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Post by The Tracker on Jan 10, 2006 22:41:08 GMT -5
Chapter 16 Doubts - The Confession One of the key issues that Kelly addresses with mixed success is the accuracy of the voluminous confession and its myriad of details, some of which were correct and some of which were not. How did Albert DeSalvo, a man of average or less than average intelligence convincingly absorb so many, many details about the victims and their apartments if he was not the Strangler? Kelly points out that Albert had an exceptional memory. Dr. Robey testified that he had "absolute, complete, one hundred per percent total photographic recall." One of his lawyers. Jon Asgeirsson noted that "Albert had a phenomenal memory. Another of his lawyers, Tom Troy agreed, "It was remarkable." Robey cites an example of how he tested Albert's ability to make instantaneous mental carbon copies of people, places, things: "We had a staff meeting [at Bridgewater] with about eight people. Albert walked in and walked out. The next day we had him brought back in. Everyone had on different clothes, was sitting in different positions. I said, "Albert, you remember coming in yesterday? Describe it." Albert did, perfectly (Kelly) She also cites a number of sources of information available to Albert to learn what he did about the crimes: The newspaper accounts were extraordinarily detailed. The Record American printed up a chart, along with the victims' photos, called "The Facts: On Reporters' Strangle Worksheet." This chart was a summary of all the important details of each crime, what victims were wearing, their hobbies, affiliations, etc. Kelly says, "That DeSalvo had memorized this chart is apparent because in his confession to John Bottomly, he regurgitated not only the correct data on it but the few pieces of misinformation it contained as well. Leaks by law enforcement agencies, particularly the Strangler Bureau, which was criticized for being lax with its accumulated material, and the Suffolk County Medical Examiner, who allegedly held a number of unauthorized press conferences in which he freely distributed information about the victim autopsies. Albert's own research as a burglar put him in many of the apartment buildings in which women were murdered. He knew the layouts of the apartments and, according to Kelly, had visited each apartment after the murder. Information deliberately and inadvertently fed to him by people anxious to wrap up the investigation, such as John Bottomly who, according to Kelly, "did knowingly and quite intentionally provide Albert with information about the murders while he was taking the latter's confession to themwhich explains why the only version of it [the confession] ever made public was abbreviated and heavily doctored. The full version virtually exonerates DeSalvo." Possible information provided by another suspect who could have coached DeSalvo on the details. Police speculated that George Nassar could have been one such source of information. Finally, experts never saw the stranglings as the work of one individual. The modi operandi were not identical and the victims as a group were quite dissimilar. Kelly summarizes some of the more obvious differences: No similarity whatsoever exists between the relatively delicate killing of Patricia Bissette, whose murderer tucked her into bed, and the ghastly homicidal violation inflicted on Mary Sullivan, whose killer's intent was not just to degrade his victim by shoving a broom handle into her vagina but to taunt the discoverer of her corpse by placing a greeting card against her foot. Beverly Samans was stabbed but not sexually assaulted; Joann Graff was raped vaginally and strangled. Evelyn Corbin had performed probably under duress oral sex on her killer. Jane Sullivan was dumped facedown to rot in a bathtub. Ida Irga was left in the living room with her legs spread out and propped up on a chair. Serial killers tend to select and stick with a particular kind of victim. For example, Jack the Ripper picked prostitutes; Ted Bundy picked pretty, longhaired young girls; Jeff Dahmer young boys, etc. The strangling victims represent a wide disparity in age and attractiveness and race which flies in the face of serial killer profiling expertise. A very likely explanation is that some of the crimes were committed by one individual, especially the murders of Ida Irga, Jane Sullivan and Helen Blake. And what about Mary Mullen, the elderly woman who died of a heart attack? Kelly says that this may be the only killing of which DeSalvo is guilty. He probably burglarized her apartment and she died of fright. Did the same Albert DeSalvo who carried his unintended victim over to her couch and fled without stealing anything savage the bodies of Ida Irga and Jane Sullivan? The Mary Brown affair raised some interesting questions. She had been raped, strangled and beaten to death in Lawrence in early March of 1963. Albert's confession to this crime was very sketchy and many of the details were incorrect. Perhaps, Albert had been told about this crime from the Bridgewater inmate who was really responsible. Kelly says Mary Brown lived on the same street as the man that George Nassar shot to death in 1948.
