Controversy

A lonely stretch of Beacon
Hill Street, Boston around the
time of the Boston Strangler
incidents

Between June 14, 1962 and January 4, 1964, 13 single women in the Boston area were victims of either a single serial killer or possibly several killers. At least eleven of these murders were popularly known as the victims of the Boston Strangler. While the police did not see all of these murders as the work of a single individual, the public did. All of these women were murdered in their apartments, had been sexually molested, and were strangled with articles of clothing. With no signs of forced entry, the women apparently knew their assailant(s) or, at least, voluntarily let him (them) in their homes. These were respectable women who for the most part led quiet, modest lives.

Even though nobody has ever officially been on trial as the Boston Strangler, the public believed that Albert DeSalvo, who confessed in detail to each of the eleven "official" Strangler murders, as well as two others, was the murderer. However, at the time that DeSalvo confessed, most people who knew him personally did not believe him capable of the vicious crimes and today there is a persuasive case to be made that DeSalvo wasn't the killer after all.

This story presents both sides of the argument and lets you make the decision for yourself. It is not an easy decision to make as many psychiatrists, lawyers, criminologists, authors and friends of Albert DeSalvo have discovered.