Dec 5

Dec 5 New York's "Torso Killer" Pleads Guilty to 1968 Murder

Richard Cottingham, 76, plead guilty Monday to the 1968 murder of Diane Cusick near New York City and confessed his involvement in four murders. Cottingham is believed to be one of America’s most prolific serial killers and has previously been convicted of 11 other killings.

Earlier this year, police announced that through DNA evidence, they connected Cottingham to the murder of 23-year-old Cusick on February 15, 1968. Cottingham was arraigned from a hospital bed in June for the second-degree murder of Cusick.

Cusick, a children’s dance instructor and new mother, had left work to go buy a pair of shoes at a local mall and never returned home. Police believe Cottingham posed as a mall security guard or police officer when he followed Cusick out to her car and accused her of theft.

According to Fox 12, Cusick was brutally beaten, raped, and then murdered in the back seat of her car. Cusik’s father found her body in the backseat of her car at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream. Cottingham was sentenced 25-years-to life for Cusick’s murder Monday.

Cusick’s daughter, Darleen Altman, was only 3 at the time of her mother’s murder and has no memories of her. She said that she never believed her mother’s killer would be brought to justice.

As part of his plea agreement, Cottingham received immunity from prosecution and admitted to his involvement in four other murders. Nassau County investigators believe Cottingham could be responsible for 13 homicides in their jurisdiction alone.

The first of these victims was Mary Beth Heinz, 21, who was murdered on May 10, 1972. Cottingham reportedly strangled her, then threw her remains from the Peninsula Boulevard Bridge in Rockville Center.

Laverne Moye, 23, was strangled July 20, 1972. Her body was thrown over the Peninsula Bridge in Rockville Center. Shiela Heiman, 33, was stabbed multiple times in Woodmere. Her body was discovered by her husband once he returned from the store.

Marita Emerita Rosado Nieves, 18, was killed on December 27, 1973 by strangulation. Her body was found at the East Bathhouse bus stop on Ocean Parkway near Jones Beach, per News 12. Park maintenance workers found her remains in plastic bags and wrapped in a gray blanket.

Previously, Cottingham has claimed he was responsible for 100 slayings in the New York area. However, he was only linked to 11 murders.

Cottingham was first arrested and imprisoned in 1980 when a motel maid heard a woman screaming inside his room. Authorities found the woman alive, but suffering from bite marks and knife wounds, per ABC 7.

On December 29, 2021, a documentary series titled Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer was released to Netflix detailing the life and crimes of Cottingham. Cottingham is in ill health and serving multiple life sentences in the New Jersey State Prison.