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Post by The Tracker on Jan 10, 2006 22:43:57 GMT -5
Chapter 17 The Jury Speaks Once the Commonwealth was satisfied that DeSalvo was the Strangler, very sticky legal issues had to be resolved before any trial could be held. Basically, DeSalvo's confession was inadmissible as evidence. Bailey put it this way to Brooke and Bottomly: "When I met Albert, there were enough indictments pending against him to pretty much ensure that he'd never be walking the streets again. Now, I've helped him disclose that he's committed multiple murder, it's a certainty he'll never be released. Show me some way to avoid the risk of execution — I'll run the risk of conviction, but not execution and you can have anything you want. I know damn well that neither of you really wants to see him killed. Tell me, is that asking too much?" Brooke didn't think Bailey was asking for too much, but he wanted to think about it some more. At this point he was a solid candidate for the Senate and they agreed that it would be a mistake to have the DeSalvo trial in the midst of the campaign. At least Bailey could get a ruling on whether DeSalvo was mentally competent to stand trial. And despite the objections of Dr. Robey, DeSalvo was found competent to stand trial. Finally on January 10, 1967, Albert DeSalvo was tried on the Green Man charges. Bailey explained that "the basic strategy by which I hoped to convince a jury to find Albert not guilty by reason of insanity was simple: I would attempt to use the thirteen murders he had committed as the Boston Strangler to show the extent of his insanity. To do this, I would try to get both his confession and its corroboration by police into evidenceCertainly the problem was unusual: I wanted the right to defend a man for robbery and assault by proving that he had committed thirteen murders." Donald L. Conn led the prosecution team, F. Lee Bailey the defense in Judge Cornelius Moynihan's court. Conn called four Green Man victims with very similar stories. DeSalvo would either jimmy the door or con his way in to the apartment verbally. He would tie the woman, strip her and fondle her breasts, demand fellatio or cunnilingus, but stopped short of rape. He used a knife or toy gun to ensure cooperation. After he was done, he took money and jewelry from the victims. Bailey did not cross-examine the witnesses because he felt he had nothing to gain by doing so. Bailey said in his opening statement that he had no doubts that DeSalvo committed the crimes as charged and the only "issue was whether the Commonwealth could prove that he was not insane at the time." Bailey brought forth his expert witnesses to testify to Albert's paranoid schizophrenia. They said that while Albert knew what he was doing was wrong, "his Green Man crimes were the result of an irresistible impulse." Conn pointed out that the non-sexual aspects of the crimes jimmying the locks, lying to gain entrance and the theft of valuables were not a result of irresistible impulse. The psychiatrist agreed that only the sexual assaults were. The jury thought about it for four hours, found DeSalvo guilty on all counts and sentenced him to life in prison. The psychiatric help he wanted was denied. Bailey was very angry: "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."
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Post by The Tracker on Jan 10, 2006 22:47:34 GMT -5
Chapter 18 Aftermath Albert DeSalvo was serving out his life sentence at Walpole State Prison, now called MCI-Cedar Junction, when he was stabbed to death in the infirmary in November of 1973. The night before he was murdered, he telephoned Dr. Ames Robey and asked him to meet with him urgently. DeSalvo was very frightened. Robey promised to meet with him the next morning, but Albert was murdered that night. Albert had asked one other person to meet with him and Robey a reporter. Robey explained," He was going to tell us who the Boston Strangler really was, and what the whole thing was about. He had asked to be placed in the infirmary under special lockup about a week before. Something was going on within the prison, and I think he felt he had to talk quickly. There were people in the prison, including guards, that were not happy with himSomebody had to leave an awful lot of doors open, which meant, because there were several guards one would have to go by, there had to be a fair number of people paid or asked to turn their backs or something. But somebody put a knife into Albert DeSalvo's heart sometime between evening check and the morning." Officials believed that Albert's death was related to his involvement in a prison drug operation. 3 men were tried, but twice the trials ended in hung juries. Albert wrote this poem a few years before his death: Here is the story of the Strangler, yet untold, The man who claims he murdered thirteen women, young and old. The elusive Strangler, there he goes, Where his wanderlust sends him, no one knows He struck within the light of day, Leaving not one clue astray. Young and old, their lips are sealed, Their secret of death never revealed. Even though he is sick in mind, He's much too clever for the police to find. To reveal his secret will bring him fame, But burden his family with unwanted shame. Today he sits in a prison cell, Deep inside only a secret he can tell. People everywhere are still in doubt, Is the Strangler in prison or roaming about?
