1 00:00:10,467 --> 00:00:12,266 [Eleanor] Cordelia was cleaning. 2 00:00:21,667 --> 00:00:24,467 Next thing you know, she's white as a ghost, 3 00:00:24,467 --> 00:00:29,100 and she's telling me, frantic, "I saw an arm, I saw an arm." 4 00:00:29,166 --> 00:00:30,000 I go, "A what?" 5 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:30,900 I go, "A what?" 6 00:00:30,967 --> 00:00:33,000 She says, "Under the bed. 7 00:00:33,000 --> 00:00:35,467 I hit something under the bed. It was an arm." 8 00:00:36,266 --> 00:00:37,767 Not just an arm. 9 00:00:39,000 --> 00:00:41,900 It's a whole body naked. 10 00:00:46,266 --> 00:00:48,667 [theme music playing] 11 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:05,867 Welcome to Very Scary People, I'm Donnie Wahlberg. 12 00:01:05,867 --> 00:01:09,200 For more than a decade, starting in the late 1960s, 13 00:01:09,266 --> 00:01:11,667 a vicious predator stalked young women 14 00:01:11,667 --> 00:01:13,367 on both the gritty streets of Manhattan 15 00:01:13,367 --> 00:01:16,500 and in the quiet bedroom communities of New Jersey. 16 00:01:16,567 --> 00:01:20,000 Dubbed the Times Square Killer, his victims ranged 17 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:22,667 from suburban housewives to sex workers. 18 00:01:22,667 --> 00:01:26,800 For most of his murder spree, the killer operated under the radar, 19 00:01:26,867 --> 00:01:28,867 blending into his surroundings. 20 00:01:28,867 --> 00:01:30,000 But as the body count multiplied, 21 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:30,967 But as the body count multiplied, 22 00:01:30,967 --> 00:01:35,000 the killer's arrogance grew, leaving detectives waiting for him 23 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:38,200 to make the one mistake that would lead to his arrest. 24 00:01:38,266 --> 00:01:41,567 This is part two of "The Times Square Killer." 25 00:02:00,567 --> 00:02:03,467 It was a busy morning like any other in New York City. 26 00:02:04,567 --> 00:02:06,767 [siren wailing] 27 00:02:06,767 --> 00:02:09,500 Around 9:00 a.m., the fire department got a call 28 00:02:09,567 --> 00:02:12,567 from the Travel Inn Motor Hotel on 42nd Street 29 00:02:12,567 --> 00:02:14,133 in Times Square. 30 00:02:14,133 --> 00:02:16,867 [female reporter] Firemen went into a fourth floor motel room here 31 00:02:16,867 --> 00:02:18,467 to find the source of smoke. 32 00:02:19,867 --> 00:02:23,600 [Steve] A fireman thought he saw people lying on each bed. 33 00:02:23,667 --> 00:02:25,400 He thought they were just mannequins. 34 00:02:26,567 --> 00:02:30,000 Then he realized that it was two naked young females. 35 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:30,567 Then he realized that it was two naked young females. 36 00:02:30,567 --> 00:02:34,367 [Rod] He took their bodies out as best he could with some help, 37 00:02:34,367 --> 00:02:37,100 prepared to take them and give them mouth-to-mouth 38 00:02:37,100 --> 00:02:39,000 respiration, recovery, 39 00:02:39,066 --> 00:02:41,266 and discovered they were without heads. 40 00:02:42,467 --> 00:02:45,367 The killer cut off their hands and their heads 41 00:02:45,367 --> 00:02:48,100 so that they couldn't be identified. 42 00:02:48,100 --> 00:02:51,367 The sadistic murder of two young women in a Westside motel 43 00:02:51,367 --> 00:02:53,400 early Sunday has become one of the more bizarre cases 44 00:02:53,467 --> 00:02:54,433 in memory. 45 00:03:00,467 --> 00:03:03,500 [Larry] The killer leaves the hotel. 46 00:03:03,567 --> 00:03:07,266 He has a duffel bag, and he's stopped by 47 00:03:07,266 --> 00:03:11,900 two police officers who were concerned for his safety 48 00:03:11,967 --> 00:03:14,500 as he walked through Times Square. 49 00:03:14,567 --> 00:03:16,900 And he just explained to the two cops 50 00:03:16,967 --> 00:03:18,967 that he was staying at a nearby hotel. 51 00:03:19,467 --> 00:03:20,800 Everything was good. 52 00:03:22,166 --> 00:03:25,500 If only police had asked to see what was inside the duffel bag. 53 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:29,600 Perhaps the reason he wasn't questioned more vigorously 54 00:03:29,667 --> 00:03:30,000 is because the killer just seemed like another regular person. 55 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,100 is because the killer just seemed like another regular person. 56 00:03:33,100 --> 00:03:36,667 He was an average guy who had a family. 57 00:03:36,667 --> 00:03:39,867 He had a wife and three children, two boys and a girl. 58 00:03:40,667 --> 00:03:42,967 Had a home, had a job. 59 00:03:42,967 --> 00:03:45,800 And he was very disarming to people because 60 00:03:45,867 --> 00:03:49,567 he didn't look abnormal or disturbed or deviant 61 00:03:49,567 --> 00:03:50,867 in any way. 62 00:03:52,700 --> 00:03:55,166 Yet in New Jersey, where he'd been raised, 63 00:03:55,166 --> 00:03:56,467 he'd been killing for years. 64 00:04:06,767 --> 00:04:10,400 Teenage Mary Ann Pryor and Lorraine Kelly 65 00:04:10,467 --> 00:04:14,300 were going to the Jersey Shore and they wanted to get bathing suits. 66 00:04:14,367 --> 00:04:16,900 So they were hitchhiking to the Paramus Mall. 67 00:04:18,100 --> 00:04:24,100 In the '70s, what was very normal was hitchhiking. 68 00:04:24,100 --> 00:04:25,867 A lot of these young kids did it. 69 00:04:27,000 --> 00:04:29,400 And that was the fatal mistake they made that day. 70 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:35,667 [Steve] A man picked them up and they never could have imagined 71 00:04:35,667 --> 00:04:37,467 what he planned to do. 72 00:04:37,467 --> 00:04:39,100 [Mike] Then he took them to a hotel. 73 00:04:40,567 --> 00:04:43,400 [Steve] He had forced them in. 74 00:04:43,467 --> 00:04:46,000 [Mike] They were tied to the bed so they couldn't escape during the night. 75 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,400 And eventually, 76 00:04:49,767 --> 00:04:52,066 he drowned them in the hotel bathtub. 77 00:04:55,066 --> 00:04:58,400 [Brenna] Mary Ann's family heard on the radio 78 00:04:58,467 --> 00:05:00,000 that two bodies were found in the woods. 79 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:00,600 that two bodies were found in the woods. 80 00:05:00,667 --> 00:05:02,567 And then there was a knock on the door. 81 00:05:02,567 --> 00:05:07,266 And it was the worst news that any family could get. 82 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:11,200 [Steve] He's known as the Times Square killer. 83 00:05:11,266 --> 00:05:13,200 But it really is much more the story, 84 00:05:13,266 --> 00:05:17,700 I think, of a suburban double life killer. 85 00:05:17,767 --> 00:05:20,900 Police had no knowledge of this guy. 86 00:05:20,967 --> 00:05:24,166 He's smart enough to know that what he's doing out 87 00:05:24,166 --> 00:05:27,300 in New Jersey might not come to the attention 88 00:05:27,367 --> 00:05:30,000 of law enforcement in New York and vice versa. 89 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:31,567 of law enforcement in New York and vice versa. 90 00:05:31,567 --> 00:05:36,066 Law enforcement has always been a tribal sort of thing, 91 00:05:36,066 --> 00:05:39,900 even though they like to talk about working together, 92 00:05:39,967 --> 00:05:41,767 the communication isn't always there. 93 00:05:43,100 --> 00:05:46,400 [Rod] The killer left few clues, leaving investigators 94 00:05:46,467 --> 00:05:48,266 with nothing to go on. 95 00:05:48,266 --> 00:05:51,266 [Steve] This story terrified local residents. 96 00:05:51,266 --> 00:05:54,767 If police had any suspects in mind, they didn't include 97 00:05:54,767 --> 00:05:57,700 the actual perpetrator, who was a mainframe 98 00:05:57,767 --> 00:06:00,000 computer operator for a major insurance company. 99 00:06:00,000 --> 00:06:00,700 computer operator for a major insurance company. 