Albert DeSalvo
Encyclopedia
Albert Henry DeSalvo was a criminal in Boston, Massachusetts who confessed to being the "Boston Strangler
", the murderer of 13 women in the Boston area. DeSalvo was not imprisoned for these murders, however, but for a series of rapes. His murder confession has been disputed, and debate continues regarding which crimes DeSalvo actually committed.
to Frank and Charlotte DeSalvo. His father was of Italian ancestry and his mother was of Irish ancestry. His father was a violent alcoholic who at one point beat all of his wife's teeth out and bent her fingers back until they broke. He also forced his children to watch him have sex with prostitutes he brought home. DeSalvo tortured animals
as a child and began shoplifting and stealing in early adolescence, frequently crossing paths with the law.
When he was young, he was sold into slavery
with his sister to a Maine
farmer for about nine dollars. The children broke out and returned home, where Frank DeSalvo began to teach and encourage Albert to steal. In November 1943, the 12-year-old DeSalvo was first arrested for battery and robbery. In December of the same year he was sent to the Lyman School for Boys
. In October 1944, he was parole
d and started working as a delivery boy. In August 1946, he returned to the Lyman School for stealing an automobile. After completing his second sentence, DeSalvo joined the Army. He was honorably discharged after his first tour of duty. He re-enlisted and, in spite of being tried in a Court-martial
, DeSalvo was again honorably discharged.
area; they were eventually tied to the Boston Strangler. Most of the women were sexually assaulted
in their apartments, and then strangled with articles of clothing. The eldest victim died of a heart attack. Two others were stabbed to death, one of whom was also badly beaten. Without any sign of forced entry into their dwellings, the women were assumed to have either known their killer or voluntarily allowed him into their homes.
The police were not convinced all of these murders were the work of a single individual, especially because of the wide gap in the victims' ages; much of the public believed the crimes were committed by one person, however.
On October 27, 1964, a stranger entered a young woman's home in East Cambridge posing as a maintenance worker sent up by the building supervisor. 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 led police to identify the assailant as DeSalvo and when his photo was published, many women identified him as the man who had assaulted them. Earlier on October 27, DeSalvo had posed as a motorist with car trouble and attempted to enter a home in Bridgewater, Massachusetts
. The homeowner, future Brockton
Police Chief Richard Sproles, became suspicious and eventually fired a shotgun at DeSalvo.
DeSalvo was not initially suspected of being involved with the murders. Only after he was charged with rape did he give a detailed confession of his activities as the Boston Strangler under hypnosis
induced by William Joseph Bryan
and sessions not induced by hypnosis with Assistant Attorney General John Bottomly. He initially confessed to fellow inmate George Nassar
; he then reported to his attorney F. Lee Bailey, who took on DeSalvo's case. Though there were some inconsistencies, DeSalvo was able to cite details which had not been made public. However, there was no physical evidence to substantiate his confession. As such, he stood trial for earlier, unrelated crimes of robbery and sexual offenses. Bailey brought up the confession to the murders as part of his client's history at the trial as part of an insanity defense, but it was ruled as inadmissible by the judge.
The motive for DeSalvo confessing to the crimes remains the same whether he actually committed them or not. He believed that he would be spending the rest of his life in jail for the Green Man attacks and wanted to use the confession to raise money to support his wife and children. Plus, to a braggart like DeSalvo, being the notorious Boston Strangler would make him world famous. Dr. Robey testified that "Albert so badly wanted to be the Strangler."
For the 1967 trial, DeSalvo was mentally evaluated by Dr. Harry Kozol, also of Eugene O'Neill
and Patty Hearst
fame.
Bailey engaged a plea bargain to lock in his client's guilt in exchange for the lack of a death penalty and a desire for an eventual insanity verdict. With the jury decision of life in prison, Bailey was very angry: "My goal was to see the Strangler wind up in a hospital, where doctors could try to find out what made him kill. Society is deprived of a study that might help deter other mass killers who lived among us, waiting for the trigger to go off inside them."
