FAIR LAWN, NJ – A notorious serial killer has finally confessed to murdering an 18-year-old nursing student more than 60 years ago, solving a cold case that haunted a New Jersey family for decades.
Richard Cottingham, 79, known as the “Times Square Killer,” admitted to killing Alys Eberhardt in September 1965. The confession came in late December as the aging prisoner’s health rapidly declined, with investigators racing against time to extract the truth before he died.
According to the confession, Cottingham spotted Eberhardt in a hospital parking lot and followed her home to Fair Lawn. He later knocked on her door while displaying a fake police badge, claiming he needed to leave a phone number for her father.
Once inside the house, Cottingham attacked the young woman. Her father came home later that day and found his daughter’s body with a knife protruding from her neck. Evidence showed she had fought desperately for her life, with signs of struggle throughout the home. She had been bludgeoned to death, and dozens of shallow cuts were inflicted after she died.
The case went cold for over 60 years until Fair Lawn police detectives reopened it in 2021. They enlisted the help of forensic historian Dr. Peter Vronsky, who had built a relationship with the imprisoned killer over the years.
Vronsky visited Cottingham daily throughout November and December, finally obtaining the confession on December 22. He explained that Cottingham “killed completely at random” and “didn’t have a preferred victim.”
Of Cottingham’s 20 confirmed victims, approximately 70 percent were ordinary women going about their daily lives – students, housewives, and working professionals. The revelation challenges earlier assumptions that the serial killer primarily targeted sex workers.
Eberhardt’s family expressed relief that their decades of questions have finally been answered, even as they continue to grieve the young woman whose life was cut tragically short.
