New Jersey Serial Killers
ColdCaseIndex documents 4 serial killers whose murders took place in New Jersey, with first known killings from 1967 to 2016. 3 of them were caught; 1 linked case file document their victims. The earliest series is Richard Cottingham (1967) and the most recent is Khalil Wheeler-Weaver (2016). Profiles are added in order of public interest, so this page is not a complete census of the state.
All 4 profiles
Richard Cottingham
The Torso Killer
Imprisoned since 1980. Richard Cottingham, the "Torso Killer", was convicted at trials in New Jersey and New York (1981, 1982, 1984) of five murders, later pleaded guilty to four more, and has confessed to 11 others closed…
Charles Cullen
The Angel of Death
Imprisoned. Former nurse who pleaded guilty to murdering 29 patients with drug overdoses at New Jersey and Pennsylvania hospitals from 1988 to 2003; sentenced in 2006 to 18 life terms. He has estimated his own toll at up to 40.
Eastbound Strangler
Atlantic City Serial Killer
Unidentified. The bodies of four women, two of them confirmed strangled or asphyxiated, were found facing east in a drainage ditch behind a Black Horse Pike motel in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, on November 20, 2006.
Khalil Wheeler-Weaver
Serving 160 years. Khalil Wheeler-Weaver of Orange, New Jersey, was convicted in December 2019 of murdering three women he met through online apps in 2016 and attempting to kill a fourth.
At a glance
| Name | Alias | State | Active | Convicted | Confessed | Suspected | Legal status | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Richard Cottingham | The Torso Killer | New Jersey, New York | 1967 to 1980 | 9 | 15 | 20 attributed by prosecutors (9 convictions plus 11 cleared confessions); Cottingham has claimed 80 to 100 | Convicted | Imprisoned |
| Charles Cullen | The Angel of Death | New Jersey, Pennsylvania | 1988 to 2003 | 29 | 29 | Up to 40 by Cullen's own estimate | Convicted | Imprisoned |
| Eastbound Strangler | Atlantic City Serial Killer | New Jersey | 2006 | — | — | 4 | Unidentified | At large |
| Khalil Wheeler-Weaver | — | New Jersey | 2016 | 3 | — | 4 | Convicted | Imprisoned |
Serial murder case files from New Jersey
Victim-centred case pages from the cold case index, with their own timelines and sources.