100 00:06:00,767 --> 00:06:02,266 And he's pretty bright. 101 00:06:02,266 --> 00:06:03,600 And he knows it. 102 00:06:03,667 --> 00:06:05,600 He has a level of tech savvy. 103 00:06:05,667 --> 00:06:11,166 He's got his hobby, his extracurricular activity, 104 00:06:11,166 --> 00:06:13,000 where he's out murdering women. 105 00:06:14,900 --> 00:06:18,200 Chilling, horrifying what he did to people. 106 00:06:18,266 --> 00:06:23,867 We're talking about atrociously striking his female victims, 107 00:06:23,867 --> 00:06:26,867 cutting them, burning them. 108 00:06:30,867 --> 00:06:34,000 He was terrorizing women very close to where he lived. 109 00:06:35,467 --> 00:06:38,467 Go back to being a regular family man. 110 00:06:39,667 --> 00:06:42,367 It's a ridiculous dichotomy. 111 00:06:43,200 --> 00:06:44,667 His wife and his three children 112 00:06:44,667 --> 00:06:46,567 never suspected a thing. 113 00:06:46,567 --> 00:06:49,266 He never raised any red flags. 114 00:06:49,266 --> 00:06:52,867 He just was at the point where he wanted more 115 00:06:52,867 --> 00:06:56,100 and more and more, and it just began to escalate. 116 00:07:05,567 --> 00:07:08,867 [Eleanor] I was at the parking lot at work at the Quality Inn, 117 00:07:08,867 --> 00:07:11,967 waiting for a ride home. 118 00:07:11,967 --> 00:07:14,967 All of a sudden, this car pulls up. 119 00:07:14,967 --> 00:07:20,300 And this guy with this stupid, smirky smile, asking me, 120 00:07:20,367 --> 00:07:24,200 "Oh, can you come here? Do you work in there?" 121 00:07:24,266 --> 00:07:27,667 And so now I'm like, oh my God. 122 00:07:27,667 --> 00:07:30,100 So I'm not going to go near that car. 123 00:07:31,567 --> 00:07:32,713 So I try walking around the back of the car to get into the hotel. 124 00:07:32,713 --> 00:07:37,100 So I try walking around the back of the car to get into the hotel. 125 00:07:37,166 --> 00:07:39,667 And he's now going to back the car into me, 126 00:07:39,667 --> 00:07:41,867 so I couldn't get the license plate. 127 00:07:41,867 --> 00:07:45,166 And I run in the door, and I get Delia that worked there. 128 00:07:45,166 --> 00:07:47,567 "Delia, crazy guy out there trying to get me." 129 00:07:47,567 --> 00:07:48,700 "What?" 130 00:07:48,767 --> 00:07:50,367 And we look out, and he's gone. 131 00:08:05,100 --> 00:08:08,367 [Larry] A housekeeper walked into room 132, 132 00:08:09,266 --> 00:08:10,967 and she noticed that the room 133 00:08:10,967 --> 00:08:13,100 has a bit of a foul stench in it. 134 00:08:13,166 --> 00:08:16,600 She began cleaning up the room, and as she tidied up 135 00:08:16,667 --> 00:08:19,500 and tried to vacuum under one of the beds, 136 00:08:19,567 --> 00:08:22,367 she hit something hard and large. 137 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:27,767 [Eleanor] Delia was cleaning 132. 138 00:08:27,767 --> 00:08:29,867 Next thing I know, here comes Delia. 139 00:08:29,867 --> 00:08:32,713 She's white as a ghost, and she's telling me, frantic, 140 00:08:32,713 --> 00:08:34,900 She's white as a ghost, and she's telling me, frantic, 141 00:08:34,967 --> 00:08:37,400 "I saw an arm. I saw an arm." 142 00:08:37,467 --> 00:08:39,400 I go, "A what?" 143 00:08:39,467 --> 00:08:42,700 She says, "Under the bed. I hit something under the bed. 144 00:08:42,767 --> 00:08:43,900 It was an arm." 145 00:08:43,967 --> 00:08:45,667 Not just an arm. 146 00:08:45,667 --> 00:08:48,367 It's a whole body naked, 147 00:08:48,367 --> 00:08:50,400 and the police are coming. 148 00:08:54,567 --> 00:08:59,767 A naked 19-year-old woman with strawberry bleached blonde hair. 149 00:08:59,767 --> 00:09:02,713 Fingerprints would later identify her as Valerie Ann Street, 150 00:09:02,713 --> 00:09:04,867 Fingerprints would later identify her as Valerie Ann Street, 151 00:09:04,867 --> 00:09:08,000 who came north from Florida with a conviction 152 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:09,567 for prostitution in her home state. 153 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:13,767 She was handcuffed so tightly that it left 154 00:09:13,767 --> 00:09:15,200 deep marks on her wrists. 155 00:09:16,367 --> 00:09:18,500 There was a wound on her lower back, 156 00:09:18,567 --> 00:09:21,000 which was apparently made by some sort of knife. 157 00:09:24,567 --> 00:09:28,166 Police had begun retracing her steps from the day before 158 00:09:28,166 --> 00:09:30,667 and realized that she had started the day in New York. 159 00:09:33,367 --> 00:09:36,000 [Larry] Valerie Ann Street had been seen 160 00:09:36,066 --> 00:09:38,166 by another sex worker in Manhattan 161 00:09:38,166 --> 00:09:42,667 working a corner at Madison Avenue and 32nd Street. 162 00:09:42,667 --> 00:09:45,600 [Steve] On the surface, her exchange with a Manhattan office worker 163 00:09:45,667 --> 00:09:47,867 was no different than any of her other interactions 164 00:09:47,867 --> 00:09:49,467 with her other customers. 165 00:09:49,467 --> 00:09:53,100 This appears to have been a straight business transaction. 166 00:09:53,166 --> 00:09:55,100 He's the John. She's the hooker. 167 00:09:55,667 --> 00:09:57,467 They make a deal. 168 00:09:57,467 --> 00:10:00,100 Eventually, the man brought her to New Jersey. 169 00:10:00,166 --> 00:10:02,713 She showed up at the hotel and registered for the room 170 00:10:02,713 --> 00:10:03,667 She showed up at the hotel and registered for the room 171 00:10:03,667 --> 00:10:05,867 herself using her alias. 172 00:10:05,867 --> 00:10:09,567 She's then taken hostage and tortured. 173 00:10:09,567 --> 00:10:13,166 He killed her and stuffed her under the bed, 174 00:10:14,166 --> 00:10:16,967 and that's where the housekeeper found her 175 00:10:16,967 --> 00:10:19,200 under the bed while she was cleaning the room. 176 00:10:21,500 --> 00:10:24,266 This was one of the only incidents where any sort of 177 00:10:24,266 --> 00:10:27,667 a usable court evidence was found. 178 00:10:27,667 --> 00:10:30,967 In this case, it was a fingerprint. 179 00:10:30,967 --> 00:10:32,713 [Eleanor] So the next day, detectives called me into the office, 180 00:10:32,713 --> 00:10:35,667 [Eleanor] So the next day, detectives called me into the office, 181 00:10:35,667 --> 00:10:39,867 and they're questioning me, and they show me a picture of Valerie. 182 00:10:39,867 --> 00:10:41,467 And they go, "What does she look like?" 183 00:10:41,467 --> 00:10:44,166 Well, she looks a little like my blonde Tamron. 184 00:10:44,166 --> 00:10:47,100 "Have you noticed anything strange around here?" 185 00:10:47,166 --> 00:10:49,166 And then I told them about the incident 186 00:10:49,166 --> 00:10:51,567 in the parking lot two weeks before that, 187 00:10:51,567 --> 00:10:57,000 how the car pulled up, the guy had a stupid, smirky smile, and all that. 188 00:10:57,066 --> 00:11:00,300 I just got this weird, like, 189 00:11:00,367 --> 00:11:02,713 danger feeling, stranger danger. 190 00:11:02,713 --> 00:11:03,000 danger feeling, stranger danger. 191 00:11:03,066 --> 00:11:06,300 And the detectives kept calling me, Ellie, 192 00:11:06,367 --> 00:11:08,867 we think he's coming back. 193 00:11:08,867 --> 00:11:11,400 You have to listen for everything. 194 00:11:12,767 --> 00:11:14,300 I said, I'll listen for everything. 195 00:11:14,367 --> 00:11:17,100 I'm on it. Yeah, I'm on it, boy. 196 00:11:19,367 --> 00:11:22,567 [Larry] By 1980, the Times Square killer was committing crimes 197 00:11:22,567 --> 00:11:24,367 with more frequency. 198 00:11:24,367 --> 00:11:26,900 It was like he didn't have a care in the world. 199 00:11:26,967 --> 00:11:28,567 He would do something in New Jersey 200 00:11:28,567 --> 00:11:30,200 and then go right back to New York 201 00:11:30,266 --> 00:11:31,533 looking for another victim. 