Real Crime Stories/Paranormal Hauntings/Conspiracy Theories Book II

The Torso Killer: Richard Francis Cottingham

Richard Francis Cottingham (bornNovember 25, 1946) is an American serial killer from New Jerseyoperating in New York between 1967 and 1980. He was nicknamed TheTorso Killer due to his habit of dismembering his victims, usuallyleaving nothing but a torso behind. He was eventually convicted ofmurder in 1981, after being caught fleeing an attempted murder.Officially, Cottingham killed nine people, but he claims between 85and 100 murders. Cottingham is incarcerated in New Jersey StatePrison in Trenton, New Jersey.

Early life and education

Cottingham was born Richard FrancisCottingham on November 25, 1946, in The Bronx, New York City, thefirst of three children. In 1958, when Richard was 12, his familymoved to River Vale, New Jersey. In 1964, Cottingham graduated fromPascack Valley High School, in Hillsdale, New Jersey.

After graduating, he worked for hisfather at Metropolitan Life Insurance Company until 1966 as acomputer operator, while taking computer courses.

Career

Cottingham was a computer operator, anda well-liked employee at Blue Cross Blue Shield Association in NewYork from 1966 until his arrest.

Marriage and children

On May 3, 1970, Richard married hiswife Janet at Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Queens Village, New York.

First arrest and subsequent minoroffenses

Cottingham was arrested for severalminor charges throughout his killing spree; the police were not awareof his murders at the time.

On October 3, 1969, he was charged andconvicted of intoxicated driving in New York City, and sentenced to10 days in jail & a $50 fine.

On August 21, 1972, Cottingham wascharged and convicted of shoplifting at Stern's Department Store inParamus, New Jersey and was sentenced to pay a $50 fine.

Killing spree

Cottingham's first known murder was the1967 slaying of Nancy Schiava Vogel. The 29-year-old married motherof two was strangled, and her nude, bound body was found in her carin nearby Ridgefield Park, New Jersey. She had last been seen threedays earlier, when she left home to play bingo with friends at alocal church.

On December 2, 1979, firemen in NewYork responded to an alarm at a hotel near Times Square. When theyforced their way inside and put the fire out they found two corpses.Both bodies had their hands and heads removed. They had been dousedwith lighter fluid and set alight. The missing body parts were neverfound.

One victim was identified as DeedehGoodarzi, 22, an immigrant from Kuwait who was working as a sexworker. The other corpse was never identified. Homicide detectiveslinked the murder with that of the murder of teenager Helen Sikes whohad gone missing from Times Square in January 1979.

On May 5, 1980, police found the bodyof nineteen-year-old Valerie Ann Street in a Quality Inn in HasbrouckHeights, New Jersey. The victim's hands were tightly handcuffedbehind her back. She was covered in bite marks and was beaten acrossthe shins. Street had died of asphyxiation and traces of adhesivetape were found on her mouth. This murder was linked to an earliermurder in the same motel.

Twenty-six-year-old radiologist MaryannCarr was also found brutally beaten near the same hotel, but policecould not positively link the crimes. On May 15, Jean Reyner wasstabbed to death in the historic Seville Hotel.

In 2020, Cottingham admitted to killingan additional three women (Jacalyn Harp, of Midland Park; IreneBlase, of Bogota; and Denise Falasco, of Closter, all of whom werestrangled in the late 1960s).

Arrest

On May 22, 1980, Cottingham picked upeighteen-year-old Leslie Ann O'Dell, who was soliciting on thecorner of Lexington Avenue and 25th Street. At some point she agreedto have sex with him for $100. Around dawn, they checked into thesame Hasbrouck Heights Quality Inn where he had left his lastmutilated victim. Cottingham offered to give the girl a massage andshe rolled over onto her stomach. Straddling her back, he drew aknife and put it to her throat as he snapped a pair of handcuffs onher wrists.

He began torturing her, nearly bitingoff one of her nipples. She later testified that he said, "Youhave to take it. The other girls did, you have to take it too. You'rea whore and you have to be punished." The charges listed inCottingham's New Jersey indictment included kidnapping, attemptedmurder, aggravated assault, aggravated assault with deadly weapon,aggravated sexual assault while armed (rape), aggravated sexualassault while armed (sodomy), aggravated sexual assault while armed(fellatio), possession of a weapon, possession of controlleddangerous substances, Secobarbital and Amobarbital, or Tuinal, andpossession of controlled dangerous substance, Diazepam or Valium.

O'Dell's muffled cries of painbecame so loud that the motel staff, already spooked by the murdereighteen days earlier, called police and then rushed to the roomdemanding that Cottingham open the door. Cottingham was apprehendedby arriving police officers in the hallway. When arrested he hadhandcuffs, a leather gag, two slave collars, a switchblade, replicapistols and a stockpile of prescription pills. At his house he had atrophy room where he kept personal effects from some of his victims.

Trials

A strong case was built againstCottingham due to the testimony of three surviving victims. He waseventually found guilty of murdering Valerie Streets, drawing asentence of 173 to 197 years in prison. In two following trials hewas found guilty of four second degree murders.