The Life of Albert DeSalvo - Case Study Example

Albert DeSalvo Introduction Albert DeSalvo was a self-confessed criminal in Boston, United s. According to DeSalvo, he raped and killed 13 women in the same area. Despite his criminal ways, he was not imprisoned because of the absence of physical evidence to link him to these activities. These criminal activities were accomplished within two years of which criminal investigators and analysts doubt the involvement of DeSalvo in the said crimes. The exact number of women who fell victims to the criminal activities of DeSalvo remains unknown to date. The confessions regarding the murders he committed were thrown out as doubtful and debate continues to-date over the actual crimes that DeSalvo committed. The autobiography of Albert DeSalvo is presented including the criminal acts he committed in Boston. The Life of Albert DeSalvo He was born to Frank DeSalvo and Charlotte DeSalvo on September 3, 1931 in Boston in the port city of Chelsea. Chelsea, the home town of DeSalvo, covers approximately a square mile and is called as Boston’s poor sister to the north. DeSalvo was a third child out of his six siblings. His mother was a daughter of a fire-fighter in Boston and his father was a trained plumber who occasionally engaged in theft. He was introduced into criminal activities at the age of five by his father who took him to a nearby store and taught him how to shoplift (Sherman, 2003). DeSalvo grew up in an environment in which his father trained him criminal acts. His father may also have influenced him to engage in criminal activities because of the constant beatings that the father subjected the family to. When Salvao was seven, his drunken father once punched his mother in the mouth and forced the siblings to watch as he broke their mother’s fingers. He was also subjected to beatings by his father just like his mother was. The police officers at Chelsea were frequent visitors at DeSalvo’s home to break the domestic fights that ensued. As a result, the father was arrested many times for his criminal activities. The father exposed DeSalvo to cruel upbringing, at times forcing him to watch as he had sex with prostitutes in the house while the mother was away (Sherman, 2003). DeSalvo claimed that his father had once exchanged him and two of his sisters to a Maine farmer for $9. They were held captive for some months until the father came to their rescue. He was exposed to child slavery at a tender age. The home was unfavorable for Albert to grow up in, which made him escape from home on several occasions. He could spend his nights with city urchins in nearby East Boston. He acquired many skills from the young ruffians. DeSalvo was first arrested when he was 12 for violently robbing a neighborhood paperboy $2.85. He was accorded a suspended sentence because of no earlier criminal wrongdoings. After a month, together with his friends, he broke into a house and made away with jewelry approximated at $27. He was later to be apprehended with the stolen properties and committed to delinquent institution. The institution was a correction home to boys sentenced for violent crimes among other crimes. In the institutions, the sentenced criminals would train each other on pick pocketing and how to hot-wire a car quickly. He took ten months at the correction center. His father disappeared and divorced the mother years later (Hickey, 2003). Albert demonstrated little propensity for schoolwork in his early years. He was involved with an elderly woman for sexual encounters and escapades. In addition to the sexual desires that preoccupied his mind, he also resorted to theft. In 1946, he was apprehended for stealing a vehicle and sent back to the correction center. He later completed his studies and took honest jobs. He was rejected in the United States Marine Corps enlisting for being overweight. Subsequently, he tried the U.S. Army and qualified, taking an oath to defend the country in 1948 at Fort Banks, Massachusetts. He was trained at Fort Dix, New Jersey, and shipped to Bremerhaven, Germany. He was first attached to the 7720th European Command for three months before joining Company G. in the military. DeSalvo served as an assault rifleman and light weapons infantryman. Furthermore, he worked as a motor messenger clerk and a truck driver. His efficiency ratings were high, ranging from good to excellent, which endeared him to his superiors. He was later awarded a medal for good conduct as well as the Army of Occupation Medal. Other medals he received while in service include the National Defense Service Medal and the Sharpshooter Badge with a Rifle Bar (Sherman, 2003). He was successful in the military boxing ring partly because of the street wars and fights besides the defensive moves he learned from his father during his youthful age. He was a middle weight champion of Company G and rose to become a sergeant before being brought up because of his disobedience to a noncommissioned officer. The summary court-martial tried DeSalvo and fined him $50 besides relegating him to a position of private. He was honorably discharged during the same year and enlisted again for a tour of active duty (Sherman, 2003). He married Irmgard Beck in 1953. The marriage had constant problems based on the demanding sex life of DeSalvo that proved difficult for his wife. As a result, he sought sexual fulfillment elsewhere (Philbin and Philbin, 2009). He was arrested on 1955 for molesting a girl aged nine sexually. According to the victim of abuse, DeSalvo had knocked on her front door in search for an apartment to rent. Upon gaining entrance to the house, he tried to fondle the girl’s bosom and thighs. He fled when the victim’s brother responded to the girl’s call. During the same period, a woman had reported to the police