He has been imprisoned since 1980, when he was arrested after a motel maid heard a woman screaming inside his room.

Authorities found the woman alive but handcuffed and suffering from bite marks and knife wounds.

Authorities believe Ms Cusick left her job at a children’s dance school and stopped at the shopping centre to buy a pair of shoes when Cottingham followed her out to her car.

They believe he pretended to be a security guard or police officer, accused her of stealing and then overpowered the seven-stone woman.

A medical examiner concluded Ms Cusick was beaten in the face and head and suffocated.  

Jim Martin, brother of Diane Cusick, reads a statement with prosecutor Jared Rosenblatt at his side (Seth Wenig/AP)
Jim Martin, brother of Diane Cusick, reads a statement with prosecutor Jared Rosenblatt at his side (Seth Wenig/AP)© Provided by PA Media

She had defensive wounds on her hands and police were able to collect DNA evidence at the scene.

At the time, however, DNA testing did not exist.

The DNA was entered into a national database in 2016 when Cottingham pleaded guilty to another murder in New Jersey.

In 2021, police in Nassau County received a tip a suspect who may be responsible for killings in the suburban county was locked up in New Jersey.

They began rerunning DNA tests on cold cases and got a match to Cottingham.

Cottingham was working as a computer programmer for a health insurance company in New York at the time of Ms Cusick’s death.