Main events in the case of the Boston Strangler
Jul 11, 2013, 3:26 PM
(AP) – Main events in the case of the Boston Strangler:
Jan. 4, 1964 _ Mary Sullivan, 19, the last of the 11 victims, found murdered in her apartment in the Beacon Hill section of Boston.
1965 _ Albert DeSalvo, a factory worker being held on unrelated charges, confesses to the Strangler’s 11 killings and two others. He never is charged with them.
1973 _ DeSalvo killed in prison by another inmate.
July 1999 _ Boston police reopen the Strangler case, hoping to use DNA technology to analyze evidence from the crimes.
Sept. 14, 2000 _ The DeSalvo and Sullivan families sue local and state authorities in Massachusetts to force investigators to turn over crime scene evidence they say will prove DeSalvo’s innocence.
Oct. 14, 2000 _ Sullivan’s remains exhumed for DNA testing.
Oct. 20, 2000 _ Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly says his office will do new DNA tests on evidence from Sullivan’s slaying.
Oct. 26, 2001 _ DeSalvo’s body exhumed for DNA testing.
Dec. 6, 2001 _ Forensic scientists announce that DNA evidence taken from Sullivan’s body does not match DeSalvo’s DNA.
Dec. 24, 2001 _ Judge says state doesn’t need to share forensic evidence with the DeSalvo and Sullivan families because the investigation into the killings remains open.
July 11, 2013 _ Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley says advances in DNA technology have allowed investigators to link DeSalvo to Sullivan’s killing. Conley says the DNA produced a “familial match” with DeSalvo, and he expects an exact match once DeSalvo’s remains are re-exhumed.
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