Massachusetts authorities have DNA evidence in the Mary Sullivan murder case that links confessed killer Albert DeSalvo to the crime.
“We may have just solved one of the nation’s most notorious serial killings,” Martha Coakley, the state attorney general, told NBC News .
The Boston Strangler terrorized women in the Boston area for nearly two years during the 1960’s.
DeSalvo admitted to all 11 murders while he was in jail on other charges. He was never tried or convicted of any of the murders. He later recanted his confession before being stabbed to death in 1973.
Police saved semen samples from Sullivan’s case some fifty years ago. They recently obtained a DNA sample from a water bottle that DeSalvo’s nephew recently threw away.
Preliminary test results indicate a match. Authorities plan to exhume DeSalvo’s body as early as next week to extract a DNA sample for conclusive testing.
“There was no forensic evidence to link Albert DeSalvo to Mary Sullivan's murder until today," Daniel F. Conley, the Suffolk County district attorney, told the New York Times .
By Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) -Strangler Bureau [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons