richard cottingham lodi, nj address

The bodies of the women had no heads and no hands. I was an immediate adult when it happened, she said later in an interview. I never thought I would get caught, he added. Category:People from Lodi, New Jersey - Wikipedia James McMorrow, Cottingham confessed last year to three other cold-case slayings of teenage school girls in Bergen County: Jacalyn (Jackie) Harp, 13, of Midland Park, who was walking home from school band practice on July 17, 1968 when she was strangled with the leather strap of her flag sling; Irene Blase, 18, of Bogota, who went missing from Hackensack on April 7, 1969 and was found strangled in Saddle River; Denise Falasca, 15, of Closter, who went missing from Westwood on July 14, 1969. That made 11 murders Cottingham that admitted since his arrest more than 30 years ago. H|U0+(QvG`b08NbHlSoZ2CRSs=* \e~ Vronsky and Weiss had been meeting with Cottingham in prison since the spring of 2017, counseling him to make the confession. She agreed to have sex with him for money. It also left enormous holes in the souls of family and friends of Mary Ann Pryor, 17, and Lorraine Kelly, 16. Its an ongoing process, Vronsky said. According to one of his co-workers, he was smart, well-read, and up-to-date on current events. Furthermore, one of the women that he murdered in 1979 is still unidentified. Ms. Falasca was a 15-year-old who left her familys house in July 1969 and never returned. He had no relationship to his victims. Cottingham didnt like the idea, apparently wanting to continue their dialogue. [15], In 2022, Cottingham was arraigned from his prison hospital bed for the 1968 murder of Diane Cusick in Long Island, New York. He described in detail how, instead, he took the girls to a motel, held them captive and eventually drowned them in the bathtub. He was also extremely fidgety and unable to sit still. The brief encounter later inspired Vronsky to write his serial killer histories and paved the way for his prison meetings with Cottingham four decades later. Authorities executed a warrant on his Lodi home, which had a private room containing evidence linking him to the Torso Killer. Hed order pizza and play cards with the older man and other detectives. PB| 43 0 obj<>stream Everything that I was taught about evil was evident in his presence, in his demeanor, in the gaze of his eyes, Moye told The Post. [7] In a 2009 interview, Cottingham admitted to the murders and claimed that he severed the heads and hands of the victims to prevent their identification, as he was acquainted with Goodarzi and had been seen with her in a bar the night before.[2]. 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. New Jersey . But there was an even bigger problem. . She had been tied up and strangled, authorities said. There was also a lockbox filled with trophies from his murders, including Maryann Carrs apartment key and a necklace belonging to Jean Reyner. Mr. Anzilotti would arrange to have the inmate transported to his office more than hours drive from the prison. The 45th year passed in the same way. The body of Laverne Moye, of St. Albans, Queens, was discovered in a Rockville Centre creek on July 20, 1972. Now 74, Cottingham, who claims responsibility for dozens of murders, has confessed to a. My whole life has been this, she said. When arrested, he had handcuffs, a leather gag, two slave collars, a switchblade knife, replica pistols, and a stockpile of prescription pills. Their heads and hands had been cut off. To this day, I dont even think they would have ever said anything. 0000006081 00000 n 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. I knew, he recalled, that was Irene Blase.. Just shy of his 21st birthday, Richard Cottingham began a vicious killing spree that tore through north New Jersey and New York City. Three days later, Mr. Anzilotti walked out of his office for good. They were never able to fully recover from the monumental loss, she said. Richard Cottingham, 74, pleaded guilty Tuesday to murdering Mary Ann Pryor, 17, and Lorraine Marie Kelly, 16, both of North Bergen. But first, he wanted to return to those two murders from 47 years ago. The inmate, with no real incentive to say anything about that crime, had given the chief what amounted to a parting gift. She was believed to have accepted a ride from a stranger, and her body was found on the side of a road near a cemetery. It was pure evil. <<8BD7E4F5B15F3F4A8993EB3A0150F7AC>]>> xb```"WVf~g`0pt 9"~S?``Z V|bG!+N}TzYl@2 `QD2 @DACEDJaOs6x?+[Ihlrt ? She, like members of the other families, agreed to forgo a guilty plea in open court. Cottingham primarily sought prostitutes who were petite blondes in their late teens to mid-twenties. [6] In 2022, Cottingham officially confessed to the 1970 murder of Lorraine McGraw, under a non-prosecution agreement. Trophies like jewellery and other personal items belonging to his victims were taken by him. Ive never seen rain like that, he said. [5][17], The charges listed in Cottingham's New Jersey indictment included kidnapping, attempted murder, aggravated assault, aggravated assault with deadly weapon, aggravated sexual assault while armed (rape), aggravated sexual assault while armed (sodomy), aggravated sexual assault while armed (fellatio), possession of a weapon (switchblade knife), and possession of controlled substances (secobarbital, amobarbital and diazepam). 