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Post by The Tracker on Jan 10, 2006 22:51:55 GMT -5
Chapter 19 Case Under Review Although Albert De Salvo was never charged with the strangulation murders of 11 women due to a lack of evidence, many thought that he was the Boston Strangler, especially after he confessed. Two people very close to the case believe he didn't do it. One is Albert's brother Richard DeSalvo; the other is Casey Sherman, the nephew of the strangler's last known victim, Mary Sullivan. Both men and their families are convinced that Albert DeSalvo did not kill Mary Sullivan. If they are correct, their findings may not only overturn the prosecution's case against DeSalvo but will almost certainly cast doubt on the entire Boston Strangler case, in which 11 Boston-area women were sexually assaulted and murdered between 1962 and 1964. Ironically, it was DeSalvo's own taped confession that convinced the families he was not the killer. "Police say he had to be the killer because he knew things that only the killer would know, but when we listened to the confession tape, it's completely wrong. He confessed to events that simply never happened." said Casey Sherman. Mary Sullivan, who was killed in 1964 at age 19, was Casey's mother's sister. Albert DeSalvo, a blue-collar worker with a wife and children, confessed to all of the Boston Strangler murders, as well as two others. But, there was never any physical evidence connecting him to the crime scenes. He did not match witness descriptions of possible suspects. His name was not on a list of more than 300 suspects compiled by case investigators and he was never tried in any of the killings. DeSalvo was sent to prison for life for another string of rapes and sexual assaults and was stabbed to death in the maximum-security state prison at Walpole in 1973 — but not before he recanted his confession. At the time of his death, he was in fear of his life and had been housed in the prison infirmary to provide him additional protection. In October 2000, the two families united to have Sullivan's remains exhumed for DNA testing, a technology that was not available nearly 37 years ago. They hope the results, expected in early 2001, will put further pressure on prosecutors to release to them old evidence they hope will clear DeSalvo. Sherman and his family also believe that his aunt's killer is still at large. For the DeSalvo's, the primary motivation is to clear their family name. Richard DeSalvo said that members of his own family have been constantly berated and assaulted because of the Boston Strangler case and that it has led to rifts in the family. All 11 women believed to be the Strangler victims were strangled with articles of their own clothing, and one was also stabbed repeatedly. The prosecution has always argued that Albert De Salvo possessed information that only the killer would know. Sherman countered by suggesting that DeSalvo could have gotten details about Sullivan's slaying from the newspapers. This view is supported by Susan Kelly in her 1995 book {Boston Stranglers: The Wrongful Conviction of Albert De Salvo and the True Story of Eleven Shocking Murders} -- but she goes further suggesting that DeSalvo could have learnt the details from the "real" killer in prison. In his confession, DeSalvo said he strangled Mary Sullivan with his hands. In reality, she was strangled with her own clothing. DeSalvo also claimed to have raped her when evidence has proven that she was sexually assaulted with a broomstick. A forensic scientist who took part in an autopsy arranged by the families said experts were unable to find the effects of a blow DeSalvo claimed to have inflicted on Sullivan. Also, the families said DeSalvo claimed to have left a knife and a sweater at the murder scene but neither was found. Tests are also being conducted on 68 samples of hair, semen and tissue taken from Sullivan's exhumed body. Richard DeSalvo said his brother's body would also be exhumed if it would help their case. Sherman said a prime suspect in his aunt's death is a former boyfriend of one of her roommates as there was no evidence of forced entry into her apartment. Richard De Salvo believes his brother confessed to the Boston Strangler killings because he knew he was going to prison for life for other crimes and wanted to cash in on book and movie deals and use the proceeds to take care of his family. According to the families, DeSalvo's lawyer, F. Lee Bailey, convinced him that if he confessed, he would go to a mental institution rather than prison. Even though Bailey still claims that Albert DeSalvo is the Boston Strangler, he supports the families campaign to have DNA tests carried out, as he believes that the results will prove that DeSalvo did it. The state attorney general's office is currently "reviewing" the Sullivan slaying but has continually denied the families access to evidence because they consider the case is still unsolved. In October 2000, a judge ordered the two sides to try to work out a compromise