On December 2, 1979, firefighters were responding to the Travel Inn Motor Lodge on 42nd Street in Manhattan, two blocks from Times Square where it had been reported that there was a fire in Room 417. A member of the squad, Jim Rogers, entered the smoke-filled room and saw a person lying on one of the rooms double beds. Acting quickly, he pulled the motionless figure from the room to the hallway and prepared to start administering CPR. To his horror, once out of the smoke, he found that the body was missing a head. In this episode we continue our coverage of Richard Cottingham, covering his New York victims and the court proceedings that led to his first convictions.

Episode Transcript

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Source Material Information:

Berlinger, J. (Director). (2021). Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer [Documentary].

Bonvillian, C. (2021, April 30). Infamous New Jersey 'Torso Killer' admits to abducting, torturing, and drowning 2 teens in 1974. Retrieved from Boston 25 News: ⁠https://www.boston25news.com/news/trending/infamous-new-jersey-torso-killer-admits-abducting-torturing-drowning-2-teens-1974/R4NVRGWOPNA7TCWOTJCV765NQI/⁠

Cheng, P.-S. (2022, December 5). Infamous 'Torso Killer' Admits Murdering Long Island Dance Teacher, 4 others. Retrieved from nbcnewyork.com: ⁠https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/long-island-serial-killer-richard-cottingham-diane-cusick-valley-stream-court-murder-torso-killer-nj/3983727/⁠

District Attorney: County of Nassau, N.Y. (2022, June 22). Richard Cottingham Indicted for 1968 Murder Outside Green Acres Mall. Retrieved from nassauda.org: ⁠https://nassauda.org/civicalerts.aspx?aid=1420⁠

Ehrlich, B. (2022, February 5). 'Darkness Enveloped My Soul': The Final Confessions of The Torso Killer. Retrieved from Rolling Stone: ⁠https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/torso-killer-richard-cottingham-murder-confessions-1295148/⁠

Gusoff, C. (2022, December 5). Richard Cottingham confesses to 1968 killing of Diane Cusick, 4 other murders on Long Island. Retrieved from CBS News: ⁠https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/richard-cottingham-confesses-to-1968-killing-of-diane-cusick-4-other-murders-on-long-island/⁠

Leith, R. (1983). The Prostitute Murders. New York: Pinnacle Books.

Murphy, M. (2022, August 24). Adult Children of Victims Traumatized by Serial killer. Retrieved from PIX11: ⁠https://pix11.com/news/local-news/adult-children-of-victims-traumatized-by-serial-killer/⁠

Rosewood, J. (2016). Richard Cottingham: The True Story of The Torso Killer. Wiq Media.

Stuart, M. (1971, July 18). Profile of the Killer. The Sunday Record, pp. D-3. Valentin, M. (Director). (2023, 9 March). The Torso Killer Confessions [Documentary].

The intro theme for this podcast are sections of Nightmare Machine by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), CC BY 3.0 <⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠>, via Wikimedia Commons