Decades-Old Bergen County Murder Solved as Convicted Serial Killer Admits Responsibility

After nearly 60 years, a New Jersey family’s murder mystery has reached a painful but crucial turning point. The “Torso Killer,” Richard Cottingham, has confessed to the 1965 murder of 18-year-old nursing student Alys Jean Eberhardt in Bergen County, according to local police.

Last month, Cottingham, 79, acknowledged to killing Eberhardt at her Fair Lawn home on September 25, 1965. He is serving multiple life sentences in a New Jersey state prison. After years of meticulous investigation, Fair Lawn police officers solved one of the township’s oldest unresolved homicide cases.

A horrific attack killed young nursing student Eberhardt. She was found by her father in the family’s Saddle River Road house with serious head injuries and dozens of stab wounds. Investigators had little leads, and the case fell cold, leaving her family without answers for generations.

Fair Lawn Police Chief Joseph Dawicki said officers began visiting Cottingham in jail in 2021 to restart the probe. Investigators built trust and rapport rather than demanding rapid admissions. A forensic historian and true-crime author who had long communicated with Cottingham were interviewed by detectives over numerous years.

In late 2025, authorities learned that Cottingham’s health was deteriorating and that he wanted to talk about his crimes. This led to more Fair Lawn detective interviews, culminating in a December session. Cottingham confessed to Eberhardt’s murder verbally and in writing during the questioning.

Police said Cottingham confessed details about the crime site, home, and killing that were never released. These information matched historical documents and physical evidence, allowing investigators to confidently close the case.

Some of the region’s most frightening crimes occurred in Cottingham. He was a Bergen County native who worked a regular job and raised a family while secretly committing violent crimes in North Jersey and New York City in the late 1960s and 1970s. He became known as the “Torso Killer” after dismembering multiple victims.

His crime spree ended in 1980 when a Times Square motel maid heard screaming, stopped an attack, and called authorities. Police arrested Cottingham at the spot and convicted him of multiple killings. Since 1981, he has been in Bridgeton’s South Woods State Prison.

Investigators have tied Cottingham to many more deaths despite his life sentence for five. Confessions substantiated by forensic evidence, witness testimony, or investigative records reopened and concluded certain cases. Many of his claims are still being investigated by law police.

Authorities highlight that every confession is independently vetted and no case is closed on a statement. Cottingham pleaded guilty to multiple reopened crimes. In others, prosecutors closed investigations administratively because he was serving life without parole.

Eberhardt’s family finds closure in the confession. Michael Smith, her nephew, said the family has had unresolved questions since 1965. He was emotional when he told his mother, Eberhardt’s sister, after years of doubt.

This case’s outcome shows the significance of persistence in cold-case investigations, say police. Expertise in investigation and careful police effort have helped solve once-unsolvable crimes.

Cottingham is in prison and cannot be released. Officials revealed that dozens of unsolved New Jersey and New York cases are still being investigated related to his confessions. Although justice comes decades late, authorities say the criminal justice system must answer victims’ families.