1970s Serial Killer Faces Additional Life Sentence on DNA Evidence
75-year-old serial killer and rapist Richard Cottingham has been serving out imprisonment since 1980, states NBC News, with 11 convictions of murder in his history. Yesterday, Cottingham was arraigned for a five-decade cold case, confirming his twelfth victim: the murder of 23-year-old Diane Cusick on February 15th, 1968. DNA evidence developed since the time of Cusick’s murder resulted in Cottingham’s newest charge.
Cottingham attended the indictment through a video call, as the South Woods State Prison inmate was bedridden in St. Francis Medical Center, reports People Magazine. His attorney filed a not guilty plea.
Cusick’s body was discovered beaten and raped on New York’s Long Island, says Sky News, and his other mutilated victims, all young women, were also found across New York and New Jersey from 1967 through 1980. “[A]t least 5 other murders on Long Island” are possibly attributable to Cottingham, states People Magazine, while the killer has claimed responsibility for up to 100 homicides. His methods included drowning and strangling, and the brutal nature of his victims’ maiming and dismemberment earned him the monikers ‘Torso Killer’ and ‘Times Square Killer.’
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly warns that Cottingham still cannot be underestimated because of his age and ill health: no matter how frail he seems, “He was a young 22-year-old when he committed the murder of Ms Cusick. He was strong, stronger than these women were, and he was violent."
If convicted, People Magazine states, Cottingham could receive 25 years to life added onto his current life sentence.
