NJ NJ - Richard Cottingham, Torso/Times Square Serial Killer, 1968-1980

[dotr]

Cross-posting threads with possible victim thread..

Identified! - CT - East Haven, Frontage Rd behind former Bradlees store, WhtFem 18-28, UP10796, Wrapped in Paint-Spotted Tarp, Aug'75 - Patricia Meleady Newsome

Patricia was found 48 years ago today.

www.websleuths.com

Chilling update in murder of teen girl found dead five decades ago

Maryann Collette, 59, spoke with DailyMail.com about the murder of her sister, Patricia Newsom, who went missing aged 18 in 1974, and her extraordinary quest for answers ever since.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Aug 11 2024

Maryann explained to DailyMail.com why she wrote to the man she thinks is responsible for her sister's death - notorious 'Times Square Killer' Richard Cottingham (pictured)

 

[DS2021]

Cross-posting threads with possible victim thread..

Identified! - CT - East Haven, Frontage Rd behind former Bradlees store, WhtFem 18-28, UP10796, Wrapped in Paint-Spotted Tarp, Aug'75 - Patricia Meleady Newsome

Patricia was found 48 years ago today.

www.websleuths.com

Chilling update in murder of teen girl found dead five decades ago

Maryann Collette, 59, spoke with DailyMail.com about the murder of her sister, Patricia Newsom, who went missing aged 18 in 1974, and her extraordinary quest for answers ever since.

www.dailymail.co.uk

Aug 11 2024
View attachment 523884
Maryann explained to DailyMail.com why she wrote to the man she thinks is responsible for her sister's death - notorious 'Times Square Killer' Richard Cottingham (pictured)

Woman writes to serial killer for answers in sister’s 1975 murder

In 1975, Patricia Newsom’s slain body was found in a Connecticut drainage ditch, but she wasn’t identified until 2023. What happened to the 18-year-old remains a mystery, but her sister tells Andrea Cavallier she believes a convicted serial killer known as the ‘Torso Killer’ could have the...

www.independent.co.uk

 

[?!?]

Letter to a killer: Relative of Connecticut cold case victim thinks Richard Cottingham killed her sister

Maryann Collette, the sister of Patricia Newsom, believes the ailing serial killer Richard Cottingham has answers.

www.fox61.com

 

[DS2021]

Peter Vronsky claims that Cottingham admitted to another murder, and that the case has been closed

View this content on Instagram

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[SolVic]

Peter Vronsky claims that Cottingham admitted to another murder, and that the case has been closed

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

In his latest posts, he reveals that Cottingham also confessed to killing Yvette Valentin, as well as raping two women. (The identity of the victim mentioned back in December still isn’t public, but we now know that she was a nurse and the wife of a prominent New York physician.)

 

[imstilla.grandma]

 

[dotr]

VIDEO.

Long Island DA reacts to serial killer's claims about 1966 cold case killing

The Suffolk County district attorney is responding to an I-Team investigation with new clues from an infamous serial killer about an unsolved murder in 1966. Investigative reporter Sarah Wallace spoke to DA Ray Tierney and the killer once nick-named “The Torso Killer.” NBC New York’s Sarah...

www.nbcnewyork.com

July 7 2025

''Long Island DA reacts to serial killer's claims about 1966 cold case killing​

The Suffolk County district attorney is responding to an I-Team investigation with new clues from an infamous serial killer about an unsolved murder in 1966. Investigative reporter Sarah Wallace spoke to DA Ray Tierney and the killer once nick-named “The Torso Killer.” NBC New York’s Sarah Wallace reports.''

 

[dotr]

6 July 2025 HUGE article.

How my relationship with a serial killer led me to his victims

He was a married father of three from New Jersey who led a sadistic double life - family man by day, serial killer by night.

www.dailymail.co.uk

''When forensic historian Peter Vronsky speaks about the man who allegedly decapitated and murdered up to 100 victims, he fondly refers to Richard Cottingham as 'my serial killer.'

''Each day at around 2 pm, Vronsky gets a call from Cottingham at the South Woods New Jersey State Prison - the pair have been in contact for years.
They talk about the weather, the news, reminisce about the 'lost New York' of the '60s and '70s, how good the hot dogs were at an NYC institution and where you could get the best pastrami sandwich.''

''It was one of those vivid descriptions that led Vronsky to identify the unsolved murder of Diane Cusick, a 23-year-old dance teacher who went shopping at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, Long Island, in 1968 and never returned home.

Vronsky passed along the intel from Cottingham to police, and the confession along with preserved DNA led to Cottingham's indictment for Cusick's murder in 2022.

