• LIFE

City of Fear: Photos From the Boston Strangler Era, 1963

2 minute read

News out of Massachusetts that police might be on the verge of solving the last of the Boston Strangler killings—using DNA collected from a relative of longtime suspect Albert DeSalvo—dragged the notorious half-century-old murders back into the headlines.

DeSalvo, who confessed to 11 “Strangler” killings and two other murders in and around Boston between 1962 and 1964, was never charged in those crimes—although in 1967 he was tried for unrelated crimes, including rape, and received a life sentence. In 1973, he was stabbed to death after being transferred to Walpole State Prison from Bridgewater State Hospital in southeastern Massachusetts. In the years since his death, more than a few criminologists, journalists and law enforcement officials have expressed doubts that DeSalvo was, in fact, the Boston Strangler, citing (for example) the wide variety of ages and ethnicities of the 13 victims—most serial killers target a specific “type” of victim—as well as inconsistencies in his confessions.

Whether or not DeSalvo was the Strangler, however, what’s beyond dispute is the terror that haunted Boston—and especially the women of Boston—at the time, when first one woman, then another, then another was found sexually assaulted and strangled to death. Here, 50 years after “fear walked home with the women” of Boston, as LIFE magazine put it in a 1963 story on the “sex stranglings,” LIFE.com recalls that chilling era with a series of photos illustrating the alarm—and the determination not to be the next victim—that gripped countless women in cities and towns across eastern Massachusetts in the early 1960s.


Lighting a cigarette she could jam into an assailant's eye, a Boston student walks home with hatpin on her sleeve -- a deadly stilleto ready for fast thrust.
Caption from LIFE. "Lighting a cigarette she could jam into an assailant's eye, a Boston student walks home with hatpin on her sleeve -- a deadly stilleto ready for fast thrust."Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Girl barricading alley outside apartment during series of Boston stranglings, 1963.
Not published in LIFE. Girl barricading alley outside apartment during series of Boston stranglings, 1963.Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Dog training for attack during Boston Strangling scare, 1963.
Dog training for attack during Boston stranglings scare, 1963.Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Boston woman sleeping with umbrella at hand for self-protection during strangling scare.
Caption from LIFE. "Boston woman sleeping with umbrella at hand for self-protection during strangling scare."Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Improvised means of self-protection brought about by Boston stranglings, including bottles in doorways as booby trap.
Caption from LIFE. "Improvised means of self-protection brought about by Boston stranglings, including bottles in doorways as booby trap."Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Beacon Hill street at dusk has eerie aspect during wave of Boston stranglings, 1963.
Beacon Hill street at dusk has eerie aspect during wave of Boston stranglings, 1963.Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Scene during wave of stranglings in Boston area in 1963.
Scene during wave of stranglings in Boston area in 1963.Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Police whistle used for self protection during Boston stranglings, 1963.
Caption from LIFE. Police whistle used for self-protection during Boston stranglings, 1963.Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Boston mounted police on patrol in area of stranglings, 1963.
Not published in LIFE. Boston mounted police on patrol in area of stranglings, 1963.Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
arate expert George Mattson holds extra classes for women in the art of self-defense.
Caption from LIFE. "Karate expert George Mattson holds extra classes for women in the art of self-defense."Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Single girl's neighbor carries shotgun when he goes to investigate odd noises.
Caption from LIFE. "Single girl's neighbor carries shotgun when he goes to investigate odd noises."Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Date ends with searching woman's apartment during wave of Boston stranglings, 1963.
Not published in LIFE. Date ends with searching woman's apartment during wave of Boston stranglings, 1963.Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Boston woman sleeping with ski poles for protection, 1963.
Not published in LIFE. Boston woman sleeping with ski poles for protection, 1963.Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Police Commissioner Edmund L. McNamara and officers at community meeting during Boston stranglings scare, 1963.
Police Commissioner Edmund L. McNamara at a community meeting during Boston stranglings scare, 1963.Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
A rainy Beacon Hill street at dusk during the era of the Boston stranglings, 1963.
Not published in LIFE. A rainy Beacon Hill street at dusk during the era of the Boston stranglings, 1963.Art Rickerby—Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images

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