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Notorious New York City-area ‘Torso Killer’ confesses to 1965 killing

Richard Cottingham makes a remote appearance at a courtroom in Mineola, N.Y., Dec. 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

Richard Cottingham makes a remote appearance at a courtroom in Mineola, N.Y., Dec. 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
Updated 11:55 AM GMT+9, January 7, 2026
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FAIR LAWN, N.J. (AP) — One of the New York City area’s most notorious serial killers has confessed to another killing.

Police in New Jersey announced Tuesday that Richard Cottingham, known as the “Torso Killer,” admitted killing Alys Eberhardt in 1965.

The 18-year-old was found dead in her family’s home in Fair Lawn, a suburb about 12 miles (19 kilometers) northwest of Manhattan.

Investigators reopened the cold case in 2021, and “through countless interviews” over several years, extracted a full confession from Cottingham, “including details that were never publicly known,” the department said in a statement.

Fair Lawn Police Chief Joseph Dawicki said Cottingham will not face additional charges as the department closes the case.

The 79-year-old has been imprisoned since his arrest in 1980. He is serving three life sentences at the South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton, New Jersey.

“Alys was a vibrant young nursing student who was taken from our community far too soon,” Dawicki said in a statement. “While we can never bring her back, I am hopeful that her family can find some peace knowing the person responsible has confessed and can no longer harm anyone else.”

Lawyers in New York and New Jersey who have represented Cottingham over the years didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment Tuesday.

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Cottingham has claimed responsibility for up to 100 homicides going back to the 1960s, though authorities in New York and New Jersey have officially linked him to about a dozen.

In 2022, he admitting killing five women in the New York City suburbs of Long Island in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

He was sentenced to 25 years to life for the 1968 slaying of 23-year-old Diane Cusick but received immunity from prosecution for the four other killings as part of the plea deal.

Cottingham was previously convicted of killing five other women — three in New York City and two in northern New Jersey. He has since admitted to killing several others while behind bars.

He is known as the “Torso Killer” because he dismembered some of his victims.

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    1. Comment by AgentsofFortune.

      Alys was a baby angel. I would give my life for her to come back

      • Comment by Sissie.

        Disturbing is a serial killer who gets away with it, but even more so is law officials who negotiate punishment for serial killers. Plea deals and no charges for his latest admission? It’s not right for the victims families.

        • Reply by GunnyMike.

          The family now knows who did it, and possibly some of the answers to "why". Another trial would do no good, as he will never be released from prison. However, should a miracle happen and he does get released for some reason, he can still be tried on this case because there is no statute of limitations on murder, and they have his confession.

      • Comment by NobodySpecial.

        He didn't kill 100 people.

        Ted Bundy got his numbers because he moved around, hunted in rural area, and dumped his victims in even more rural areas.

        Gary Ridgeway got his numbers through sheer time and patience.

        This dude was sloppy. He was 34 when he was arrested. If we assume that his first kill was at 16, then he needed 5.5 kills per year to get to 100. He was a disorganized killer. The only reason that he got the 12 that he can be linked to is because police departments didn't share information back then.

        However, had 5.5 hacked up bodies been turning up on the city streets every year for 18 years, the news stories would have linked the killings even if the cops didn't.

        He's a serial killer that is trying to steal glory.

        • Reply by Sissie.

          They should come talk to you. You seem to know a lot. And a lot about how serial killers operate.

        • Reply by NobodySpecial.

          They fascinate me. In a sick way, they are the modern example of how humanity climbed the food chain. Our pure rage and violence without a drop of compassion.

          I'm an infectious disease nurse, but I always wished I had become a psychologist instead. I read voraciously on this subject.

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