Cold Case Double Murder
Newark, NJ (77WABC)- A New Jersey serial killer known as the “Torso Killer” has pleaded guilty to two 1974 murders, finally closing the cold case deaths of teenage friends who had left home for a trip to the mall and never returned.
Seventy-four-year-old Richard Cottingham is currently in state prison on a life sentence for other murders.
Detectives have confirmed that he killed nine women but believe the death toll is higher. He appeared virtually in court Tuesday to admit to the slayings of teens Mary Ann Pryor and Lorraine Marie Kelly.
Cottingham is known as the “Torso Killer” for brutally dismembering his victims by cutting off their limbs and heads. His attorney says he has “serious regret” for the crimes.
Cottingham’s killing spree prompted a book written by Jack Rosewood, “The Torso Killer.”
