Police in New Jersey have finally closed a murder case that has remained unsolved for nearly six decades, after a notorious American serial killer confessed to the crime.
A Decades-Old Mystery Solved
Richard Cottingham, a 79-year-old inmate widely known as the 'Torso Killer', has admitted to the 1965 killing of 18-year-old Alys Eberhardt. The Fair Lawn Police Department announced the closure of the case on Tuesday, following Cottingham's detailed confession which included information never made public.
Eberhardt, a nursing student, was found brutally beaten inside her family home in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. The case had haunted the community and her family for 58 years before this breakthrough.
The Killer's Chilling Account
According to Fair Lawn detective Brian Rypkema, who interviewed Cottingham, the serial killer revealed he first spotted Eberhardt outside Hackensack hospital two weeks before her murder. Cottingham told detectives that 'there was just something about her' that drew his attention, noting she carried herself well and was popular among other girls, which made her stand out.
The case was reopened in 2021, leading detectives to conduct numerous interviews that eventually pointed them towards Cottingham. His subsequent confession provided the crucial, long-awaited details needed to formally close the investigation.
Closure for a Grieving Family
Following the confession, Fair Lawn police chief Joseph Dawicki stated, 'Alys was a vibrant young nursing student who was taken from our community far too soon. 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.'
The news brought a poignant end to a lifetime of uncertainty for Eberhardt's family. Her nephew, Michael Smith, told reporters, 'Our family has waited since 1965 for the truth. To receive this news during the holidays – and to be able to tell my mother, Alys’s sister, that we finally have answers – was a moment I never thought would come.'
Richard Cottingham is currently serving three life sentences at the South Woods State Prison in Bridgeton, New Jersey. His gruesome moniker, the 'Torso Killer', stems from his previous convictions. In 2022, despite already being convicted of 11 homicides, he was sentenced to an additional 25 years to life after confessing to murdering five more women in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