that a man tried to force his way into her house. The license plate number for the alleged victim belonged to Albert DeSalvo. He was identified by the nine-year-old girl as the person who attacked her when he was brought for interrogation by the police on the issue of the license plate. The girl’s case was dropped by her mother, and the Army did not press any further charges (Sherman, 2003). DeSalvo left the Army in 1956 and settled in Chelsea where he changed his career. Honest work never met the monetary demands and excitement that he was looking for. In 1958, DeSalvo was arrested for attempting to break into a house at night. He was convicted but granted suspended justice before being rearrested for two accounts of daytime break-ins in his hometown. He pleaded guilty to the charges but in mitigation he argued that he wanted money desperately to purchase valentine gifts for his daughter and wife. In return, he received suspended justice again (Douglas & Olshaker, 2001). In 1959, during the summer, DeSalvo and his family returned to Germany where he came up with a scheme he would later use in America to murder women. He visited the United States Army post exchanges with a false claim that he was an employee of Stars and Stripes, which were Army newspapers. He selected women for a phony contest dubbed ‘Best Sweetheart of All’, where he took their measurements and promised the contestants who kissed him first prize. By the fall of the same year, he had returned to Chelsea and was arrested for a break-in before receiving a suspended justice (Philbin & Philbin, 2009). In 1961, he tried to break in a house in Cambridge when Irish-American revelers were cramming local pubs. He was spotted by two police officers and fled on foot. He froze when a warning shot was fired into the air. Burglary tools were recovered in his jacket and booked into a cell for six days. During his stay in custody, he confessed to the police officers that he was the inexplicable ‘Measuring Man’ who had assaulted many Cambridge women sexually. He would spot attractive women along the streets and trail them home, approaching them as a representative from a modeling agency. He would size the unsuspecting women with his measuring tape and promise them of appearances in movies and magazines. He would place his tape around the breast of the women, groping and pawing them. If the women reacted angrily, he would disappear quickly (Belanger, 2008). In May 1961, after confessing to assaulting many women, the court did found him guilty of two charges, namely, assault, battery and lewdness. He was sentenced to two years of correction but the sentence later reduced, and he was released in April 1962. He worked as a laborer and a painter in Chelsea but continued secretly with his murder spree in Boston. He got a new job as a handyman, putting him in close contact with many housewives. He continued pursuing his sexual urges. In certain occasions, he was sought as a Green Man who assaulted women sexually and engaged in break-ins. He was arrested in November 1964 and confessed to assaulting approximately 300 women sexually and breaking into around 400 homes in Boston (Turvey, 2011). After being identified by a Cambridge rape victim, he was booked for rape charges and shipped to a hospital for psychiatric assessment. He was found to be a sociopathic personality but could stand a trail and was sent to jail to await trial. He was later to change and act as a mentally challenged person (Douglas & Olshaker, 2001). His physician would argue that DeSalvo’s condition had deteriorated, and he could not stand a trail. Conversely, he told the trail judge that he could stand a trial under improved psychiatric care. No physical evidence was presented to convict him of the unsubstantiated claims of strangling women (Rosenberg & Kirsch, 2011). He was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1967 for robbery and rape accounts. He later escape from custody before presenting himself to his attorney. Upon his arrest, he was transferred to a maximum security prison where he was murdered six years later. No one was ever convicted for his murder (Marissa, n.d.). Conclusion DeSalvo was a sexual predator with several claimed exploits in Boston. The majority of the assaults, break-ins and murder were committed in Boston within two years. The psychiatric evaluation revealed that he had a sociopathic personality but could stand a trail. He was tried and convicted for rape and robbery but the murder case lacked physical evidence. During his life sentence service at the prison, he was found murdered six years later but no one was convicted for the crime. References Belanger, J. (2008). Weird Massachusetts: Your Travel Guide to Massachusetts Local Legends and Best Kept Secrets. Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. Douglas, J. E., & Olshaker, M. (2001). The Cases That Haunt Us: From Jack the Ripper to Jon Benet Ramsey, The FBIs Legendary Mindhunter Sheds New Light on the Mysteries That Wont Go Away. Simon and Schuster. Hickey, E. (Ed.). (2003). Encyclopedia of Murder and Violent Crime. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications . Marissa. (n.d.). Albert DeSalvo. Retrieved September 26, 2012, from http://library.thinkquest.org/04oct/00803/DeSalvo_fs.htm Philbin, T., & Philbin, M. (2009). The Killer Book of Serial Killers: Incredible Stories, Facts and Trivia from the World of Serial Killers. Illinois: Sourcebooks. Rosenberg, D., & Kirsch, R. (2011, May 3). A Murder Case That Will Not Die. Newsweek , 137 (10). Sherman, C. (2003). A Rose for Mary: The Hunt for the Real Boston Strangler. Boston : Northeastern University Press. Turvey, B. E. (Ed.). (2011). Criminal Profiling: An Introduction to Behavioral Evidence Analysis. Burlington, MA : Academic Press. Read More