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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. The year 2020 arrived, and running his office through the coronavirus outbreak kept Mr. Anzilotti too busy for cold cases. In the case of Diane Cusick, it was a drive-in that no longer exists there He remembers the victims characteristics, but he doesnt remember their names.. His search for a killer led him to a man already locked away, in New Jersey State Prison, 75 miles from his office. 2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Mr. Anzilotti insisted that this case be resolved in open court. Hes embarrassed by this case, he said. Cottingham offered to give O'Dell a massage and she rolled onto her stomach. In 2022, Cottingham also confessed to the 1968 murder of Diane Cusick after DNA evidence linked him to the crime. Richard Cottingham seemed like a character from a pulp novel: the crazed killer and the family man. Then he followed with an unusual request. 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. I think it was just an evolution in his killing.. A killing in Somerset County a week after Cottingham got his drivers license may have been one of his first victims, Vronsky said. Other locations that are relatively close to this place. Both men were keenly aware that it was their years-old relationship that had brought about this moment. 0000005280 00000 n He remembers certain aspects of a person, Mr. Anzilotti said. The public in Bergen County deserved to know the outcome of those girls, he said. He rented an apartment in Midtown and told his wife he worked nights. His wife withdrew the petition upon his arrest in May 1980, then completed the divorce after his 1981 conviction. Cottinghams luck began to unravel in early May 1980 when the maid at the Quality Inn found the naked corpse of a handcuffed woman under the bed. I thought he could be responsible for some, Mr. Anzilotti said. Over the months that followed, Mr. Anzilotti cultivated an unusual relationship with Mr. Cottingham, sometimes testy, sometimes closer to a sort of warmth. These objects, along with his fingerprint on the handcuffs, were presented as evidence by prosecutors at his trial. The Google Street View image above was taken in May of 2022. The sergeant was undeterred. When the 40th year since the killings arrived in 2014, the local police asked the public for any new information. Her name was Nancy Schiava Vogel. The 22-year-old's death appeared brutal: she had been beheaded and set on fire and her skull has yet to be found. trailer It was like a game to him, Anzilotti recently said. He married in 1970 and became a father of. God rest their souls," Bergen County Prosecutor's Chief of Detective Robert Anzilotti said Tuesday after Richard Cottingham of Lodi admitted killing both in 1974. . 3. 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. Anzilotti and BCPO subsequently confirmed the "exceptional closures" of these three murders.[13][8]. They captured Cottingham soon after. 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. Neither complainant appeared in further proceedings, however, and the case was dismissed. 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. (1981, June 16). Mr. Anzilotti, doing his best not to betray any emotion, slowly pulled out his Blackberry and took notes. Rodrigo Torrejon may be reached at rtorrejon@njadvancemedia.com. His murders were not the outcome of stalking or planning but of fleeting encounters. Correctional officers found contraband and evidence of bookmaking and transferred Mr. Cottingham to solitary confinement. It could only be Jackie Harp.. [2] Four surviving abduction-rape victims testified against Cottingham; he was convicted in three of the cases and acquitted in one. 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But eventually, their old give-and-take resumed. He would occasionally remove and dispose of his victims heads and hands, presumably to make identification more difficult. On more than one occasion, he would openly talk about his experiences with sex workers. 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. Mr. Cottingham had a vulnerability, the chief realized: After divulging nothing during hours of questioning, hed sometimes loosen up on the drive back to prison, sitting in the back seat and believing the day was done. He drove his car ahead of Harp, pulled over and walked back toward her, Vronsky said. Geberth noted that this was a time before the proliferation of surveillance cameras and the use of computer analysis to establish patterns and share information across jurisdictions. 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. I asked them where they were going. The mall, they replied. Jacalyn "Jackie" Harp, aged 13, was randomly ambushed as she walked home in the evening of July 17, 1968, from school band practice in Midland Park and strangled with the leather strap of her bag. The photographs are ordered from left to right and top to bottom. Richard Cottingham - Wikipedia [22][23] He pleaded guilty in a December court appearance, and also officially admitted killing four other women in Long Island: Mary Beth Heinz,[24] Laverne Moye,[16] Sheila Heiman,[25] and Maria Emerita Rosado Nieves.[26]. And he sat there with literally no remorse. His additional confession to a 1974 murder was discounted by Rockland County police. How it ended was me literally shaking his hand and saying, Thank you, Mr. Anzilotti said. That girl was found drowned, similar to Blases killing, he said. Cottingham has confessed to murdering 12 women. During his trial, he testified that he had been fascinated by bondage since he was a young child. The five victims addressed . 