The Boston Strangler

In 1962, a series of killings began in Boston, New England. Over a period of 18 months, eleven women were killed, brutally attacked in their homes.

The trademark feature of all the murders was that every victim was strangled with her own nylons. The city was frozen with fear.

Then Albert Henry DeSalvo confessed to the stranglings and the murders stopped.

Despite DeSalvo's confession, the identity of the Strangler has never been established without doubt, and the case remains open.

* Before being dubbed the Boston Strangler, DeSalvo was known as the 'Measuring Man' and the 'Green Man'. This was because he used to gain access to women's apartments in different guises - either posing as a representative of a model agency wanting to take a woman's measurements, or as a maintenance worker, wearing a green uniform.

* It was while he was under arrest for sexual assault and robbery of women in his 'Green Man' guise that he confessed to being the Boston Strangler.

* Bizarrely, police couldn't corroborate his confession and he was never charged with the Boston Strangler crimes. DeSalvo was stabbed to death in prison six years later, while serving his sentence for his 'Green Man' crimes.

* Key witnesses who survived attacks did not identify DeSalvo as the man who entered their apartments, but recognised another man, George Nassar.

* DeSalvo had an extraordinary memory. He was able to reel off precise details of the Strangler's victims and their homes to back up his confession. Some argue that he was actually regurgitating detail that he had read in newspaper accounts - on occasion he repeated inaccuracies presented in a well known newspaper study of the crimes. Others were convinced that the level of his recall - the colour of a rug, the detail of a photograph - pointed towards him being the murderer.

* A construction worker by trade, DeSalvo was generally liked by colleagues and described as a devoted family man. One investigator described him as a Jekyll and Hyde character. He even once expressed a desire that by being the Boston Strangler he might be able to earn some money for his family by retelling his story.

Genre: Documentary

Running Time: 60 minutes (approx)