, triggering a full scale manhunt. A note was found on his bunk addressed to the superintendent. In it, DeSalvo stated he had escaped to focus attention on the conditions in the hospital and his own situation. The day after the escape, he turned himself in to his lawyer in nearby Lynn, Massachusetts
. Following the escape, he was transferred to the maximum security prison known at the time as Walpole
where he was found murdered six years later in the infirmary. Robert Wilson, who was associated with the Winter Hill Gang
was tried for the murder of DeSalvo, but the trial ended in a hung jury. No one was ever found guilty of the murder.
In 1971, the Texas
legislature unanimously passed a resolution honoring DeSalvo in an April Fool's Day joke made by Waco Representative Tom Moore, Jr.
. Moore admitted to the joke–made to prove his colleagues were not putting due diligence into researching legislation they were passing–and withdrew the resolution.
.
Susan Kelly, an author who has had access to the files of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' "Strangler Bureau", argues the murders were the work of several killers rather than a single individual. Another author, former FBI profiler
Robert Ressler
, said "You're putting together so many different patterns [regarding the Boston Strangler murders] that it's inconceivable behaviorally that all these could fit one individual."
In 2000, Elaine Whitfield Sharp, an attorney specializing in forensic cases based in Marblehead, Massachusetts
, represented the DeSalvo family and the family of Mary A. Sullivan. Sullivan was publicized as being the final victim in 1964, although other murders occurred after that date. Former print journalist Whitfield Sharp assisted the families in their media campaign to clear DeSalvo's name, to assist in organizing and arranging the exhumations of Mary A. Sullivan and Albert H. DeSalvo, in filing various lawsuits in attempts to obtain information and trace evidence (e.g., DNA
) from the government, and to work with various producers to create documentaries to explain the facts to the public. Whitfield Sharp pointed out various inconsistencies between DeSalvo's confessions and the crime scene information (which she obtained). For example, Whitfield Sharp observed, contrary to DeSalvo's confession to Sullivan's murder, there was no semen
in her vagina
and she was not strangled manually, but by ligature. Forensic pathologist
Michael Baden observed DeSalvo also got the time of death wrong — a common inconsistency with several of the murders pointed out by Susan Kelly. Whitfield Sharp continues to work on the case for the DeSalvo family.
In the case of Mary Sullivan, murdered January 4, 1964 at age 19, DNA and other forensic evidence — and leads from Kelly's book — were used by the victim's nephew Casey Sherman to try to determine her killer's identity. Sherman wrote about this in his book A Rose for Mary
(2003) and stated DeSalvo was not responsible for her death. For example, DeSalvo confessed to sexually penetrating Sullivan, yet the forensic investigation revealed no evidence of sexual activity. There are also suggestions from DeSalvo himself he was covering up for another man.
The results of a 2001 forensic investigation has cast doubts over whether DeSalvo was the Boston Strangler. The investigation raised the possibility the real murderer could still be at large. The investigation revealed DNA evidence found on Sullivan does not match DeSalvo. James Starrs, professor of forensic science at George Washington University
, told a news conference DNA evidence could not associate DeSalvo with the murder. Sullivan's and DeSalvo's bodies were exhumed as part of the efforts by both their families to find out who was responsible for the murders. Professor Starrs said an examination of a semen-like substance on her body did not match DeSalvo's DNA.
George Nassar
, the inmate DeSalvo reportedly confessed to, is among the suspects in the case. He is currently serving a life sentence for the 1967 shooting death of an Andover, Massachusetts
gas station attendant. In February 2008, the Massachuetts Supreme Judicial Court denied Nassar's appeal of his 1967 conviction. Claudia Bolgen, Nassar's attorney, said Nassar, 75 at the time, denied involvement in the murders. In 2006, Nassar argued in court filings he could not make his case in a previous appeal because he was in federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas
in the 1980s and therefore did not have access to Massachusetts legal materials. The court noted Nassar was back in Massachusetts
in late 1983 and did not inquire about the case then or for more than two decades. Bolgen said she was disappointed in the decision, but said Nassar had a pending motion for a new trial in Essex County
that she was confident would be granted.
