19 Facts About Albert DeSalvo

Albert Henry DeSalvo was an American murderer and rapist who was active in Boston, Massachusetts, in the early 1960s.

Later that month, authorities exhumed Albert DeSalvo's body and found that his DNA was a match.

Albert DeSalvo was born on September 3,1931, in Chelsea, Massachusetts, as the third of six children to Charlotte and Frank DeSalvo.

Albert DeSalvo's father was a violent alcoholic who abused his wife; in one of the many times he attacked her in front of the children, he knocked out all her teeth and bent her fingers back until they broke.

In November 1943, the 12-year-old Albert DeSalvo was first arrested for battery and robbery.

In October 1944, Albert DeSalvo was paroled and started working as a delivery boy.

Albert DeSalvo was honorably discharged after his first tour of duty.

Albert DeSalvo re-enlisted and, despite being tried in a court-martial, was again honorably discharged.

Albert DeSalvo served as a Military Police sergeant with the 2nd Squadron, 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment.

At the time of the Boston Strangler murders, Albert DeSalvo lived at 11 Florence Street Park in Malden, Massachusetts, across the street from the junction of Florence and Clement streets.

Albert DeSalvo ultimately fired a shotgun at DeSalvo, who fled the scene.

Albert DeSalvo had confessed to fellow inmate George Nassar, who notified his attorney, F Lee Bailey.

Albert DeSalvo wanted to preserve the possibility of an eventual insanity verdict.

Bailey later stated that Albert DeSalvo was killed for selling amphetamines in the prison for less than the inmate-enforced syndicate price.

Albert DeSalvo's papers are housed in the Lloyd Sealy Library Special Collections at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City.

Albert DeSalvo's papers include his correspondence, mainly with the members of the Bailey family, and gifts sent to the Baileys of jewelry and leatherwork crafted by DeSalvo while in prison.

Albert DeSalvo's remains were exhumed, and DNA test results proved Albert DeSalvo was the source of seminal fluid recovered at the scene of Sullivan's 1964 murder.

For example, Albert DeSalvo did not, as he claimed, strangle Sullivan with his bare hands; instead, she was strangled by ligature.

George Nassar, the inmate Albert DeSalvo reportedly confessed to, is among the suspects in the case.