Infamous 'Torso Killer' pleads guilty to killing woman in 1968 and admits to killing 4 others

NASSAU COUNTY, N.Y. (TCD) -- A convicted serial killer pleaded guilty this week to killing a 23-year-old woman and admitted to murdering four other women several decades ago.

The Nassau County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday, Dec. 5, that Richard Cottingham, who is famously known as the "Torso Killer," entered a plea for the second-degree murder of Diane Cusick via video from the South Woods State Prison in New Jersey. In addition to pleading guilty, he also admitted to killing Mary Beth Heinz, Laverne Moye, Sheila Heiman, and Maria Emerita Rosado Nieves.

As part of the plea deal, the District Attorney’s Office said Cottingham will not be tried for the other four women's deaths because he is already serving a life sentence for murders in New York and New Jersey.

On Feb. 15, 1968, Cusick went to the Green Acres Mall to buy a new pair of dancing shoes, but she never returned home. She was found dead in the backseat of her car with an adhesive band around her mouth and her hands taped together. The medical examiner determined she died from asphyxiation due to strangulation.

Heinz, 21, was found dead May 10, 1972, in a muddy stream. A young boy found 23-year-old Moye’s body in a creek on July 20, 1972. Both women died from asphyxia due to strangulation. Heiman, 33, was bludgeoned and beaten to death exactly one year after Moye on July 20, 1973. Rosado Nieves, 18, was strangled and covered in plastic bags on Dec. 27, 1973.

According to NJ.com, Cottingham became known as the "Torso Killer" because he had a penchant for beheading and dismembering his victims. In 2020, Cottingham admitted to killing three young women in the late 1960s. In 2021, he pleaded guilty to kidnapping and murder in the deaths of 17-year-old Mary Ann Pryor and 16-year-old Lorraine Kelly in August 1974.

NBC New York reports Cottingham has allegedly confessed to killing up to 100 people.

MORE:

• Richard Cottingham Pleads Guilty to 1968 Cold Case Murder - Nassau County District Attorney's Office
• The 'Torso Killer' dismembered her mother. So why did this woman become his friend?, 1/30/2020 - NJ.com
• New Jersey’s 'Torso Killer' admits murdering 3 teenage girls over 50 years ago, 1/2/2020 - NJ.com
• Infamous 'Torso Killer' Admits Murdering Long Island Dance Teacher, 4 Others - NBC New York