JOAN DAVIS

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Bergen County Sheriffs Department (NJ)

Offense Location:

TEANECK, NJ

Summary:

On August 17, 2010 at approximately 10:50 PM, the Teaneck Police Department responded to 976 Alpine Drive on the report of a house fire. Firefighters found Davis' lifeless body inside a smoke-filled bedroom and she was pronounced dead a short time later. The Bergen County Medical Examiner determined that Davis died from a combination of blunt force trauma to her head and multiple stab wounds. In addition to setting a fire, Davis was bound at the hands and feet.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Offense:

Investigators believe that Davis was bludgeoned with a hammer two times and then ultimately stabbed several times. The suspect lit a fire inside of the residence in an attempt to cover up the crime scene. Although Joan Davis was not sexually assaulted, investigators believe the undertone of the murder was sexual in nature.

Additional Details:

The unknown suspect in this case is also responsible for a nearly identical murder that took place just miles away a few months before Joan was killed. He is connected through DNA. April 28, 2010 2:38 AM: the Palisades Park Police Department (New Jersey) responded to the report of a house fire. There they found 69 year old Dolores Alliotts dead from a combination of blunt force trauma to her head and 55 stab wounds. The suspect then set the house on fire. Davis was estranged from family for about 20 years up until her horrifying death. She was described as an incredibly talented writer and social and political activist, originally from Connecticut who had worked for the United States Agency for International Development in foreign offices in Brazil before moving to New Jersey. Days before her murder, Davis addressed the Teaneck Town Council and was one of their regulars who would go to all the meetings including council meetings and board of education meetings, often being the only one in the audience with her notepad to ask questions. She told neighbors she was a retired professor from Fairleigh Dickinson University, but the University issued a statement that according to university records, the person in question, Joan Davis, was never an employee of Fairleigh Dickinson University. Law enforcement officials have seemingly linked the killings of both Davis and Dolores Alliotts of Palisades Park due to the timing of the deaths and similar details. Based on surveillance video and evidence left at the scene, law enforcement believes that the individual responsible for the murder of Joan Davis to be a lone male actor who wore a size 9-10 shoe and was believed to be under 160 pounds in 2010. A shoe print was recovered from the side of the sink and was determined to be a size 9-10 Nike Air Jordan. As technology evolves, investigators have repeatedly conducted DNA testing on the hammer used to bludgeon Davis, but they believe the women were stabbed with a knife that has not been recovered.

Case Last Updated:

May 21, 2026