NEW YORK. A serial killer already convicted of 11 murders has admitted to killing four other women on Long Island in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Yesterday, the man was sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder of 23-year-old Diane Cusick, who was killed in February 1968 after she bought shoes at the Green Acres Mall in Nassau County. His latest confession comes from a plea deal in which Richard Cottingham admitted to the murders of four other women, but won immunity on those charges. The serial killer, who has been in prison since 1980, claimed to be responsible for about a hundred murders: he is called the ‘Torso Killer’ because he is said to have cut off the heads and limbs of some of his victims.
“Today is one of the most exciting days we’ve ever had in our office,” said Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly, alongside several relatives of the victims. “In Diane Cusick’s case, her family waited nearly 55 years before anyone was held responsible for his death.” Donnelly went on to point out that Cottingham, believed to be one of the most prolific serial killers in the United States, “has caused irreparable damage to so many people and so many families that there is almost nothing I can say to comfort them”.