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61-473: The Boston Strangler is the name given to the murderer of 13 women in Greater Boston during the early 1960s. The crimes were attributed to Albert DeSalvo based on his confession, on details revealed in court during a separate case, and DNA evidence linking him to the final victim. In the years following DeSalvo's conviction – but prior to the emergence of this DNA evidence – various parties investigating

122-416: A 5-year period at an alarmingly high rate, in spite of the death of a patient in 2009 resulting from the use of such "four point restraints". The Department of Correction's own Internal Affairs Unit had formally found that in 2011, facility officers Howard and Raposo had violated a procedural policy that states that guards shall never put pressure on a restrained inmate's back. Surveillance video revealed that

183-488: A certain type of victim and method of murder: women killed by "The Strangler" were from a variety of age and ethnic groups, and they were murdered using multiple methods. In 1968, Dr. Ames Robey, medical director of Bridgewater State Hospital, insisted that DeSalvo was not the Boston Strangler. He said the prisoner was "a very clever, very smooth compulsive confessor who desperately needs to be recognized." Robey's opinion

244-399: A historical prison model and toward a more clinical approach to the treatment of the mentally ill. According to the plan, every inmate will receive an individualized plan of treatment within 10 days of admission to the facility. Inmates who are on psychiatric medications would be seen by a psychiatrist on a timely basis and the facility would move to electronic health records . Pursuant to

305-484: A home in Bridgewater, Massachusetts . The homeowner, future Brockton police chief Richard Sproules, became suspicious and eventually fired a shotgun at DeSalvo. DeSalvo was not initially suspected of being involved with the strangling murders. After he was charged with rape , he gave a detailed confession of his activities as the Boston Strangler. He initially confessed to fellow inmate George Nassar . Nassar reported

366-477: A human rights advocacy firm in Boston, sued Bridgewater State Hospital over illegally restraining a patient. 2007 A patient committed suicide by hanging himself in the showers while there on a 30-day court evaluation when BSH staff failed to prevent it. 2004 The family of murdered inmate William Mosher planned to sue the state and BSH for $ 150 million for failing to protect their son. 2004 William Mosher Jr.,

427-484: A patient who suffered from bipolar disorder, was murdered in his room by a fellow inmate when the facility failed to protect him by keeping his enemy away. 1999 Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services served and won a successful lawsuit against Bridgewater for an officer throwing acid in a patient's face. Until the lawsuit, the DOC and BSH had dropped the investigation midway through. 1989 ABC news Nightline broadcast

488-441: A review board to explain that he did not need to be at Bridgewater because the treatment he was receiving was not proper for his well-being. His complaints were disregarded and the board suggested stronger doses of tranquilizers. His case was not rare at Bridgewater. Throughout the film, the viewer can see the mistreatment inmates received from the guards and staff. In one instance, the guards were harassing an inmate because his cell

549-543: A sizable Jewish community, estimated at between 210,000 people, and 261,000 or 5–6% of the Greater Boston metro population, compared with about 2% for the nation as a whole. Contrary to national trends, the number of Jews in Greater Boston has been growing, fueled by the fact that 60% of children in Jewish mixed-faith families are raised Jewish, compared with roughly one in three nationally. The 2020 PRRI Atlas found that 35% of

610-596: A standard by which a person is considered criminally insane. In 1967, a legislative committee investigated allegations of "cruel, inhuman, and barbarous treatment". Witnesses were able to describe problems with the water and sewage systems, and insufficient medical, kitchen, and recreational facilities. As a result, in 1972, John Boone, the Massachusetts Commissioner of Corrections, closed the segregation unit at Bridgewater State Hospital because it required maintenance. Bridgewater's facilities were not suitable for

671-446: A stranger entered a young woman's home posing as a detective . He tied the victim to her bed, sexually assaulted her, and suddenly left, saying "I'm sorry" as he went. The woman's description of her attacker led police to identify the assailant as DeSalvo. When his photo was published, many women identified him as the man who had assaulted them. Earlier on October 27, DeSalvo had posed as a motorist with car trouble and attempted to enter

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732-576: Is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, founded in 1636 , with the largest financial endowment of any university, and whose Law School has spawned a contemporaneous majority of United States Supreme Court Justices . Kendall Square in Cambridge has been called "the most innovative square mile on the planet", in reference to the high concentration of entrepreneurial start-ups and quality of innovation which have emerged in