0000000016 00000 n Falasca was walking by the side of the road in Emerson on July 14, 1969, when Cottingham pulled up beside her and offered her a ride. I believe hes killed between 85 and 100, as he claims, Vronsky told The Post. And at the time, it was beyond our capacity to look beyond New York City, he told The Post. Blase was 18 when she was found strangled in Saddle River in 1969. New Jersey 'Torso Killer' pleads guilty to 1968 murder, admits to 4 This is a private property. 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. All these factors created this crucible in the center of Manhattan for Richard Cottingham to flourish.. Retrieved April 2nd, 2007, from Factiva database. Then hed clear the room until only he and Mr. Cottingham faced each another, and begin with his questions. After dismembering Goodarzi, Cottingham lit her torso on fire, along with a second unidentified woman, who was found next to Goodarzi on the same bed. Its Godlike almost. His upcoming sentencing will add more time to a prison term that already extends beyond his remaining years. Eventually, Mr. Cottingham began to loosen up, and he spoke about killing the prostitutes. On April 7, 1969, Cottingham saw Blase, 18, shopping in Hackensack, Vronsky said. Then came Tuesdays pleas. This is possibly due to the fact that he got married in 1970. Among the other faces in separate windows on the Zoom screen was a 66-year-old woman, identified simply as Nancy. 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. Premiering on Dec. 29, the three-part season explores the case of Richard Cottingham, a New Jersey man who was dubbed "The Torso Killer" and found guilty of killing 11 women between 1967 and 1980. I just ruled him out. Years ticked past, 1974 into 1975, into the 1980s, the 1990s. 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. Defense attorney John Bruno recited the details, which the white-bearded, 74-year-old killer acknowledged. Click here to follow Daily Voice Hackensack and receive free news updates. Richard Cottingham's house in Lodi - The Times Square Killer. - Odd Stops What Is 'Torso Killer' Richard Cottingham's Life Like Today? On September 4, 1973, Cottingham was arrested in New York City for robbery, oral sodomy and sexual abuse on the complaint of a prostitute and her pimp. The chief questioned Mr. Cottingham. Torso Killer: Ailing Richard Cottingham Confesses to More Murders Cottingham has been given various nicknames over the years. New Jersey 'Torso Killer' admits he tied up, raped, drowned - PIX11 Rochelle Park & 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. Soon, the chief closed that case two down. He would approach them in bars, drug them with the date rape drug Tuinal, take them to a remote locationtypically a motelwhere he would bind, gag, torture, and stab them before killing them by strangling them with a ligature. 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. [21] Cottingham was apparently "forensically aware" in the era before DNA analysis. Inside they found the bodies of 22-year-old sex worker Deedeh Goodarzi[9] and an unidentified woman estimated between 16 and 22. There were similarities in the two cases: the girls ages, the apparently hasty disposal of their bodies, even their appearance, both with long, dark hair. Instead, she ended up shopping at one of Bergen Countys malls, according to Vronsky. He was imprisoned. 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. I was shocked that one human being was capable of all this carnage, Moye said of Cottingham. 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. No leads were forthcoming. 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. A Detective's Work Ends: Lodi Serial Killer Admits Raping, Drowning 'Crime Scene' reveals true depravity of 'Times Square Killer' The 'Torso Killer' dismembered her mother. So why did this - nj She knew that Mr. Anzilotti had solved Denises killing, too. I just kind of looked at it and touched it and put it in a box where I had some dried flowers for my mother when she passed.. Starting in 2014, Cottingham confidentially admitted to Detective Robert Anzilotti of the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office (BCPO) to being the perpetrator of the murders of three teenage females between 1968 and 1969. 0000003707 00000 n [12] Both bodies had their hands and heads removed, and had been doused with lighter fluid and set on fire. The family lived in Lodi, and Mr. Cottingham commuted to a job as a computer operator at Blue Cross Blue Shield in Manhattan. Therefore, you should be respectful and not step foot on the property without permission. Look her up, she looks like her. Others he remembered from a haircut.. A maid heard the teenagers guttural screams and called police. 'Torso Killer' Richard Cottingham admits drowning North Bergen girls After the hearing, the cameras off, Mr. Anzilotti approached Mr. Cottingham. 0000002847 00000 n As he moved through Midtown undetected, Cottingham, a successful computer operator at Blue Cross Blue Shield in Manhattan, was also committing sadistic sexual assault and sometimes murder at the Quality Inn, a motel in Hasbrouck Heights, NJ. Hes hedged around and all but confessed.. Their murders shook the region. This story has been shared 151,197 times. View Richard Cottingham's record in Manchester, NJ including current phone number, address, relatives, background check report, and property record with Whitepages. 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. After his wife filed for divorce in April of 1979, it seems as though his killings became far more frequent. Richard Cottingham was born in 1946 and grew up largely in New Jersey.

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