202 00:11:32,667 --> 00:11:32,713 But he committed his first murder over a decade earlier, 203 00:11:32,713 --> 00:11:35,767 But he committed his first murder over a decade earlier, 204 00:11:35,767 --> 00:11:37,367 when he was just a young man. 205 00:11:39,200 --> 00:11:43,367 He was 20 years old when he evidently killed his first victim. 206 00:11:46,266 --> 00:11:50,300 Nancy Vogel is probably the earliest known victim 207 00:11:50,367 --> 00:11:52,200 in 1967. 208 00:11:52,266 --> 00:11:55,166 She was a married woman with two children. 209 00:11:55,166 --> 00:11:57,867 She lived in Little Ferry, New Jersey. 210 00:11:57,867 --> 00:12:00,767 And she told her family she was going out 211 00:12:00,767 --> 00:12:02,713 to play bingo in the local church one night 212 00:12:02,713 --> 00:12:02,967 to play bingo in the local church one night 213 00:12:02,967 --> 00:12:06,000 and never came back. 214 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:08,600 [Brenna] And, you know, rather horrifyingly, 215 00:12:08,667 --> 00:12:11,300 two schoolgirls found her in her car. 216 00:12:11,367 --> 00:12:12,667 They thought she was a mannequin. 217 00:12:12,667 --> 00:12:16,467 She was naked and bound, and she had been strangled. 218 00:12:20,767 --> 00:12:23,667 [John] There were some shopping bags in the trunk. 219 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:28,467 Never quite knew why, but the keys to the car were missing. 220 00:12:28,467 --> 00:12:30,266 They were nowhere to be found inside, 221 00:12:30,266 --> 00:12:32,713 nor were they found outside the vehicle. 222 00:12:32,713 --> 00:12:33,266 nor were they found outside the vehicle. 223 00:12:33,266 --> 00:12:36,600 Why the keys were missing and why the car was locked 224 00:12:36,667 --> 00:12:38,567 just didn't seem to make sense. 225 00:12:38,567 --> 00:12:41,367 But it did point in the direction of an unlikely suspect. 226 00:12:43,667 --> 00:12:46,900 On the day following the report of her being missing, 227 00:12:46,967 --> 00:12:49,767 her brother showed up at Little Ferry Police and said, 228 00:12:49,767 --> 00:12:53,967 "My sister is missing, but I found her car keys," 229 00:12:55,467 --> 00:12:58,400 and gave the police the keys to her car. 230 00:12:58,467 --> 00:13:00,100 Investigators were thinking, 231 00:13:00,166 --> 00:13:02,713 How else could Nancy Vogel's brother have her car keys 232 00:13:02,713 --> 00:13:03,000 How else could Nancy Vogel's brother have her car keys 233 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:06,500 unless he had killed her and locked the car? 234 00:13:06,567 --> 00:13:09,367 He soon became a suspect in his own sister's murder. 235 00:13:11,166 --> 00:13:14,000 But detectives couldn't find any additional evidence 236 00:13:14,066 --> 00:13:15,567 that would link him to the crime. 237 00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:21,600 So he was a suspect, nowhere near enough to charge him. 238 00:13:21,667 --> 00:13:23,800 [Steve] Even though police cleared him, 239 00:13:23,867 --> 00:13:27,000 that didn't stop some people in his family from thinking 240 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:29,500 that he committed his own sister's murder. 241 00:13:32,100 --> 00:13:32,713 By now, sex workers in New York had been warned about 242 00:13:32,713 --> 00:13:34,667 By now, sex workers in New York had been warned about 243 00:13:34,667 --> 00:13:36,300 the Times Square Killer. 244 00:13:36,300 --> 00:13:40,000 I feel like most serial killers end up getting kind of messy towards the end. 245 00:13:49,400 --> 00:13:51,200 Last winter, we told you about several especially brutal murders 246 00:13:51,266 --> 00:13:53,000 of alleged prostitutes here in New York. 247 00:13:53,066 --> 00:13:55,700 And so far, the murders have gone unsolved. 248 00:13:55,767 --> 00:13:57,900 [Louis] When you get a case like this, 249 00:13:57,967 --> 00:14:02,166 everybody wants to look for a watershed event in his life 250 00:14:02,166 --> 00:14:05,400 that made him a serial sexual murderer. 251 00:14:05,467 --> 00:14:07,100 But you're just not going to find it. 252 00:14:07,100 --> 00:14:09,100 Poor parenting, stressful events, 253 00:14:09,166 --> 00:14:12,467 and all of the rest of it never are of help. 254 00:14:12,467 --> 00:14:14,500 But this is not something that's learned, 255 00:14:14,567 --> 00:14:18,000 nor is it something a result of some terrible event 256 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:18,035 that happened in his childhood from 257 00:14:18,035 --> 00:14:19,667 that happened in his childhood from 258 00:14:19,667 --> 00:14:22,266 his mother, his father, and so on. 259 00:14:22,266 --> 00:14:26,000 His parents, they didn't make him to become a serial killer. 260 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:27,367 That's him. 261 00:14:28,567 --> 00:14:31,266 In a 2009 French documentary, 262 00:14:31,266 --> 00:14:35,100 the killer reflected on how he was different than most people. 263 00:14:35,767 --> 00:14:38,367 [Richard speaking] 264 00:14:44,667 --> 00:14:47,300 He may have had different quirks like everybody else, 265 00:14:47,367 --> 00:14:48,035 but there was really nothing in his demeanor 266 00:14:48,035 --> 00:14:50,100 but there was really nothing in his demeanor 267 00:14:50,166 --> 00:14:53,867 or his presentation that would make him stand out in any way. 268 00:14:53,867 --> 00:14:56,467 He went to high school. He was on the track team. 269 00:14:56,467 --> 00:14:59,667 He had friends. He may have had some difficulty with friends, 270 00:14:59,667 --> 00:15:03,300 but that's not really abnormal in any significant way. 271 00:15:03,367 --> 00:15:07,767 [Rod] He's a high school graduate, graduated in 1964. 272 00:15:08,600 --> 00:15:10,567 His father was an executive with 273 00:15:10,567 --> 00:15:12,667 Metropolitan Insurance Company, 274 00:15:12,667 --> 00:15:15,100 knew the business quite well, 275 00:15:15,100 --> 00:15:18,035 and encouraged his son to go in that direction 276 00:15:18,035 --> 00:15:20,300 and encouraged his son to go in that direction 277 00:15:20,367 --> 00:15:23,266 and gotten hired through his father over 278 00:15:23,266 --> 00:15:24,667 at Metropolitan Life. 279 00:15:26,567 --> 00:15:29,400 He started at the bottom in the mailroom. 280 00:15:29,467 --> 00:15:31,166 Eventually, he worked his way up 281 00:15:31,166 --> 00:15:33,166 to mainframe computer operator, 282 00:15:33,166 --> 00:15:36,900 and then he found a better-paying job at Blue Cross Blue Shield. 283 00:15:36,967 --> 00:15:41,166 [Larry] It seemed like a perfectly healthy father-son relationship, 284 00:15:41,166 --> 00:15:44,200 but like everything else about the killer, there was a dark side. 285 00:15:46,567 --> 00:15:48,035 [Rod] The father would coach him on what to do 286 00:15:48,035 --> 00:15:50,266 [Rod] The father would coach him on what to do 287 00:15:50,266 --> 00:15:53,300 if he got into an automobile accident 288 00:15:53,367 --> 00:15:56,700 because, of course, if he had booze on his breath, 289 00:15:56,767 --> 00:15:58,600 he'd get the DUI. 290 00:15:58,667 --> 00:16:04,166 His father's advice was to feign injury 291 00:16:04,166 --> 00:16:06,600 so that the police would back off 292 00:16:06,667 --> 00:16:10,967 and they would bring the EMTs and take him to the hospital. 293 00:16:10,967 --> 00:16:14,300 And by this time, the cops are losing 294 00:16:14,367 --> 00:16:16,600 their opportunity to get him for DUI 295 00:16:16,667 --> 00:16:18,035 because, of course, the effect of the alcohol is starting to wear off. 296 00:16:18,035 --> 00:16:20,166 because, of course, the effect of the alcohol is starting to wear off. 297 00:16:22,266 --> 00:16:24,667 [Larry] There's no saying what the father's influence 298 00:16:24,667 --> 00:16:26,867 might have really had on this young man, 299 00:16:26,867 --> 00:16:31,367 but that alone doesn't explain why he became what he became. 