793-667: Is defined by the U.S. Census as the Boston–Worcester–Providence combined statistical area . This area consists of the following counties in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire: The total population for the extended region was estimated at 8,466,186 at the 2020 census. The Boston area has humid continental climates ( Dfa and Dfb under the Köppen climate classification system), with high humidity and precipitation year-round. Greater Boston has

854-542: Is forested and an additional 11% is water, wetland, or other open space. The cities and towns included in this definitions are: Two definitions are used by the United States Census to define the Boston–Cambridge–Newton, MA–NH Metro Area or Boston–Cambridge–Newton, MA–NH Metropolitan NECTA , which is defined as a New England City and Town Area . The metro area definition is based on counties, while

915-469: Is passed through the direct male lines with little change and can be used to link males with a common paternal-line ancestor. A court ordered the exhumation of DeSalvo's corpse to test his DNA directly. On July 19, 2013, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley , Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis announced the DNA test results proving that DeSalvo

976-633: The 2020 United States Census , and sixth among combined statistical areas , with a population of 8,466,186. The area has hosted many people and sites significant to American culture and history, particularly American literature , politics , and the American Revolution . Plymouth was the site of the first colony in New England, founded in 1620 by the Pilgrims , passengers of the Mayflower . In 1692,

1037-704: The American Civil War , the region was a center for the abolitionist , temperance , and transcendentalist movements. In 2004, Massachusetts became the first U.S. state to legally recognize same-sex marriage as a result of the decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court in Boston. Many prominent American political dynasties have hailed from the Boston region, including the Adams and Kennedy families. Harvard University in Cambridge

1098-582: The Massachusetts legislature to oversee transportation infrastructure and economic development concerns in the Boston area. The MAPC includes 101 cities and towns that are grouped into eight subregions. These include most of the area within the region's outer circumferential highway, I-495 . In 2013, the population of the MAPC district was 3.2 million, which was 48% of the total population of Massachusetts, in an area of 1,422 square miles (3,680 km ), of which 39%

1159-664: The 1970s, the campus of the Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Bridgewater (MCIB) housed four separate facilities - the State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, the Treatment Center for Sexually Dangerous Persons, a center for alcoholics, and a minimum-security prison. In 1968, hearings were conducted after a study showed that 30 inmates were committed to the state hospital illegally. Most of

1220-548: The 2020 census, the urbanization has extended well into surrounding areas and the Combined Statistical Area (CSA in the rest of the document), which includes the Providence, Rhode Island , Manchester, New Hampshire , Cape Cod and Worcester areas, has a population of more than 8.4 million people, making it one of the most populous such regions in the U.S. Some of Greater Boston's most well-known contributions involve

1281-484: The Boston CSA with the highest percentage of residents who identify as Italian American: Census tracts in the Boston CSA with the highest percentage of residents who identify as Portuguese American: Census tracts in the Boston CSA with French or French Canadian listed as first ancestry: Cities and towns with a population over 50,000 as of the 2020 census include: A long established center of higher education,

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1342-536: The Boston CSA: The 40 census tracts in the Boston CSA with the highest percentage of residents who identify as Hispanic or Latino: Census tracts in the Boston CSA with the highest percentage of residents who identify as Black American: Census tracts in the Boston CSA with the highest percentage of residents who identify as Asian American: Census tracts in the Boston CSA with the highest percentage of residents who identify as Irish American: Census tracts in

1403-403: The Boston metro area identified as Protestant while 26% identified as Catholic. The City of Boston also has one of the largest LGBT populations per capita. It ranks fifth of all major cities in the country (behind San Francisco , and slightly behind Seattle , Atlanta , and Minneapolis ), with 12.3% of the city identifying as gay, lesbian, or bisexual. The 40 most diverse Census tracts in

1464-575: The NECTA definition is based on city and town boundaries. Counties included in the county-based definition include: The NECTA definition includes all of the communities from the MAPC definition, as well as the Merrimack Valley communities, parts of southern New Hampshire (northward to Milford and Hampton , and the Taunton area. The widest definition of the metropolitan area based on commuting patterns,

1525-770: The Supreme Judicial Court’s April 3, 2020 Opinion and Order in the Committee for Public Counsel Services v. Chief Justice of the Trial Court, SJC-12926 matter, as amended on April 10, April 28 and June 23, 2020 (the “Order”), the Special Master posts weekly reports which are located on the SJC website here for COVID testing and cases for each of the correctional facilities administered by the Department of Correction and each of

