Torso Killer linked to 100 deaths admits murdering five women near New York City

Richard Cottingham makes a remote appearance at a courtroom in Mineola, New York, Monday December 5 2022 (Seth Wenig/AP)

A serial killer dubbed the Torso Killer has admitted murdering a 23-year-old woman outside a Long Island shopping centre in 1968 and four other women decades ago.

Richard Cottingham was arraigned earlier this year on a second-degree murder charge in connection with Diane Cusick’s death during a trip she made to buy shoes at the suburban Green Acres Mall in New York.