The Binge Cases: Denise Didn't Come Home - 5. The Broken Road

Episode Date: October 29, 2024

A serial killer’s confession leaves Karen with more questions than answers. Binge all episodes of Denise Didn’t Come Home, ad-free today by subscribing to The Binge. Visit The Binge Cases show page on Apple Podcasts and hit ‘subscribe’ or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access.  The Binge – feed your true crime obsession. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Out of nowhere there it was sudden shocking terrifying I have never in my life felt fear like that was this someone's idea of a sick prank or was it a horror movie? Come horribly alive. I'm thinking he killed him and he had filmed the murder I'm Keith Morrison and this is Dateline's newest podcast the man in the black mask Listen for free each week or unlock new episodes early and enjoy ad-free listening by subscribing to Dateline Premium on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or datelinepremium.com. The Bench. Hey, everyone.

Just a quick heads up before we get started. This episode contains descriptions of violence and sexual assault, so please take extra care when listening. Karen Falasca told me that in the summer of 2017, she was working in her office in Boulder, Colorado. And she got a call from the University of Colorado Police Department. Karen was nervous. She'd spent almost 50 years hunting for the man who murdered her sister, and she sensed the truth might have finally arrived. But now, it seemed like all she wanted to do was get away from it. And I kept saying, you know what, I can't come out today. I'm just, my back's up against the wall and I have deadlines.

And then they kind of broke down and said, you've got to come. Bergen County is plying here to tell you something that you want to hear. And I was like, oh, geez, I got to go. Bergen County is plying here to tell you something that you wanna hear. And I was like, oh geez, I gotta go smoke a cigarette. I've gotta go smoke like three cigarettes. I was just like walking around the parking structure. I started trembling, like really trembling like an alcoholic that needs a drink, not knowing what they were coming here to tell me.

I didn't want to get my hopes up, you know? — Finally, Karen made her way over to the police department, where she was greeted by a familiar face, Detective Rob Anzalotti of the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office. — I had made her a promise that I would never stop the pursuit of finding out who killed her sister Denise, and I thought she deserved the respect of me personally being there. It was important to me to personally look her in the eye and tell her that we had solved it. Anzalotti told Karen that Richard Cottingham had finally confessed to murdering Denise. I just finally fell apart and I cried.

It was startling how heavy the grief was. I didn't know how to make sense of this or grieve it. I think it was extraordinarily emotional for Karen. I kind of knew that she was going to have some doubt, just because I knew who she was. You know, I knew the person Karen was, and she... Anything short of DNA evidence, she was absolutely going to question the validity of it.

And he said, do you have doubts, Karen? And I said, yeah, I do. I really do. And he was like, well, I'm telling you, for surely, for surely, Cottingham did this. And I said, yeah, but don't we need any kind of evidence that could corroborate his confession? And he was like, well, I'm beyond the shadow of a doubt sure that he killed Denise. Karen told me that Anzalotti had come empty-handed. No copy of the confession, no official report, just his word that Cottingham did it.

He told her that because of his deal that Cottingham did it. He told her that because of his deal with Cottingham, there wouldn't be any charges. He asked her not to tell anyone about the confession because he was afraid that Cottingham would stop talking. I told them, okay, all right, and I walked out of there. As each day goes from that meeting, I accept it less and less. Seems like such an easy solution for such a terrible, terrible crime

that stumped everyone for decades to suddenly be quietly solved and put away after getting no exposure whatsoever and then swearing me to silence. It's not right. Not long after that, Karen got a phone call out of the blue from this dumb kid from New Jersey who'd heard about Denise's murder, who was interested enough in what happened to reach out, who didn't really seem to know what he was reaching out for. Hello? Hi, Karen. Hi. Me. If you feel comfortable, I'm ready to start recording.

Okay. I'm ready. And that brings us back to the beginning of this story, to when I started talking to Karen. First, I guess it's just like a little bit of background of like who you are. Sure, I'm Karen, Alaska, and Denise is my older sister. I had no idea that I'd stumbled into Karen's life at this pivotal moment. That to Karen, my timing was almost too perfect.

Maybe even a little suspicious. It has run through my mind that maybe someone asked you to do this. No, no, no. I just wanted to make sure that nobody sent you to try to get me on tape saying things about her case that I swore I wouldn't say. Eventually, she broke that promise. She told me about the confession, that according to Bergen County, this 50-year-old murder had finally been solved. And she told me that she wasn't buying it.

