Monday, October 30, 1967, was a normal day for two young girls who had returned from school and gone up to a bedroom to play. A while later, while peering out of one of the upstairs windows they saw what they would later recount appeared to them a waxy mannequin lying in a car parked on the street below. Curious, they went outside to investigate but when they got closer, to their horror they realized it was a woman lying naked in the backseat of the car. In this episode we finish out our coverage of Richard Cottingham with the stories of the victims he confessed to while serving his life sentences.

Link to our fundraising campaign with the Polaris Project⁠

⁠Check us out on Patreon! ⁠⁠

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