Ames Robey, a former prison psychologist who analyzed both DeSalvo and Nassar, has said Nassar was a misogynistic, psychopathic killer who was a far more likely suspect than DeSalvo. Some followers of the case said Nassar was the real strangler and fed DeSalvo details of the murders so DeSalvo could confess and gain notoriety or through Nasser get the reward money to help support DeSalvo's family of wife and two children. In a 1999 interview with The Boston Globe
, Nassar denied involvement in the murders, but said the speculation killed any chance he had for parole. "I had nothing to do with it," he said. "I'm convicted under the table, behind the scenes."
Nassar had previously been convicted of the May 1948 murder of a shop owner. Nassar was sentenced to life in prison in that case, but through his friendship with a Unitarian
minister he was paroled in early 1961, less than a year before the Boston Strangler murders were believed to have begun.
Boston Strangler
The Boston Strangler is a name attributed to the murderer of several women in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, in the early 1960s. Though the crimes were attributed to Albert DeSalvo, investigators of the case have since suggested the murders were not committed by one person.-First Stage...
", the murderer of 13 women in the Boston area. DeSalvo was not imprisoned for these murders, however, but for a series of rapes. His murder confession has been disputed, and debate continues regarding which crimes DeSalvo actually committed.
Early life
DeSalvo was born in Chelsea, MassachusettsChelsea, Massachusetts
Chelsea is a city in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, United States directly across the Mystic River from the city of Boston. It is the smallest city in Massachusetts in land area, and the 26th most densely populated incorporated place in the country.-History:...
to Frank and Charlotte DeSalvo. His father was of Italian ancestry and his mother was of Irish ancestry. His father was a violent alcoholic who at one point beat all of his wife's teeth out and bent her fingers back until they broke. He also forced his children to watch him have sex with prostitutes he brought home. DeSalvo tortured animals
Zoosadism
Zoosadism is a term coined by Ernest Borneman referring to pleasure derived from cruelty to animals. Zoosadism is part of the Macdonald triad, a set of three behaviors that are a precursor to sociopathic behavior.-Research:...
as a child and began shoplifting and stealing in early adolescence, frequently crossing paths with the law.
When he was young, he was sold into slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
with his sister to a Maine
Maine
Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...
farmer for about nine dollars. The children broke out and returned home, where Frank DeSalvo began to teach and encourage Albert to steal. In November 1943, the 12-year-old DeSalvo was first arrested for battery and robbery. In December of the same year he was sent to the Lyman School for Boys
Lyman School for Boys
The Lyman School for Boys was established by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts about 1886 and was closed in 1971. It was the first reform school, or training school in the United States, replacing the State Reform School near the same site, which was opened in 1846...
. In October 1944, he was parole
Parole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
d and started working as a delivery boy. In August 1946, he returned to the Lyman School for stealing an automobile. After completing his second sentence, DeSalvo joined the Army. He was honorably discharged after his first tour of duty. He re-enlisted and, in spite of being tried in a Court-martial
Court-martial
A court-martial is a military court. A court-martial is empowered to determine the guilt of members of the armed forces subject to military law, and, if the defendant is found guilty, to decide upon punishment.Most militaries maintain a court-martial system to try cases in which a breach of...
, DeSalvo was again honorably discharged.