300 00:16:32,767 --> 00:16:35,800 I don't use words like evil, but I think that 301 00:16:35,867 --> 00:16:38,400 there is something missing in him. 302 00:16:38,467 --> 00:16:39,900 He preyed on all kinds of women, 303 00:16:39,967 --> 00:16:41,700 but he preyed on a lot of sex workers 304 00:16:41,767 --> 00:16:44,567 and people on the margins of society. 305 00:16:44,567 --> 00:16:47,266 He probably thought he had it down pat. 306 00:16:47,266 --> 00:16:48,035 I feel like most serial killers end up getting kind of messy towards the end, 307 00:16:48,035 --> 00:16:52,100 I feel like most serial killers end up getting kind of messy towards the end, 308 00:16:52,100 --> 00:16:53,567 and maybe that's overconfidence 309 00:16:53,567 --> 00:16:55,667 or maybe it's wanting to be caught somehow. 310 00:17:02,567 --> 00:17:05,667 [Larry] Leslie Ann O'Dell, who is an 18-year-old 311 00:17:05,667 --> 00:17:09,500 who had just come to New York after a four-day bus ride 312 00:17:09,567 --> 00:17:14,467 from her hometown of Olympia in the state of Washington. 313 00:17:14,467 --> 00:17:18,035 [Dr. Melinda] It became somewhat of a known quantity 314 00:17:18,035 --> 00:17:18,667 [Dr. Melinda] It became somewhat of a known quantity 315 00:17:18,667 --> 00:17:21,600 that if you landed at the bus station, 316 00:17:21,667 --> 00:17:24,467 that there was probably a fairly good possibility 317 00:17:24,467 --> 00:17:27,467 that there would be various men out there 318 00:17:27,467 --> 00:17:33,667 who would provide you with all sorts of glamorous promises. 319 00:17:33,667 --> 00:17:36,567 If you've been sitting on a bus for seven days, 320 00:17:36,567 --> 00:17:39,367 you have to have been totally exhausted 321 00:17:39,367 --> 00:17:44,767 and very difficult to make decisions about what was good. 322 00:17:44,767 --> 00:17:47,800 [Steve] She found herself in the clutches of a pimp. 323 00:17:47,867 --> 00:17:48,035 It was a horrible situation for a teenager to find herself in. 324 00:17:48,035 --> 00:17:51,200 It was a horrible situation for a teenager to find herself in. 325 00:17:52,166 --> 00:17:54,467 Leslie had no idea that the man 326 00:17:54,467 --> 00:17:56,867 who would come out of nowhere and pretend to be her savior 327 00:17:56,867 --> 00:17:58,567 was actually worse than anything 328 00:17:58,567 --> 00:17:59,700 she could have imagined. 329 00:18:01,367 --> 00:18:05,467 Leslie Ann O'Dell is working on Lexington Avenue 330 00:18:05,467 --> 00:18:06,767 on the east side of Manhattan 331 00:18:06,767 --> 00:18:09,867 when she meets just a random guy, 332 00:18:09,867 --> 00:18:11,667 doesn't look like anything special, 333 00:18:11,667 --> 00:18:15,800 but he offers her $100 in return for sexual favors. 334 00:18:16,900 --> 00:18:18,035 She agrees. They go to a bar. 335 00:18:18,035 --> 00:18:20,100 She agrees. They go to a bar. 336 00:18:20,166 --> 00:18:21,967 He keeps feeding her drinks. 337 00:18:21,967 --> 00:18:24,100 She spoke to him a little bit about 338 00:18:24,100 --> 00:18:26,567 the situation that she was in. 339 00:18:26,567 --> 00:18:30,266 The man says to her, I'll drive you out of the city, 340 00:18:30,266 --> 00:18:33,166 I'll take you to a bus terminal over in Jersey, 341 00:18:33,166 --> 00:18:36,767 and you'll be on your way back to your hometown in Olympia 342 00:18:36,767 --> 00:18:39,000 before your pimp even knows that you're gone. 343 00:18:40,567 --> 00:18:42,400 By now, sex workers in New York 344 00:18:42,467 --> 00:18:44,467 had been warned about the Times Square killer, 345 00:18:44,467 --> 00:18:47,867 but the man seemed so sincere that Leslie believed him. 346 00:18:47,867 --> 00:18:48,035 He looked completely normal. He can speak very well. 347 00:18:48,035 --> 00:18:51,166 He looked completely normal. He can speak very well. 348 00:18:51,166 --> 00:18:52,867 She needed someone to help her. 349 00:18:52,867 --> 00:18:55,400 He's offering his help. He seemed like a nice guy. 350 00:18:55,467 --> 00:18:56,967 She went along with him. 351 00:18:59,367 --> 00:19:01,500 Now the torture begins. 352 00:19:01,567 --> 00:19:03,367 He's got a gun. 353 00:19:03,367 --> 00:19:06,667 [Eleanor] I heard a commotion, and I hear this girl. 354 00:19:06,667 --> 00:19:09,100 "Oh, my God, no. Oh, my God, no." 355 00:19:22,266 --> 00:19:25,100 Welcome back to Very Scary People. 356 00:19:25,166 --> 00:19:27,166 The Times Square killer may have thought 357 00:19:27,166 --> 00:19:29,166 he could get away with murder forever. 358 00:19:29,166 --> 00:19:31,700 He hid behind a mask of respectability, 359 00:19:31,767 --> 00:19:33,867 wearing a suit to work in New York 360 00:19:33,867 --> 00:19:37,000 and raising a family in the suburbs of New Jersey. 361 00:19:37,066 --> 00:19:40,900 But by 1980, his crimes are becoming more extreme, 362 00:19:40,967 --> 00:19:44,567 and the Times Square killer is becoming more reckless. 363 00:19:46,667 --> 00:19:49,066 [Steve] Leslie Ann O'Dell was only 18 years old. 364 00:19:49,066 --> 00:19:51,767 She had just arrived in New York City 365 00:19:51,767 --> 00:19:53,900 from her home in Washington State, 366 00:19:53,967 --> 00:19:56,600 and met a pimp that charmed her 367 00:19:56,667 --> 00:19:59,500 and put her out on the street. 368 00:19:59,567 --> 00:20:01,567 She met a John in Manhattan 369 00:20:01,567 --> 00:20:05,400 who took her to a bar and bought her some drinks. 370 00:20:05,467 --> 00:20:08,266 She confided to him that she was in over her head, 371 00:20:08,266 --> 00:20:11,066 and she wanted to get away from her pimp, 372 00:20:11,066 --> 00:20:12,567 and he offered to take her back 373 00:20:12,567 --> 00:20:14,100 to a bus depot in New Jersey 374 00:20:14,100 --> 00:20:15,529 so she could go back to her home in Washington State. 375 00:20:15,529 --> 00:20:17,467 so she could go back to her home in Washington State. 376 00:20:20,300 --> 00:20:22,900 [Larry] So this man and Leslie come across 377 00:20:22,967 --> 00:20:26,266 the George Washington Bridge chatting. 378 00:20:26,266 --> 00:20:28,567 He says to her, like, look, 379 00:20:28,567 --> 00:20:32,200 could the two of us have sex before you head out? 380 00:20:32,266 --> 00:20:35,500 So she agrees to accompany him to the Hasbrouck Heights 381 00:20:35,567 --> 00:20:36,967 Quality Inn, 382 00:20:36,967 --> 00:20:41,000 which has become his favorite place to do his business. 383 00:20:41,066 --> 00:20:42,767 [Rod] The people who work there, 384 00:20:42,767 --> 00:20:45,266 does he think they're completely blind or stupid? 385 00:20:45,266 --> 00:20:45,529 He's got to realize that he's raising, you know, some alarms, 386 00:20:45,529 --> 00:20:49,166 He's got to realize that he's raising, you know, some alarms, 387 00:20:49,166 --> 00:20:51,867 and, you know, who knows? 388 00:20:51,867 --> 00:20:55,867 Don't forget, he was dressed like a businessman in a suit and tie. 389 00:20:55,867 --> 00:20:58,667 I guess you could say he wasn't dressed like a killer. 390 00:20:59,867 --> 00:21:01,567 Once they get inside the room, 391 00:21:01,567 --> 00:21:04,166 he asks Leslie if he could give her a massage 392 00:21:04,166 --> 00:21:06,467 before they have sex. 393 00:21:06,467 --> 00:21:10,467 She agrees to this, and he pulls out a knife, 394 00:21:10,467 --> 00:21:13,066 holds it to her throat, and immediately handcuffs her. 395 00:21:13,700 --> 00:21:15,529 In the 2009 documentary, 396 00:21:15,529 --> 00:21:15,867 In the 2009 documentary, 397 00:21:15,867 --> 00:21:18,166 he explained how excited he got during these 398 00:21:18,166 --> 00:21:19,367 violent encounters. 399 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:22,467 [Richard speaking] 400 00:21:37,266 --> 00:21:39,166 [Steve] Now the torture begins. 401 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:41,166 He's got a gun. 402 00:21:41,166 --> 00:21:43,467 He's telling her that she's a whore 403 00:21:43,467 --> 00:21:45,166 and deserves to be punished. 