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Richard Cottingham, who has been dubbed the Times Square Killer and the Torso Killer, has drowned, strangled, r*ped, and dismembered at least 16 young women and girls in areas of New York and New Jersey between 1967 and 1980.
In December 2022, Cottingham, 76, confessed to five additional cold-case killings in a New York court while already serving a life sentence without parole in a New Jersey state prison for killing six women since 1981. He pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder for the killing of Diane Cusick, which took place in 1968, and was sentenced to 25 years to life, as per CNN.
Reports state that the former computer programmer and father-of-three also admitted that he murdered four other women, namely Mary Beth Heinz, Laverne Moye, Sheila Heiman, and Maria Emerita Rosado Nieves, decades ago. However, as part of a plea agreement, the serial killer will not be prosecuted for these four killings
An upcoming episode of Very Scary People hosted by Donnie Wahlberg will revisit the Times Square Killer's crimes this Sunday, May 7. The episode will air on ID at 9:00 pm ET.
Nancy Vogel and 15 other alleged victims of Richard Cottingham aka the Times Square Killer
Richard Cottingham aka the Times Square Killer targeted young women and girls whose lives were tragically cut short between 1967 to 1980. Most of these victims were s*x workers in and around the Times Square Area in New York and also operated in New Jersey. Cottingham was arrested in 1980 and this finally put an end to his killing streak. He reportedly claimed responsibility for up to 100 murders.
Here's a list of the 16 killings Cottingham has pleaded guilty to.
Nancy Vogel
The Times Square Killer's killing spree began in 1967 with the murder of Nancy Vogel, a 29-year-old married woman, and mother-of-two residing in Little Ferry, New Jersey. Three days before she was killed, Vogel went to play bingo with her friends but never returned home.
Although it remains unclear how and when the killer encountered her, people from the area believe that Vogel and Cottingham likely knew each other since they both lived in Little Ferry.
In 2010, nearly 30 years after he was sentenced, the serial killer admitted to killing Vogel and multiple other women.
Irene Blase, Denise Falasca, and Jacalyn Harp
Three of Richard Cottingham's victims—Irene Blase, Denise Falasca, and Jacalyn Harp—were in their teens when he strangled them to death between 1968 and 1969. He eventually confessed to their murders decades later.
When Cottingham killed Harp in 1968, she was only 13 years old. As per the New York Times, she was kidnapped while walking home from her school's drum and bugle corps practice. Living with her mother in Bogota, New Jersey, Blase was 18 years old when she was killed in 1969. She was last seen alive at the nearby Hackensack bus station.
Falasca, 15, who was also from New Jersey, was murdered just a few months after Blase when she accepted a ride from Cottingham.
Lorraine Marie Kelly and Mary Ann Pryor
Both Lorraine Marie Kelly, 16, and Mary Ann Pryor, 17, were killed in 1974 while living in New Jersey. Witnesses reported having seen them at the bus stop a few days prior to the bodies being found.
After years of speaking with the Times Square Killer while he was in prison and earning his confidence, Detective Robert Anzilotti, who took over their case in 2000, linked the girls' murders to him.
Maryann Carr
In 1977, the Times Square Killer kidnapped another victim, Maryann Carr, then 26, from in front of her apartment complex. Carr worked as an X-ray technician before her murder, fulfilling her high school dream.
Deedeh Goodarzi and Jane Doe
Deedeh Goodarzi is likely the most recognized victim of the Times Square Killer because of her daughter, Jennifer Weiss. Jennifer is known for her recent efforts to bring more of Cottingham's crimes to light by winning his trust via regular prison visits. Cottingham confessed to multiple murders as a result of his trust in Weiss.
Goodarzi, a 22-year-old Iranian immigrant traveling to New York from New Jersey, was murdered in 1979. Another woman murdered alongside Goodarzi remains unidentified to date. The victim was only 16 at the time and was initially believed to be Helen Sikes, a young s*x worker who went missing earlier that year. As per a report by Netflix, Sikes' murder is still unsolved and Jane Doe remains unidentified.
Valerie Ann Street and Jean Reyner
When Valerie Ann Street arrived in New York from Florida, she was between the ages of 18 and 19. She had only been a s*x worker in New York for a short period of time when she met Cottingham. He took her to one of his murder locations, a Quality Inn in New Jersey, in 1980.
Jean Reyner, another s*x worker, was killed at the age of 25 and very little is known about her and her life.
Diane Cusick, Mary Beth Heinz, Laverne Moye, Sheila Heiman, and Maria Emerita Rosado Nieves
Very recently in December 2022, the Times Square Killer pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in Diane Cusick's 1968 killing. He also confessed to the murders of Mary Beth Heinz, Laverne Moye, Sheila Heiman, and Maria Emerita Rosado Nieves from the 1970s. He was linked to Cusick's murder using DNA evidence.
Diane Cusick was a 23-year-old dance instructor living on Long Island at the time. She left for the mall to buy new dancing shoes and never returned home. Her father discovered her body in the backseat of her car in a mall parking lot. She was bound and with an adhesive band over her mouth. Reports state that the victim was strangled to death.
Mary Beth Heinz's body was found floating face down in a muddy stream in 1972 in Rockville Centre on Long Island. She was 21 years old at the time and was also strangled. Laverne Moye, a 23-year-old mother of two children, was found strangled to death in the same area later that year.
Sheila Heiman was found bludgeoned to death in the bathroom of her Long Island home in 1973 by her husband, who had left the house earlier that day to go to a store. At the time, her children were away at summer camp.
Maria Emerita Rosado Nieves was found in a weeded region of Jones Beach during the winter of 1973. Nieves, who was 18 at the time, was also strangled by the Times Square Killer. Her body was discovered by park maintenance workers wrapped in a gray blanket and covered in plastic bags.
ID's Very Scary People will further delve into the Times Square Killer's murders this Sunday.