Vronsky explained he also helped identify four other victims for police: Mary Beth Heinz, 21, Laverne Moy, 23, Sheila Haiman, 33, and Maria Nieves, 18.''

 

[sds71]

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said his office’s Cold Case Unit has begun a fresh investigation into the 1966 murder of a Selden widow.

But he said it would not be appropriate for him to consider granting immunity to serial killer Richard Cottingham in exchange for information about Marilyn Simons' death until that probe is completed.

Linda Greco of Holbrook, Simons' daughter, asked Tierney’s office to give immunity to Cottingham after Cottingham suggested in correspondence with her that he was involved in the slaying of her mother nearly 60 years ago.

Suffolk DA starts probe of 1966 murder of Selden woman found in car

The slain woman's daughter asked the Suffolk district attorney to give immunity to serial killer Richard Cottingham in exchange for information about her mother's murder.

www.newsday.com

 

[dotr]

Jan 6 2025

Serial killer confesses in 1965 murder of 18-year-old Alys Eberhardt of Fair Lawn, NJ

Convicted serial killer Richard Cottingham confessed to the 1965 murder of 18-year-old Alys Eberhardt, who was found stabbed and bludgeoned in her family's home.

abc7ny.com

''FAIR LAWN, New Jersey (WABC) -- The murder of an 18-year-old woman back in 1965 has been solved after nearly six decades.

The Fair Lawn Police Department says at long last, they have closed their only unsolved homicide case.

They say convicted serial killer Richard Cottingham confessed to the 1965 murder of 18-year-old Alys Eberhardt, who was found stabbed and bludgeoned in her family's home.''

 

[DS2021]

Jan 6 2025

Serial killer confesses in 1965 murder of 18-year-old Alys Eberhardt of Fair Lawn, NJ

Convicted serial killer Richard Cottingham confessed to the 1965 murder of 18-year-old Alys Eberhardt, who was found stabbed and bludgeoned in her family's home.

abc7ny.com

''FAIR LAWN, New Jersey (WABC) -- The murder of an 18-year-old woman back in 1965 has been solved after nearly six decades.

The Fair Lawn Police Department says at long last, they have closed their only unsolved homicide case.

They say convicted serial killer Richard Cottingham confessed to the 1965 murder of 18-year-old Alys Eberhardt, who was found stabbed and bludgeoned in her family's home.''

This is now his earliest known murder

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2008613764266868873

 

[dotr]

A Nursing Student's 1965 Murder Was Finally Solved — Because a Serial Killer Confessed

The 1965 murder of 18-year-old nursing student Alys Eberhardt was finally solved this week, New Jersey police announced

people.com

Alys Eberhardt.Credit :
Fair Lawn Police Department/Facebook

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Richard Cottingham, also known as the “Torso Killer,” is an infamous serial killer who is serving life in prison for murders he committed in the 1960s and 1970s. Amid his old age and ailing health, he says he is ready to admit to nearly 100 murders. Historian Peter Vronsky, who has a unique relationship with Cottingham, shared insight into Cottingham’s crimes and revealed why he’s ready to confess to more murders while speaking to investigative journalist Kristin Thorne for Us Weekly’s Uncovered.

'Torso' Serial Killer Richard Cottingham Confessed to More Murders From Prison

‘Torso’ serial killer Richard Cottingham confessed to even more murders from prison. Historian Peter Vronsky explains why in Us Weekly’s Uncovered

www.usmagazine.com

 

[moonglow123]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

Does anyone know if this could be one of Cottingham's victims? Doe that was strangled and dumped in a trunk off the coast of Long Island in 1973. Young white woman with dark hair.

I can't find her in any of the speculated victims' lists. I wonder if LE ever looked into it.

 

[dotr]

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

By bringing people, information, forensic science and technology together, NamUs helps resolve cases.

www.namus.gov

Does anyone know if this could be one of Cottingham's victims? Doe that was strangled and dumped in a trunk off the coast of Long Island in 1973. Young white woman with dark hair.

I can't find her in any of the speculated victims' lists. I wonder if LE ever looked into it.

Interesting possibility!

NY Thread 'NY - Northport, WhtFem 20-40, UP134470, "H.A." clothing, found in the LI sound near CT in a trunk, 13 October 1973'

Dec 9, 2024

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
NamUs: UP134470
UID White/Caucasian Female
Northport, NY

Case Numbers​

ME/C Case Number: 73-2870

Demographics​

Biological Sex: Female
Race / Ethnicity: White / Caucasian
Estimated Age Group: Adult - Pre 40
Estimated Age Range (Years): 20-40
Height: 5' 1"(61 inches) , Measured
Weight: 109 lbs, Measured

Circumstances​

Date Body Found: October 13, 1973
NamUs Case Created: December 6, 2024

Location Found​

Location: Northport, New York
County: Suffolk County
Found On Tribal Land: No...

