on a life sentence . We've received your submission. Notably, none of his crimes took place on the property. But he eventually realized the years-long association, which involved countless state prison visits, was coming to an end. 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. Serial Killer House in Lodi, New Jersey, United States. The year 2020 arrived, and running his office through the coronavirus outbreak kept Mr. Anzilotti too busy for cold cases. Cottingham fled the scene with the victims heads and hands. It was Aug. 14, 1974, in Montvale, N.J., a suburb just over the New York state line. Unfortunately, we were unable to find a photograph of Jean Reyner. But it was a way to get him comfortable to talk to me about murders.. Theyre pushing him on multiple other cases. Hes been interviewing Cottingham in state prison for years. The New York Times, p. 26. Retrieved April 2nd, 2007, from Factiva database. Cottingham offered to give O'Dell a massage and she rolled onto her stomach. But the killer was a clever bastard, too. But Mr. Anzilotti kept pressing him: You know youre going to tell me.. trailer He was also extremely fidgety and unable to sit still. [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. Cottingham has claimed in the past he. The back and forth went on for weeks. In 2022, Cottingham also confessed to the 1968 murder of Diane Cusick after DNA evidence linked him to the crime. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. 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. However, please be aware that not allowing certain cookies may impact your experience of the site. The photographs are ordered from left to right and top to bottom. The weather worsened. He admitted that those two killings weighed on him more than the others. They'd left home for a trip 13 miles (21 kilometers) north to . 0000000016 00000 n But in. It was pure evil. Like a werewolf, Vronsky told The Post. H|U0+(QvG`b08NbHlSoZ2CRSs=* \e~ Seth Wenig/Associated Press By Ed Shanahan Dec. 5, 2022 On a. 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. Prosecutors will seek dual life sentences to run alongside his current lifetime term when Cottingham is sentenced on July 9 for what Musella said were the willful, deliberate, and premediated murders of Mary Ann Prior and Lorraine Kelly. %%EOF Those cases were already closed. You're a whore and you have to be punished." 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. But Cottingham flew under the radar precisely because of how he chose his victims and who his victims were. The murder remained unsolved until Cottingham confessed and entered a guilty plea in August 2010. He married in 1970 and became a father of three. Its not something you can ever get over, Altman, 58, told The Post. 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. 0000000991 00000 n Maintenance workers found her body covered in plastic bags and wrapped in a gray blanket near a Jones Beach bus stop. 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. He continued to live here until the police eventually arrested him on May 22nd, 1980. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. Following his 1980 arrest, police found, in the locked room and in the trunk of his car, personal effects which they traced to several of his victims. On Dec 15, 1977, Carr was found dead in the parking lot of a Quality Inn motel, in Hasbrouck Heights. Anything that might close more cases, bring answers to more families. He'd been a married father of three, but the Lodi resident - who would brutalize his victim's bodies, cutting off limbs, heads and breasts - would later become known as the "Torso Killer" for. I think it was just an evolution in his killing.. This guy was particularly ruthless. (1981, June 25). More Local News to Love Start today for 50% off Expires 3/6/23, Rodrigo Torrejon | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, discovery of a Ridgefield Park woman dead, nude and bound. The plea leaves the question: Will they be Cottinghams final admissions? In March, looking back on 25 years with the office, Mr. Anzilotti decided it was time to move on from the job. Cottingham, whose attorney did not return messages seeking comment, has claimed to have killed as many as 100 women. That made 11 murders Cottingham that admitted since his arrest more than 30 years ago. Over decades, through his rise from sergeant to detective to chief of detectives, Robert Anzilotti plugged away at cold cases in New Jersey involving young womens murders.CreditBryan Anselm for The New York Times. They were never able to fully recover from the monumental loss, she said. 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. Mr. Anzilotti, by then a sergeant, arranged a surprise search of the inmates cell the day after the Super Bowl. For decades, a string of killings of teenage girls haunted suburban New Jersey. The schoolgirl murder confessions increased that to to nine. 0000007874 00000 n He had no relationship to his victims. 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. This is possibly due to the fact that he got married in 1970. 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. Much like John Moye, Altman, who now lives in Ocala, Fla., said she struggled to process Cottinghams savagery. Her breasts had been severed and torso had been set on fire, Vronsky said. Anyone can read what you share. 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. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. About a week later, Big Apple authorities would find Reyners body, but still, no one in New Jersey connected them to the Times Square killer, says former NYPD detective Malcolm Reiman in the series. Cottingham, who is also nicknamed "The Torso Killer," moved into this rented three-bedroom house in February of 1975. The public in Bergen County deserved to know the outcome of those girls, he said. But first, he wanted to return to those two murders from 47 years ago. What they want is an outright statement and a sign-off of Yes thats me,' Vronsky continued. His name had floated around in the lore of Bergen County cold cases.. 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. Mr. Anzilotti insisted that this case be resolved in open court. Anzilottihas spent all but 4 years of his law enforcement career with the prosecutors office after coming over from the Woodcliff Lake Police Department. The girls, Mary Ann Pryor, 17, and Lorraine Kelly, 16, had last been seen days earlier at a nearby bus stop. The Google Street View image above was taken in May of 2022. 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. Math-wise its possible," said Vronsky. FPh_3Gj Nt%Q[r L`%/9QTh/| Q4_g8KI}u'?xbif`H>;wNQ|sd2(? Since his conviction, Cottingham has pleaded guilty to 12 murders. xref 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. The predator, dubbed The Torso Killer, would strike again in May 1980. 0000007078 00000 n On Dec. 2, 1979, the murders that earned Cottingham the nickname the "Torso Killer took place in New York City. The bodies of the women had no heads and no hands. So he would remember something on the way: a racetrack or a shopping mall. %PDF-1.4 % It contains 0 bedroom and 0 bathroom. On April 7, 1969, Cottingham saw Blase, 18, shopping in Hackensack, Vronsky said. The teenagers were last seen on Aug. 9, 1974, in North Bergen. He asked to quietly close their daughters murder case without formally charging the killer. The motel where Martin Luther King was assassinated. Getting to that point wasnt easy, Anzilotti said. Over decades, through his rise from sergeant to detective to chief of detectives, Robert Anzilotti plugged away at cold cases in New Jersey involving young womens murders. . 0000001250 00000 n xb```"VV~g`0pt 9mzQ[2fXar9XcK',6=3Yb%^)= RZlr$:kX;e =_i& ` ?# Cusicks daughter, Darlene Altman, told Nassau County Judge Caryn Fink her late grandparents raised her after her mothers shocking slaying. This story has been shared 151,197 times. 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. My parents couldnt handle it., She had called Bergen County every few months to ask about the case for 47 years, she said. 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. The girls vanished Aug. 9, 1974, while hitchhiking to a mall in . 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. Although Vogel was the earliest of Cottinghams murder victims, the killer has said she was not his first, according to Vronsky. But he carried those cold cases with him literally, his thick files in cardboard boxes that he moved from office to office chipping away at the false leads, seeking similarities in the victims and in the crime scenes. Boyfriends, ex-boyfriends, family members all were questioned and cleared of suspicion. We've received your submission. 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.
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