Helen Sikes

At just 19 years old, Helen Sikes was trying to find her way after running away from her home in California. In the gritty, fast-paced world of New York City in the late 1970s, she was known by the nicknames Bouncy, Hollywood, and Sherri. She had been living in the Times Square area, a part of the city then known for its transient population and inherent dangers. Like many young people who found themselves on the streets, she had a record of arrests for sex work. Her life, full of unknown possibilities, was cut brutally short in the cold of January 1979, leaving behind a family and a murder case that remains a mystery decades later.

On January 14, 1979, a horrific discovery was made in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of Queens. The dismembered body of a young woman was found at the intersection of 89th Street and 23rd Avenue. The victim was soon identified as Helen Sikes. An autopsy revealed the shocking violence she had endured; she had been stabbed multiple times in the throat, stomach, and buttocks. In a particularly gruesome act, her legs had been severed from her body and were discovered a block away from her torso. The brutality of the crime sent a chill through the city, which was already grappling with a high rate of violent crime.

The New York Police Department launched an investigation into the vicious homicide. Their work eventually led them to a suspect, a 43-year-old taxi driver from Jersey City named Barry Weisberg. Investigators learned that Weisberg was acquainted with Helen. In January 1980, a year after her body was found, Weisberg was indicted and charged with her murder. Prosecutors alleged that he had killed her inside a motel in the neighboring community of Woodside, Queens. The case went to trial, but the evidence presented was not enough to convince a jury of his guilt. On June 1, 1981, Barry Weisberg was acquitted of all charges, and no one else has ever been arrested in connection with the crime.

In the years that followed the acquittal, Helen's case grew cold, but it was never entirely forgotten. Investigators and independent researchers began to examine potential links between her murder and the crimes of Richard Cottingham, a serial killer known as the "Torso Killer" or the "Times Square Ripper." Cottingham, who was active in New York and New Jersey during that era, was known for the extreme brutality and dismemberment he inflicted upon his victims, many of whom were sex workers from the Times Square area. The methods used in Helen's murder bore some striking similarities to Cottingham's known crimes, including the case of Deedeh Goodarzi, who was murdered in a New York motel in December 1979.

Despite the strong suspicions and circumstantial links, Richard Cottingham was never charged with the murder of Helen Sikes. While he has confessed to numerous other killings, some as recently as 2024, Helen's name has not been one he has officially been tied to by law enforcement. The lack of a definitive confession or new evidence has left her case in a state of limbo, a painful open wound for those who remember the young woman from California.

As of February 2026, the murder of Helen Sikes remains officially unsolved. The acquittal of the only person ever charged leaves a void where justice should be. The questions of who killed her and why have lingered for over four decades. Without new evidence, a confession, or a DNA breakthrough, the case remains a cold file in the archives of the NYPD, a tragic story of a teenager who came to the big city only to meet a violent and lonely end in the winter of 1979.