‘Torso Killer’ Admits Killing 5 Women Decades Ago Near New York City

Richard Cottingham makes a remote appearance at a courtroom in Mineola, N.Y., on Dec. 5, 2022. (Seth Wenig/AP Photo)

MINEOLA, N.Y.—A serial killer known as the “Torso Killer” admitted Monday to killing a 23-year-old woman outside a Long Island shopping mall in 1968 and four other women decades ago.

Richard Cottingham was arraigned earlier this year on a second-degree murder charge in connection with Diane Cusick’s death during a trip she made to buy shoes at the suburban Green Acres Mall. Cottingham is believed to be one of America’s most prolific serial killers and has already been convicted in 11 other killings.

Appearing virtually from a New Jersey prison for the Nassau County Court hearing, Cottingham was sentenced to 25 years to life behind bars for Cusick’s slaying. He received immunity from prosecution for the four other killings he admitted to as part of his plea deal in Cusick’s death.

Cottingham has claimed he was responsible for up to 100 homicides, though authorities in New York and New Jersey have officially linked him to only a dozen so far. He has been imprisoned since 1980, when he was arrested after a motel maid heard a woman screaming inside his room. Authorities found the woman alive but handcuffed and suffering from bite marks and knife wounds.

Richard Cottingham in an undated photo. (New Jersey Department of Correction/Newsday via AP)

Authorities believe Cusick left her job at a children’s dance school and then stopped at the Nassau County mall to buy a pair of shoes when Cottingham followed her out to her car. They believe he pretended to be a security guard or police officer, accused her of stealing, and then overpowered the the 98-pound (44-kilogram) woman.

The medical examiner concluded that Cusick had been beaten in the face and head and was suffocated. She had defensive wounds on her hands and police were able to collect DNA evidence at the scene. At the time, however, DNA testing did not exist.

The DNA was entered into a national database in 2016 when Cottingham pleaded guilty to another killing in New Jersey. In 2021, police in Nassau County received a tip that a suspect who might be responsible for killings in the suburban county was locked up in New Jersey. They began running DNA tests again on cold cases and came up with a match to Cottingham.

Cottingham was working as a computer programmer for a health insurance company in New York at the time of Cusick’s death.