HACKENSACK, N.J. -- A woman broke down sobbing on the witness stand Monday after testifying that accused killer Richard Cottingham picked her up in a bar, drugged her, burned her breasts and dumped her out of his car.
Cottingham, 34, of Lodi, N.J., is accused of killing a prostitute and assaulting four other women, including three prostitutes.
He also faces charges in New York City of killing and mutilating two other streetwalkers.
In an unusual Memorial Day session of the Bergen County Superior Court, a 25-year-old Manhattan housewife whose identity has not been released told the jury that a man she later identified as Cottingham approached her in a Manhattan bar the night of March 22, 1978.
Much of the woman's testimony reiterated what she told the court last week at a hearing on whether her identification of Cottingham, who is married and the father of three children, could be admitted into evidence.
She told the court Cottingham came up to her at the bar and asked her if she was a 'working girl.' She said she was not aware that the phrase was synonymous with a prostitute and replied that she was a waitress.
The woman, who was 10 to 12 weeks pregnant at the time she allegedly met Cottingham, said he bought her a drink. She accepted a ride from Cottingham because she was unsure she could make it home on her own, she testified.
She told the court she passed out in the car and woke up on Route 80 in New Jersey. Then, she said, her assailant pushed several pills down her throat, which he told her were sedatives.
She testified that she remembered being 'burned on the breasts,' and recalled later being pushed out of a car, unable to move or call for help.
She told the court that when she was thrown out of the car, she felt 'like this is it, I'm going to die.'
The woman then broke down sobbing on the witness stand. Proceedings had to be adjourned before cross-examination could begin.
The woman was found the next morning in an apartment complex in which Two Judge Paul Huot held the Memorial Day session in an effort to speed the lengthy trial. He said he also plans to convene court for longer hours and on Saturdays until a verdict is reached.
The jury was sequestered last week after one juror, a court reporter and a guard received obscene phone calls.
