However, he spent a lot of his time looking for sex workers in Times Square. Together, they built a site called NewJerseyGirlMurders.com, where they map out cold cases across the state, which they then bring to Cottingham in hopes of jogging his memory. Richard's wife filed for divorce in 1979, after years of affairs, but it was never finalized. He doesnt want to deal with the public. [5][18], 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). Cottingham also attempted to kill four other women during that time and has claimed to have killed people in Florida, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Baltimore. Cottingham abducted the girls while they were on their way to shop for bathing suits at the Paramus Mall, took them to a hotel, and, after raping them, drowned them in the bathtub. (Spoiler alert: He later confessed to many more crimes.). Still, Weiss pain is evident when she discusses her mother especially in a picture Vronsky shared with, in which she listens as Cottingham describes how he removed Goodarzis head. On December 2, 1979, he dismembered and decapitated two victims at a Hells Kitchen motel near Times Square on W. 42nd Street and Tenth Avenue. . After failing to return home from a trip to buy shoes at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, New York,[9] 23-year-old Diane Cusick was found raped, beaten, and strangled to death in the back seat of her car, parked near the mall. He has deep regrets. Denise Ramsey has been married to Bill Whittemore since 2011. [5] On May 15, 1980, Jean Reyner was strangled and her throat cut in New York's historic Seville Hotel. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of theTerms and Conditions. we respect your privacy and take protecting it seriously, Richard Francis Cottingham | Serial Killer, Incarcerated at the New Jersey State Prison. The same day, the serial killer, who is currently serving a life sentence, received an additional 25 years to life for the murder of Diane Cusick of Nassau County, New York. In May 1981, Cottingham was convicted on fifteen felony counts related to the murder of Valerie Street, drawing a sentence of 173 to 197 years in prison. After all, he initially did not want to confess to any offense because he did not wish his three children to view him in a monstrous light despite the fact he was already behind bars. His additional confession to a 1974 murder was discounted by Rockland County police. He comes from the golden age of serial murderers. If it was up to me, I would rather close the chapter. 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. In his initial letter to Weiss in 2017 in between apologizing for what he did to Goodarzi and exclaiming over the wonders of prison-communication service JPay he tells her: I cant get you out of my head, girl. To Rolling Stone, he writes: Jen is generous, wild, brave, beautiful and very vulnerable, like a bird with an injured wing. Its evident in the way he signs his emails Richie after more than one missive, and in how he pits everyone against each other in his interview answers. Jennifer Weiss says her life came full-circle in a massive, dreary building in Trenton, New Jersey. ]]> It was his interactions with New Jerseys infamous murderer Richard Leonard Kuklinski (a.k.a. When Vronsky exited the elevator, leaving the man behind, he walked into a hotel peppered with ash and a smell he describes as burning chicken feathers. We want to hear it. We will always work tirelessly until we can provide both justice and closure for her and her family., What everyone can agree on, however, is that if these confessions are going to happen, they need to happen fast. Although Richard Francis Cottingham was born as the first of four children in New York in 1946, the family relocated to River Vale, New Jersey, when he was about 12 years old. Tuh. 'It Is Easy for a Person to Disappear': Accused Murderer Suggests Missing Wife Ran Away Richard Cottingham, convicted of murdering prostitute and . And the birth certificate reads Ghaniya Jaqualine Roberts, Jaqualine being another of Goodarzis aliases. 