Their story is a great story, but it's a story just like my story. And I just can't know what all of their interviews involved. I wish I could sit and view that confession. It didn't take long for Karen's wish to come true. A few weeks later, Anzalotti flew back to Colorado to meet with Karen at her home. And this time, he brought something with him that Karen had been asking for. I would like to see his confession. Yeah, well, I brought his confession. My name is Anthony Scalia. From Truth Media and Sony Music Entertainment, this is Denise Didn't Come Home. What I knew about cutting him was that he was this

torso killer killing prostitutes and easy prey. His murders were gruesome and brutal. Death and desecration and torture and dismemberment. Why would you think that he did this? So what was the thrill? Was it more rape? Control? It was getting away with it. It was the game.

The stalking. We're still taking the word of a convicted serial killer. I trusted him when I could verify what he had to say. You recall abducting a girl from Old Hook Road? I definitely took a girl from Old Hook Road. There's only one unsolved homicide of a girl that we last saw on Old Hook Road, and it's Denise Velasquez. Chapter 5, The Broken Road.

As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. But did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder wherever you get your podcasts.

Who is the dad? For years, a Canadian lab promised people the answer. It's obviously legit. It's a DNA company. But one by one, its prenatal paternity tests gave people the wrong answer. You're the company that's supposed to provide me with results. I was pissed. This is the story of our investigation into how it all happened. And a company that continues to stand by its testing. Listen to Uncover Bad Results, everywhere you get your podcasts. The bag and that stuff gets reboxed and the bag gets a hole in it.

Who knows? Are you going to go out on the town and desert town? We have an early flight tomorrow morning so we're going to go back to Denver so we're closer to the airport. On January 30th, 2018, Karen secretly recorded this conversation with Detective Rob Anzalotti and his partner. Anzalotti is here to let Karen read a copy of Richard Cottingham's confession to the murder of her sister, Denise.

Because it's overdue. And again, I apologize because I told you months ago that we're going to get out of here to this. Thank you. You're welcome. I know. I can guarantee you that I'm ready to see the truth of what he said. Karen only got to read a transcript of the confession. But a few years later, I was able to get this recording of

the confession itself. Today's date is Wednesday, March 1st, 2017. And seated to my left is Mr. Richard Cottingham. Do you swear the statement you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God. Yes. Can you tell me, to the best of your recollection, when did this homicide occur? The summer of 69. The summer of 1969?

Yes. I remember it to be a hot day, and it was before I got married, May of 70. It was a summer night, I was on my way to work, and I seen a young lady walking on the side of a road in the opposite direction. I went a couple more blocks, and I made a U-turn. I asked the girl if she needed a ride or something to that effect and she said okay and she got in my car.

I pulled up in front of the pizza shop that was right on the corner. I asked if she wanted slice of pizza and she said okay but she said I have to go meet my friends in a few minutes. I think she was just trying to be nice to me because I gave her a ride. I had a talker to get back in the car and I told her I'd help her look for her friends. When Karen read that part of Cottingham's confession, it made sense to her. The girl he's describing is Denise. sense to St. Andrews Elementary School. And I went down into the Degard area, which was deserted at that time.

What did you have in mind? What was the purpose of bringing her there? To mess around when I have sex with her. Did you force her to do this? I didn't physically force her, no. But I let her know that she had no choice. I told her to do it, she did it. She wouldn't have done it unless I told her to do it. I made the decision that she was dangerous to me, that she'd see my face,

and that she definitely would tell people. At that point in the confession, Cottingham started to get really vague about the crucial details. Can you explain to me how you killed her? It's hazy. I would almost definitely say that I strangled her. When you say strangled, would it be manual strangulation with your hands, or could you have used a ligature? Could you have used something?

Usually I use something. Okay, do you have any recollection of what you used? Not specifically. Denise was found badly beaten, and Anzolotti wanted an explanation for that. At any time, did you have to assault her in some way where, you know, where she would have gotten, started bleeding? Not that I recall.

Okay, is it possible? It's possible that she struggled for a bit and, you know, she may have got injured, but I don't recall. Denise was found with a bloody handprint on her leg. Ancelotti wanted to know where that came from. I got out of the car and I pulled her out. When you dragged her out from the car, would it have been from the top or from her feet? I don't recall. It would probably be by her legs. Do you remember what side of the road you dumped her on? Not positive but I'm pretty sure it was on the right hand side. Do you remember actually what town you were in

on Westminster Road? I have no idea. Okay. After removing her body from the car and leaving it on the side at Westminster Road, what did you do next? Believe I drove into the city. I think I just went in and had some tea.

