Torso killer admits to 1965 New Jersey killing
TOI GLOBAL DESK | TOI GLOBAL | Jan 07, 2026, 22:28 IST
Torso killer admits to 1965 New Jersey killing
Years after his crimes, Cottingham - already locked up for life - finally spoke about killing an 18-year-old girl in New Jersey back in 1965; what came out was more than details, it carried weight, something close to regret. The moment opened a door shut too long for her family, offering pieces of truth they had waited decades to hear. Not every secret stays buried forever, even when silence once seemed permanent.
TL;DR
Back in 1965, Alys Eberhardt was killed by someone we now know - Cottingham admitted it. He’s done time before for similar crimes. Even though he owns up to this one too, no new charges are coming his way. That’s because of an agreement made earlier. After six decades, the case finds its end - not with a trial, but through words spoken long after the fact.
A killer once called the Torso Murderer admitted he killed an 18-year-old from New Jersey - nearly six decades after it happened. His confessions surfaced long past the crime, tied to brutal acts back then. Bergen County prosecutors announced this on Tuesday. The 79-year-old Cottingham is already serving a life sentence in the New Jersey state prison for multiple murders in New Jersey and New York during the 1960s and 1970s.
Authorities said that Cottingham has claimed the murder of 1965 Alys Eberhardt, a resident of Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Eberhardt was found inside her family house on September 24, 1965, already dead with marks of stabbing and beating. The case was very popular at that time but went cold for years. The prosecutors informed that in 2021 the police reopened the case after Cottingham had begun to cooperate in the investigation of the older cases.
The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office reported that the confession by Cottingham is thought to make the murder one of his earliest known crimes. In spite of the fact that the statement proves his participation, Cottingham will not be charged in the Eberhardt case since he was granted immunity under a prior plea agreement connected with the other confessed killings.
Cottingham was convicted in the early 1980s for murdering five women, three in New York, and two in Bergen County, New Jersey. He has been in prison since 1981. NorthJersey.com mentions that he was given the name Torso Killer for his way of killing and then cutting up the bodies. Cottingham has at different times admitted to killing over a dozen women, and has even claimed to have been involved in as many as 100 murders, though many of the claims are still unproven.
The prosecutors pointed out that although Cottingham has been in prison for a long time, their efforts still concentrate on recognizing victims and giving the survivors the families' closure. Officials, in a statement, mentioned a past case of Diane Cusick, a mother of 23 who vanished in 1968 after her parents had seen her off saying that she was going out to the market. Eventually, Cottingham admitted killing her and that opened the door for her family to know what had happened at last.
The relatives of Alys Eberhardt stated that due to the confession, a little bit of peace has come along the way of m. Among the many sorrowful things that relatives have expressed, one of the things is that they are thankful that the truth has finally come out, as the prosecutors have communicated it to them.
In the opinion of the experts, such cases are examples of both the determination of the cold case investigators and the limitations of the judicial system in cases especially where there are decades old crimes. There are legal pacts like plea agreements and immunity clauses which if imposed can bar new prosecutions even when confessions are made. Nonetheless, law enforcement authorities claim that the acknowledgement of guilt is a matter of great importance to the families who have been waiting for answers for a very long time, often for generations.
The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office mentioned that it would keep on revisiting the unsolved cases associated with Cottingham, and the process of establishing confessions as true is to be seen as a step forward to historical accountability. While Cottingham is serving a life sentence, the authorities say that the emphasis now is on the victims’ identities being restored.
Back in 1965, Alys Eberhardt was killed by someone we now know - Cottingham admitted it. He’s done time before for similar crimes. Even though he owns up to this one too, no new charges are coming his way. That’s because of an agreement made earlier. After six decades, the case finds its end - not with a trial, but through words spoken long after the fact.
A killer once called the Torso Murderer admitted he killed an 18-year-old from New Jersey - nearly six decades after it happened. His confessions surfaced long past the crime, tied to brutal acts back then. Bergen County prosecutors announced this on Tuesday. The 79-year-old Cottingham is already serving a life sentence in the New Jersey state prison for multiple murders in New Jersey and New York during the 1960s and 1970s.
Authorities said that Cottingham has claimed the murder of 1965 Alys Eberhardt, a resident of Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Eberhardt was found inside her family house on September 24, 1965, already dead with marks of stabbing and beating. The case was very popular at that time but went cold for years. The prosecutors informed that in 2021 the police reopened the case after Cottingham had begun to cooperate in the investigation of the older cases.
The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office reported that the confession by Cottingham is thought to make the murder one of his earliest known crimes. In spite of the fact that the statement proves his participation, Cottingham will not be charged in the Eberhardt case since he was granted immunity under a prior plea agreement connected with the other confessed killings.
Cottingham was convicted in the early 1980s for murdering five women, three in New York, and two in Bergen County, New Jersey. He has been in prison since 1981. NorthJersey.com mentions that he was given the name Torso Killer for his way of killing and then cutting up the bodies. Cottingham has at different times admitted to killing over a dozen women, and has even claimed to have been involved in as many as 100 murders, though many of the claims are still unproven.
The prosecutors pointed out that although Cottingham has been in prison for a long time, their efforts still concentrate on recognizing victims and giving the survivors the families' closure. Officials, in a statement, mentioned a past case of Diane Cusick, a mother of 23 who vanished in 1968 after her parents had seen her off saying that she was going out to the market. Eventually, Cottingham admitted killing her and that opened the door for her family to know what had happened at last.
The relatives of Alys Eberhardt stated that due to the confession, a little bit of peace has come along the way of m. Among the many sorrowful things that relatives have expressed, one of the things is that they are thankful that the truth has finally come out, as the prosecutors have communicated it to them.
In the opinion of the experts, such cases are examples of both the determination of the cold case investigators and the limitations of the judicial system in cases especially where there are decades old crimes. There are legal pacts like plea agreements and immunity clauses which if imposed can bar new prosecutions even when confessions are made. Nonetheless, law enforcement authorities claim that the acknowledgement of guilt is a matter of great importance to the families who have been waiting for answers for a very long time, often for generations.
The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office mentioned that it would keep on revisiting the unsolved cases associated with Cottingham, and the process of establishing confessions as true is to be seen as a step forward to historical accountability. While Cottingham is serving a life sentence, the authorities say that the emphasis now is on the victims’ identities being restored.