but the Boston authorities have been less than cooperative. Jerry Leone, chief of the Massachusetts attorney general's criminal bureau, said that if evidence does point to someone other than DeSalvo as Sullivan's killer, it doesn't necessarily cast doubt on all the other Boston Strangler murders and doesn't mean the other cases will be reinvestigated. "We are looking into the Sullivan case because it's the only case that has any evidence that can be used in a viable prosecution right now," Leone said. On the other hand, Richard DeSalvo believes that if it is proven his brother didn't kill Mary Sullivan, it raises a serious question about who really killed the others. In recent months, Attorney General Thomas Reilly has made it very clear that he will not allow the release of any evidence causing the families to reactivate their lawsuit against the state of Massachusetts. On February 23 2001, Judge William G. Young reinstated the lawsuit, which calls for the release of all evidence pertaining to the original investigation so that the families can pursue their own investigation. The state has since sought a motion of dismissal. After a private investigation conducted by Casey Sherman, both families are even more convinced that DeSalvo was coerced into confessing in the belief that he would receive favorable attention if he did. To support their case the families have offered the results of the forensic tests carried out on Mary Sullivan's remains, which have shown no indications of head trauma and damage to the fragile neck bones normally associated with strangulation. The matter now rests with Judge Young. Should the lawsuit be successful, the authorities will be ordered to hand over to the families, all evidence pertaining to the Boston Strangler investigation for the purposes of private analysis. If the lawsuit fails the family is expected to launch an appeal. More importantly, if the DNA results prove conclusively that DeSalvo was not the killer, the entire case may be reopened and a new hunt instigated for the real Boston Strangler.
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Post by The Tracker on Jan 10, 2006 22:54:34 GMT -5
Chapter 20 Case Under Review On October 20, 2001, Court TV reported that new DNA tests would be performed on evidence taken from the remains of Mary Sullivan, one of 11 victims attributed to the alleged Boston Strangler, Albert DeSalvo. Thomas Reilly, the Massachusetts Attorney General, told Court TV that he had ordered the tests to be performed: "The family has raised legitimate questions in terms of the way it was investigated, they've asked us to look into things and we are." The family of Mary Sullivan has long argued that she wasn't a victim of the Boston Strangler and believes that her real killer is still alive. This latest development was a direct result of individual investigations that were mounted by relatives of both Sullivan and DeSalvo, which brought additional pressure on authorities to reconsider their findings. A week later, on Friday October 26, 2001, a report by Associated Press described how Albert DeSalvo's body had been exhumed from a gravesite in Massachusetts and taken to a forensic laboratory in York College Pennsylvania for examination. The following Saturday an autopsy was conducted on the remains in the hope of attempting to prove De Salvo's innocence of the murders and possibly, to identify his killer. James E. Starrs, a professor of forensic sciences at George Washington University, led the team of scientists who performed the autopsy: Starrs is best known for his identification work on other high-profile cases including the Lizzie Borden hatchet murders, the Lindbergh baby kidnapping and the outlaw Jesse James. He told AP: "The family has been unsatisfied all these many years concerning the death of Albert DeSalvo and failure to find anyone guilty of the death." On Thursday, December 13, 2001, Court TV reported that DNA evidence taken from Mary Sullivan's remains did not provide a match to Albert DeSalvo. During a news conference, James Starrs told reporters: "We have found evidence and the evidence does not and cannot be associated with Albert DeSalvo." Starrs made it very clear that the evidence only clears DeSalvo of sexual assault. While he did not give details of the analysis, he told reporters: "If I was a juror, I would acquit him with no questions asked." Mary Sullivan's nephew, Casey Sherman, who has always doubted that DeSalvo killed his aunt or any of the other victims attributed to him, said he feels vindicated by Starrs' finding: "If he didn't kill Mary Sullivan, yet he confessed to it in glaring detail, he didn't kill any of these women." Sherman also told reporters that, prior to De Salvo's confession, police had what they considered as "a prime suspect" in Sullivan's murder but dropped the case after DeSalvo confessed. Sherman urged police to "go after the real killer" who, according to him, is still alive and living in New England.
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