Strangler murders
Between June 14, 1962, and January 4, 1964, 13 single women between the ages of 19 and 85 were murdered in the BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
area; they were eventually tied to the Boston Strangler. Most of the women were sexually assaulted
Sexual assault
Sexual assault is an assault of a sexual nature on another person, or any sexual act committed without consent. Although sexual assaults most frequently are by a man on a woman, it may involve any combination of two or more men, women and children....
in their apartments, and then strangled with articles of clothing. The eldest victim died of a heart attack. Two others were stabbed to death, one of whom was also badly beaten. Without any sign of forced entry into their dwellings, the women were assumed to have either known their killer or voluntarily allowed him into their homes.
On October 27, 1964, a stranger entered a young woman's home in East Cambridge posing as a maintenance worker sent up by the building supervisor. 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 led police to identify the assailant as DeSalvo and when his photo was published, many women identified him as the man who had assaulted them. Earlier on October 27, DeSalvo had posed as a motorist with car trouble and attempted to enter a home in Bridgewater, Massachusetts
Bridgewater, Massachusetts
For geographic and demographic information on the census-designated place Bridgewater, please see the article Bridgewater , Massachusetts.The Town of Bridgewater is a city in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, 28 miles south of Boston. At the 2000 Census, the population was 25,185...
. The homeowner, future Brockton
Brockton
Brockton may refer to:* Brockton, Massachusetts, USA** Brockton * Brockton, Montana, USA* Brockton, Ontario, Canada* Brockton, Shropshire, England - five places* Brockton, Staffordshire, England* Brockton Station, Antarctica...
Police Chief Richard Sproles, became suspicious and eventually fired a shotgun at DeSalvo.
DeSalvo was not initially suspected of being involved with the murders. Only after he was charged with rape did he give a detailed confession of his activities as the Boston Strangler under hypnosis
Hypnosis
Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
induced by William Joseph Bryan
William Joseph Bryan
William Joseph Bryan, Jr. was a pioneering American hypnotist. He is famous for inducing Albert DeSalvo's confession to multiple homicide under hypnosis. He ran the American Institute of Hypnosis, edited his own journal, and created the Bryan method of hypnoanalysis.William Turner and Jonn...
and sessions not induced by hypnosis with Assistant Attorney General John Bottomly. He initially confessed to fellow inmate George Nassar
George Nassar
George Nassar is an American murderer; Albert DeSalvo allegedly confessed to being the Boston Strangler to Nassar in late 1965. Nassar contacted his lawyer F...
; he then reported to his attorney F. Lee Bailey, who took on DeSalvo's case. Though there were some inconsistencies, DeSalvo was able to cite details which had not been made public. However, there was no physical evidence to substantiate his confession. As such, he stood trial for earlier, unrelated crimes of robbery and sexual offenses. Bailey brought up the confession to the murders as part of his client's history at the trial as part of an insanity defense, but it was ruled as inadmissible by the judge.
The motive for DeSalvo confessing to the crimes remains the same whether he actually committed them or not. He believed that he would be spending the rest of his life in jail for the Green Man attacks and wanted to use the confession to raise money to support his wife and children. Plus, to a braggart like DeSalvo, being the notorious Boston Strangler would make him world famous. Dr. Robey testified that "Albert so badly wanted to be the Strangler."
For the 1967 trial, DeSalvo was mentally evaluated by Dr. Harry Kozol, also of Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
and Patty Hearst
Patty Hearst
Patricia Campbell Hearst , now known as Patricia Campbell Hearst Shaw, is an American newspaper heiress, socialite, actress, kidnap victim, and convicted bank robber....
fame.
Bailey engaged a plea bargain to lock in his client's guilt in exchange for the lack of a death penalty and a desire for an eventual insanity verdict. With the jury decision of life in prison, Bailey was very angry: "My goal was to see the Strangler wind up in a hospital, where doctors could try to find out what made him kill. Society is deprived of a study that might help deter other mass killers who lived among us, waiting for the trigger to go off inside them."
Imprisonment and death
DeSalvo was sentenced to life in prison in 1967. In February of that year, he escaped with two fellow inmates from Bridgewater State HospitalBridgewater State Hospital
Bridgewater State Hospital, located in southeastern Massachusetts, is a state facility housing the criminally insane and those whose sanity is being evaluated for the criminal justice system. It was established in 1855 as an almshouse. It was then used as a workhouse for inmates with short...