1586-448: The ages of 19 and 85 were murdered in the Boston area. Most were sexually assaulted and strangled in their apartments. Originally, the police believed that one man was the sole perpetrator. With no sign of forced entry into their homes, the women were assumed to have let their assailant in, either because they may have known him or because they believed him to be a service provider. The attacks continued despite extensive media publicity after

1647-502: The area includes many community colleges, two-year schools, and internationally prominent undergraduate and graduate institutions. The graduate schools include highly regarded schools of law, medicine, business, technology, international relations, public health, education, and religion. Greater Boston contains seven R1 Research Institutions as per the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education . This is, by far,

1708-508: The book The Boston Stranglers (1996), drew from the files of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts "Strangler Bureau". She argues that the murders were the work of several killers rather than a single individual. Former FBI profiler Robert Ressler said, "You're putting together so many different patterns [regarding the Boston Strangler murders ] that it's inconceivable behaviorally that all these could fit one individual." John E. Douglas ,

1769-452: The cases, for which Hurkos claimed that a single person was responsible. This decision was controversial. Hurkos provided a "minutely detailed description of the wrong person", and the press ridiculed Brooke. The police were not convinced that all the murders were the actions of one person, although much of the public believed so. The apparent connections between a majority of the victims and hospitals were widely discussed. On October 27, 1964,

1830-404: The confession to his attorney F. Lee Bailey , who also took on the defense of DeSalvo. The police were impressed at the accuracy of DeSalvo's descriptions of the crime scenes. There were some inconsistencies, but DeSalvo was able to cite details that had been withheld from the public. Bailey states in his 1971 book, The Defense Never Rests , that DeSalvo got one detail right that one of the victims

1891-444: The county Sheriffs’ offices. The SJC Special master link above has the most up to date information reported by the correctional agencies and is posted for the public to view. Titicut Follies is a documentary film that highlights cases of patient mistreatment at Bridgewater in 1967. The film's title is taken directly from a name originally given to an annual talent show performed by the patients. Filmmaker Frederick Wiseman observed

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1952-463: The crimes suggested that the murders (sometimes referred to as the "Silk Stocking Murders") were committed by more than one person. Initially, the crimes were assumed to be the work of one unknown person dubbed "The Mad Strangler of Boston". On July 8, 1962, the Sunday Herald wrote that "[a] mad strangler is loose in Boston" in an article titled "Mad Strangler Kills Four Women in Boston". The killer

2013-582: The crimes. In 2000, attorney and former print journalist Elaine Sharp took up the cause of the DeSalvo family and that of the family of Mary Sullivan. Sullivan was publicized as being the final victim in 1964, although other strangling murders occurred after that date. Sharp assisted the families in their media campaign to clear DeSalvo's name. She helped organize and arrange the exhumations of Mary Sullivan and Albert H. DeSalvo, filed various lawsuits in attempts to obtain information and trace evidence (e.g., DNA ) from

2074-400: The death of the same inmate. In addition, when the inmates were in their cells, they did not have any clothing. Massachusetts attempted to block release of the film; much legal action followed. It ended up partially prohibited in the state of Massachusetts (only). 2017 A major reform initiative by Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker replaced management of the hospital and four-fifths of

2135-506: The first few murders. Many residents purchased tear gas and new locks and deadbolts for their doors. Some women even moved out of the area in response to the killings. The murders occurred in several cities, including Boston, complicating jurisdictional oversight for prosecution of the crimes. Massachusetts Attorney General Edward W. Brooke helped to coordinate the various police forces. He permitted parapsychologist Peter Hurkos to use his alleged extrasensory perception to analyze

2196-414: The former FBI special agent who was one of the first criminal profilers, doubted that DeSalvo was the Boston Strangler. In his book The Cases That Haunt Us , he identified DeSalvo as a "power-assurance" motivated rapist. He said that such a rapist is unlikely to kill in the manner of crimes attributed to the Boston Strangler; a power-assurance motivated rapist would, however, be prone to taking credit for