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. On December 2, 1979, fireman in New York responded to an alarm at a shitty little hotel near Times Square. The murder remained unsolved until Cottingham confessed and entered a guilty plea in August 2010. A+E Networks EMEA Expands its FAST Footprint with Amagi, A+E NETWORKS EMEA AND BBC STUDIOS TO MAKE PODCAST-INSPIRED TV SERIES EVIL GENIUS WITH AWARD-WINNING COMEDIAN AND PODCASTER RUSSELL KANE FOR SKY HISTORY, A+E NETWORKS EMEA ANNOUNCES BRAND REFRESH FOR THE HISTORY CHANNEL ACROSS EMEA, COSMO earns three awards at the Promax Global Excellence Awards. Anzilotti is loath to say it, but he had to make Cottingham feel like a human in order to get him to spill. [4][5], After his graduation, Cottingham worked for Metropolitan Life, where his father was a vice-president, starting in the mail room at the firm's Manhattan headquarters and eventually became a mainframe computer operator upon taking computer courses. Trophies like jewellery and other personal items belonging to his victims were taken by him. (Weiss told Rolling Stone the location, but asked us not to print it lest amateur sleuths tamper with the scene.). So that made them important to me., If you ask Cottingham about his relationship with Anzilotti, hell give it to you straight: He respects the former cop, but hes in charge of what he chooses to reveal. He lived with his wife and kids in Lodi, NJabout 30 minutes outside of Manhattan, where Cottingham commuted to work as a computer operator at Blue Cross Blue Shield. The dismemberment of his niece left everyone puzzled. Still, she counters with a wry smile: Who would want to be the daughter of a beheaded prostitute? And theres no denying the physical similarities between Goodarzi and Weiss: flowing dark hair, striking brows, a distinctive, strong nose. With our diverse line-up of original, high-quality programming, our distribution partners across EMEA recognise the benefits of offering A+E Networks EMEA's distinctive, high quality brands on their platforms and services. On the other hand, it was once reported that Janet and the three children relocated to Poughkeepsie, New York, in mid-1980, and we believe they are still alive today. In a series of trials between 1981 and 1984, Cottingham was convicted of five murders and sentenced to hundreds of years in prison; he pleaded innocent to all with the hope that his family might believe him. 0000001968 00000 n This murder was linked to an earlier murder in the same motel. Janet Cottingham has remained low-key and out of the spotlight after testifying against her then-partner, Richard Cottingham. The couples divorce was seemingly finalized in 1981, and all of them have preferred to maintain a low profile since then. But beneath the veneer of normalcy was a heinous double-existence as a serial killer. WickedWe is reader supported, some products displayed may earn us a commission if you purchase through our links. Genealogy for Richard Cottingham (c.1794 - d.) family tree on Geni, with over 230 million profiles of ancestors and living relatives. Richard Francis Cottingham "The Torso Killer" Information researched and summarized by Jacklyn Cowin, Jenna Leonette, and The Phan . The second of the two serial killers discussed here was born Richard Francis Cottingham on 25 November 1946 at 4:50 pm local time, in the Bronx, New York. Richard Francis Cottingham is an American serial killer and rapist born on November 25, 1946, in New York City, United States. WjgF\A9Ro9r/;l5Gh3h}NG2L -S$B{s"=z{ 0EaSe,&@yJQ>`n; ;dj7n (~>*}fEx*\W]xvpt]/k"0JTj4%`G?t$8I@FmYkr(_5_+ jfbXP{]~&I6"%}\STHD Ld2=ENhk$)HESdX,g o+IkRC~eC1 dm"GZBDM7~K&'/9"[{$AXH'my K3nVxb;X)oxeHME~> His earliest recorded confession was in the late Sixties, but Vronsky says Cottingham claims to have been murdering women since he was in his teens in New Jersey, when he was a high school athlete with slicked-back blond hair and a hard smile. Jacqueline Tempera is an award-winning writer and reporter living in New Jersey with her many pets. %PDF-1.4 % 29 Vreeland St. Lori, N.J. At 23, Weiss reached out to that adoption agency in Trenton to get access to her files and her original birth certificate. 0000003107 00000 n As of now, there is no news about Janet, as she seems to be living a very private life. 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. When arrested, he had handcuffs, a leather gag, two slave collars, a switchblade knife, replica pistols, and a stockpile of prescription pills. The divorce affidavits further alleged that Cottingham was an habitual, patron of gay bars and homosexual spas in Manhattan. Even with me, its literally just a game. Janet Cottingham is well known as the wife of Killer Richard Cottingham. On December 5, 2022 Cottingham admitted he also killed five women on Long Island in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Richard Cottingham girlfriend, wife list. Thats not how law enforcement takes a confession, he says. It became clear to me that Jennifer and Peter were both important to Richard. He spent his childhood in Tolaha Bay of New Zealand befo Dave Ramsey daughter Denise Ramsey is 39 years old(1983). Plus, his mother and sister claimed the