MINEOLA, N.Y. (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- Convicted serial killer Richard Cottingham—who has claimed responsibility for up to 100 homicides—confessed Monday to five cold-case killings in Nassau County that have gone unsolved for decades.
Cottingham, who is known as the “Torso Killer” and “Times Square Killer,” appeared via video in Nassau County court, where he pleaded guilty to the February 1968 murder of Diane Cusick, 23.
The judge then sentenced the 76-year-old to 25 years to life in prison. He’s already serving a life sentence at South Woods State Prison in New Jersey, where he's been convicted of additional killings.
As part of the plea deal, Cottingham received immunity from prosecution for the four other killings he admitted to from 1972 and 1973. The sentence will run consecutive to life terms he's already been handed for other murders.
Cottingham was arraigned earlier this year on a second-degree murder charge in connection with Cusick's killing. Authorities linked him to her death with DNA testing; Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said she believed it to be the oldest DNA hit leading to prosecution in U.S. history.
Some family members sobbed or held hands as they watched the proceedings in court on Monday. Asked if he had anything to say to them, Cottingham said "No" and sat stone-faced throughout his appearance.
In addition to Cusick, the victims he admitted Monday to killing include Mary Beth Heinz, 21, Maria Emerita Rosado Nieves, 18, Sheila Heiman, 33, and Laverne Moye, 23. Heiman was a mother of three and Laverne was a mother of two.
Investigators believe Cusick, a mother of one, left her job at a children’s dance school on Feb. 15, 1968, and then stopped at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream to buy a pair of shoes when Cottingham followed her out.
Detectives believe he pretended to be a security guard or police officer, accused her of stealing and then overpowered her. She was beaten, raped and strangled before being left in the back seat of her Plymouth Valiant, police said.
Cottingham was working as a computer programmer for a health insurance company in New York at the time of Cusick’s killing.
His DNA was taken and entered into a national database in 2016 when he pleaded guilty to another murder in New Jersey.
In 2021, police in Nassau County received a tip that a suspect who might be responsible for killings in the county was locked up in New Jersey. They began running DNA tests again on cold cases and came up with a match to Cottingham.
While Cottingham has claimed he was responsible for up to 100 homicides, authorities in New York and New Jersey have officially linked him to a dozen.
Cottingham has been imprisoned in New Jersey since the early 1980s after he was convicted of murder in both that state and New York. He was arrested in 1980 after a motel maid heard a woman screaming inside his room. Authorities found the woman alive but handcuffed and suffering from bite marks and knife wounds.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Related
Related
Related
