Richard Cottingham
Richard Cottingham | |
|---|---|
Cottingham's May 1980 mugshot | |
| Born | Richard Francis Cottingham November 25, 1946 New York City, U.S. |
| Other names | Torso Killer Times Square Ripper The Times Square Killer |
| Occupation | Computer operator |
| Criminal status | Incarcerated at South Woods State Prison, Bridgeton, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Spouse |
Janet Cottingham
(m. 1970; div. 1981) |
| Children | 3 |
| Convictions | New Jersey Murder (5 counts) New York Second degree murder (4 counts) |
| Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment (both states) |
| Details | |
| Victims | 20+ |
Span of crimes | 1965–1980 |
| Country | United States |
| States | New York New Jersey |
Date apprehended | May 22, 1980 |
Richard Francis Cottingham (born November 25, 1946) is an American serial killer who committed ten murders in New York State between 1972 and 1980, plus a further ten murders in New Jersey between 1965 and 1980. He was nicknamed by media as the Torso Killer and the Times Square Ripper, since some of the murders he was convicted of included acts of mutilation and dismemberment.
Cottingham's confirmed killings resulted in nine convictions and a further eleven confessions under non-prosecution agreements, leading to him serving multiple life sentences in New Jersey prisons. In 2009, decades after his first murder convictions, Cottingham claimed that he had committed at least eighty "perfect murders" of women in various regions of the United States.