, triggering a full scale manhunt. A note was found on his bunk addressed to the superintendent. In it, DeSalvo stated he had escaped to focus attention on the conditions in the hospital and his own situation. The day after the escape, he turned himself in to his lawyer in nearby Lynn, Massachusetts
Lynn, Massachusetts
Lynn is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 89,050 at the 2000 census. An old industrial center, Lynn is home to Lynn Beach and Lynn Heritage State Park and is about north of downtown Boston.-17th century:...
. Following the escape, he was transferred to the maximum security prison known at the time as Walpole
Massachusetts Correctional Institution - Cedar Junction
The Massachusetts Correctional Institution—Cedar Junction , formerly known as MCI-Walpole, is a maximum security prison with an average daily population of approximately 800 adult male inmates under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Department of Correction. It was opened in 1956 to replace...
where he was found murdered six years later in the infirmary. Robert Wilson, who was associated with the Winter Hill Gang
Winter Hill Gang
The Winter Hill Gang is a structured confederation of Boston, Massachusetts-area organized crime figures, predominantly Irish-American with a small Italian-American faction. It derives its name from the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, Massachusetts north of Boston. Its members have...
was tried for the murder of DeSalvo, but the trial ended in a hung jury. No one was ever found guilty of the murder.
In 1971, the Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
legislature unanimously passed a resolution honoring DeSalvo in an April Fool's Day joke made by Waco Representative Tom Moore, Jr.
Tom Moore, Jr.
Tom Moore, Jr. was a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1967 to 1973 from McLennan County. Moore is most notable for an April Fool's Day prank he played to demonstrate that his fellow legislators often did not read the legislation they were approving...
. Moore admitted to the joke–made to prove his colleagues were not putting due diligence into researching legislation they were passing–and withdrew the resolution.
Controversy
Lingering doubts remain as to whether DeSalvo was indeed the Boston Strangler. At the time he confessed, people who knew him personally did not believe him capable of the crimes. It was also noted the women allegedly killed by "The Strangler" were of widely varying ages, social strata and ethnicities, and that there were different modi operandiModus operandi
Modus operandi is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode of operation". The term is used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, their method of operating or functioning...
.
Susan Kelly, an author who has had access to the files of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' "Strangler Bureau", argues the murders were the work of several killers rather than a single individual. Another author, former FBI profiler
Offender profiling
Offender profiling, also known as criminal profiling, is a behavioral and investigative tool that is intended to help investigators to profile unknown criminal subjects or offenders. Offender profiling is also known as criminal profiling, criminal personality profiling, criminological profiling,...
Robert Ressler
Robert Ressler
Robert K. Ressler is a former FBI agent and author. He played a significant role in the psychological profiling of violent offenders in the 1970s and is often credited with coining the English term "serial killer"....
, said "You're putting together so many different patterns [regarding the Boston Strangler murders] that it's inconceivable behaviorally that all these could fit one individual."
In 2000, Elaine Whitfield Sharp, an attorney specializing in forensic cases based in Marblehead, Massachusetts
Marblehead, Massachusetts
Marblehead is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 19,808 at the 2010 census. It is home to the Marblehead Neck Wildlife Sanctuary and Devereux Beach...
, represented the DeSalvo family and the family of Mary A. Sullivan. Sullivan was publicized as being the final victim in 1964, although other murders occurred after that date. Former print journalist Whitfield Sharp assisted the families in their media campaign to clear DeSalvo's name, to assist in organizing and arranging the exhumations of Mary A. Sullivan and Albert H. DeSalvo, in filing various lawsuits in attempts to obtain information and trace evidence (e.g., DNA
DNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
) from the government, and to work with various producers to create documentaries to explain the facts to the public. Whitfield Sharp pointed out various inconsistencies between DeSalvo's confessions and the crime scene information (which she obtained). For example, Whitfield Sharp observed, contrary to DeSalvo's confession to Sullivan's murder, there was no semen
Semen
Semen is an organic fluid, also known as seminal fluid, that may contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize female ova...
in her vagina
Vagina
The vagina is a fibromuscular tubular tract leading from the uterus to the exterior of the body in female placental mammals and marsupials, or to the cloaca in female birds, monotremes, and some reptiles. Female insects and other invertebrates also have a vagina, which is the terminal part of the...
and she was not strangled manually, but by ligature. Forensic pathologist
Forensic pathology
Forensic pathology is a branch of pathology concerned with determining the cause of death by examination of a corpse. The autopsy is performed by the pathologist at the request of a coroner or medical examiner usually during the investigation of criminal law cases and civil law cases in some...
Michael Baden observed DeSalvo also got the time of death wrong — a common inconsistency with several of the murders pointed out by Susan Kelly. Whitfield Sharp continues to work on the case for the DeSalvo family.
In the case of Mary Sullivan, murdered January 4, 1964 at age 19, DNA and other forensic evidence — and leads from Kelly's book — were used by the victim's nephew Casey Sherman to try to determine her killer's identity. Sherman wrote about this in his book A Rose for Mary
A Rose for Mary
A Rose for Mary: The Hunt for the Real Boston Strangler is a 2003 book about Mary Sullivan, the last victim of confessed Boston Strangler Albert DeSalvo. Written by Sullivan's nephew, Casey Sherman, the book presents DNA evidence that suggests DeSalvo was not the Boston Strangler....
(2003) and stated DeSalvo was not responsible for her death. For example, DeSalvo confessed to sexually penetrating Sullivan, yet the forensic investigation revealed no evidence of sexual activity. There are also suggestions from DeSalvo himself he was covering up for another man.
The results of a 2001 forensic investigation has cast doubts over whether DeSalvo was the Boston Strangler. The investigation raised the possibility the real murderer could still be at large. The investigation revealed DNA evidence found on Sullivan does not match DeSalvo. James Starrs, professor of forensic science at George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
, told a news conference DNA evidence could not associate DeSalvo with the murder. Sullivan's and DeSalvo's bodies were exhumed as part of the efforts by both their families to find out who was responsible for the murders. Professor Starrs said an examination of a semen-like substance on her body did not match DeSalvo's DNA.
George Nassar
George Nassar
George Nassar is an American murderer; Albert DeSalvo allegedly confessed to being the Boston Strangler to Nassar in late 1965. Nassar contacted his lawyer F...
, the inmate DeSalvo reportedly confessed to, is among the suspects in the case. He is currently serving a life sentence for the 1967 shooting death of an Andover, Massachusetts
Andover, Massachusetts
Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was incorporated in 1646 and as of the 2010 census, the population was 33,201...
gas station attendant. In February 2008, the Massachuetts Supreme Judicial Court denied Nassar's appeal of his 1967 conviction. Claudia Bolgen, Nassar's attorney, said Nassar, 75 at the time, denied involvement in the murders. In 2006, Nassar argued in court filings he could not make his case in a previous appeal because he was in federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas
Leavenworth, Kansas
Leavenworth is the largest city and county seat of Leavenworth County, in the U.S. state of Kansas and within the Kansas City, Missouri Metropolitan Area. Located in the northeast portion of the state, it is on the west bank of the Missouri River. As of the 2010 census, the city population was...
in the 1980s and therefore did not have access to Massachusetts legal materials. The court noted Nassar was back in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
in late 1983 and did not inquire about the case then or for more than two decades. Bolgen said she was disappointed in the decision, but said Nassar had a pending motion for a new trial in Essex County
Essex County, Massachusetts
-National protected areas:* Parker River National Wildlife Refuge* Salem Maritime National Historic Site* Saugus Iron Works National Historic Site* Thacher Island National Wildlife Refuge-Demographics:...
that she was confident would be granted.
