THE BOSTON STRANGLER (1962-1964) 

LOCATION: Boston

PERPETRATOR: Albert DeSalvo 

BACKGROUND: At some point in late February or early March 1965, Albert DeSalvo told George Nassar that he was the Boston Strangler, the man who had terrorized the city for 18 months between June 1962 and January 1964 by murdering 13 single women in their apartments. Both were inmates of Bridgewater State Hospital at the time, a secure mental institution in Massachusetts, Nassar as a convicted murderer and DeSalvo having been sent there for psychiatric assessment following his arrest for a sexual assault. Nassar contacted his attorney, F. Lee Bailey, who interviewed DeSalvo and then took his case when he made a confession to the police in which he provided them with details of the murders. Not everybody was convinced by DeSalvo's confession. Some people suspected that he had conspired with Nassar so that Nassar could claim the reward. Many of his rape victims had positively identified him, leading to the apparent decision by prosecutors that he was certain to be convicted on those charges. To avoid prosecution for 13 murders that he had confessed to having committed still appears to have been an extraordinary decision. After being arrested in October 1964, his picture was published in newspaper to identify him has the man who had raped the women, however, the connection to the Boston strangler was made after DeSalvo's confession. DeSalvo was found guilty, sentenced to life imprisonment, at which time he returned to Bridgewater Hospital. In February 1967, DeSalvo escaped from Bridgewater, leaving a note to say that he had done so as a protest against the conditions there. He surrendered to his attorney the following day and was then sent to a maxim security prison near Walpole, Massachusetts, where remained until he was stabbed to death during the night of November 27 1973, by an unknown assailant. In 2013, semen that had been found on a blanket at the scene of the murder of Mary Sullivan was DNA tested and, when compared to a DNA sample from a living relative from DeSalvo, was found to be a close match, proving beyond reasonable doubt that he could be placed at the scene of the murder. 

OUTCOME: Thanks to modern technologies the identity of the killer was confirmed.