Cold Cases and Serial Killers

Richard Cottingham — the so‑called "Torso Killer," who has claimed as many as 100 victims and is officially linked to about a dozen — confessed on his deathbed to the 1965 murder of 18‑year‑old nursing student Alys Eberhardt in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. Investigators and a forensic historian say Cottingham followed Eberhardt from a hospital parking lot, used a fake police badge and the pretext of leaving his phone number for her father to gain entry to her home before killing her, a confession that Fair Lawn police and family members hope brings long‑awaited answers and some measure of peace.