psych

About Richard Cottingham:

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• Born on November 25, 1946 in Bronx, New York. He grew up in a typical catholic environment. He moved to River Vale, New Jersey at the age of 12 and had troubles making friends, so he stayed inside/home most of his days and developed an obsession to bondage. He graduated from high school in 1964 and moved into working as a computer operator for his fathers insurance company, Metropolitan Life. After 2 years, he moved to working for Blue Cross Blue Shield also as a computer operator. On May 3, 1970, he married his wife, Janet and they eventually had 3 children. His record wasn't completely clean due to being arrested for a DUI and minor shoplifting. In 1978, Janet filed for a divorce, but it never got finalized, but weeks after his final arrest, Janet was able to finalize the divorce.

His Crimes:

Nancy Vogel

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• 1967- Strangled 29 y/o mother, Nancy Vogel and dumped her in her car.
• Dec. 1977: Abducted Maryann Carr and led her to a local hotel. Tortured her by biting, beating, raping, and cutting. She died by strangulation and was left on a chain link fence near apartment complex.
• 1978: Drugged & raped Karen Schlit, 31 (Oct.) and Susan Geiger, a prostitute and pregnant (Dec.).

1979

• Abducted teen prostitute, Helen Sikes. Body was found in Queens severely mutilated - severed legs (thrown a few blocks away) and nearly severed head.
• Lured 2 prostitutes into hotel. Deedeh Goodarzi, 23, and "Jane Doe" (unidentified),20's.Binded by handcuffs and tortured for multiple hours. Unknown of how they died, but heads were severed and so were hands. Bodies/room were then set on fire to cover tracks. Missing body parts were never found.

1980

• Within weeks of each other 2 murders occured. 1 being Valerie Ann Street, 19. Usual scene. Body found covered in bite marks. Died of asphyxiation and stuffed under bed. Discovered by hotel staff vacuuming under bed and police found fingerprints on handcuffs. // 2nd was Jean Reyner, 25, sex worker. Lured into Manhattan motel- raped, tortured and mutilated. Died by strangulation, and body was set on fire.
• Drugged and beat Pamela Weisenfield. Found in parking lot with bite marks.

Final

• Leslie Ann O'Dell, 18. Raped, beaten, and tortured. Interrupted by hotel security before he could kill her.

Maryann Carr

Psychological Profile:

Actions:

• Alcohol, shoplifting, robbery(2), affairs(2), attempted suicide(2)

Traits:

• Narcissistic
• Lonely
• Possibly psychopathic
• Organized and smart

Possible Disorders:

• APD

Trauma?

• Has shown no signs of any trauma or abuse. Both parents involved and in household.

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Diagnosis?:

• No true psychological diagnosis. Did not take drugs. Just acted upon his greatest desires and felt very high of himself, which was normal for most serial killers.

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BEHAVIOR DURING TRIAL:

• He would show no remorse for his wrongdoings.
• Would talk in a way where he would sound like a criminal veteran.
• He would admit one thing during his childhood years that was relevant to criminal activity.
• During his trial, he would constantly smirk whenever somebody mentioned how he killed somebody.

Arresting & Trial

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• He was caught due to his abduction of Leslie Ann O'Dell. He took her to a hotel, and other visitors heard her screams and alerted staff/police. The handwriting of hotel receipts matched his. They were able to link him back to his past murders in the hotel rooms.
• He showed no care once he was presented with spending life in prison.
• 4 of the survivors of his attacks testified against him.
• 3 days after found guilty of murders in NJ he attempted to commit suicide in his cell by drinking liquid antidepressants.
• Few days before hearing the verdict on the NY murders, he attempted suicide again by breaking his glasses and cutting his forearm in front of jury.
• Many thought of him as an unlikely suspect.
• Police searched his home and found a room which was locked and no one else had access to, which was full of souvenirs and items he took from his victims.

Video Clip:

https://youtu.be/H7-v3W39gX0

Nature of Crimes and Why:

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• Cottingham targeted mostly prostitutes because he wanted to give them what they deserved- to be punished. When they found his bag/possessions, they found: handcuffs, roll of duct tape, leather s&m gear, fake gun, a knife, and a drugs he used to drug his victims to abduct them. He lurked around gay bars and homosexual "spas".

Charges:

As of May 22, 1980

• He is still alive and incarcerated. He is 72 years old.

• Final sentence: 75 years to life -
• 6 counts of murder
• 1 count of kidnapping
• 5 counts of attempted murder
• 1 count of aggravated assault
• 1 count of aggravated assault with deadly weapon
• 3 counts of aggravated sexual assault while armed
• 1 count possession of weapon
• 5 count possession of controlled dangerous substances
• 1 count of DUI/DWI
• 1 count of shoplifting

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Bibliography

https://www.thoughtco.com/profile-of-serial-killer-richard-cottingham-973146

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nydailynews.com/new-york/justice-story-times-square-ripper-revealed-mild-mannered-husband-suburban-jersey-article-1.1030506%3foutputType=amp

Book in which Vronsky describes his encounter with Cottingham in 1979

https://allthatsinteresting.com/richard-cottingham

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https://criminalminds.fandom.com/wiki/Richard_Cottingham

http://truecrimecases.blogspot.com/2012/08/richard-cottingham.html?m=1