2257-482: The government, and worked with various producers to create documentaries to explain the facts to the public. Sharp noted various inconsistencies between DeSalvo's confessions and the crime scene information (which she obtained). For example, she observed that, contrary to DeSalvo's confession to Sullivan's murder, the woman was found to have no semen in her vagina and she was not strangled manually, but by ligature. Forensic pathologist Michael Baden noted that DeSalvo got

2318-646: The highest number of such institutions in a single Metropolitan Statistical Area in the United States . References: The first railway line in the United States was in Quincy. See Neponset River . The following Regional Transit Authorities have bus service that connects with MBTA commuter rail stations: Annual sporting events include: The Greater Boston League , a high school athletic conference in Massachusetts. Bridgewater State Hospital By

2379-443: The hospital for 29 days, filming the harsh treatment the inmates received from the correctional officers, and how doctors were not aware of the proper treatment the inmates needed. This was apparent with one inmate who was classified as a paranoid schizophrenic. He came to Bridgewater for medical testing, but ended up being a resident there. He received powerful medication that made his mental state worsen as time progressed. He went to

2440-433: The inmates were there long after their sentences were complete. In 1968, over 250 cases of forgotten men at Bridgewater were reviewed. Some inmates were at Bridgewater over 25 years. Some inmates were transferred to Bridgewater from other jails and prison facilities and kept at Bridgewater for much longer than their sentences required. In September 2016, Governor Charlie Baker announced the hospital will be moving away from

2501-426: The murders as part of his client's history at the trial in order to assist in gaining a "not guilty by reason of insanity" verdict to the sexual offenses, but it was ruled as inadmissible by the judge. DeSalvo was sentenced to life in prison in 1967. In February of that year, he escaped with two fellow inmates from Bridgewater State Hospital , triggering a full-scale manhunt . A note was found on his bunk addressed to

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2562-413: The number of inmates at Bridgewater was found to have grown to 500. Many felt that society was not doing its job in distinguishing men who needed regular prison rehabilitation and psychiatric help. Changes were needed in what constitutes a person to be sent to a mental hospital. Also among the changes that needed to be implemented were the confidentially between the inmates and the doctors, as well as having

2623-405: The prisoners stayed at Bridgewater because they did not have the legal skills or money available to help their claims. Many of the prisoners' terms had long expired. An example of this was a patient named Charles who was sentenced to Bridgewater in 1910 for breaking and entering. The maximum time for this felony was two years, and he still remained in the prison after 1967. Furthermore, in later news,

2684-433: The region's higher education and medical institutions. Greater Boston has been influential upon American history and industry . The region and the state of Massachusetts are global leaders in biotechnology , artificial intelligence , engineering , higher education , finance , and maritime trade . Greater Boston is ranked tenth in population among US metropolitan statistical areas , home to 4,941,632 people as of

2745-559: The region, used by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, consists of most of the eastern third of mainland Massachusetts, excluding the Merrimack Valley and most of Southeastern Massachusetts , though most definitions (including the US Census definition) include much of these areas and portions of southern New Hampshire . While the city of Boston covers 48.4 square miles (125 km ) and has 675,647 residents as of

2806-421: The staff, granted a significant amount of turnaround funding, removed uniformed guards, and closed the "intensive treatment" unit where forced restraints and solitary confinement were used. After about five months with a new system of conflict prevention and resolution, a visiting The Boston Globe reporter said that the institution felt more like a hospital than a prison after the reform. 2014 A Civil lawsuit

2867-608: The standard means of health and living. Also, 90-year-old cell blocks did not have any toilets. Boone closed the Departmental Segregation Unit at Bridgewater to hold hearings for the 16 inmates who had been transferred out of Norfolk. Albert DeSalvo , who confessed to being the Boston Strangler , was an inmate at Bridgewater in 1967. He briefly escaped and was transferred to the maximum-security prison at Walpole . At one time at Bridgewater State Hospital, many of

2928-399: The superintendent. In it, DeSalvo stated that he had escaped to focus attention on the conditions in the hospital and his own situation. Immediately after his escape, DeSalvo disguised himself as a U.S. Navy Petty Officer Third Class , but he gave himself up the following day. After the escape, he was transferred to the maximum security Walpole State Prison. Six years after the transfer, he

2989-483: The time of death wrong. This was a common inconsistency also pointed out by Susan Kelly in several of the murders. She continued to work on the case for the DeSalvo family. On July 11, 2013, the Boston Police Department announced that they had found DNA evidence that linked DeSalvo to the murder of Mary Sullivan. DNA found at the scene was a "near certain match" to Y-DNA taken from a nephew of DeSalvo. Y-DNA

