New light has been shed on one of the most famous serial killer cases in history. A lab test confirms DNA evidence taken from the body of a murder victim matches Albert DeSalvo, who at one point confessed to being the Boston Strangler, Massachusetts authorities said Friday. The evidence was taken after Mary Sullivan, 19, was sexually assaulted and strangled to death on January 4, 1964, in her Charles Street apartment in Boston. DeSalvo had confessed to that crime and about a dozen other murders police attributed to the Boston Strangler. However, he recanted his admissions and was never convicted of any of them before his death.
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Officials: Anthony DeSalvo's DNA matches evidence from a Boston Strangler killing
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The victim was 19 when she was raped and murdered in her apartment in 1964
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DeSalvo had confessed, then recanted; he died in 1973
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His body was exhumed this month so a DNA sample could be extracted
Mary Sullivan
Officials announced the results after notifying @placeholder's family of the findings, the release said.
Boston Strangler
Boston Strangler
Boston Strangler
See more: City of fear, photos from the @placeholder era
Mary Sullivan
"Questions that @placeholder's family asked for almost 50 years have finally been answered.
Albert DeSalvo
DeSalvo
DeSalvo
@placeholder was stabbed to death in 1973 while serving a life prison term for unrelated rapes.