404 00:21:46,800 --> 00:21:52,000 [Louis] The offender very often has a twisted sense of morality, 405 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:54,467 and so many of them will say, you know, 406 00:21:54,467 --> 00:21:56,467 prostitutes and sex workers, 407 00:21:56,467 --> 00:21:58,767 I want to rid the world of these sorts of things. 408 00:21:59,967 --> 00:22:03,266 For the next several hours, you know, 409 00:22:03,266 --> 00:22:05,000 he sliced her with a knife. 410 00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:06,867 He whipped her with a leather belt. 411 00:22:07,867 --> 00:22:09,367 And every time she passed out, 412 00:22:09,367 --> 00:22:13,567 he would use a damp washcloth to revive her 413 00:22:13,567 --> 00:22:15,000 and go right back to it. 414 00:22:16,567 --> 00:22:19,367 Leslie Ann O'Dell was a fighter. 415 00:22:19,367 --> 00:22:22,567 People don't expect sex workers to fight back, 416 00:22:22,567 --> 00:22:28,000 but thank goodness O'Dell was willing to fight for her life. 417 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,367 [Larry] At one point during her ordeal, she's uncuffed, 418 00:22:31,367 --> 00:22:36,667 and she immediately goes for the gun that's nearby. 419 00:22:36,667 --> 00:22:38,367 And when she tries to use it, 420 00:22:38,367 --> 00:22:40,400 she realizes quickly that it's a prop gun 421 00:22:40,467 --> 00:22:42,000 and it's going to be of no help at all. 422 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:49,100 [Eleanor] I heard a commotion in 117. 423 00:22:49,100 --> 00:22:52,767 So I run over real quick, put my ear to the door, 424 00:22:52,767 --> 00:22:57,600 and I hear this girl, "Oh, my God, no. Oh, my God, no." 425 00:22:57,667 --> 00:23:00,567 And something about a gun. 426 00:23:00,567 --> 00:23:03,100 And then I hear, like, a struggle, 427 00:23:03,100 --> 00:23:05,166 and it's coming closer to the door. 428 00:23:05,166 --> 00:23:09,767 And the first thought, of course, is the murderer. 429 00:23:09,767 --> 00:23:13,567 He's back. He's going to murder the girl in 117. 430 00:23:13,567 --> 00:23:15,529 So I head up the hall to go to the front desk to get help. 431 00:23:15,529 --> 00:23:18,166 So I head up the hall to go to the front desk to get help. 432 00:23:18,166 --> 00:23:21,000 "The girl's going to be murdered. We got to save her." 433 00:23:21,000 --> 00:23:27,467 So Todd, our assistant manager, he's knocking on 117. 434 00:23:27,467 --> 00:23:30,100 I don't know if this guy's going to open the door and shoot him 435 00:23:30,166 --> 00:23:34,467 or what's going to happen, but it was Leslie who opened 436 00:23:34,467 --> 00:23:36,567 the door a tiny bit with a chain 437 00:23:36,567 --> 00:23:39,266 and stuck her little hand out like this 438 00:23:39,266 --> 00:23:40,900 and was moving her eyes. 439 00:23:41,767 --> 00:23:44,567 And she's saying, "Everything's okay," 440 00:23:44,567 --> 00:23:45,529 which it wasn't, which we knew. 441 00:23:45,529 --> 00:23:47,600 which it wasn't, which we knew. 442 00:23:47,667 --> 00:23:51,400 [Mike] She was able to give a signal 443 00:23:51,467 --> 00:23:56,800 to the employees that made them call the police. 444 00:23:56,867 --> 00:23:58,700 [siren wails] 445 00:23:58,767 --> 00:24:03,467 The police show up, and this is his last stand. 446 00:24:03,467 --> 00:24:05,767 [Mike] And at that time, he realized 447 00:24:05,767 --> 00:24:07,500 that he had to get out of there. 448 00:24:07,567 --> 00:24:11,367 So he did take off, ran down the hallway. 449 00:24:11,367 --> 00:24:15,529 This guy is running by with a suit on 450 00:24:15,529 --> 00:24:15,867 This guy is running by with a suit on 451 00:24:15,867 --> 00:24:19,100 and a gun and an attaché case. 452 00:24:19,166 --> 00:24:23,000 So I think it's a detective, right, who would have a gun. 453 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:26,300 So I said, "Oh, did you get him?" 454 00:24:28,467 --> 00:24:30,467 And he points the gun. 455 00:24:30,467 --> 00:24:34,500 And with that, one of the police come in the side door 456 00:24:34,567 --> 00:24:38,100 with their shotgun, and they're aiming it at this guy. 457 00:24:41,567 --> 00:24:44,767 [Mike] The first responding officer caught him in a stairway. 458 00:24:46,066 --> 00:24:49,467 [Eleanor] And then they had the attaché case open 459 00:24:49,467 --> 00:24:51,800 with all this weird stuff in it, 460 00:24:51,867 --> 00:24:56,667 black garbage bag, adhesive tape, handcuffs. 461 00:24:56,667 --> 00:24:59,500 [Larry] A leather gag, two slave collars, 462 00:24:59,567 --> 00:25:04,266 a switchblade, ankle cuffs, replica pistols, 463 00:25:04,266 --> 00:25:07,867 and pills that he used to knock his victims out. 464 00:25:07,867 --> 00:25:10,166 When I saw him arrested sitting there, 465 00:25:10,166 --> 00:25:12,266 I realized it was the same guy 466 00:25:12,266 --> 00:25:14,967 that tried to get me in the parking lot. 467 00:25:16,266 --> 00:25:19,300 That's... I could cry. 468 00:25:25,367 --> 00:25:27,266 That's when it gets overwhelming. 469 00:25:30,467 --> 00:25:34,166 Police identified him as 33-year-old Richard Cottingham 470 00:25:34,166 --> 00:25:35,367 from Lodi, New Jersey. 471 00:25:37,767 --> 00:25:44,266 There were many cold cases that existed at that time, 472 00:25:44,266 --> 00:25:45,529 and we believed it was Cottingham. 473 00:25:45,529 --> 00:25:46,800 and we believed it was Cottingham. 474 00:25:56,400 --> 00:25:59,867 [Brenna] There was no way for the jurisdictions in New Jersey 475 00:25:59,867 --> 00:26:01,467 and New York to communicate. 476 00:26:02,467 --> 00:26:04,100 If there had been the Internet, 477 00:26:04,166 --> 00:26:05,266 if there had been websites, 478 00:26:05,266 --> 00:26:07,900 if there had been the 24-hour news network 479 00:26:07,967 --> 00:26:09,200 that there is today, 480 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:11,467 police departments in New York might be able to say, 481 00:26:11,467 --> 00:26:13,567 "Hey, that murder in New Jersey 482 00:26:13,567 --> 00:26:16,100 looks really similar to this murder in Times Square." 483 00:26:17,467 --> 00:26:22,200 [Rod] It wasn't until Cottingham was finally arrested 484 00:26:22,266 --> 00:26:24,719 and they finally were putting two and two together 485 00:26:24,719 --> 00:26:25,900 and they finally were putting two and two together 486 00:26:25,967 --> 00:26:28,200 that they looked at these cases. 487 00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:34,066 [Mike] After police take Cottingham into custody, 488 00:26:34,066 --> 00:26:36,767 he tries to play all this off. 489 00:26:36,767 --> 00:26:42,266 He carried his murder kit in a attaché case. 490 00:26:42,266 --> 00:26:44,767 [Larry] The paraphernalia that they recovered 491 00:26:44,767 --> 00:26:47,266 was just something that he kept around 492 00:26:47,266 --> 00:26:50,667 because he was a fan of bondage and domination. 493 00:26:50,667 --> 00:26:52,900 He said he wanted to see what it felt like to have 494 00:26:52,967 --> 00:26:54,667 someone under his control. 495 00:26:55,800 --> 00:26:58,667 And that line has been used a lot of times 496 00:26:58,667 --> 00:27:02,367 by different people who have abused women sexually, 497 00:27:02,367 --> 00:27:03,900 and they explain it away, 498 00:27:03,967 --> 00:27:05,800 "We were just trying something new." 499 00:27:05,867 --> 00:27:08,667 He's going to try to get himself out of this in some way. 500 00:27:08,667 --> 00:27:11,600 And that's at least an explanation to the authorities 501 00:27:11,667 --> 00:27:13,367 as to why they were doing this. 502 00:27:15,000 --> 00:27:16,567 [Steve] But when police raided his house, 503 00:27:16,567 --> 00:27:17,800 they found that the killer, 504 00:27:17,867 --> 00:27:20,100 who had been so careful to cover his tracks, 505 00:27:20,100 --> 00:27:23,000 had actually left a stunning record of his crimes. 