3050-457: The town of Salem and surrounding areas experienced one of America's most infamous cases of mass hysteria , the Salem witch trials . In the late 18th century, Boston became known as the "Cradle of Liberty" for the agitation there that led to the American Revolution . The Greater Boston region has played a powerful scientific, commercial, and cultural role in the history of the United States. Before

3111-459: The two guards pushed down on a handcuffed patient's back with force, forcing his chest toward his knees, a maneuver sometimes called “suitcasing.” According to the article: 2012 Fox News Boston released the security camera footage of officers strapping down a patient whose death had been ruled a homicide in 2009. The tape's footage is controversial because officer Derek Howard could be seen using an illegal restraint practice. 2009 A patient

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3172-462: The use of forced restraint, that precipitated the death of a patient in 2009. Then superintendent Karin Bergeron was exposed in internal e-mails as having attempted to cover up reports of the murdered patient's death after it was ruled a homicide. 2014 The Boston Globe published an exposé on how the use of forced restraints – in which patients are bound to a table by hands and legs –increased over

3233-473: The vicinity of the square since 2010. Both Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , also in Cambridge, have been ranked among the most highly regarded academic institutions in the world. The most restrictive definition of the Greater Boston area is the region administered by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. The MAPC is a regional planning organization created by

3294-560: Was also known as the "Phantom Fiend" or "Phantom Strangler", due to his ability to get women to allow him into their apartments. In 1963, two investigative reporters for the Record American , Jean Cole and Loretta McLaughlin , wrote a four-part series about the killer, dubbing him "The Boston Strangler". By the time that DeSalvo's confession was aired in open court, the name "Boston Strangler" had become part of crime lore. Between June 14, 1962, and January 4, 1964, 13 single women between

3355-418: Was found stabbed to death in the prison infirmary . His killer or killers were never identified. Doubts persist as to whether DeSalvo was the sole perpetrator behind the Boston Strangler murders. At the time of his confession, people who knew him personally did not believe him capable of such vicious crimes. Several factors created doubt that a serial killer was involved, given that they characteristically have

3416-423: Was killed when improperly restrained. The man's family was awarded $ 3 million in damages to settle a lawsuit. At that time Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick called for an investigation into the practices at Bridgewater. 2008 George A. Billadeau, a police Sergeant at the facility, was the subject of a formal complaint that accused him of making a racial slur to a patient 2007 , The Disability Law Center ,

3477-420: Was not clean. He was obviously mentally ill and frustrated by the repeated questions the guards asked him about his cell but he could not do much. Furthermore, one inmate was not eating, so he was force fed by one of the doctors at the facility. While force feeding him with a tube, the doctor smokes a cigarette, whose ashes mix with the water and other liquids he is giving the inmate. The documentary then flashed to

3538-401: Was settled out of court regarding a patient's declining health from abuse, namely, being excessively restrained and secluded. The particular patient had spent over 6000 hours in isolation, despite never having had been convicted of a crime. 2014 Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick formally reprimanded Administration officials regarding their attempts to cover up procedural mishaps, including

3599-490: Was shared by Middlesex District Attorney John J. Droney , Bridgewater Superintendent Charles Gaughan, and George W. Harrison, a former fellow inmate of DeSalvo's. Harrison claimed to have overheard another convict coaching DeSalvo about details of the strangling murders. DeSalvo's attorney Bailey believed that his client was the killer, and described the case in The Defense Never Rests (1971). Susan Kelly, author of

3660-455: Was the source of seminal fluid recovered at the scene of Sullivan's 1964 murder. Greater Boston Boston–Cambridge–Newton, MA–NH MSA Other Statistical Areas in Boston CSA Greater Boston is the metropolitan region of New England encompassing the municipality of Boston , the capital of the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the most populous city in New England, and its surrounding areas. The most stringent definition of

3721-428: Was wrong about: DeSalvo described a blue chair in the woman's living room. She stated it was brown. Photographic evidence proved DeSalvo was correct. No physical evidence substantiated his confession. Because of that, he was tried on charges for earlier, unrelated crimes of robbery and sexual offenses, in which he was known as "The Green Man" and "The Measuring Man", respectively. Bailey brought up DeSalvo's confession to

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