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hello everyone and welcome back to another True Crime Mysteries video thank you all for being
here today we're discussing the Torso killer a prolific serial killer who was recently confessed
to several additional murders closing a slew of cold cases from the New Jersey area in the
1960s to 1980s let's get into it on May 22 1980 police were called to the Quality Inn motel in
house Brook Heights after a housekeeper reported hearing screams coming from room 117 when police
arrived the apprehended and arrested a man fleeing the motel he was carrying a fake gun a switchblade
in his pocket and a bag that had several pairs of handcuffs prescription pills a ball gag and
other bondage items when they got to the room they found a young woman handcuffed around the ankles
bitten bruised and bleeding the man was Richard Cottingham 33 years old at the time of his arrest
he was charged with kidnapping attempted murder aggravated assault with a deadly weapon aggravated
sexual assault while armed possession of a weapon and possession of Controlled Substances he had a
350 000 bail set and he never made bail the young woman was revealed to be Leslie Ann o'dow she was
an 18 year old runaway who had been working as a sex worker in Manhattan a few days before
Cunningham had picked her up and taken her to New Jersey she was tortured and sexually assaulted and
she started screaming when she thought her life was about to end she would later testify that he
quote said you have to take it the other girls did you have to too you're a [ __ ] and you have
to be punished after his arrest police went to the home he rented in Lodi New Jersey which he shared
with his wife and three children there they found a room he locked from his family in this room was
jewelry and clothing from several women other items were also found in his car authorities
started to take a look at Cunningham for other crimes Richard Cottingham was born November
25th 1946 in the Bronx New York his family later moved to New Jersey he graduated high school from
pascot Valley High School in Hillsdale New Jersey after graduation he worked at Metropolitan Life he
started in the mail room but after taking some computer courses he became a computer operator
in 1966 he left that job to become a computer operator for Blue Cross Blue Shield Association
he was still working there when he was arrested in 1980. he lived with his parents until they
moved away and he got married he was known to be seen helping his mother around the house
on May 3rd 1970 he married his wife Janet and they had three children together in 1978 his
wife filed for divorce and the divorce records his wife alleged that he had started leaving
the family without the necessary funds for Essentials that he would come home in the early
hours of the morning he was known to frequent a swingers club in New York called Pluto's retreat
she removed the petition for divorce when he was arrested in 1980 but they did get
divorced after his 1981 conviction during the investigation they were able to tie Cottingham
to a murder that had occurred in the same Motel on May 5th 1980. 17 days before he was arrested
the victim valer Street was a 19 year old sex worker who was found under the bed by
housekeeping in one of the motel rooms she'd been naked handcuffed behind her back Belair had been
strangled to death they found a fingerprint on the Handcuff that was matched to Cunningham this would
start authorities down the path of discovering a serial killer in the next few months other
authorities as well as New Jersey police would tie Cottingham to some horrific crimes in the
months following his arrest he would be tied to another murder that occurred at the Quality Inn
motel in Hasbrouck Heights on December 15 1977 26 year old Mary Ann Carr an x-ray technician who had
just celebrated her first wedding anniversary a few months earlier was found by a fence in the
parking lot outside the motel she was found with a ligature still around her neck with evidence she
had been restrained with What Might Have Been handcuffs and had tape residue over her mouth
she had small cuts and bite marks all over her body she had last been seen at her apartment
in Little Ferry New Jersey an apartment complex that Cottingham had lived in a few years earlier
with his wife her apartment key was found in the lock box of trophies found in cottingham's home
in New York you'd be charged with the murders of three sex workers at two different crime scenes
on December 2nd 1979 firefighters were called to a Travel Inn hotel near Times Square with
reports of a room being on fire when they arrived they discovered two bodies in the
rubble when the blaze had been extinguished they discovered two bodies that had been set on fire
their hands and heads had been removed and were never recovered after the fire had been put out
authorities found some of the women's clothes folded neatly in the bathtub they'd use these
clothes and put them on mannequins from a nearby department store so they could hopefully use them
to identify the women from the fire they would eventually identify one of the victims as 22
year old Didi kadazi the other victim believed to be around the age of 16 has never been identified
this killer was given the moniker the Torso killer on May 15 1980 the body of 25 year old Jean Raynor
was found in New York civil Hotel her breasts were removed and put on the headboard and the
mattress was set on fire Gene was working as a sex worker at the time to pay for a lengthy
child custody battle with her ex-husband for a time before DNA evidence Cottingham seemed to
be very thorough in cleaning crime scenes leaving little to no evidence of himself
on June 12 1981 Cottingham was convicted in New Jersey for the murder of valare Street in that
same court case he was charged with the kidnapping and sexual assault of four other women all had
survived various attacks they even testified at the trial this included the attack on Leslie
annotel he'd been convicted of three and acquitted of one on October 12 1982 he was convicted in the
murder of Marianne Carr in 1984 New York authorities extradited him for trial where