506 00:27:23,066 --> 00:27:24,719 He had a trophy room of souvenirs 507 00:27:24,719 --> 00:27:25,166 He had a trophy room of souvenirs 508 00:27:25,166 --> 00:27:27,600 that he'd stolen from the women he'd attacked. 509 00:27:29,166 --> 00:27:31,767 That's not uncommon for killers 510 00:27:31,767 --> 00:27:34,500 to keep certain items from their victims. 511 00:27:37,367 --> 00:27:40,000 He's cherishing them, so to speak. 512 00:27:40,066 --> 00:27:42,367 He's putting them in a safe place, 513 00:27:42,367 --> 00:27:44,567 in a room in his home, 514 00:27:44,567 --> 00:27:47,667 which he disallows anyone to go to. 515 00:27:48,467 --> 00:27:50,266 His wife can't go in there. 516 00:27:50,266 --> 00:27:52,567 His children are forbidden to go in there. 517 00:27:52,567 --> 00:27:54,719 And he's got a place where he's keeping 518 00:27:54,719 --> 00:27:54,767 And he's got a place where he's keeping 519 00:27:54,767 --> 00:27:57,266 these little trinkets to remember. 520 00:27:58,367 --> 00:28:01,367 They bring back a memory of an incident 521 00:28:01,367 --> 00:28:04,000 that he largely enjoyed. 522 00:28:04,066 --> 00:28:06,500 It brings him gratification. 523 00:28:08,567 --> 00:28:12,166 Slowly, the potato was peeling, 524 00:28:12,166 --> 00:28:15,000 and we learned more and more about him and who he was. 525 00:28:17,567 --> 00:28:21,266 Cottingham was raised in a fairly middle-class family 526 00:28:21,266 --> 00:28:22,700 in New Jersey. 527 00:28:22,767 --> 00:28:24,719 The first of four children, he had three younger sisters. 528 00:28:24,719 --> 00:28:25,600 The first of four children, he had three younger sisters. 529 00:28:27,567 --> 00:28:29,166 [Rod] He's raised Catholic. 530 00:28:29,166 --> 00:28:32,900 He was very nervous as a child, very nervous growing up. 531 00:28:32,967 --> 00:28:36,200 His mother was an innocent soul. 532 00:28:36,266 --> 00:28:38,500 She didn't have a clue of what was going on. 533 00:28:38,567 --> 00:28:44,300 She did offer some explanations about him 534 00:28:44,367 --> 00:28:47,900 and his behavior when he was young. 535 00:28:47,967 --> 00:28:49,500 She would say things like 536 00:28:49,567 --> 00:28:52,166 he would constantly be chewing his nails, 537 00:28:52,166 --> 00:28:54,719 constantly be waving and swishing 538 00:28:54,719 --> 00:28:56,467 constantly be waving and swishing 539 00:28:56,567 --> 00:28:58,467 back and forth with his leg. 540 00:28:58,467 --> 00:29:00,667 [Larry] So we know he was an anxious kid. 541 00:29:00,667 --> 00:29:03,400 But aside from that, no major red flags. 542 00:29:03,467 --> 00:29:06,266 No evidence that he was torturing animals, 543 00:29:06,266 --> 00:29:09,767 setting fires, behavior you might expect from a serial killer. 544 00:29:11,500 --> 00:29:14,100 When people saw him in the community, 545 00:29:14,166 --> 00:29:17,400 they saw this professional working in New York, 546 00:29:17,467 --> 00:29:20,100 working in the computer industry. 547 00:29:20,166 --> 00:29:22,800 [Steve] But there were secrets that he was keeping from his wife. 548 00:29:22,867 --> 00:29:24,719 He had several extramarital affairs. 549 00:29:24,719 --> 00:29:25,266 He had several extramarital affairs. 550 00:29:25,266 --> 00:29:28,100 And just as his wife was giving birth for the first time, 551 00:29:28,100 --> 00:29:30,967 he was arrested for taking advantage of sex workers. 552 00:29:32,567 --> 00:29:37,467 There were two cases, one in '73 and one in '74. 553 00:29:37,467 --> 00:29:41,400 These were salacious instances. 554 00:29:41,467 --> 00:29:43,200 They involved robbery. 555 00:29:43,266 --> 00:29:45,066 They involved sexual assault. 556 00:29:45,066 --> 00:29:49,467 There was a charge of unlawful imprisonment. 557 00:29:49,467 --> 00:29:52,700 Okay, so we're talking about handcuffs. 558 00:29:52,767 --> 00:29:54,719 The prosecutors need their testimony, 559 00:29:54,719 --> 00:29:55,367 The prosecutors need their testimony, 560 00:29:55,367 --> 00:29:57,567 and these women were refusing, 561 00:29:57,567 --> 00:30:00,266 refusing to cooperate to that extent. 562 00:30:00,266 --> 00:30:02,266 That's on Cottingham's side. 563 00:30:02,266 --> 00:30:03,900 He's frightened these women. 564 00:30:03,967 --> 00:30:05,767 He's scared them to death. 565 00:30:05,767 --> 00:30:07,567 He's threatened them with weapons. 566 00:30:07,567 --> 00:30:09,867 And they're afraid of the police. 567 00:30:09,867 --> 00:30:14,266 He's got this mindset that he's above the law. 568 00:30:14,266 --> 00:30:16,800 In some ways, that's because he literally thought 569 00:30:16,867 --> 00:30:18,367 that he could get away with murder. 570 00:30:19,467 --> 00:30:24,467 In 1977, when his youngest child was just a year old, 571 00:30:24,467 --> 00:30:24,719 Maryann Carr was taken from the parking lot 572 00:30:24,719 --> 00:30:27,266 Maryann Carr was taken from the parking lot 573 00:30:27,266 --> 00:30:28,667 in her apartment complex. 574 00:30:29,967 --> 00:30:33,100 Those who saw it later told the police 575 00:30:33,100 --> 00:30:34,667 that they thought it was the husband. 576 00:30:35,967 --> 00:30:39,166 [Larry] As it turned out, after Cottingham was arrested, 577 00:30:39,166 --> 00:30:41,867 investigators were able to determine that 578 00:30:41,867 --> 00:30:45,266 the victim's husband and he looked very much alike. 579 00:30:45,266 --> 00:30:48,567 As long as Cottingham's methods were working for him, 580 00:30:48,567 --> 00:30:50,900 he just kept repeating the same patterns. 581 00:30:50,967 --> 00:30:52,667 He kidnapped two of his victims 582 00:30:52,667 --> 00:30:54,719 from the same apartment complex, 583 00:30:54,719 --> 00:30:54,900 from the same apartment complex, 584 00:30:54,967 --> 00:30:57,867 and he continually visited the Quality Inn 585 00:30:57,867 --> 00:31:00,300 in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey. 586 00:31:00,367 --> 00:31:03,800 [Larry] In 1979, Cottingham's wife filed for divorce. 587 00:31:03,867 --> 00:31:06,800 She said he regularly stayed out all night 588 00:31:06,867 --> 00:31:08,667 and stopped having sex with her 589 00:31:08,667 --> 00:31:10,467 after she had their third child. 590 00:31:10,467 --> 00:31:13,467 [Rod] She got tired of being the woman 591 00:31:13,467 --> 00:31:17,467 who was taking care of the house, taking care of everything. 592 00:31:17,467 --> 00:31:19,967 And for whatever reason, and I think 593 00:31:19,967 --> 00:31:21,967 it's his persuasiveness, 594 00:31:21,967 --> 00:31:24,667 she agreed to back off. 595 00:31:24,667 --> 00:31:24,719 I think she was a little more docile 596 00:31:24,719 --> 00:31:27,600 I think she was a little more docile 597 00:31:27,667 --> 00:31:31,166 than a lot of women might be with a guy like this, 598 00:31:31,166 --> 00:31:33,100 letting him get away with the whole lot. 599 00:31:34,567 --> 00:31:37,200 Still, she had no idea that she had married a killer. 600 00:31:40,166 --> 00:31:42,800 [male reporter] Richard Cottingham is being arraigned today 601 00:31:42,867 --> 00:31:45,166 on charges of murdering a 19-year-old girl 602 00:31:45,166 --> 00:31:46,867 in a motel in Hasbrouck Heights. 603 00:31:46,867 --> 00:31:50,000 The victim, Valerie Street, had been sexually abused 604 00:31:50,066 --> 00:31:51,200 and mutilated. 605 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:53,000 Cottingham is a suspect in the killing and mutilation 606 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:54,719 of two prostitutes last December in a 42nd Street motel. 607 00:31:54,719 --> 00:31:56,400 of two prostitutes last December in a 42nd Street motel. 608 00:31:58,100 --> 00:32:01,367 [Steve] In 1981, Richard Cottingham was charged with murder, 609 00:32:01,367 --> 00:32:03,266 kidnapping and sexual assault 610 00:32:03,266 --> 00:32:06,400 in connection with five different women in New Jersey. 611 00:32:06,467 --> 00:32:09,066 The first of three scheduled trials. 