Richard Cottingham, also known as the Times Square Killer or the Torso Killer, who was initially convicted of five murders in 1981 according to CNN, and received multiple life sentences, has admitted to numerous additional homicides he perpetrated between 1967 and 1980 in various locations in New Jersey and New York. The list of Richard Cottingham’s victims appears to be never-ending.
The girls and young women, aged 16 and younger, have been identified as his victims. However, he was not prosecuted for these four killings as part of a plea deal. Additionally, he confessed to the murders of four other young women from the 1970s. Recently, it was reported by The Sun US that Cottingham pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in the 1968 killing of Diane Cusick. He is now sentenced to 25 years in prison.
According to the New York Post, Richard Cottingham admitted last December while he was incarcerated for life at the South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton, New Jersey.
Donnie Wahlberg, the host of ID’s Very Scary People, is scheduled to revisit Cottingham’s crimes in a new episode titled “The Square Time” airing at 9:00 pm ET on Sunday, May 7th.
In the initial 1970s, he furthermore confessed to the slaying of four other females. Diane Cusick, a 23-year-old ballet instructor who was discovered strangled to demise in her vehicle outside a Long Island, New York shopping center, was killed in 1968. Richard Cottingham, nicknamed the Times Square Killer or the Torso Killer, a condemned serial murderer who has been incarcerated for numerous life terms since 1981, acknowledged responsibility for the assassination of Diane Cusick on December 5, 2022.
Inmate, a 76-year-old serial killer, is currently in Prison State Woods South in Bridgeton, New Jersey. He was sentenced to 25 years to life by a judge and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. According to ABC News, he went to Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, New York, to purchase dance shoes, which led to the DNA testing that implicated Cottingham in Cusick’s killing.
Nieves Rosado, Emerita Maria, and four other women, namely Cottingham, Moye Laverne, Heiman Sheila, and Heinz Beth Mary, have admitted to murdering. However, he was not prosecuted for the killings as part of the plea agreement because he is already serving life in prison for previous murder convictions in New Jersey and New York.
How was Richard Cottingham arrested in 1980?
Richard Cottingham, a father of three and insurance worker, stalked his female victims – the youngest being 13 and the oldest aged 29 – for 13 years, resulting in the drowning, strangulation, r*pe, and dismemberment of at least 16 young women and girls.
In one of the chambers, a maid at a Garden State motel heard the cries of a woman, leading to the arrest of a man. By the time Cottingham was apprehended in 1980, he had gained notoriety as the Times Square Killer, known for brutally murdering s*x workers and burning their beheaded corpses.
Throughout his tenure, he initially boasted about having perpetrated over 100 homicides. Cottingham has served over half of his life behind bars for these killings and has offered no rationale for his violent rampage. Cottingham, known as The Torso Killer in the tabloids, also adopted this moniker. Just as the police were about to apprehend him, a security guard intervened and halted Cottingham’s brutal attack on the victim.
Tune in to a brand new installment of ID’s Very Scary Individuals this Sunday at 9:00 pm ET.