Boston Strangler

Boston Strangler

The Boston Strangler is a name attributed to the murderer (or murderers) of several women in Boston, Massachusetts, United States, in the early 1960s. Though the crimes were attributed to Albert DeSalvo after his confession to the murders was revealed in court during a separate case, parties investigating the stranglings have since suggested the murders (sometimes known as the silk stocking murders) were not committed by one person.

The initial sobriquet for the perpetrator or perpetrators of the crimes was, "The Mad Strangler of Boston". The July 8, 1962, edition of the Sunday Herald, in an article entitled "Mad Strangler Kills Four Women in Boston", declared in its opening paragraph, "A mad strangler is loose in Boston." The killer (or killers) also was known initially as "The Phantom Fiend" or "The Phantom Strangler" due to the uncanny ability of the perpetrator (or perpetrators) to get women to allow him into their apartments. By the time DeSalvo's confession was aired in open court, the name "The Boston Strangler" had become part of crime lore.