Richard Cottingham, infamously known as the “Torso Killer” or “The Times Square Killer,” has claimed to have taken the lives of 100 women over the years. His recent confession to the authorities has shaken everyone to their core.
On Facebook, the Fair Lawn Police Department shared a post announcing the closure of a murder case of Alys Eberhardt, dating back to 1965. The victim was an 18-year-old New Jersey nursing student. She was found with stab wounds and was clobbered to death in her own house.
The authority further informed that this bone-chilling murder was linked to the notorious serial killer Richard Cottingham. He provided a full confession of his crime, including undisclosed details that remained hidden from the public.
#Breaking Serial killer #RichardCottingham has confessed to his earliest, known murder: New Jersey nursing student #AlysEberhardt in 1965. Fair Lawn police just announced the case is closed. They said Cottingham, 79, knew info about crime scene no one else did pic.twitter.com/vgdZ8ge8BD
— Mary Murphy (@MaryMurphyMedia) January 6, 2026
Chief Joseph Dawicki mourned the loss of the victim, calling her a “vibrant young nursing student.” While they can’t lessen the family’s loss, he was optimistic that her close ones would “find some peace” in knowing the “person responsible” for it. He further added,
“This case is a testament to the dedication of our officers and to the fact that law enforcement never gives up in the pursuit of justice.”
Cottingham’s confession marks the closure of the unsolved homicide case that was reopened in 2021. As per reports from NBC New York, he also confessed to four other killings but received immunity for those murders as part of a plea deal.
Additionally, he will not be charged for the murder of Alys Eberhardt, as part of a previous agreement with the prosecutors. Cottingham was arrested in 1980 at a motel in the Times Square area.
The motel’s maid called the cops on him when they heard a woman screaming inside his room. The officers found the victim alive, handcuffed, with several wounds from a knife and bite marks on her body.
At the time of Cottingham’s arrest, he was working as a computer programmer for a health insurance company. He was also married and had three children. According to the New York Post, the serial killer was initially convicted of six murders spanning from 1977 to 1980 in New York and New Jersey.
🚨 NJ COLD CASE SOLVED: ‘Torso Killer’ confesses to murder of nursing student in 1965, police say https://t.co/qkH766im4L
🎤 @MDiamond8 reports
📸 Fair Lawn Police, NJ Department of Correction, Sophia Hall pic.twitter.com/iS2ndV2ihL
— 1010 WINS on 92.3 FM (@1010WINS) January 6, 2026
In 1979, firefighters found the bodies of two women, with their heads decapitated and their hands chopped off. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. But in 2022, he pleaded guilty to five more murders of women in Long Island between 1968 and 1973.
Overall, Richard Cottingham has been linked to at least 18 murders. However, investigators attached to the cases believe the number could go as high as 100.
Cottingham earned the nickname “Torso Killer” for the way he cut his victims. The spine-chilling crimes of the Times Square Killer could be seen in the popular 2021 Netflix series, Crime Scene: The Times Square Killer, giving a detailed narration of how he hunted his victims.