he was convicted on July 9 1984 for the murders of Didi godazi and the unknown victim and Gene Raynor
he would serve his nearly 200-year sentence in New Jersey state prison over the next three decades
detectives would visit Cottingham often asking him about unsolved cold cases and always leaving out
critical details of the crimes from Cunningham in 2010 their persistence would finally pay off one
of the detectives was detective Robert ancelotti who interviewed Cottingham over and over for 15
years he would eventually get confessions that will lead to the closing of several
cases Cottingham never seemed to know the names of his victims but remembered details of the crimes
in August 2010 Cottingham confessed and was convicted of the murder of Nancy Vogel in his
confession he gave details only the murderer would know Nancy Vogel was 29 years old and was killed
on October 28 1967. she was found in her car naked with her hands tied in front of her with
her clothes neatly folded underneath her she'd been beaten strangled and sexually assaulted her
husband had reported her missing after she'd not come home she had told her husband that she was
gonna go play bingo at the church in Little Ferry New Jersey Nancy's cottingham's first known victim
he would have only been 20 when she was killed and he was still living with his parents at the time
in 2014 Cottingham confessed to anselotti two more murders he committed again giving details
only the killer would know first was 18 year old Irene Blaze who was found strangled in April 1969
in the Saddle River in Hackensack New Jersey she had vanished from her home the second was 15 year
old Denise velasca who was abducted while walking to a friend's house in Emerson New Jersey she was
found strangled on the side of the road near a cemetery in Saddlebrook New Jersey in 2017
he confessed to killing 13-year-old Jacqueline harp in July 1968. while she was walking home
at night after a band practice in Midland Park New Jersey she had been strangled with her bag
though these were official confessions they were never taken to trial and Cottingham was not
convicted of these murders the families had agreed that he was already living his life in prison and
it was unnecessary now that they had answers the facts of this however did not come to light
until 2020 and the cases were officially closed in 2017 Cunningham would get another visitor Jennifer
Weiss the daughter of Didi godazi who had been given up for adoption and had gone looking for
her mother only to find out in 2002 that her mother had been killed in such a horrific way
she had started writing to Cottingham and she had decided she would try to be his friend and wanted
information about her mother and where he had put her head she figured the best way to earn
his trust was to become his friend and in 2017 she met him face to face after writing to him white
said that she asked how he knew her mother in that first meeting Jennifer has continued to visit him
and they have become friends Weiss has talked at length about how Cottingham should confess before
it's too late on March 2021 detective ancelotti informed Cottingham that he was retiring and
wanted him to give information on one last case before he did it went back and forth but on April
14 2021 in a recorded interview Cottingham went into detail about the murders of two young women
he even remembered their names when asked why he remembered their names he said because I
was with them for a couple of days according to the transcript he also said he got to know them
Lorraine Kelly was 16 and Mary Ann Pryor was 17. Cottingham had abducted them in Montville
while they were on their way to the mall he drove them to a motel and held them for two
days sexually assaulting them before he drowned them in a bathtub he gave detailed accounts of
what he did to the girls and the exact location where their bodies would be left in the woods
on October 27 2021 he confessed to a judge and was convicted for the murders in August of 2022
New York officials accepted and corroborated a confession that he had beaten and killed 26 year
old Lorraine McGraw on March 1st 1970. in June 2022 DNA evidence entered by the Nassau County
police on a 54 year old Cold Case got a hit for Cottingham his DNA had been entered into
Federal databases during his 2010 conviction the Cold Case was that of Diane Cusack a 23 year old
who was killed on February 15 1968. she was a dance teacher who had just finished class and
was going to Long Island mall to buy new dance shoes she was found in her car strangled this
is the only case so far that has been tied to Cunningham through DNA after the Nassau County
Police interviewed Cunningham about other cold cases in the area after a thorough comparison of
facts and evidenced his confessions they were able to connect him to four other cold cases
Mary Beth Hines 21 was found in a Creek in Long Island on May 20th 1972 she had been strangled
Laverne Moy 23 was a mother of two she was found in the same creeks strangled on July 20th 1972
Sheila Hyman 33 a mother of three was found by her husband in the Long Island home on July 20th
1973 her cause of death was blunt force trauma her children were at summer camp at the time for
years her husband had been the prime suspect lastly was 18 year old Maria Neves she was
killed on December 27 1973 she was found with her hands tied behind her back and wrapped in plastic
on December 5th 2022 from his prison hospital bed Richard Cottingham was convicted of the murder of
Diane Cusack and he had made a non-prosecution agreement for the other four murders he was
sentenced to 25 years running concurrently with the 179 years he is currently serving for his
past crimes rich in Cottingham now 76 years old had been known as the Torso killer and has
been behind bars since his 1980 arrest he's been convicted or officially confessed to 17 murders
of women and he might still have more victims he has in past interviews stated that he's killed
between 85 to 100 women he will die in prison for his horrific crimes that spanned 13 years
well that's going to be it for this video thank you so much for sticking around to the end as
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