Albert DeSalvo

Albert DeSalvo
DeSalvo after escaping Bridgewater State Hospital and being caught in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1967.
Born	Albert Henry DeSalvo (1931-09-03)September 3, 1931 Chelsea, Massachusetts
Died	November 25, 1973(1973-11-25) (aged 42) Walpole, Massachusetts
Cause of death	Stabbing
Other names	The Boston Strangler Mad Strangler of Boston The Measuring Man The Green Man
Criminal penalty	Life imprisonment
Killings
Victims	13 (disputed)
Span of killings	June 14, 1962 – January 4, 1964
Country	United States
State(s)	Massachusetts
Date apprehended	October 27, 1964

Albert Henry DeSalvo (September 3, 1931 – November 25, 1973) was a criminal in Boston, Massachusetts, who confessed to being the "Boston Strangler", the murderer of thirteen women in the Boston area from 1962 to 1964. DeSalvo was not imprisoned for these murders, however, but for a series of rapes. His murder confession has been disputed and debate continues as to which crimes DeSalvo had actually committed.

In July 2013, a DNA match between seminal fluid found at the scene of the rape and murder of Mary Sullivan and DNA obtained from DeSalvo's nephew linked DeSalvo to that crime and excluded 99.9 percent of the remaining population. Authorities exhumed DeSalvo's remains later that month and confirmed the DNA match.

DeSalvo was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, to Frank and Charlotte DeSalvo. His father was a violent alcoholic, who at one point knocked out all of his wife's teeth and bent her fingers back until they broke. DeSalvo tortured animals as a child, and began shoplifting and stealing in early adolescence, frequently crossing paths with the law.

In November 1943, the 12-year-old DeSalvo was first arrested for battery and robbery. In December of the same year he was sent to the Lyman School for Boys. In October 1944, he was paroled and started working as a delivery boy. In August 1946, he returned to the Lyman School for stealing an automobile. After completing his second sentence, DeSalvo joined the Army. He was honorably discharged after his first tour of duty. He re-enlisted and, in spite of being tried in a court-martial, DeSalvo was again honorably discharged. DeSalvo served as a Military Police Sergeant with the 2nd Squadron, 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment. Pictures of DeSalvo being arrested on Saturday February 25, 1967 show him in U.S. Navy Dress Blue Uniform with Petty Officer 3rd Class insignia on his sleeve.