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Between 1967 and 1980, Richard Cottingham, dubbed the Times Square Killer or the Torso Killer, is known to have s*xually assaulted, tortured, and killed at least 16 girls and young women. Many of them were s*x workers in New York and New Jersey. Some of his victims were found savagely dismembered and decapitated, then set on fire, while others were found strangled.
Cottingham was first convicted in 1981 and received a sentence of 173 to 197 years in prison. Over the years, the convicted serial killer confessed to multiple other killings. Last December, he pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in the 1968 murder of Diane Susick and confessed to four other killings from the early 70s.
The Times Square Killer's crimes are set to feature on ID's Very Scary People this Sunday, May 7, at 9 pm ET. The all-new episode will delve into all details from over the decades and recent updates from the serial killer's case.
The Times Square Killer case: How he was arrested, and 4 other facts about Richard Cottingham's murders
1) The murders started in 1967 in New Jersey and continued for 13 years
Richard Cottingham, a father of three and insurance worker, stalked at least 16 young women and girls over the course of 13 years, drowning, strangling, r*ping, and dismembering them. The youngest victim was 13 years old, and the oldest was 29.
The Times Square Killer's murderous rampage began in 1967 with the killing of Nancy Vogel, a married mother-of-two from Little Ferry, New Jersey, who was 29 years old. Vogel left her home to play bingo with friends, but never returned home.
Locals assume that because Vogel and Cottingham both resided in Little Ferry, they presumably knew one another. Nearly 30 years after his conviction, in 2010, the serial murderer acknowledged murdering Vogel and several other women.
2) The Times Square Killer was arrested in May 1980 from a hotel
Following his arrest on May 22, 1980, Richard Cottingham earned the moniker Times Square Killer for killing s*x workers and setting their severed bodies ablaze.
That day, a housekeeper at a hotel in the Garden State reported hearing a woman screaming from one of the rooms, which led to his arrest. Cottingham's vicious assault on the victim was interrupted by a security officer just in time for police to arrive and arrest him.
3) Cottingham was tried several times in the early 80s, throughout which he maintained innocence
Richard Cottingham was found guilty of five murders in the early 1980s. Two of these convictions occurred in separate trials in New Jersey in 1981 and 1982 and the third one in a single New York trial in 1984. He is believed to have committed at least 16 killings during a thirteen-year span, although only one fingerprint evidence has ever been found.
Four surviving victims' testimonies, pieces of their jewelry, additional items discovered in his possession after his arrest, as well as a case based on his "signature pattern" were used to build the prosecution's case against him. He maintained his innocence and claimed for many years that he was being "framed" before finally confessing in 2009.
4) His confessions started in 2010 and have continued over the years
In 2010, the Times Square Killer confessed to killing Nancy Vogel in 1967. Then, in exchange for immunity from legal action, he admitted to killing three schoolgirls in New Jersey.
He entered a guilty plea in 2021 for the kidnapping, r*pe, and drowning of Lorraine Marie Kelly and Mary Ann Pryor in 1974. A non-prosecution agreement allowed Cottingham to publicly admit in 2022 that he had killed Lorraine McGraw in 1970.
5) The Times Square Killer recently pleaded guilty in another murder and confessed to four more
Cottingham was charged from his prison hospital bed in 2022 for the 1968 murder of Diane Cusick in Long Island, New York. He pleaded guilty last December to one count of second-degree murder, receiving a 25-year term while already serving life in a New Jersey state prison.
He also admitted to killing four other women in Long Island, namely Mary Beth Heinz, Laverne Moye, Sheila Heiman, and Maria Emerita Rosado Nieves, in the 70s.
Learn more about the convicted serial killer on ID's Very Scary People.