612 00:32:09,066 --> 00:32:11,567 He pleaded not guilty. 613 00:32:11,567 --> 00:32:13,166 He kind of always wanted his kids 614 00:32:13,166 --> 00:32:16,100 to think that there was a hint that maybe he didn't do these things, 615 00:32:16,100 --> 00:32:17,100 maybe it wasn't him. 616 00:32:17,100 --> 00:32:19,100 He never confessed. 617 00:32:19,100 --> 00:32:21,767 [male reporter] Cottingham's blood type was found inside 618 00:32:21,767 --> 00:32:23,600 the dead woman's hotel room. 619 00:32:23,667 --> 00:32:24,719 And that adhesive tape, like that found on Valerie Street's mouth, 620 00:32:24,719 --> 00:32:27,600 And that adhesive tape, like that found on Valerie Street's mouth, 621 00:32:27,667 --> 00:32:30,567 was found in Cottingham's car when he was arrested. 622 00:32:33,300 --> 00:32:36,567 [Eleanor] I had to go and testify every time and... 623 00:32:37,467 --> 00:32:40,500 When I had to get up and testify, 624 00:32:40,567 --> 00:32:44,367 they have it facing where Cottingham's sitting. 625 00:32:45,200 --> 00:32:47,567 And he kept looking at me. 626 00:32:47,567 --> 00:32:50,867 So, it was horrifying, horrifying. 627 00:32:52,000 --> 00:32:54,600 As evidence piled up against Cottingham, 628 00:32:54,667 --> 00:32:54,719 he attempted suicide in jail. 629 00:32:54,719 --> 00:32:56,467 he attempted suicide in jail. 630 00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:02,000 Cottingham evidently made two or three suicide gestures, 631 00:33:02,066 --> 00:33:04,467 but they were very superficial. 632 00:33:04,467 --> 00:33:06,600 On one occasion, he broke his glasses 633 00:33:06,667 --> 00:33:08,600 and tried cutting himself with the shards. 634 00:33:08,667 --> 00:33:11,467 He also tried slicing himself with a razor 635 00:33:11,467 --> 00:33:14,767 and drinking liquid antidepressants. 636 00:33:14,767 --> 00:33:17,367 I think it was just simple attention 637 00:33:17,367 --> 00:33:20,667 because I think if he wanted to kill himself, 638 00:33:20,667 --> 00:33:22,166 he was an expert at killing, 639 00:33:22,166 --> 00:33:24,266 then I think he probably could have killed himself. 640 00:33:24,266 --> 00:33:24,719 He was eventually sent back to court 641 00:33:24,719 --> 00:33:26,300 He was eventually sent back to court 642 00:33:26,367 --> 00:33:28,100 to hear the judge pronounce him guilty. 643 00:33:30,467 --> 00:33:32,400 The sentence he declared 644 00:33:32,467 --> 00:33:36,467 must be for the protection of modern society. 645 00:33:36,467 --> 00:33:40,000 There were multiple trials that Richard Cottingham 646 00:33:40,066 --> 00:33:41,400 went through 647 00:33:41,467 --> 00:33:43,200 and ultimately, 648 00:33:44,367 --> 00:33:46,166 the result of those multiple trials 649 00:33:46,166 --> 00:33:49,166 resulted in numerous life sentences 650 00:33:49,166 --> 00:33:50,300 for Richard Cottingham. 651 00:33:51,166 --> 00:33:52,767 He probably won't get out of jail. 652 00:33:52,767 --> 00:33:54,166 He's 34 years old now. 653 00:33:54,166 --> 00:33:54,719 He was sent to jail for almost 200 years. 654 00:33:54,719 --> 00:33:56,700 He was sent to jail for almost 200 years. 655 00:33:56,767 --> 00:33:59,767 [Rod] Finally, his wife divorced him 656 00:33:59,767 --> 00:34:02,300 after he was convicted for these crimes. 657 00:34:02,367 --> 00:34:06,200 She moved up to New York State to get away from New Jersey, 658 00:34:06,266 --> 00:34:07,867 get away from Bergen County, 659 00:34:07,867 --> 00:34:10,266 and that's where she raised her kids. 660 00:34:15,667 --> 00:34:17,867 [John] Even after Cottingham was convicted, 661 00:34:17,867 --> 00:34:23,000 there were many cold cases that existed at that time 662 00:34:23,000 --> 00:34:24,700 and continue to exist, 663 00:34:24,767 --> 00:34:28,266 but law enforcement never forgets them. 664 00:34:28,266 --> 00:34:30,800 When I first took over as chief, 665 00:34:30,867 --> 00:34:36,000 I decided to assign the homicide detectives 666 00:34:36,066 --> 00:34:40,800 to pull out a lot of the cold cases, go through them, 667 00:34:40,867 --> 00:34:43,567 and find whatever viable cases 668 00:34:43,567 --> 00:34:47,166 they felt they should pursue and reopen. 669 00:34:47,166 --> 00:34:50,166 Many of the cold cases in New York and New Jersey 670 00:34:50,166 --> 00:34:51,700 fit Cottingham's M.O. 671 00:34:51,767 --> 00:34:54,719 So as the years passed and Cottingham sat behind bars, 672 00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:55,200 So as the years passed and Cottingham sat behind bars, 673 00:34:55,266 --> 00:34:58,100 detectives continued to go through his old files. 674 00:34:58,100 --> 00:34:59,400 They were hoping to link him 675 00:34:59,467 --> 00:35:01,467 to other unsolved murders in the area. 676 00:35:07,100 --> 00:35:09,600 I went down there and sat down with him, 677 00:35:09,667 --> 00:35:12,100 and I wasn't there specifically 678 00:35:12,166 --> 00:35:16,100 to get him to confess to these murders. 679 00:35:16,166 --> 00:35:20,166 I was there to see if he would come and speak to our detectives. 680 00:35:21,100 --> 00:35:23,667 And he did end up calling our office, 681 00:35:23,667 --> 00:35:24,719 and there was a young detective at the time back then. 682 00:35:24,719 --> 00:35:27,667 and there was a young detective at the time back then. 683 00:35:27,667 --> 00:35:29,266 His name was Rob Anzilotti. 684 00:35:29,266 --> 00:35:31,767 A lot of times to get confessions, 685 00:35:31,767 --> 00:35:34,667 you can't just walk into a room and ask the person, 686 00:35:34,667 --> 00:35:37,066 "Hey, did you do it?" That's not gonna work. 687 00:35:37,066 --> 00:35:40,900 It takes time, it takes dialogue, it takes patience, 688 00:35:40,967 --> 00:35:43,667 and I felt he was the right guy for the job. 689 00:35:43,667 --> 00:35:48,100 And so they spent about 17 years 690 00:35:48,100 --> 00:35:50,967 going back and forth and just talking. 691 00:35:50,967 --> 00:35:54,719 The serial killers, they like that cat-and-mouse thing, 692 00:35:54,719 --> 00:35:54,800 The serial killers, they like that cat-and-mouse thing, 693 00:35:54,867 --> 00:35:58,266 and even when they are caught and they are in prison, 694 00:35:58,266 --> 00:35:59,600 they enjoy the game. 695 00:35:59,667 --> 00:36:01,800 You want to know something that I know, 696 00:36:01,867 --> 00:36:03,367 so what are you gonna give me for it? 697 00:36:03,367 --> 00:36:05,467 How are you gonna twist it out of me? 698 00:36:05,467 --> 00:36:07,867 And Cottingham definitely continued that game 699 00:36:07,867 --> 00:36:10,800 with Anzilotti for years. 700 00:36:10,867 --> 00:36:13,300 [Mike] And Anzilotti succeeded into 701 00:36:13,367 --> 00:36:16,000 developing a rapport with Cottingham, 702 00:36:16,066 --> 00:36:18,200 which led to several confessions. 703 00:36:28,667 --> 00:36:31,100 [Brenna] Nancy Vogel was the first confession 704 00:36:31,166 --> 00:36:33,600 Cottingham gave to Detective Anzilotti. 705 00:36:33,667 --> 00:36:38,567 Cottingham claimed he drove her up to a wooded area 706 00:36:38,567 --> 00:36:41,667 in Montvale, New Jersey, near the New York State line. 707 00:36:43,467 --> 00:36:46,967 He killed her there and put her in the backseat of her car, 708 00:36:46,967 --> 00:36:49,266 because that's the car they used to get up there, 709 00:36:49,266 --> 00:36:53,100 and he left the car in a residential neighborhood 710 00:36:53,100 --> 00:36:55,100 back near her home 711 00:36:55,100 --> 00:36:55,641 and walked back to the hotel where his car was. 712 00:36:55,641 --> 00:36:58,500 and walked back to the hotel where his car was. 713 00:36:58,567 --> 00:37:01,467 You might not believe this, but there are many people out there 714 00:37:01,467 --> 00:37:06,100 that confess to crimes that they have absolutely no connection with. 715 00:37:06,166 --> 00:37:10,467 I had to satisfy myself that it was indeed Mr. Cottingham 716 00:37:10,467 --> 00:37:12,166 that committed this crime. 