New documentary reveals unheard Albert DeSalvo Boston Strangler confessions

Casey Sherman, the nephew of the youngest known victim of the Boston Strangler, doesn’t believe the man who confessed to the notorious murders was the right suspect.

“Frankly, I don’t think Albert DeSalvo did it,” Sherman told Fox News Digital. “I go back to the psychological profile developed by Albert DeSalvo’s psychiatrist, Dr. Ames Roby, who created profiles of all the potential suspects. He told me in an extensive interview that he did not believe DeSalvo was capable of murder.”

“Albert DeSalvo was a sexual predator,” Sherman said. “He was a con man. He was a thief. He was certainly taking advantage of women in a physical way through these sexual assaults. But DeSalvo never killed these women.”

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Albert DeSalvo (1931-1973) holds one of the necklaces he made while in prison up to his neck at Walpole State Prison, South Walpole, Massachusetts, circa 1970s. DeSalvo is the alleged Boston Strangler, a serial killer who claimed the lives of 13 women in the 1960s. DeSalvo confessed to the murders, but there was always a shadow of doubt about his guilt. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The murders that occurred between 1962 and 1964 in Boston areaare explored in Oxygen’s new true crime documentary, “The Boston Strangler: Unheard Confession.” It features never-before-heard audio produced by DeSalvo, who was killed in prison in 1973.

The special is hosted by Sherman, an author who previously wrote a book about the 1964 murder of his aunt Mary Sullivan.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Boston Police Department for comment on the film and Sherman’s claims.

Casey Sherman, author and nephew of murder victim Mary Sullivan, spent years investigating the Boston Strangler case. (Susan Crater/Boston Globe via Getty Images)

“When I was growing up, I heard whispers about it My aunt was killed“One day, I finally got close to my mother, who was 17 when her 19-year-old sister was murdered. They were best friends. They planned to live their lives together, raise families together and grow up as sisters together. All of that was stolen from my mother,” Sherman said.

“I saw her emotional for the first time,” Sherman recalls. “I did what any child would do – I hugged her. I told her: ‘Mom, at least they caught the guy.’ She looked at me and said, “Casey, I don’t know if they’ve ever done that before.”

“My mother had no evidence to support her belief. It was my sister’s intuition, a bond that could never be broken.”

A view of Mary Sullivan’s apartment where she was murdered. (Wendy Maeda/Boston Globe via Getty Images)

For decades, Sherman had been investigating Sullivan’s murder. In 2013, investigators announced that DNA tests conducted on DiSalvo’s exhumed remains confirmed that he had killed Sullivan and was likely responsible for the other victims. While Sherman initially supported the findings, over time he became skeptical about how DNA evidence was presented and interpreted.

“The Boston Strangler: Unheard Confession” features never-before-heard recordings by Albert DeSalvo. (oxygen)

“As I interviewed all the people associated with the case, I began to find a much different story,” Sherman said. “I spoke with about 50 witnesses and people who worked on the Boston Strangler Task Force. One of the original members believed throughout his career that the authorities pinned these murders on the wrong man. There were many other suspects.”

Thirteen women aged between 19 and 85 years They were sexually assaulted and killedCrimes that terrorized the area. All the victims were strangled with objects from their clothing. One of them was also stabbed repeatedly.

The press dubbed the Boston Strangler “America’s Jack the Ripper.” Like the famous killer of Victorian London, the serial killer terrorized a major city with a series of brutal murders that targeted women and left the nation in the grip of fear.

Albert DeSalvo retracted his confession before dying in prison, where he was serving a life sentence for other crimes. The Boston Strangler was also known as “America’s Jack the Ripper.” (Getty Images)

DeSalvo, a blue-collar worker and Army veteran who was married with children, confessed to the murders. At the time, he was a patient at Bridgewater State Hospital, which housed the criminally insane. Associated Press I mentioned.

Shown here is Albert DeSalvo (left), the self-proclaimed “Boston Strangler,” being escorted to Middlesex County Superior Court in 1968. He was returned to Walpole State Prison to begin serving a life sentence after being convicted of sex crimes and armed robbery. (Getty Images)

The police lack evidence To bring DeSalvo to trial. He was never convicted of the murders, instead being sentenced to life in prison in 1967 for a series of unrelated assaults. DeSalvo retracted his confession before he was stabbed to death in a maximum security prison, according to the outlet.

“There are 60 hours of confession tapes of Albert DiSalvo,” Sherman said. “What you hear in the documentary is just a sample. One of the investigators kept the tapes — considered the Holy Grail in this case — because at the time, there was nothing linking DeSalvo to any of the murders. I knew this man had it. I built a friendship with him over several months, and finally got him to let me listen to the tapes.”