mafia framed him for each murder because of his loan sharking. Information and news about serial killers. He still doesn't understand why he did these things. We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back. Jackman andDeborra-Lee Furness are 54 and 67 years old, respectively. They had been doused with lighter fluid and set alight. He has since been convicted of several more following his own confessions. We offer a range of benefits such as a generous pension plan, life assurance and holiday allowance, and there are useful local perks in various offices, and summer Fridays across the whole company. In the end, I think that he and I have a very, very different relationship than he has with the two of them, he adds. 0000003183 00000 n Richard Francis Cottingham was born on the 25 th of November 1946, in New York. Close these cases. 0000001412 00000 n In April 1980, Cottingham's wife had filed for divorce, charging him with "extreme cruelty" and refusal to engage in marital sex since late 1976. . He severely bit, scraped, and cut their bodies, at times removing flesh, and other forms of torture. He began torturing her, nearly biting off one of her nipples. If they can get more confessions out of him, Ive always supported Peter and Jennifer in that regard. Shane sisters are Kait Gillis and Sarah Gillis. Richard in his prison issue clothes & Peter Doyne, junior Fans are now speculating if she has plastic surgery. Still, she was the one to break the news to Deedehs extended family about her death, according to Deedehs cousin, Mehrdad Goudarzi. On May 5, 1980, police found another prostitute, Valerie Streets, dead in a motel room. Like many murderers, he was the picture of boring normalcy on the surface, but in between work and family life, he was a frequent patron of Times Squares sex clubs and bars, where he would hunt his victims. But when I got there, they gave me all those horrific newspaper articles. The articles, she claims, were compiled by a case worker who recognized Goodarzi, and all detailed with Deedehs, That year, Weiss wrote a letter to Cottingham, intending to answer one question: What had happened to her mothers head? 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. He also rented an apartment in the city, according to the Times, and told his wife he worked nights. Love & Death Boasts a Delightfully Gonzo Elizabeth Olsen and Little Else. Image Credit: The Courtroom Sketches of Ida Libby Dengrove, University of Virginia Law Library. Where is Janet Cottingham now, the wife of USA one of the most dangerous serial killers Richard Cottingham? 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Cottingham killed her in February 1968. Cottingham, now 75 years old, is still incarcerated at Trenton's New Jersey State Prison. His killing of young women started early the next year. In 1969, he was convicted of drunken driving and was sentenced to a $50 fine and 10 days in jail. Richard Francis Cottingham (born November 25, 1946) is an American serial killer from New Jersey operating in New York between 1967 and 1980. . The anguish is palpable. The couple then settled down in New Jersey and had three kids together; Blair (1973), Scott (1975), and Jenny (1976). trailer Cottingham was accused of stealing at Stern's Department Store in Paramus, New Jersey, and was forced to pay a $50 fine on August 21, 1972. In an old photo, dark-haired Jennifer grins between her fairer parents, bangs teased high, teal dress puffy. Previously she heard he frequented gay bars and had an affair with Barbara Lukas, it lasted for two years and . [7] On October 28, 1967, he strangled Nancy Schiava Vogel, a 29-year-old married mother of two, in Little Ferry, New Jersey. . Weiss wanted the cops to let Cottingham have more agency in the search (she claims he wasnt allowed to freely wander the scene, which Anzilotti denies); Vronsky wanted special dogs used in archeological digs. We may, at no cost to you, receive a commission for purchases made through these links. He has a weird pride in me., Cottingham, in the end, splits the difference: In our negotiations, Rob, and I were always close to an agreement but never able to reach a final understanding that was agreeable to both of us. When we were done, I was walking him out and he literally leaned over to me and said, Youll never get me to do this again., It took two years to get Cottingham back on track, according to Anzilotti, who endured hours of poker games with the serial killer featuring his favorite pizza from nearby Dumont. Hes able to recall details only police would know, after all. 0000007658 00000 n //-->la county emt recertification application,