717 00:37:12,166 --> 00:37:15,166 I am the prosecutor, and I am the only one that 718 00:37:15,166 --> 00:37:18,300 can actually authorize the warrant to charge 719 00:37:18,367 --> 00:37:19,567 Cottingham with murder. 720 00:37:19,567 --> 00:37:21,600 And I recall there were two things 721 00:37:21,667 --> 00:37:25,100 that I was told that tied him to it. 722 00:37:25,166 --> 00:37:25,641 That he took the car keys and he threw them away. 723 00:37:25,641 --> 00:37:28,166 That he took the car keys and he threw them away. 724 00:37:28,166 --> 00:37:31,000 That was never in any press release. 725 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:33,000 Only the killer would have known that, 726 00:37:33,066 --> 00:37:35,200 that the keys were not left in the car. 727 00:37:35,266 --> 00:37:37,367 The second thing is he told us about 728 00:37:37,367 --> 00:37:41,066 the Valley Fair shopping bags in the truck. 729 00:37:41,066 --> 00:37:44,166 Only the killer would have known that. 730 00:37:44,166 --> 00:37:48,367 And then Nancy Vogel's son told me something that I didn't expect. 731 00:37:49,066 --> 00:37:53,166 He said, "I can't believe this. 732 00:37:53,166 --> 00:37:55,641 All these years, I thought it was my uncle." 733 00:37:55,641 --> 00:37:55,967 All these years, I thought it was my uncle." 734 00:37:55,967 --> 00:37:58,567 Cottingham had told us he threw the keys away, 735 00:37:58,567 --> 00:38:01,567 so we knew that when the uncle put the keys 736 00:38:01,567 --> 00:38:02,767 on the police desk, 737 00:38:02,767 --> 00:38:04,767 it was just an extra set. 738 00:38:06,400 --> 00:38:12,767 So, Nancy Vogel's two children received two gifts that day. 739 00:38:12,767 --> 00:38:15,400 The first gift is the man who killed 740 00:38:15,467 --> 00:38:18,166 their mother was brought to justice. 741 00:38:18,166 --> 00:38:21,700 The second gift is it was never their uncle. 742 00:38:24,600 --> 00:38:25,641 Over the next ten years, Cottingham confessed 743 00:38:25,641 --> 00:38:28,467 Over the next ten years, Cottingham confessed 744 00:38:28,467 --> 00:38:31,266 to Anzilotti about three more murders. 745 00:38:31,266 --> 00:38:34,867 The trails of which had all gone cold. 746 00:38:34,867 --> 00:38:38,100 In 2021, Robert Anzilotti was about to retire. 747 00:38:38,166 --> 00:38:39,600 But there was another cold case that 748 00:38:39,667 --> 00:38:41,767 had been bothering detectives for years. 749 00:38:41,767 --> 00:38:46,100 The murders of teenagers Lorraine Kelly and Mary Ann Pryor. 750 00:38:46,166 --> 00:38:50,767 They were going down the Jersey Shore in August 1974. 751 00:38:50,767 --> 00:38:55,400 They were going bathing suit shopping before that. 752 00:38:55,467 --> 00:38:55,641 They had planned to hitchhike from their homes. 753 00:38:55,641 --> 00:38:59,367 They had planned to hitchhike from their homes. 754 00:39:00,500 --> 00:39:02,667 Five days later, their bodies were discovered 755 00:39:02,667 --> 00:39:04,000 in a construction site. 756 00:39:05,800 --> 00:39:08,967 I wanted that case solved and we had believed 757 00:39:08,967 --> 00:39:10,567 it was Cottingham. 758 00:39:10,567 --> 00:39:13,667 [Brenna] So, right before Anzilotti's retiring, 759 00:39:13,667 --> 00:39:16,767 Cottingham pleads guilty to Mary Ann Pryor 760 00:39:16,767 --> 00:39:18,467 and Lorraine Kelly. 761 00:39:18,467 --> 00:39:22,367 According to him, he picked them up and it was raining. 762 00:39:22,367 --> 00:39:24,100 They sat in the car for a while together. 763 00:39:24,166 --> 00:39:25,641 First, he took them to a McDonald's to get something to eat. 764 00:39:25,641 --> 00:39:26,767 First, he took them to a McDonald's to get something to eat. 765 00:39:26,767 --> 00:39:28,667 Then he took them to a hotel. 766 00:39:28,667 --> 00:39:30,600 He brought them into the hotel room. 767 00:39:30,667 --> 00:39:33,667 He had them tied up and he spent several days 768 00:39:33,667 --> 00:39:34,667 with them in the hotel. 769 00:39:35,467 --> 00:39:40,367 He did bad things to them and ended up 770 00:39:40,367 --> 00:39:43,266 drowning them in a bathtub. 771 00:39:43,266 --> 00:39:46,567 [Mike] And he brought them up to the New York State line 772 00:39:46,567 --> 00:39:49,266 and dumped their two bodies. 773 00:39:49,266 --> 00:39:52,667 [Steve] The only reason that he admitted to Anzilotti 774 00:39:52,667 --> 00:39:55,000 that he killed Mary Ann Pryor and Lorraine Kelly 775 00:39:55,000 --> 00:39:55,641 was because Anzilotti was retiring 776 00:39:55,641 --> 00:39:56,767 was because Anzilotti was retiring 777 00:39:56,767 --> 00:39:58,667 and that was his farewell gift. 778 00:39:58,667 --> 00:40:02,266 [John] I know that Rob Anzilotti didn't look at it as a gift. 779 00:40:02,266 --> 00:40:04,967 He looked at it as a gift for the families. 780 00:40:04,967 --> 00:40:08,400 Somewhere I knew the Pryor and Kelly families 781 00:40:08,467 --> 00:40:12,000 would begin to now maybe enjoy never a normal life, 782 00:40:12,000 --> 00:40:13,200 but a better life. 783 00:40:19,166 --> 00:40:21,867 So, Cottingham is now in his 70s. 784 00:40:21,867 --> 00:40:25,300 He's in very poor health, in a wheelchair. 785 00:40:25,367 --> 00:40:25,641 He knows that he doesn't have a lot of time left. 786 00:40:25,641 --> 00:40:28,667 He knows that he doesn't have a lot of time left. 787 00:40:29,867 --> 00:40:32,166 [Brenna] There's tons of unsolved crimes 788 00:40:32,166 --> 00:40:33,467 in New Jersey and New York, 789 00:40:33,467 --> 00:40:36,166 and who knows how many of them are Cottingham. 790 00:40:36,166 --> 00:40:38,166 Time is ticking for him to start confessing 791 00:40:38,166 --> 00:40:39,367 to the rest of these. 792 00:40:40,367 --> 00:40:42,400 [Eleanor] It affected me a great deal. 793 00:40:42,467 --> 00:40:45,400 I tell my grandchildren, you don't walk down the street 794 00:40:45,467 --> 00:40:46,300 by yourself. 795 00:40:46,367 --> 00:40:51,166 I am, like, super over-cautious. 796 00:40:51,166 --> 00:40:53,800 I wouldn't even let my granddaughter walk from the bus stop 797 00:40:55,467 --> 00:40:55,641 down a quarter of a block. 798 00:40:55,641 --> 00:40:57,667 down a quarter of a block. 799 00:40:57,667 --> 00:41:00,200 [laughs] I didn't even want her on a bus. 800 00:41:00,266 --> 00:41:01,467 You know, you get driven to school, 801 00:41:01,467 --> 00:41:03,767 you get picked up from school. 802 00:41:03,767 --> 00:41:07,500 [Steve] According to what Cottingham told journalist Nadia Fezzani 803 00:41:07,567 --> 00:41:09,767 in a 2009 documentary, 804 00:41:09,767 --> 00:41:11,166 there's still a lot of murders 805 00:41:11,166 --> 00:41:13,100 that the police don't know about. 806 00:41:13,100 --> 00:41:15,367 So, how many victims do you think you have? 807 00:41:16,567 --> 00:41:18,600 Oh, I know exactly how many. 808 00:41:19,900 --> 00:41:21,500 [chuckles] 809 00:41:23,100 --> 00:41:24,700 Over 85. 810 00:41:25,367 --> 00:41:25,641 Under 100. 811 00:41:25,641 --> 00:41:26,767 Under 100. 812 00:41:34,100 --> 00:41:35,667 Despite the passage of time 813 00:41:35,667 --> 00:41:38,166 and Richard Cottingham's declining health, 814 00:41:38,166 --> 00:41:40,867 law enforcement is still vigorously trying to connect 815 00:41:40,867 --> 00:41:43,400 cold cases to the Times Square killer. 816 00:41:43,467 --> 00:41:45,200 Thanks to the tenacity and grit 817 00:41:45,266 --> 00:41:46,867 of the detectives on the case, 818 00:41:46,867 --> 00:41:50,567 in December 2022, Cottingham finally admitted 819 00:41:50,567 --> 00:41:52,266 to killing five Long Island women 820 00:41:52,266 --> 00:41:55,641 between 1968 and 1973. 821 00:41:55,641 --> 00:41:56,166 between 1968 and 1973. 822 00:41:56,166 --> 00:41:58,266 We can only hope that even more of his victims 823 00:41:58,266 --> 00:42:00,200 will find justice. 824 00:42:00,266 --> 00:42:02,667 I'm Donnie Wahlberg. Thanks for watching. Good night.