Vancouver Sun

DNA solves strangler cold case

Police find ‘ familial match’ with material found at scene of 1964 murder of Mary Sullivan

- BRIDGET MURPHY

Investigat­ors using DNA technology finally have evidence linking Albert DeSalvo to the last of the slayings attributed to the Boston Strangler.

BOSTON — Investigat­ors helped by advances in DNA technology finally have forensic evidence linking longtime suspect Albert DeSalvo to the last of the 1960s slayings attributed to the Boston Strangler, leading many of the case’s players to hope it can finally be put to rest.

DeSalvo’s remains will be exhumed after authoritie­s concluded that DNA from the scene of Mary Sullivan’s rape and murder produced a “familial match” with him, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said. Conley said he expected investigat­ors to find an exact match when the evidence is compared with his DNA.

Sullivan, 19, was found strangled in her Boston apartment in January 1964. Sullivan, who had moved from her Cape Cod home to Boston just three days before her death, had long been considered the strangler’s last victim.

The announceme­nt represente­d the most definitive evidence yet linking DeSalvo to the case. Eleven Boston- area women between the ages of 19 and 85 were sexually assaulted and killed between 1962 and 1964.

DeSalvo, married with children, a working- class Army veteran, confessed to the 11 Boston Strangler murders, as well as two others. But he was never convicted of the Boston Strangler killings.

He had been sentenced to life in prison for a series of armed robberies and sexual assaults and was stabbed to death in the state’s maximum security prison in 1973 — but not before he recanted his confession.

My thought was if we can get through the legal thicket and get this guy examined by a team of the best specialist­s in the country, we might learn something about serial killers so we could spot them before others get killed.

F. LEE BAILEY

LAWYER FOR ALBERT DESALVO

Sullivan’s nephew Casey Sherman has for years maintained DeSalvo did not kill her, pointing to other possible suspects.

He said he accepted the new findings after concluding that the DNA evidence against DeSalvo appeared to be overwhelmi­ng. He thanked police and praised them “for their incredible persistenc­e.”

Lawyer F. Lee Bailey, who helped to obtain the confession from DeSalvo, said the announceme­nt will probably help put to rest speculatio­n over the Boston Strangler’s identity.

Bailey had been representi­ng another prisoner who informed the attorney that DeSalvo knew details of the crimes. Bailey went to police with the informatio­n, and he said DeSalvo, who was already in prison for other crimes, demonstrat­ed that he knew details that only the killer would know.

Bailey would later represent DeSalvo.

“It was a very challengin­g case,” said Bailey, who lives in Maine. “My thought was if we can get through the legal thicket and get this guy examined by a team of the best specialist­s in the country, we might learn something about serial killers so we could spot them before others get killed.”

Officials stressed that the DNA evidence links DeSalvo only to Sullivan’s killing and that no DNA evidence is believed to exist for the other Boston Strangler slayings.

State Attorney General Martha Coakley, however, said investigat­ors hoped that solving Sullivan’s case might put to rest doubts about DeSalvo’s guilt.

Conley said the “familial match” excludes 99.99 per cent of suspects but isn’t enough to close the case.

A woman who answered the phone at the home of DeSalvo’s brother Richard said the family had no comment. She did not identify herself.

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 ?? THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES ?? This Feb. 25, 1967, file photo shows self- confessed Boston Strangler Albert DeSalvo minutes after his capture in Boston. DeSalvo confessed to the string of 1960s killings but was never convicted of slayings attributed to the Boston Strangler. He was...
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES This Feb. 25, 1967, file photo shows self- confessed Boston Strangler Albert DeSalvo minutes after his capture in Boston. DeSalvo confessed to the string of 1960s killings but was never convicted of slayings attributed to the Boston Strangler. He was...
 ?? STEVEN SENNE/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS ?? Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley, left, speaks at a news conference at Boston Police headquarte­rs on Thursday as Boston Police Commission­er Ed Davis looks on.
STEVEN SENNE/ THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley, left, speaks at a news conference at Boston Police headquarte­rs on Thursday as Boston Police Commission­er Ed Davis looks on.

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