Cottingham Comparison to LISK/RH
-Cottingham married once, 3 children, his wife had already filed for divorce before his capture
-RH married twice, 2 children, wife still with him at time of capture
-Both homeowners, Cottingham owned a home in Lodi NJ and worked at Blue Cross/Blue Shield in Manhattan; RH lived in Massapequa Park and commuted to Manhattan
-Cottingham was born in the Bronx, Gilgo victim Melissa Barthelemy lived in the Bronx at the time of her murder and LISK/RH made taunting calls to this victim’s sister
-Both white, RC is 5’11, RH is 6’4
-RC currently 77, RH currently 60
-Both have ties to Catholic religion
-Both had good steady white-collar jobs and made good money
-Both had “regular guy” looks
-Both had at least at some point rather striking vehicles, and both used the vehicles in some manner in their crimes
-Cottingham “dressed up” for dates & encounters & it appears LISK/RH did as well
-Cottingham had victims in both NJ & NY (and claimed victims elsewhere in many other states); the Gilgo victims have a lot of NJ ties
-Cottingham constantly changed his MO to outwit authorities & evade capture, LISK also may have done so
-Most of Cottingham’s victims were prostitutes
-Cottingham hated prostitutes and enjoyed torturing them, as appears to be the case with LISK/RH, who targeted escorts. Cottingham didn’t view them to be actual people.
-Cottingham offered large amounts to prostitutes to get them in situations they’d rather not be in, RH allegedly did the same
-Cottingham offered large sums trying to “help” victims change their lives, RH has been accused of doing the same
-Cottingham had early fascination with bondage *advertiser censored*, RH’s searches show such an interest
-Cottingham abducted raped, and murdered two young girls under 18, RH’s searches indicate similar interests and Peaches’ baby was a Gilgo victim
-Cottingham’s victims had many ties to the NYC Port Authority, as did RH’s victims
-Cottingham loved Times Square when it was a haven for drugs and prostitution, and RH may have “stomped” in or at the fringes of this area during his earlier kills, we don’t know
-Cottingham frequented gay bars and Plato’s Retreat in NYC, which was a swinger’s club; RH is alleged to be both bisexual and a “swinger” who would then (if that is true) also have belonged to a “swinger’s” club
-Cottingham tore gold earrings out of Susan Geiger’s ears (possible Gilgo victim Shannan Gilbert’s earring was found on the stairs outside JB’s home)
-Cottingham left ligature marks; he drugged, bit, raped, beat, handcuffed, strangled, drowned, and burned victims at various points; at this point, LISK has strangled and bludgeoned victims (Asian Male’s skull was crushed) and they did seize a handcuff key from his workroom
-Cottingham sometimes severed heads and hands of victims to evade identification (and sometimes severed/mutilated other body parts); other victims, bodies were left whole
-LISK/RH dismembered some victims and left others intact; LISK did sever head and hands in some cases
-Cottingham beat victims with belts; Gilgo victims were found bound with belts
-Cottingham at certain points stalked victims; RH has also been accused of stalking
-Cottingham had no known male victims, there is a male victim at Gilgo
-Cottingham has at least 1 African American female victim, as does LISK/RH
-Cottingham used aliases (among them Tommy, Jimmy, last name “Carruthers”); RH used aliases, including Thomas Hawk
-The “Thawk303” email has the “303” included, there is a route 303 that runs through NJ and NY, it runs through Bergen County, where Cottingham had victims and was tried
-Cottingham at one point used his young son’s name, “Blair,” as an alias; Shannan Gilbert had a “Chris” from “Massapequa” listed in her appointment book, and Chris is RH’s son’s name
-Cottingham has been described as an SK who “evolved,” and LISK could be, too
-Cottingham had a trophy room in the basement; LISK had the gun vault room in the basement
-Cottingham took purses, jewelry & beyond from victims; unsure of what LISK may have taken
-Cottingham when first caught said he paid the woman he was with $180 and said something along the lines of “I didn’t do anything”; in court, RH said “I didn’t do this”
-Cottingham is known to have killed 9, attempted to kill 4, but may have killed up to 100; there are 11 sets of remains at Gilgo Beach
And as a final note, I just saw that Richard Cunningham’s uncle lived in Massapequa—near RH
<modsnip: not an approved source>
