His Motives
At one point, Cottingham revealed that he was just selfish by nature. “He cared about himself and his needs," said Weiss. “He wanted to get over on people, he wanted to win. He wanted to cheat. He wanted to steal. He just wanted to thrash through every day and think he was in charge of his own life.”
He Could Get Away With It
He admitted that since he was such an unassuming person, he could easily get away with it. And, he did. For a long time. The relationships he had never suffered before he was convicted of these crimes. Everyone just thought he was a nice guy. He admitted to leading a double life.