I think he's really not wholly convincing. I mean, that makes you certain, that interview there. He doesn't remember as much detail as I would like him to, but also to his defense of some of the haziness, we're asking to remember something at this point that was almost 50 years ago. One thing about the confession that really bothered Karen was that Cottingham said he picked Denise up at night, in the dark, but Karen remembered the sun still being up and seeing Denise walk off down Old Hook Road in daylight. You know, I don't know, it's just odd, but anyway. I just want to make sure that we are definitely accusing the right person of doing this. Well, I would love for more detail. It just all makes a ton of sense. He has no incentive to give this stuff to us.

And we certainly have no incentive to accept it from him. And we would not come tell you unless we were a thousand percent certain. Without DNA evidence or a fingerprint, is there ever that one percent chance where you got the wrong guy? We'd like to think not, but we certainly know that it happens, but I don't see any scenario where he duped us into this because for what? Toward what end? Because he didn't have to say it. What did he say? Yeah, I, um... If you guys are hanging your head on this confession,

there's... I don't know what to say. I mean, he's a pig. He's a shit. You just gotta hope that there's a hell. Yeah, there is a hell. There is a hell, and... Then he gets a front row seat. After it was all over, Karen called me to tell me about the confession.

This was really far from home run flambunk. Some details were lost to him and that was very clear in his confession, you know. But he doesn't remember if he strangled her. They asked him about blood and he said, well, there was maybe a little bit of blood. He's not clear about it. But there were certain things he said that gave me the feeling that he really did have her. He had her. It made sense when I read it in the confession.

He said, well, you know what? She was really trying to be nice. She was really trying to blow me off in a nice way. And when he said that, I just knew it was her. We were raised to have manners, to treat people with dignity, to be kind even to the unlovable. I really see her outside of his car, really trying to nicely negotiate her way out of this person's path.

And I could feel her fear, knowing that she was in a bad place with this person, and really not being able to get away. That moment terrifies me. I could just picture it, like I just. Me too. You know, I said, that's when I knew I had to kill her because she saw me and she was the kind of girl

that would tell. And I thought, yeah, she was. She was smart, she was. She was smart. She was a smart girl and she was probably trying to manipulate him as much as he was trying to manipulate her. Do you still need like a little bit more of proof that you were once looking for or are you pretty much just really accepting this now? That's a really good question. I feel like I have to accept it.

There's some things wrong in it and I'm sure that I'm always going to be stuck with this doubt. But I mean, everything I asked for I got. Everything I struggled for just came true and I'm sitting here going yeah but really you know I feel this sense of surrender like this is as far as it's gonna go and that's that's kind of where I am I don't know what to think. It really has been hitting me that I don't have to really search for her murderer anymore. I can just remember her and accept the fact that she's gone. She's dead, you know?

Hi, I'm a woman. I'm a woman. I'm a woman. I'm a woman. I'm a woman. I'm a woman. I'm a woman. I'm a woman.

I'm a woman. I'm a woman. I'm a woman. I'm a woman. I'm a woman. I'm Barbie. And I'm Barbie. We're making a podcast together. The Barbie Podcast. Like us, so many of you have big dreams, problems to solve, fears to conquer, and cool stuff you want to learn. We're here to listen. After Karen read Richard Cottingham's confession, I thought she had finally found an answer

to the question of who killed her sister. I thought maybe she had found some peace. But I realized that with Karen, it wouldn't be that easy. And I still have a doubt in my mind as to whether he killed her. I still don't really have any real confirmation. I would be pushing it way over the limit to carry on and keep saying, I'm not satisfied, I'm not satisfied.

Really, they would label me as a crazy person. I remember being a little frustrated. I mean, I could admit that the confession was hazy and it had some holes. But by this time, I was starting to feel more and more every day that Cottingham killed Denise. And that's because I was spending all my free time researching his cases. How he used to prowl the streets of Bergen County for victims. He knew his hunting ground well.

And it turns out, I did too. I came across something that was really interesting this weekend that I had no idea. I don't know if you knew this, but he lived in Lodi. At one point, Cottingham lived right in my hometown of Lodi. That blew my mind. And then I found out he lived on Vreeland Street, a street I'd known my entire life. It was less than two blocks from my grandma's house. Vreeland Street is maybe a minute and a half drive from where Denise was found. I did the drive last night. I was with my girlfriend and I was like, turn down this street and then turn down this street. And I looked at the time and I saw how long it took. And it

was right there. Like ridiculously, ridiculously, ridiculously close. Not only that, but Cottingham lived close to where another victim was found, Irene Blaze. She was killed just a few months before Denise. I just, I see Cottingham doing it. I just, I see Cottingham doing it. Well, I'd say it's very, very possible that he did.