Albert DeSalvo praying in the chapel at Walpole State Prison, South Walpole, Massachusetts, early 1970s. DeSalvo was killed on November 25, 1973. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

“Albert DeSalvo admitted to events that never happened,” Sherman claimed. “There were serious errors in these confessions. John Bottomley, who led the questioning, had no experience in criminal investigations – he was an estate lawyer and had never questioned a suspect before.

Mary Sullivan, Casey Sherman’s aunt, was found murdered and sexually assaulted in her Boston apartment on January 4, 1964. She was 19 years old. (Courtesy of Casey Sherman)

“He offered leading questions and showed DeSalvo photos of the crime scene, which you should never do. I shared the confession tapes with veteran homicide investigators, and they were shocked that the interrogation was allowed to happen that way.”

Sherman said that during his research he discovered 40 messages DeSalvo wrote to the Massachusetts family Who visited prisoners at Walpole State Prison.

“He told this family in no uncertain terms that he intended to recant his confession to a New York Times reporter,” Sherman said. “DeSalvo never had a chance — he was killed in prison.”

Charles Terry was photographed in custody in New York City on June 7, 1963, after confessing to strangling Xenovia Clegg, a 62-year-old divorcee, in a Times Square hotel. 34-year-old Terry was questioned in connection with the crimes committed by the Boston Strangler. There was no evidence linking him to the Boston Strangler murders, and he was never charged in those cases. (Bob Costello/New York Daily News via Getty Images)

Skeptics, including Sherman, have long argued that at least two killers were responsible for the murders, and perhaps more. They point out that DeSalvo did not match witness descriptions, was not on a list of more than 300 suspects, and often gave inconsistent and contradictory statements.

But not everyone agrees. Multiple lead investigators, law enforcement officials and forensic experts have confirmed that DeSalvo It was a Boston Strangler – Or at least responsible for most of the murders attributed to the serial killer.

This undated photo shows convicted murderer George Nassar sitting in a car between two law enforcement officials while waiting to be transferred from Salem to Walpole State Prison. (Getty Images)

Sherman noted that DeSalvo was a cellmate of George Nassar, a convicted murderer and career criminal. Sherman, like others, believes Nassar may have manipulated DeSalvo into confessing to deflect suspicion from himself. However, there is no conclusive evidence to support this claim.

Shown here is George Nassar being interviewed while in prison. In 1965, Albert DeSalvo told Nassar that he was a Boston Strangler. (Janet Knott/Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Nassar, who died in 2018, always denied having anything to do with the crimes.

“If, in theory, I was in a relationship with Al, and we were in a criminal conspiracy together, and I found out that he was killing women and getting away with it, I would have given him a quick and painless death, straight away,” he said. WBZ.

Sherman insists there was a motive. He noted that during the height of the murders, a reward was offered as the city became desperate for answers. It is believed that DeSalvo and Nassar may have concocted a plan in hopes of raising the money themselves.

F. Lee Bailey, who served as Albert DeSalvo’s defense attorney, said he believed DeSalvo was the Boston Strangler. (Getty Images)

“They had the right guy, without a doubt,” DeSalvo’s attorney, F. Lee Bailey, previously said. Unsolved.com I mentioned.

“No one has ever come up with anything meaningful that contradicts that,” Bailey added.

Sherman said he would welcome a reexamination of the case, even if he is proven wrong.

This undated photo shows Diane Dodd, center, with her son Casey Sherman, at a news conference asking officials to release information and evidence related to the murder of Dodd’s sister Mary Sullivan (shown in the photo), who they say was not killed by Albert DeSalvo, the confessed Boston Strangler. At far right are DeSalvo’s brother Richard DeSalvo, partially obscured, and Richard’s son Tim DeSalvo. (John Blanding/Boston Globe via Getty Images)

“The families of the victims deserve answers and the truth behind the tragic murders of their loved ones,” he said. “There is no statute of limitations for murder in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.”

“I think the answer is out there,” Sherman said. “I have presented my theories on this case, as have others as well. The killers are dead, and many who were connected to the case are gone. Now it is up to the public to continue raising questions and discussing answers.”

Aerial view of Albert DeSalvo’s exhumation at Puritan Memorial Park, circa 2013. (David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

“I am not beholden to any one theory, and even in 2025, revisiting these murders may reveal new information that was not available just a few years ago. It is an ongoing quest to find the truth.”

“The Boston Strangler: Unheard Confessions” is available for streaming.