Albert Henry DeSalvo (September 3, 1931 – November 25, 1973), also known as the Green Man or the Measuring Man, was an American murderer and rapist who was active in Boston, Massachusetts, in the early 1960s. He is known for having confessed to being the "Boston Strangler," a serial killer who murdered thirteen women in the Boston area between 1962 and 1964. DeSalvo's murder confessions were deemed credible, yet due to limited evidence in those cases he was not charged. He was prosecuted in 1967 for a series of unrelated rapes. He was found guilty, convicted and imprisoned for life. He died in prison after being stabbed in 1973. DeSalvo's claims to have murdered multiple women were disputed, and debates continued regarding which crimes he truly committed.
By the early 21st century, techniques for DNA capture and analysis could allow for the re-investigation of some DeSalvo-Strangler cases. In July 2013, an analysis of semen found around the body of Mary Sullivan, the last of the Strangler's victims, was compared to DNA obtained from DeSalvo's nephew. Results showed a familial match and investigators believed this finding linked DeSalvo to the killing of Sullivan. The DNA match excluded 99.9% of the remaining population. Later that month, authorities exhumed DeSalvo's body and found that his DNA was a match.
Albert DeSalvo was born on September 3, 1931, in Chelsea, Massachusetts, as the third of six children to Charlotte (née Roberts) and Frank DeSalvo. DeSalvo's father was a violent alcoholic who abused his wife and children; in one of the many times he attacked his wife in front of the children, he knocked out all her teeth and bent her fingers back until they broke. DeSalvo's father would also bring home prostitutes and engage in sexual acts with them in front of family members, including the children.
The young DeSalvo began torturing animals as a child. In early adolescence, he engaged in acts of petty theft and shoplifting, frequently crossing paths with the law. In 1943, DeSalvo, then aged 12, was arrested for battery and robbery and was subsequently sent to the Lyman School for Boys. In October 1944, DeSalvo was paroled and started working as a delivery boy. In August 1946, nearly fifteen years old, he was returned to the Lyman School after being convicted of auto theft.
After completing his second sentence, DeSalvo joined the United States Army. He served as a Military Police sergeant with the 2nd Squadron, 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment and became the middleweight boxing champion among his fellow troops in Europe. During his first tour of duty in West Germany, he married a German national named Irmgard Beck and returned to the United States with her following his honorable discharge. The couple had two children, a girl and a boy, the former of whom had a physical disability. DeSalvo eventually re-enlisted in the army and, despite being court martialed for the sexual assault of a nine-year-old girl, was again honorably discharged.
At the time of the Boston Strangler murders, DeSalvo lived with his family at 11 Florence Street Park in Malden, Massachusetts, across the street from the junction of Florence and Clement streets.
Between 1962 and 1964, thirteen single women between the ages of 19 and 85 were murdered in the Boston area; their deaths were eventually tied to a serial killer dubbed the Boston Strangler. Most of the victims were sexually assaulted in their apartments before being strangled with articles of clothing. The oldest victim died of a heart attack. Two others were stabbed to death, one of whom was also badly beaten. Without signs of forced entry into their dwellings, the victims were assumed to have either known their killer or voluntarily allowed him into their homes.
The final victim of the murders was 19-year-old Mary Sullivan, who was raped and strangled in her Boston apartment on January 4, 1964. Three ligatures were wrapped around her neck, and a broom handle was lodged in her vagina. A card reading "Happy New Year" was left by the killer, leaning against her left foot.
In late 1964, in addition to the Strangler murders, the Boston Police Department (BPD) were trying to solve a series of rapes committed by a man who had been dubbed the "Green Man" or the "Measuring Man". On October 27, a stranger entered a young woman's home in East Cambridge posing as a detective. He tied his victim to her bed, sexually assaulted her and left after undoing her restraints, apologizing as he departed. The woman's description led police to identify the assailant as DeSalvo.
When his photo was published, many women identified DeSalvo as the man who had assaulted them in the "Green Man" attacks. Earlier on October 27, DeSalvo had posed as a motorist with car trouble and attempted to enter a home in Bridgewater. The owner of the home, Richard Sproules (a future police chief of Brockton), became suspicious. He ultimately fired a shotgun at DeSalvo, who fled the scene.
Under arrest for his role in the "Green Man" rapes, DeSalvo was initially not suspected of being involved with the Strangler murders. He had confessed to fellow inmate George Nassar, who notified his attorney, F. Lee Bailey. Bailey subsequently took over DeSalvo's defense. Though there were some inconsistencies in his account, DeSalvo cited details of the Strangler case that had not been made public. However, police did not find physical evidence to substantiate his confession. Only after DeSalvo was charged with rape did he give a detailed confession of his activities as the Strangler. This took place on two occasions: under hypnosis induced by William Joseph Bryan, and without hypnosis during interviews with Assistant Attorney General John Bottomly.
For his 1967 trial, DeSalvo was evaluated by Harry Kozol, a neurologist who had established the first sex offender treatment center in Massachusetts. Bailey arranged a plea bargain to lock in DeSalvo's guilt in exchange for excluding the death penalty as punishment. He also wanted to preserve the possibility of an eventual insanity plea.
Bailey was angered by the jury's decision to sentence DeSalvo to life imprisonment without parole. He said:
My goal was to see the Strangler wind up in a hospital, where doctors could try to find out what made him kill. Society is deprived of a study that might help deter other mass killers who lived among us, waiting for the trigger to go off inside them.
DeSalvo was sentenced to life in prison in 1967. In February of that year, he escaped with two fellow inmates from Bridgewater State Hospital, triggering a full-scale manhunt. A note was found on his bunk addressed to the superintendent. In it, DeSalvo stated he had escaped to focus attention on the conditions in the hospital and his own situation. Three days later, DeSalvo contacted his lawyer to turn himself in. His lawyer then sent police to re-arrest him in Lynn, Massachusetts. Following the escape, DeSalvo was transferred to the maximum security prison known at the time as Walpole, where he later recanted his Strangler confessions.
On November 25, 1973, DeSalvo was found stabbed to death in the prison infirmary. Robert Wilson, who was associated with the Winter Hill Gang, was tried for DeSalvo's murder, but the trial ended in a hung jury. Bailey later stated that DeSalvo was killed for selling amphetamines in the prison for less than the inmate-enforced syndicate price.
DeSalvo's papers are housed in the Lloyd Sealy Library Special Collections at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City. These papers include his correspondence, mainly with the members of the Bailey family, and gifts sent to the Baileys of jewelry and leatherwork crafted by DeSalvo while in prison.
On July 11, 2013, Boston law enforcement officials announced that DNA evidence had linked DeSalvo to the rape and murder of 19-year-old Mary Sullivan. DeSalvo's remains were exhumed, and DNA test results proved DeSalvo was the source of seminal fluid recovered at the scene of Sullivan's 1964 murder.