Illustrated in 1960s Boston noir illustration style
The Handyman Cometh
A Boston Story About Letting Strangers In
In the early 1960s, the women of Boston started locking their doors. Someone was knocking, saying he was from the building maintenance. 'I'm here to fix the pipes,' he would say. Or the windows. Or the wiring. The women opened their doors. The handyman came in. And then terrible things happened.
The Boston Strangler murders occurred between 1962 and 1964. The killer gained entry by posing as a maintenance worker.
Thirteen women were found in their apartments, strangled with their own stockings, which were tied in elaborate bows. The bows were the strangest part. It was as if the killer wanted to leave a present. Nobody wanted this particular present. The city was terrified.
Thirteen women were murdered, with ligatures often tied in decorative bows. Victims ranged in age from 19 to 85.
Albert was already in jail for something else when he told his cellmate, 'I'm the Boston Strangler.' His cellmate told a lawyer. The lawyer told the police. Albert described the crimes in perfect detail. There was just one small problem: there was no physical evidence connecting Albert to any of the murders.
DeSalvo confessed while imprisoned for unrelated sexual assaults. His confession was detailed but no physical evidence linked him to the murders.
Albert was never actually tried for the stranglings. He went to prison for his other crimes and was stabbed to death by a fellow inmate in 1973. The case was officially unsolved. Or was it? In 2013, DNA from one of the victims matched Albert after all. Forty years too late for a trial, but not for the truth.
DeSalvo was murdered in prison in 1973. In 2013, DNA evidence finally linked him to the murder of Mary Sullivan, the last victim.
To this day, some people in Boston believe Albert did all thirteen. Some believe he did only one. Some believe he did none and just liked the attention. The doors in Boston are still locked. The pipes still need fixing. And nobody trusts the handyman quite as much as they used to.
Debate continues over whether DeSalvo committed all thirteen murders or only some. The DNA match confirmed one, but the others remain contested.