Ames Robey, a former prison psychologist who analyzed both DeSalvo and Nassar, has said Nassar was a misogynistic, psychopathic killer who was a far more likely suspect than DeSalvo. Some followers of the case said Nassar was the real strangler and fed DeSalvo details of the murders so DeSalvo could confess and gain notoriety or through Nasser get the reward money to help support DeSalvo's family of wife and two children. In a 1999 interview with The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
, Nassar denied involvement in the murders, but said the speculation killed any chance he had for parole. "I had nothing to do with it," he said. "I'm convicted under the table, behind the scenes."
Nassar had previously been convicted of the May 1948 murder of a shop owner. Nassar was sentenced to life in prison in that case, but through his friendship with a Unitarian
Unitarian Universalism
Unitarian Universalism is a religion characterized by support for a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning". Unitarian Universalists do not share a creed; rather, they are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth and by the understanding that an individual's theology is a...
minister he was paroled in early 1961, less than a year before the Boston Strangler murders were believed to have begun.
Fiction
- DeSalvo was the subject of the 1968 Hollywood film The Boston StranglerThe Boston Strangler (film)The Boston Strangler is a 1968 film based on the true story of the Boston Strangler and the book by Gerold Frank. It was directed by Richard Fleischer, and stars Tony Curtis as Albert DeSalvo, the strangler, and Henry Fonda as John S...
, starring Tony CurtisTony CurtisTony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
as DeSalvo, and Henry FondaHenry FondaHenry Jaynes Fonda was an American film and stage actor.Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor. He also appeared in 1938 in plays performed in White Plains, New York, with Joan Tompkins...
and George Kennedy as the homicide detectives who apprehend him. The movie was highly fictionalized: It assumed DeSalvo was guilty, and it 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. - DeSalvo was one of the serial killers whose murders were recreated by the killer in the movie CopycatCopycat (film)Copycat is an American psychological thriller, starring Sigourney Weaver and Holly Hunter. The film was directed by Jon Amiel, with a score composed by Christopher Young.-Plot:...
. - The spirit of DeSalvo is summoned by sheriff Lucas Buck to destroy the ghost of Caleb's sister on the American GothicAmerican Gothic (TV series)American Gothic is an American horror series created by Shaun Cassidy and executive produced by Sam Raimi. The show first aired on CBS on September 22, 1995, and was cancelled after a single season on July 11, 1996.-Plot:...
episode Strangler. - DeSalvo's name was used for the character Andrew DeSalvo, a fictional character in Silent Hill 4: The RoomSilent Hill 4: The RoomSilent Hill 4: The Room is the fourth installment in the Silent Hill survival horror series, published by Konami and developed by Team Silent, a production group within Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo. The game was released in Japan in June 2004 and in North America and Europe in September of...
. The character works as a guard for the Water prison where children are sent for punishment but is killed by another character named Walter Sullivan. - On the album BuchenwaldBuchenwald (album)Buchenwald is the fifth album by Whitehouse released in 1981 by Come Organisation .-Overview:Though very common in many early Whitehouse, Buchenwald has a high pitched sound of feedback throughout the entire album, except for a brief pause in the title track "Buchenwald". It also uses a distinct...
by English power electronicsPower electronics (music)Power electronics was originally coined by William Bennett as part of the sleevenotes to the Whitehouse album Psychopathia Sexualis, and is related to the early industrial records scene but later became more identified with noise music...
band WhitehouseWhitehouse (band)Whitehouse are a pioneering English power electronics band formed in 1980, largely credited for the founding of the power electronics subgenre.-History and personnel:...
