Investigators helped by advances in DNA technology finally have forensic evidence linking longtime suspect Albert DeSalvo to the last of the 1960s killings attributed to the Boston Strangler, leading many involved in the case to hope that it can finally be put to rest. DeSalvo's remains will be exhumed after authorities concluded that DNA from the scene of Mary Sullivan's rape and murder produced a "familial match" with him, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel Conley said. Conley said he expected investigators to find an exact match when the evidence is compared with his DNA, according to AP. Sullivan, 19, was found strangled in her Boston apartment in January 1964. Sullivan had long been considered the strangler's last victim. The announcement represented the most definitive evidence yet linking DeSalvo to the case. Eleven Boston-area women between the ages of 19 and 85 were killed between 1962 and 1964, crimes that terrorized the region and made national headlines. DeSalvo, married with children, a working-class Army veteran, confessed to the 11 Boston Strangler murders, as well as two others. But he was never convicted of the Boston Strangler killings. He had been sentenced to life in prison for a series of armed robberies and was stabbed to death in prison in 1973 - but not before he recanted his confession. Sullivan's nephew Casey Sherman has for years maintained that DeSalvo did not kill his aunt and even wrote a book on the case pointing to other possible suspects. -- SPA 23:07 LOCAL TIME 20:07 GMT تغريد
