Who was the Boston Strangler? New evidence may point to a different suspect
BOSTON - A Springfield, Massachusetts man says he gave police evidence that points to a suspect in the Boston Strangler investigation - not Albert DeSalvo.
DeSalvo was widely thought to be the Boston Strangler but he was only linked to one of the 13 victims. Now, WBZ-TV's I-Team has learned Boston Police are still actively investigating the decades-old murders and may have new information.
The Boston Strangler murders
In the early 1960s, a serial killer was on the loose in the Boston area. Nearly all the victims, more than a dozen single women between the ages of 19 and 85, were sexually assaulted, raped, murdered and strangled with a piece of their own clothing tied around their neck in a bow. Reporters dubbed the killer the Boston Strangler.
Albert DeSalvo was the number one suspect. At the time, DeSalvo was being held for observation on unrelated charges at Bridgewater State Hospital. There, he met fellow prisoner George Nassar. In a 2018 prison interview, Nassar told WBZ that DeSalvo confessed to him and shared gruesome details of the murders.
"I didn't want to even listen to what he was saying. Particularly when he described the Beverly Samans murder - it was revolting," Nassar said. Samans was stabbed 22 times.
Despite DeSalvo's confession, some were not convinced that he was the strangler or that he acted alone. Former anchor for WBZ-TV, John Henning, said investigators thought Nassar may have committed some of the murders himself.
Was Albert DeSalvo the only strangler?
During that 2018 interview, the WBZ I-Team asked Nassar directly if he was the real Boston Strangler.
"Of course not." he said. "If I had been - theoretically - on a score with Al, and we were in criminal conspiracy together, and I found out that he was murdering women and getting away with it, I'd have given him a quick and painless death right there."
Now a man who corresponded with Nassar and helped write his autobiography believes the twice-convicted murderer was in fact the Strangler and coached DeSalvo into confessing.
"I do for sure, absolutely, without a doubt, I believe that," David Robitaille of Springfield said. "They were in the same prison. I think they met several times in order for George to dispense the proper information because DeSalvo had to know very, very specific details about the crimes."
Nassar told the I-Team he helped get famed criminal defense attorney F. Lee Bailey to represent DeSalvo and broker a book deal so they could all make money. "We were setting it all up," Nassar said. "Saying 'Al, you're going to confess; you're going to trial; you're going to do due process, you're going to do your book; you're going to take care of your family,' and he was saying, 'OK, OK, OK.'"
"I think he had him killed"
Robitaille believes there is other evidence that points to Nassar, claiming the vicious attacks happened when Nassar was out on parole and stopped when he went back to prison.
No one was ever charged with the stranglings. In 1967, DeSalvo was sentenced to life in prison on robbery and sex offenses.
In Walpole prison, DeSalvo recanted his confession. While behind bars, DeSalvo spent some of his time making leather bags and women's jewelry. "He got into necklaces. He called them chokers," Nassar said. "Big funny. Big laugh. Everyone had a big laugh. I didn't find that funny at all."
DeSalvo was stabbed to death in his cell in 1973. Robitaille believes Nassar had a hand in DeSalvo's death. "I think he had him killed. Straight up, I think he had him killed. He didn't need him anymore," he said.
No one was ever convicted in DeSalvo's death. In 2013, DNA evidence linked DeSalvo to the rape and murder of Mary Sullivan, considered the last victim of the Boston Strangler. The other cases remain unsolved. As for Nassar, he died in prison shortly after his 2018 interview with WBZ.