, the second track is titled "Dedicated to Albert de Salvo – Sadist and Mass Slayer." - Japanese serial killer-themed doom metalDoom metalDoom metal is an extreme form of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other metal genres...
band Church of MiseryChurch of Miseryis a doom metal band from Tokyo, Japan. Church of Misery's style melds early-era Black Sabbath style doom with psychedelic rock.-History:Most songs by Church of Misery are about serial killers and mass murderers...
have released a 12" vinyl record titled "Boston Strangler" in 2002. - Aggrotech group Combichrist made mention of DeSalvo in their song "God Bless"
- A waxwork of Albert DeSalvo featured in an episode of the British comedy series PsychovillePsychovillePsychoville is an award-winning British dark comedy television serial written by and starring The League of Gentlemen members Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. It debuted on BBC Two on 18 June 2009. Pemberton and Shearsmith each play numerous characters, with Dawn French and Jason Tompkins in...
. The waxwork (along with others of John George HaighJohn George HaighJohn George Haigh , commonly known as the "Acid Bath Murderer" , was an English serial killer during the 1940s. He was convicted of the murders of six people, although he claimed to have killed nine...
, John ChristieJohn Christie (murderer)John Reginald Halliday Christie , born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, was a notorious English serial killer active in the 1940s and '50s. He murdered at least eight females – including his wife Ethel – by strangling them in his flat at 10 Rillington Place, Notting Hill, London...
and Jack the RipperJack the Ripper"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
) comes to life in a fantasy sequence, trying to persuade the character David Sowerbutts to kill a man by strangling rather than methods suggested by the other waxworks. The others accused him of having several personalities, referencing the 1968 movie. - The Rolling Stones' song "Midnight RamblerMidnight Rambler"Midnight Rambler" is a song by the English rock band The Rolling Stones, released on their 1969 album Let It Bleed.The lyrics take the point of view of a roaming rapist/murderer; some of the words are reportedly quotes from Albert DeSalvo's confession to the Boston Strangler's crimes. Keith...
" was inspired by DeSalvo and quotes his confession in its lyrics. - The TNT drama Rizzoli and Isles features an episode based on DeSalvo's case.
Further reading
- Frank, GeroldGerold FrankGerold Frank was an American author and ghostwriter. He wrote a number of celebrity memoirs and was considered a pioneer of the "as told to" form of biography...
. The Boston Strangler. The New American Library, Inc. 1966. ISBN 0-451-16625-6. - Junger, SebastianSebastian JungerSebastian Junger is an American author, journalist and documentarian, most famous for the best-selling book The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men Against the Sea, his award-winning chronicle of the war in Afghanistan in the 2010 movie Restrepo, and his 2010 book War.-Background:Junger was born...
. A Death in Belmont. Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc. April 2006. ISBN 0-393-05980-4. - Kelly, Susan. The Boston Stranglers: The Public Conviction of Albert Desalvo and the True Story of Eleven Shocking Murders. Citadel. October 1995. ISBN 1-55972-298-3.
- Landay, WilliamWilliam LandayWilliam Landay is an American novelist.His first novel, Mission Flats, was awarded the John Creasey Dagger as the best debut crime novel of 2003 by the British Crime Writers Association...
. The Strangler. Dell Publishing. January 2007. ISBN 978-0-385-33615-4. - Rogers, Alan. New England Remembers: The Boston Strangler. Commonwealth Editions. May 2006. ISBN 1-889833-52-5.
- Sherman, Casey and Dick Lehr. A Rose for Mary: The Hunt for the Boston Strangler. Northeastern University Press. September 2003. ISBN 1-55553-578-X.
- Sherman, Casey and Dick Lehr. Search for the Strangler: My Hunt for Boston's Most Notorious Killer. Grand Central Publishing. April 1, 2005. ISBN 0-446-61468-8.
External links
- Albert DeSalvo – The Boston Strangler?
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, Boston Strangler
- The Boston Strangler (Court TV's Crime Library)
- The Boston Strangler
- Article about Sebastian Junger's Book A Death in Belmont TIME Magazine, 04/10/2006.