Albert Henry DeSalvo: Who Was the Boston Strangler?

Boston Murder Mystery

Between June 14, 1962, and January 4, 1964, 13 single women between 19 and 85 years old were murdered inside their homes in the Boston area. Police believed that a single individual committed all of the murders.

Most of the women were sexually assaulted and strangled. There was no forced entry into the apartments, leading authorities to believe that the individual used some kind of ruse in order to gain access to the apartments—either by dressing as a utility maintenance person or perhaps a delivery person. Then the killings suddenly stopped.

Victims of the Boston Strangler

According to a 2015 article in the Boston Globe called "Victims of the Boston Strangler," here are the names and information about DeSalvo's victims (all found in Boston or its surrounding areas):

• Name: Anna Elsa (Legins) Šlesers
  Age: 56
  Found: June 14, 1962
• Name: Mary Mullen
  Age: 85
  Found: June 28, 1962
• Name: Nina Frances Nichols
  Age: 68
  Found: June 30, 1962
• Name: Helen Elizabeth Blake
  Age: 65
  Found: June 30, 1962
• Name: Ida Odes Irga
  Age: 74
  Found: August 19, 1962
• Name: Jane Buckley Sullivan
  Age: 67
  Found: August 21, 1962
• Name: Sophie Clark
  Age: 20
  Found: December 5, 1962
• Name: Patricia Jane Bullock Bissette
  Age: 22
  Found: December 31, 1962
• Name: Mary Ann Brown
  Age: 69
  Found: March 6, 1963
• Name: Beverly Samans
  Age: 26
  Found: May 6, 1963
• Name: Marie Evelina (Evelyn) Corbin
  Age: 58
  Found: September 8, 1963
• Name: Joann Marie Graff
  Age: 22
  Found: November 23, 1963
• Name: Mary Ann Sullivan
  Age: 19
  Found: January 4, 1964

Jean Cole and Loretta McLaughlin

Women in the area were terrified and took measures to secure their homes. They were afraid to go out at night. As fear loomed over the city, local media were eager to report on these murders.

In 1963, two investigative reporters for The Boston Record American, Jean Cole and Loretta McLaughlin, wrote a series of articles, naming the killer "The Boston Strangler."

In June 1962, Loretta McLaughlin investigated an underreported murder of a woman that month in the city of Boston. Later in June, there was another woman murdered, as well as two more in July. McLaughlin asked the editor of The Record American if she could take a close look at those four murders.

The paper assigned reporter Jean Cole to work with McLaughlin on the story of these murders. Jean and Loretta wrote a total of 29 articles on the Boston Strangler, his victims, the pattern of the murders, and what the police were doing.

In the video below, Loretta McLaughlin is interviewed in 1985 and recalls reporting on the story of the Boston Strangler.

Loretta Connects the Dots

In the interview, Loretta describes what made her realize that these four murders were connected and the common factors between them.

• She noticed that all four women wore eyeglasses
• They all seemed to like classical music. Perhaps the killer was walking outside the apartments and heard the music, and that's why he chose to break in.
• All four victims had a connection to a hospital; one victim volunteered at a hospital.
• All were strangled, sexually assaulted and "decorated." One victim had stockings around her throat and another had been left with bathroom cords around her neck.
• Their bodies were posed in sexually provocative positions.

Arrest of Albert Henry DeSalvo

In October 1964, a man pretending to be a police detective gained entry into a woman’s apartment and sexually assaulted her. After that, he apologized to her and left. The woman gave his description to the police, which led them to identify the man as Albert Henry DeSalvo.

He was a 34-year-old maintenance worker living in Malden, Massachusetts. When his photo was published in the papers, several women identified him as the man who came into their houses and sexually assaulted them. He was taken to Bridgewater State Hospital, a state facility for the criminally insane. He was confined there until a psychological evaluation could be made.

While in Bridgewater, he confessed to his cellmate, George Nassar, that he was the Boston Strangler. When police found out about the confession and questioned DeSalvo, he gave a detailed description of the crime scenes, including details that were withheld from the public.

In the beginning, George Nassar was a suspect himself and some even speculated that he was the one feeding information about the crime scenes to DeSalvo.

Albert DeSalvo: Childhood

Albert DeSalvo was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts on September 3, 1931.

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In his early childhood, his father abused his children, including DeSalvo, making the kids watch each other being beaten. Albert also witnessed his father physically assaulting his mother and breaking her fingers in front of the children. His mother wore eyeglasses; some believe this could have been a factor in how he chose his victims.

His father also taught his children how to steal. At the age of 12, Albert was caught stealing and was sent to Lyman School for Boys, a state reform school.

Growing up, he joined the U.S. Army and was transferred to Germany. He married Irmgard Beck, a German woman, and had two children there.

When Albert and his family returned from Germany, DeSalvo was sentenced to jail for 18 months in 1960, after being convicted of being the "Measuring Man": He would gain access to women's apartments using the ruse that he was looking for models. He was always carrying a measuring tape, giving him the opportunity to approach a woman, pretending to take her measurements, and then he would sexually assault her.

After these rapes, the murders started, which lasted for about two years, claiming the lives of 13 women in and around Boston. Then the murders suddenly stopped.

After the murders stopped, DeSalvo turned to rape again. He would gain access to women's apartments posing as a maintenance man and rape them. He wore green pants, and he was given the nickname "The Green Man."

It was when his trial for the Green Man rapes was about to begin that he confessed to his cellmate George Nassar that he was the Boston Strangler.

Conviction and DNA Confirmation

No physical evidence was found linking DeSalvo to any of the murders. In 1967 he was convicted of life in prison on sexual and robbery charges. Six years later, in 1973, he was found stabbed to death in the infirmary of the maximum security prison in Walpole, where he had been transferred after escaping with two other inmates (he eventually turned himself in).

Evidence from the crime scene of Mary Sullivan’s murder, the last victim, was found to contain foreign DNA.

The family of DeSalvo exhumed him in 2001 in an effort to prove that he was not the Boston Strangler. The results were inconclusive.

In 2013, a nephew of DeSalvo discarded a water bottle. A policeman who was following him took the bottle and the DNA analysis concluded there was a family connection to the DNA found on Mary's murder.

Police got a court order and DeSalvo's body was exhumed again. They took a sample from his bone and tested his DNA. That confirmed that it was indeed his DNA on the evidence from the murder and that DeSalvo had murdered Mary.

Poem by DeSalvo

DeSalvo wrote a poem while he was still in prison:

Here is the story of the Strangler, yet untold,
The man who claims he murdered thirteen women, young and old,
The elusive Strangler, there he goes,
Where his wanderlust sends him, no one knows.

He struck within the light of day,
Leaving not one clue astray,
Young and old, their lips are sealed,
Their secret of death never revealed.

Even though he is sick in mind,
He's much too clever for the police to find.
To reveal his secret will bring him fame,
But burden his family with unwanted shame.

Today he sits in a prison cell,
Deep inside a secret he can tell,
People everywhere are still in doubt,
Is the Strangler in prison or roaming about?

Hulu Movie: Boston Strangler

A film about the Boston Strangler will premiere on the Hulu network in March of 2023.

The film is based on the story of Jean Cole and Loretta McLaughlin. Loretta is portrayed in the film by actress Kiera Knightley and Jean by Carrie Coon.

You can watch the trailer below.

Sources

• Chicago Tribune
• New York Times
• ABC News