Boston Strangler
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The Boston Strangler is the pseudonym given to a serial killer active in Boston, Massachusetts (United States) in the early 1960s.
Between June 14, 1962 and January 4, 1964, thirteen single women between the ages of 19 and 85 in the Boston area, including Beacon Hill, were murdered. All thirteen women were murdered in their apartments, strangled with articles of clothing after being sexually assaulted. With no signs of forced entry, the women apparently knew their assailant or at least, voluntarily let him in their homes.
While the police were not convinced that all of these murders were the work of a single individual, the public believed so. Despite police efforts to solve the case, it was the Strangler who caused his own capture.
On October 27, 1964, a stranger entered a young woman's home posing as a detective. He tied his victim to her bed, proceeded to sexually assault her, and suddenly left, saying "I'm sorry" as he went. The woman's description to the police led to his identification as Albert DeSalvo (September 3, 1930 - November 26, 1973), and when his photo was published, many women identified him as the man who had assaulted them. At this point, De Salvo was not suspected of being involved with the stranglings. It was only after he was charged with rape that he confessed in detail his activities as the Boston Strangler. However, there was no evidence to substantiate his confession. As such, he stood trial for earlier, unrelated crimes of robbery and sexual offenses. De Salvo was sentenced to life in prison in 1967 and was murdered six years later in his cell.
Lingering doubts remain as to whether De Salvo was indeed the Boston Strangler. At the time that he confessed, people who knew him personally did not believe him capable of the vicious crimes. In the case of Mary Sullivan, murdered January 4, 1964, at age 19, DNA and other forensic evidence gathered nearly forty years later by her nephew Casey Sherman and published in his book A Rose for Mary (2003) suggested that De Salvo was not responsible for her death. There are also suggestions from De Salvo himself that he was covering up for another man, the real killer.
DeSalvo was the subject of the 1968 Hollywood film The Boston Strangler starring Tony Curtis as De Salvo, and Henry Fonda and George Kennedy as the Homicide detectives who apprehend him. The movie was highly fictionalized; it assumed De Salvo was guilty, and portrayed him as suffering from multiple personality disorder and committing the murders while in a psychotic state. DeSalvo was never diagnosed with, or even suspected of having, that disorder.</p>
In 1971, De Salvo was commended by the Texas House of Representatives, who claimed he was "officially recognized by the state of Massachusetts for his noted activities and unconventional techniques involving population control and applied psychology." Texan legislator Tom Moore had introduced the measure to demonstrate that insufficient legislative scrutiny was happening.
Reference
- A Rose for Mary ISBN 155553578X
External links
- FBI files (http://foia.fbi.gov/foiaindex/desalvo.htm) (still partly classified)
- Albert De Salvo - The Boston Strangler? (http://www.karisable.com/skazdesalv.htm)
- The Boston Strangler (http://www.crimelibrary.com/boston/bostonmain.htm) (Court TV's Crime Library)
- The Boston Strangler (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0062755/) (IMDB entry for the 1968 film)
- The Boston Strangler (http://www.charliemanson.com/crime/desalvo.htm)
- The Texas legislature once passed a resolution honoring the Boston Strangler (http://www.snopes.com/legal/desalvo.htm)fi:Bostonin kuristaja