Albert Desalvo

Albert DeSalvo's Confession: True or False?

The "Boston Strangler" caused chaos to the city of Boston from June 14th, 1962 until January 4th, 1964 by claiming the lives of thirteen women in grotesque, sexual, murders (History Channel). The feeling of relief and closure for the families of these thirteen victims has not been relinquished due to the lack of evidence to justly convict Albert DeSalvo as the "Boston Strangler." However, the verbal confessions, past convictions, psychological diagnosis, and personal history provide enough evidence to consider DeSalvo as the number one suspect in these deranged killings.

Albert DeSalvo was sent to Bridgewater State Hospital for pretrial observation and was quickly diagnosed with "sociopathic personality marked by sexual deviation, with promi-nent schizoid features and depressive trends" (Junger p. 176). Being diagnosed with this disorder, DeSalvo could have definitely committed the Boston stranglings. There are many characteristics that distinguish a sociopath: charming their way into your heart, inability to treat others as human beings, cruelty to animals, and the inability to learn from experience (Jguttman). As a young child, DeSalvo would trap dogs and cats into crates and watch them fight until they died. While doing so, he would also shoot arrows into the crates. Also, in Albert DeSalvo's case, he had to charm his way into these women's apartments without them having any suspicions. He did this by disguising himself as a plumber, model agency recruiter, and an electrician. He was convicted of breaking and entering, assault, and rape of over 300 women.

In considering DeSalvo as the number one suspect in the "Boston Strangler " case, his childhood family relationships and his adult relationships can be used to justify his psychological diagnosis that can be used as evidence in this case. He was continuously beaten by his father and stepfather as a young child. His father repeatedly brought prostitutes to the home to have sex with them in front of his children. At the age of 7 he had a sexual encounter with his older sister that was undoubtly inspired by the father's wide-open displays of prostitution (Junger p.163). As a child he grew up with a warped view of both sex and violence (History Channel). Later in life, DeSalvo married and became sexually frustrated with his own wife. He demanded sex from her 6-7 times a day, regarding her as "frigid" when she turned him down (CarpeNoctum). He was institutionalized at Middlesex House of Corrections after his "Measuring Man" escapades. Two months after he was released from the institution, the first Boston strangling occurred. This strangling could have been a result from his sexual frustrations from his wife. The built up sexual frustration soon landed him in jail with the arrest of many rapes and sexual assaults known as the "Green Man" and the "Measuring Man."

In 1960, before the stranglings, DeSalvo was arrested for a series of strange sex offenses that occurred in the Cambridge area (Bardsley). DeSalvo would knock on young women's apartment doors and said he was with a modeling agency and he was referred by someone that thought she would make a good model. He asked if she wanted to be photographed for $40 a day and reassured that no nude photos would be taken. Many women were flattered and didn't interject at this idea. DeSalvo asked if he could take her measurements and many of the women allowed him to come into their apartment to do so. Once inside, DeSalvo would measure the vitals of the women. While measuring, he would sexually assault the victims (CarpeNoctem). Afterwards, he would tell the "clients" the agency would be contacting them shortly. Many women reported the happenings to the police.

A year later, the Cambridge police caught DeSalvo breaking and entering a home. DeSalvo didn't only confess to the breaking and entering but also for being the "Measuring Man." The judge sentenced him to eighteen months in jail but he was released earlier because of good behavior.

If the "Measuring Man" crimes weren't enough background evidence to go off of for DeSalvo being the "Boston Strangler", he was also arrested for being the "Green Man." DeSalvo went on a series of sexual assaults, which gave him the character of the "Green Man" because he assaulted the women while in green work pants. He would break into women's apartments and hold them at knifepoint while he sexually assaulted them. Many times he apologized after scurrying from the crime scene. During this series, he did not murder any of his 300 sexual assault victims (Fortune City). DeSalvo served some time for this series of crimes but was later let out on bail.

The case of the Boston Strangler has not been solved even though Albert DeSalvo verbally confessed to the killings. Albert DeSalvo was murdered in prison the night before he was going to tell who the real "Boston Strangler" was. Many people believe that DeSalvo confessed to the murders for money and publicity. His sociopath disorder characterized extreme depression, which in this argument, would be a reason DeSalvo would want to be publicly viewed as the "Boston Strangler." He craved attention to pull him out of his depression. The argument that he wanted money is backed up by the fact that his family was very boor and he had a crippled child that he needed to support. However, a man that was charged of