'Torso Killer' Names 2 Rockland Victims; Police Are Skeptical About 1

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — Serial killer Richard Cottingham, who at 75 has been updating police bit by bit about women he says he murdered, has added two Rockland County victims to his list, The Journal News reported.

Investigators agree about one — Lorraine McGraw, whose beaten body was found in South Nyack in 1970 — but not about Nanuet High Schooler Lisa Thomas, found dead in 1974, TJN reported. The tip about Thomas came from author Peter Vronsky, who's been interviewing Cottingham for years for a book and or documentary. The media outlet reported that Vronsky and Clarkstown police Det. Chris Maloney have emailed about the Thomas case and that the Rockland County District Attorney's Office had closed the McGraw case quietly as other prosecutors had been doing with other cold cases now deemed solved.

Cottingham, whose other nickname is "Times Square Killer" for dismembering several prostitutes in that area, now says he killed 100 people, TJN reported. The paper reported that McGraw's granddaughter had been in contact with Cottingham for the past 18 months; Cottingham had promised to tell her more details about the killing when they met face-to-face.

Read the entire article on lohud.com.

Cottingham has been incarcerated in New Jersey State Prison since July 1981, serving a life sentence for multiple murders. He has been linked to nearly a dozen slayings in New York and New Jersey.

It was only recently that Cottingham confessed to the murders of three New Jersey teens in the 1960s. The families of those victims were confidentially notified when the cases were solved. There were no previous public announcements so as not to imperil continuing investigations, Bergen County Assistant Prosecutor Elizabeth Rebein said in 2020.

However, in June, when formally charged with the murder of a Long Island woman more than 50 years ago, Cottingham pleaded not guilty.

SEE ALSO:

• 'Torso Killer' Confesses To Murdering 3 Bergen Teens
• 'Torso Killer' Linked to 1968 Cold Case Murder On Long Island