• ProudSuggestion3528
• Replies: 110
• Forum: The Unidentified

• 

 

[moonglow123]

Interesting possibility!

NY Thread 'NY - Northport, WhtFem 20-40, UP134470, "H.A." clothing, found in the LI sound near CT in a trunk, 13 October 1973'

Dec 9, 2024

The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)
NamUs: UP134470
UID White/Caucasian Female
Northport, NY

Case Numbers​

ME/C Case Number: 73-2870

Demographics​

Biological Sex: Female
Race / Ethnicity: White / Caucasian
Estimated Age Group: Adult - Pre 40
Estimated Age Range (Years): 20-40
Height: 5' 1"(61 inches) , Measured
Weight: 109 lbs, Measured

Circumstances​

Date Body Found: October 13, 1973
NamUs Case Created: December 6, 2024

Location Found​

Location: Northport, New York
County: Suffolk County
Found On Tribal Land: No...

• ProudSuggestion3528
• Replies: 110
• Forum: The Unidentified

• 

Thank you for the link I couldn’t find the thread on her!

 

[Peter Vronsky]

It has been a long time since I posted here.

As of January 2026, with his recent confession to the murder of Alys Eberhardt in Fair Lawn, NJ in 1965, serial killer Richard Cottingham - the Torso Serial Killer - is now confirmed in twenty murders between 1965 and 1980, with eighty still remaining to be resolved from the approximate 100 he plausibly claims.

I had the privilege and honor to conclusively identify since 2021 nine confirmed Cottingham victims in New Jersey and New York (Lorraine Kelly & Mary Ann Pryor had been identified as suspected Cottingham victims prior to my arrival on the scene) and I assisted law enforcement in New Jersey and New York in a total of eleven Cottingham cold case closures between 2021 - 2026, including the 1974 Kelly & Pryor cold case closure in 2021, and including the oldest cold case closure in American history using perpetrator DNA (as opposed to familial), the 1968 murder of Diane Cusick in Valley Stream, Nassau County, New York, whom I identified as a Cottingham victim in 2021. It was the first indictment of Cottingham since the 1980s.

Cottingham pleaded guilty on December 5, 2022, and confessed to an additional four murders in Nassau County from 1972-1973. I have been interviewing Cottingham now for eight years since first sitting down with him in Trenton State Prison in February 2018 with my late investigative partner Jennifer Weiss, who tragically passed away in May 2023.

Much has been learned about Cottingham over the span of those confessions and the data on his MO and signature and closed case information has been aggregated to Torso Serial Killer Project while his suspected cold cases in New Jersey, New York, and New York City are aggregated and mapped on NYNJ PD Cold Case Portal

Cottingham is now 79-years old and in frail health, with at least a dozen re-opened cases under investigation by police from New Jersey and New York, who are not exactly racing the devil to confront and interview him with the exception of a few dedicated detectives from select jurisdictions.

 

[Peter Vronsky]

In his latest posts, he reveals that Cottingham also confessed to killing Yvette Valentin, as well as raping two women. (The identity of the victim mentioned back in December still isn’t public, but we now know that she was a nurse and the wife of a prominent New York physician.)

If I posted "confessed" to Yevette Valentin, I misspoke. My apologies. Cottingham *admitted* to her murder.

He has not formally confessed. But that is being worked on. He has made 15 formal confessions since 2010 in NJ and NY, (4 guilty pleas, 11 declinations to prosecute/exceptional closures.) I assisted in the last 11.

 

[moonglow123]

If I posted "confessed" to Yevette Valentin, I misspoke. My apologies. Cottingham *admitted* to her murder.

He has not formally confessed. But that is being worked on. He has made 15 formal confessions since 2010 in NJ and NY, (4 guilty pleas, 11 declinations to prosecute/exceptional closures.) I assisted in the last 11.

Not to trouble you, and feel free not to answer if you don't have the time, but do you think this unidentified woman could be one of his victims? The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System (NamUs)

Young Jane Doe found off the coast of Suffolk County, LI, fall of 1973, dark hair, had been strangled and dumped in a trunk in the water. It's totally possible it's unrelated, but many people have wondered if she could be a Cottingham victim since he was killing on LI at the time.

Thank you for your hard work as well.