Episode 88 | The Mystery of the Boston Strangler Murders

Anngelle Wood
Jun 12
3 min read

Updated: Oct 29

New England Serial Killer History Series

episode 88: The Boston Strangler Murders

What makes a serial killer? Why are we interested in knowing? We cannot predict whether someone will become a psychopath, but when someone is discovered to be a psychopathic killer, you can often trace it back to their childhood.

The case of the Boston Strangler predates the so-called golden age of the serial killer and still confounds us today. In the early 1960s, a rash of murders terrified the city of Boston. Women were being found brutally killed across the city, and the region. There was no clear pattern though, some shared the same hallmarks.

The Boston Strangler case gripped the city of Boston between 1962 and 1964, when 13 women aged 19 to 85 were murdered in their homes. Most were sexually assaulted and strangled, often with their own clothing, and the killer left no signs of forced entry—suggesting the victims may have willingly let him in. The crimes were initially believed to be the work of a single person, and the two intripid female reporters began to connect the cases, dubbing this unknown assailant “The Boston Strangler.” Public fear surged, and women were arming themselves for protection.

In 1965, Albert DeSalvo, a man already in custody for unrelated attacks on women, confessed to the murders. Why he confessed, whether for notoriety or something else, like immunity from prosecution in those crimes, his guilt was in dispute for decades. It has been a long held belief by investigators and case experts that not all of the 13 victims were killed by the same person. Because of the varying ages and circumstances of each victim, the patterns in each case didn't quite add up. Even some of the surviving assault victims did not believe Desalvo did not believe he was their attacker, Though never formally charged with the killings, his confession and knowledge of crime scene details led many to believe he was the one responsible. However, doubts lingered for decades due to inconsistencies in his statements and lack of physical evidence.

A player in another high profile case has a connection to the Strangler case. The Boston Police Sergeant and Surveillance Expert who followed nephew, Tim Desalvo, to his worksite and retrieved an item for DNA would help break the case of Mary's murder, Boston Police Sergeant Brian Albert, of the Alberts who formerly resided at 34 Fairview Rd in Canton, Massachusetts.

It was due to this where, in 2013, that nephew's DNA was insturmental in definitively linking DeSalvo to the final victim, a 19-year-old woman new to the city from Cape Cod. While many had ruled out Mary Sullivan as an actual Strangler victim, DNA evidence came back with a match, providing the strongest forensic tie to the case. Still, some experts believe multiple killers may have been involved, leaving the truth of the Boston Strangler murders a mystery. Mary Sullivan’s case is the only case of the Boston Strangler investigation with a forensic conclusion. The 12 other murder cases remain unsolved 63 years later.