New documentary reveals unheard Albert DeSalvo Boston Strangler confessions

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

“I honestly don’t believe Albert DeSalvo did this,” Sherman told Fox News Digital. “I go back to the psychological profile developed by Albert DeSalvo’s own psychologist, Dr. Ames Robey, who created profiles of all potential suspects. In an extensive interview, he told me that he did not think DeSalvo was capable of murder.

“Albert DeSalvo was a sexual predator,” Sherman said. “He was a hustler. He was a thief. He was definitely taking advantage of women physically through these sexual assaults. But DeSalvo never killed these women.”

‘YOGURT SHOP MURDERS’: AUSTIN’S UNSOLVED COLD CASE CONTINUES TO RAISE QUESTIONS DECADES LATER

Murders that occurred in the Boston area between 1962 and 1964 are examined in a new Oxygen true crime documentary, “The Boston Strangler: Unheard Confession.” It features never-before-heard audio of DeSalvo, who was murdered in prison in 1973.

The special is hosted by author Sherman, 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 allegations.

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

“Growing up, I heard whispers about my aunt’s murder,” Sherman said. “One day, I finally approached my mother, who was 17 when her 19-year-old sister was murdered. They were best friends. They had planned to live their lives together, raise families together, and grow old together as siblings. All of this had been stolen from my mother.

“It was the first time I saw him get emotional,” Sherman recalled. “I did what any kid would do: I hugged her. I said, ‘Mom, at least they caught the guy.’ She looked at me and said, ‘Casey, I don’t know if they ever did that.’

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

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

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

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

“As I interviewed everyone involved, I began to find a much different story,” Sherman said. “I spoke with approximately 50 witnesses and individuals who worked on the Boston Strangler task force. One of the original members believed for his entire career that authorities were pinning these murders on the wrong man. There were several other suspects.”

The sexual assault and murder of 13 women, aged between 19 and 85, horrified the region. All of the victims were strangled with their own clothing; One of them was stabbed multiple times.

The Boston Strangler was dubbed “America’s Jack the Ripper” by the press. Like the infamous killer of Victorian London, the serial killer terrorized a major city with a series of brutal murders targeting women and leaving the country gripped by fear.

Albert DeSalvo recanted his confession before he died 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 for the criminally insane. Associated Press reported.

Self-described “Boston Strangler” Albert DeSalvo (left) is seen being led to Middlesex County Superior Court in 1968. He was returned to Walpole State Prison to serve a life sentence for sex crimes and armed robbery. (Getty Images)

Police lacked the evidence to bring DeSalvo to trial. He was never found guilty of the murders and was instead sentenced to life imprisonment in 1967 for a series of unrelated attacks. According to the press, DeSalvo recanted his confession before he was stabbed to death in a maximum security prison.

“Albert DeSalvo has 60 hours of confession tape,” Sherman said. “What you hear in the documentary is just an example. An investigator kept the tapes – considered the holy grail in this case – because at the time there was nothing connecting DeSalvo to any of the murders. I found out this guy had the tapes. I struck up a friendship with him over the course of a few months and eventually got him to let me listen to the tapes.”

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

“Albert DeSalvo confessed to events that never happened,” Sherman said. “There were obvious errors in these confessions. The interrogator, John Bottomley, had no experience in criminal investigations. He was a real estate lawyer who had never questioned a suspect before.

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

“He asked important questions and showed DeSalvo photos of the crime scene, something you should never do. I shared the confession tapes with seasoned homicide detectives, and they were shocked that the interrogation was allowed to happen that way.”

Sherman said during his investigation he uncovered 40 letters DeSalvo wrote to a Massachusetts family visiting inmates at Walpole State Prison.

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

Charles Terry is seen in custody after confessing to strangling Zenovia Clegg, a 62-year-old divorcee, to death at a Times Square hotel in New York City on June 7, 1963. Terry, 34, was interrogated for the Boston Strangler’s crimes, but there was no evidence linking him to the Boston Strangler murders. And he was never charged in these cases. (New York Daily News via Bob Costello/Getty Images)

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

But not everyone agrees. Several key investigators, law enforcement officials, and forensic experts have suggested that DeSalvo was the Boston Strangler or at least responsible for many of the murders attributed to the serial killer.

This undated photo shows convicted murderer George Nassar sitting in a car between two law enforcement officers as he awaits transfer from Salem Prison to Walpole State Prison. (Getty Images)

Sherman noted that DeSalvo was the 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 him. However, there is no conclusive evidence to support this claim.

George Nassar being interviewed while in prison. In 1965, Albert DeSalvo called Nassar the Strangler of Boston. (Boston Globe via Janet Knott/Getty Images)

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

“Theoretically, if Al and I had a disagreement and we were involved in a criminal conspiracy together and I found out he was killing women and getting away with it, I would give him a quick, painless death right then and there,” he said. WBZ.

Sherman is adamant there is a reason. He stated that a reward was offered because the city was desperate for answers at the height of the murders. He believes DeSalvo and Nassar may have hatched 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)

“Without a doubt, they found the right man,” DeSalvo’s attorney, F. Lee Bailey, previously said. Unsolved.com reported.

“No one has found anything meaningful to contradict this.”

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

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

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

“I think the answer exists,” thought Sherman. “I have presented my theories about the case, and others have presented them as well. The killers are dead and most of those connected to the case are gone. It is now up to the public to continue asking the questions and debating the answers.”

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

“I am not committed to any theory, and a re-examination of these murders, even in 2025, may reveal new information that was not available several years ago. This is an ongoing quest to find the truth.”

“The Boston Strangler: Unheard Confessions” can be watched online.