Home / Crime and Justice / Handyman Linked to "Boston Strangler" Killings Dies in Prison Decades Later
Handyman Linked to "Boston Strangler" Killings Dies in Prison Decades Later
25 Oct
Summary
- Albert DeSalvo confessed to being the "Boston Strangler" but was never charged
- DeSalvo was sentenced to life in prison for 10 rapes, not the murders
- DeSalvo was stabbed to death behind bars in 1973
In November 1964, 33-year-old handyman Albert DeSalvo was arrested by Cambridge, Massachusetts police, but not for murder. Rather, he was wanted for robbery and sexual assault. After being judged mentally unfit to stand trial for rape, DeSalvo was sent to a psychiatric hospital, where he later told attorney F. Lee Bailey that he had killed 12 women, 11 of them victims linked to the so-called "Boston Strangler."
Despite DeSalvo's confession, he was never charged with any of the murders. Instead, he was sentenced to life in prison for 10 rapes. DeSalvo recanted his confession and maintained his innocence until he was stabbed to death behind bars in 1973, over a decade after his initial arrest.
The case of the "Boston Strangler" has remained one of the most notorious unsolved murder mysteries in American history. While DeSalvo claimed responsibility for the killings, his confession was never substantiated, and the true identity of the "Boston Strangler" remains a mystery to this day.
