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Albert Desalvo Trial

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Background Albert Henry Desalvo was a serial rapist and killer in Boston, Massachusetts. He was born on September 3rd, 1931 Chelsea, Massachusetts. His childhood was unstable as his alcoholic father, Frank DeSalvo, was physically abusive towards his wife, Charlotte DeSalvo, and his six children. His father would openly bring prostitutes home and engage with them in front of the family, he taught Albert how to shoplift and break an entry at the age of five, and he forced Albert to initiate sexually at the age of seven, all while watching Albert’s mother being brutally abused (Catching The Boston Strangler: Albert DeSalvo (Born To Kill), Our Life). It was said that young Albert would trap dogs and cats in wooden crates to shoot arrows at them, …show more content…

Moynihan found DeSalvo competent and announced that his trial would proceed the next day. When Albert DeSalvo stood trial in the Cambridge Massachusetts courtroom for armed robbery and sexual assault, everyone present knew Albert had confessed as the "Boston Strangler" (encyclopedia.com, Albert Henry DeSalvo Trial: 1967). The testimony began from the four victims who had been attacked by DeSalvo in their homes. Two woke to find DeSalvo in their bedroom. One said he had pretended to be a detective before tying her up and committing the offence (encyclopedia.com, Albert Henry DeSalvo Trial: 1967). Afterwards, Dr. James A. Brussel, associate commissioner of the New York State Department of Mental Hygiene, was up on the stand and retold DeSalvo's unstable childhood. He stated that there was a correlation to the abuse from his father with DeSalvo anti-social behaviour. Dr. James said because of this, Albert had a high sex drive therefore, his wife was unable or unwilling to satisfy him and he looked elsewhere. Prosecutor Donald L. Conn’s argument strategy was to prove DeSalvo to be sane and perfectly aware of his actions, and is trying to fake being mentally ill to avoid the harsher consequences. Conn then had Stanley Setterland, a Bridgewater inmate, to come up to the stand. He testified that “DeSalvo had bragged of his strategy to get money from his confession, then hire a lawyer who would have him placed in a …show more content…

His actions from a young age were socially unacceptable and should have been addressed sooner. Although reform school kept distance from his father, it’s not what Albert needed. Albert never had a healthy example of a stable family and understood respect and boundaries. The justice system failed him and I believe it was too late to save Desalvo. He knew what he was doing was wrong because he would sometimes apologize to his victims (Web Solutions LLC, Albert Henry DeSalvo trial: 1967 - sanity hearing, final arguments). He was addicted to doing these crimes and if he truly wanted to stop, he would turn himself in. He had been in a mental institution before, and it proved to be ineffective because 3 years after being released from jail, he continued to commit the same crimes. And because I think there was no hope for Desalvo, I think life imprisonment was suitable to keep the rest of Boston

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