The True Story Behind Hulu's 'Boston Strangler'

Born Albert DeSalvo, the Massachusetts native has become better known by his murderer moniker: the Boston Strangler.

Regarded as one of New England's most prolific serial killers, DeSalvo is notorious for the slew of crimes he committed throughout the 1960s. While he was charged with several counts of assault, burglary and sex offenses, he became synonymous with the infamous stranglings that terrorized Boston.

Although DeSalvo's case was brought to light over five decades ago, his self-confessed crimes and admission to being the Boston Strangler (after he was charged for a separate sexual assault) was not enough evidence for investigators to prosecute him. The killer's identity remained up for debate for decades.

"That confession has been the subject of skepticism and controversy from almost the moment it was given," District Attorney Daniel F. Conley of Suffolk County said, per The New York Times in July 2013. A break in the case was found 50 years later due to science and technology, linking DeSalvo to the murder of one of the 13 victims.

The lengthy mystery of the Boston Strangler and his horrific actions have been the subject of various written and visual accounts in the years that followed. The true story was previously made into a 1968 film, titled The Boston Strangler, and starred Tony Curtis and Henry Fonda.

Most recently, 20th Century Studios and Hulu unveiled the trailer for Boston Strangler, a retelling of the infamous Boston Strangler murders in the 1960s starring Keira Knightley as Boston Record-American reporter Loretta McLaughlin, who investigated the string of murders for the newspaper.

"At its core, this is a true crime thriller, but it's also a story about how these reporters were willing to challenge the norms of the era to do the work that was so important to them," writer and director Matt Ruskin told PEOPLE.

Here's everything to know about the Boston Strangler true story, including the crimes DeSalvo committed and where he is now.

Who is Albert DeSalvo?

A Massachusetts native, Albert DeSalvo is a serial killer who was born to Frank and Charlotte DeSalvo. He was raised in an abusive household where he would watch his alcoholic father brutalize his mother and have sex with prostitutes in front of his siblings. DeSalvo, himself, was also beaten.

"I saw my father knock my mother's teeth out and then break every one of her fingers. I must have been seven," author Gerold Frank quoted DeSalvo in his 1966 book, The Boston Strangler. "He smashed me once across the back with a pipe. I just didn't move fast enough."

Growing up, DeSalvo lived a troubled youth, committing lesser-known crimes that led to time spent in the Lyman School for Boys, a reform institution in Massachusetts. At age 17, he joined the U.S. Army where he served for eight years. There, he met his wife and they had two children together.

Prior to his infamous moniker, "The Boston Strangler," DeSalvo had already been deemed various nicknames that coincided with his criminal history. Among them was "The Measuring Man," tied to his series of sex offenses in the Cambridge area.

DeSalvo's nickname came to be as a result of his act: posing as a talent scout from a modeling agency who'd go door-to-door to young women's homes, ask to take their measurements — and if they agreed, fondle them as he measured. Several victims reported DeSalvo to the police in 1960, referring to him as "The Measuring Man." He was caught and spent approximately a year in prison.

Another moniker DeSalvo was known as was "The Green Man" due to a different crime spree that took place in several states across New England. He'd break into women's apartments (reportedly 400 homes), tie them up (reportedly 300 victims) and sexually assault them — while dressed in green.

In 1962, the killings began — specifically, stranglings that terrorized a city in Massachusetts. Alas, his nickname came to be: the Boston Strangler.

What crimes did Albert DeSalvo commit?

Between 1962 and 1964, 13 women ranging from ages 19 to 85 were raped and strangled to death in Boston and nearby cities over the course of approximately 20 months. The brutal killings took place in the victims' homes, where the killer always left the rope or cord he used to attack in a bow.

DeSalvo, deemed the Boston Strangler, was believed to be the criminal behind the strangling-specific crimes but due to insufficient evidence at the time, skepticism surrounding the case continued in the five decades that followed.

How was Albert DeSalvo caught?

In late 1964, DeSalvo was arrested and charged with several counts of assault, burglary and sex offenses — but at the time, he had yet to be identified as the Boston Strangler. In fact, DeSalvo made a jailhouse confession, admitting to the killings of the 13 women that took place between 1962 and 1964.

However, DeSalvo's 1967 admission to being the Boston Strangler caused skepticism among five separate District Attorney's offices — among other legal authorities — investigating the murders, in part due to the spread-out locations of the victims causing them to believe the stranglings were performed by more than one man.

The confession took place during his court case tied to unrelated crimes documented in prior accounts, of which he was imprisoned for life as a result. A woman named Mary Sullivan was the last of his victims, who was found raped and murdered in her apartment in January 1964.

She was a key component that linked DeSalvo as the strangler, finally putting an end to the case that — per the New York Times — "seemed likely never to be solved."

What was Albert DeSalvo charged with?

When DeSalvo was arrested and tried before Judge Cornelius J. Moynihan and a jury in late 1964, he was charged with several counts of assault, burglary and sex offenses, but was never charged in the case related to the Boston stranglings.

What was Albert DeSalvo's sentence?

DeSalvo was sentenced to life in prison for the aforementioned crimes. He was housed at the Walpole State Prison in Massachusetts.

Where is Albert DeSalvo now?

Shortly after being sentenced to Walpole State Prison, DeSalvo was stabbed to death in his cell by an unidentified fellow inmate. He died under mysterious circumstances at age 42 on Nov. 26, 1973 — but his case didn't end there.

In 2013, DNA from DeSalvo's nephew showed a 99.99 percent familial match with DNA found on Mary (the Boston Strangler's last victim) which helped authorities conclude that Albert was likely responsible for the other 12 murders as well.

"This is really a story of relentlessness," Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis explained, per ABC News, as Massachusetts top law enforcement officials revealed that DNA preserved from the body of the Boston Strangler's last victim can now be linked with "99.9 percent certainty" to the late DeSalvo.

Meanwhile, Elaine Sharp (a lawyer for the DeSalvo family), insisted that the evidence was insufficient. "Just because they had DNA,'' Sharpe said, "Doesn't mean Albert DeSalvo killed her."

However, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley dismissed that assertion, saying: "We may have solved one of the nation's most notorious serial killings," reported ABC News.

Boston Strangler begins streaming on Hulu on March 17.