The Boston Stranglers: The Public Conviction of Albert DeSalvo and the True Story of Eleven Shocking Murders

Between June 1962 and January 1964, 11 women were found murdered in the greater Boston area, most by strangulation. In 1965, construction worker Albert DeSalvo, already in custody on charges of breaking and entering, armed robbery, unnatural acts and rape, all unrelated to the slayings, confessed that he was the Boston Strangler. Yet in his lengthy confession, he was unable to provide correct details of the crimes. After other lawyers had given up the case, onto the scene came flamboyant attorney F. Lee Bailey. DeSalvo, however, was tried on the prior offenses, found guilty in 1967 and sentenced to life; he was fatally stabbed in his cell in 1973. In beginning her prodigious research for this volume, Kelly (The Gemini Man) talked to local police officers, most of whom were convinced that DeSalvo was not the killer. She offers logical conjectures about some of the other suspects, proceeding on the assumption that several slayers were involved. DeSalvo was never convicted of being the Strangler and all this took place 30 years ago, making one wonder if there is an audience for this book. Photos not seen by PW. (Oct.)