My question to you is, would it ever be enough for you to say, you know what, yeah, that is it? Or do you think it's just like a thought? Well, I know I'm never going to get that really good feeling that people think they're going to get when they get to the end of something that has been a lifelong quest almost. I know I'm never going to feel that good. Karen was still hung up on her own memories of the night of the murder, the things she remembered that weren't in Cottingham's confession. I just recall so clearly these things from the real memory and the real experience of having been there. People will say, you're not remembering it right. You don't forget.

You go over it and over it and over it in your mind. I asked Karen to take me through those memories again. She said that Cottingham claimed he had picked up Denise at night, in the dark. People keep saying it was nighttime, it was dark, and it wasn't. It was early evening, light out, and we left the house. Karen remembered that she and Denise walked down the street together to catch a bus in daylight. She turned around and she said, I have to go do something. And said to me very sternly, do not follow me. Karen, do not follow me.

And I said, please stay with me. I see her walking away from me in daylight. It's not even dusk yet. She split off from me and walked down Old Oak Road. Karen said she sat down at the bus stop, and that's when she saw a man in a blue car. He drove by real slow and just gave me an evil, evil look, like gawking at me. And then he made a U-turn and came back towards me and I was really scared when I saw him do that.

So I just stood there, I just stood my ground. I just looked right at him and I stepped out and acted like I was writing his license plate down on my hand. He just took off. He just screeched away and he headed towards Old Oak Road. The person that stalked me that day, to me, was so creepy and ugly and scary, like the devil himself. If it was the Saint I who stalked me that night, I always wondered if I just sent him straight to Denise.

I suddenly realized why Karen couldn't let go of that moment. Because she felt guilty. Hmm. Yeah, I definitely want to come back to that. Of all Karen's memories, this was the memory that tortured her the most. I had been stalked that night. And when I led the confession, that wasn't a part of this story at all. Do you think it could have been Cottingham in that car?

You know, it really could have been. It really could have been. When I look back at pictures of him when he was arrested and when he was younger, it's hard to tell, but it could have. It could have been him. Unless we could somehow confirm that Cottingham saw Karen that night,

I worried that she would never find peace. But a couple weeks later, Karen called me. She found out that anyone could message an inmate through the prison email system. I feel it roaring up from deep inside of me, like, you know, it might be possible for me to speak to the person who caused all this. This whole road isn't been leading here. It's a broken road and I'm trying to make it straight. No more middlemen. No more hearing about what happened second hand or reading it from a transcript. Karen needed to go to the source.

The only two people that know what happened that night is Denise and Richard. If I really want to know what happened that night, I should just ask him. I was worried about Karen. On the one hand, I wanted her to get the answer she needed. On the other, I wasn't sure what she would find in the dark recesses of Cottingham's mind, and whether any of it would help. If you only have a serial killer's word, how can you believe anything he says? He's gotten this far by lying. We're talking about a guy who is the master of deception. He's gotten this far by lying. We're talking about a guy who is the master of deception.

That's on the next episode of Denise Didn't Come Home. Don't want to wait for that next episode? You don't have to. Unlock all episodes of Denise Didn't Come Home ad-free right now by subscribing to the Binge Podcast channel. Just click subscribe at the top of the Binge Cases show page on Apple Podcasts or visit GetTheBinge.com to get access wherever you get your podcasts. As a subscriber, you'll get Binge access to new stories on the first of every month. Check out the Binge channel page on Apple Podcasts visit getthebinge.com to learn more. ["Truth Media," by Anthony Scalia plays.]

Denise Didn't Come Home is a production of Truth Media in partnership with Sony Music Entertainment. I'm your host, Anthony Scalia. The show is produced by Ryan Swiker and me. Story editing by Mark Smirling. Kevin Sheppard is our associate producer. Scott Curtis is our production manager. From Sony, our executive producers are Jonathan Hirsch and Catherine St. Louis. Fact-checking by Donia Suleman. Kenny Kusiak did the mix. Sound design by Kenny Kusiak and Ryan Swiker. Music by

Kenny Kusiak, Epidemic Sound, and Marmoset. Our title track is Give Me Some by Weevil. If you've been enjoying the show, we'd love to hear from you. Give us a call at 646-665-2748 and leave us a voicemail. Don't forget to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. It really helps other people find the show. And thanks for listening.