The first time I heard about the Boston Strangler, I was 12 years old, hiding under my covers with a flashlight and a true crime paperback I’d smuggled from my dad’s bookshelf. The killer fascinated me, as killers tend to do in these stories. But now, decades later, I realize how completely backwards that was.
Because it’s not about him. It never was.
It’s about Anna and Mary and Sophie and Beverly. It’s about 13 women whose lives were cut violently short in the early 1960s—women who had dreams, quirks, and morning routines before they became footnotes in America’s true crime obsession.
The Women Behind the Headlines
Between 1962 and 1964, Boston transformed from a city of neighborhoods into a city of fear. Women installed new locks. They traveled in groups. They eyed strangers with suspicion.
The victims ranged in age from 19 to 85, shattering the myth that predators stick to a “type.” Some lived alone in modest apartments. Others had roommates. Some were grandmothers. Others were just starting their adult lives.
Anna Slesers, the first official victim, was found on June 14, 1962. A 55-year-old Latvian immigrant and seamstress who attended church regularly. She was strangled with the belt of her own bathrobe—a horrific detail that would become the killer’s signature.
Just two weeks later, 85-year-old Mary Mullen was found dead in her apartment. The Boston Strangler’s reign of terror had officially begun.
The Stories We Don’t Tell
True crime has a nasty habit of reducing victims to crime scene photos and autopsy reports. (I’m guilty of this too—my browser history would make my therapist weep.) But these women had lives bursting with small moments that never made the newspapers.
Sophie Clark, just 20 years old, was one of the youngest victims and the only Black woman targeted. She was a student at the Carnegie Institute of Medical Technology with dreams of becoming a nurse. Her murder on December 5, 1962, shattered the early theory that the killer only targeted elderly white women.
Mary Sullivan, the final victim at just 19, had moved to Boston only three days before her murder on January 4, 1964. She was found with a “Happy New Year” card propped near her foot—a detail that still makes my skin crawl whenever I see holiday cards.
(Ryan, my husband, once caught me throwing away all our Christmas cards on January 2nd. When I explained why, he just silently helped me stuff them in the recycling bin. That’s love, folks.)
The Fear That Changed a City
The timeline of the Boston Strangler murders reads like a horror movie script. The killings came in clusters—sometimes two in a single day. Women across Boston lived in constant fear, many sleeping with knives under their pillows or chairs propped against their doors.
Patricia Bissette, 23, was found strangled in her apartment on December 31, 1962. She worked as a secretary at a engineering firm and had planned to attend a New Year’s Eve party that night. Instead, her body was discovered by coworkers who became concerned when she didn’t show up for work.
Beverly Samans, 23, was a graduate student studying to become a therapist. Unlike the other victims, she was stabbed rather than strangled—a deviation that later fueled theories about multiple killers.
The Questions That Remain
Albert DeSalvo eventually confessed to all 13 murders, providing details that supposedly only the killer would know. But here’s where it gets murky (as these cases always do): many investigators believe DeSalvo couldn’t have committed all the murders.
Some evidence suggests there were at least two killers operating in Boston during this period. DNA testing in 2013 finally linked DeSalvo to Mary Sullivan’s murder, but questions about the other victims remain.
The Boston Strangler case has more loose ends than my first attempt at knitting. (It was a scarf. It became a pot holder. Don’t ask.)
Remembering Their Names
When we talk about the Boston Strangler, let’s remember:
- Anna Slesers
- Mary Mullen
- Nina Nichols
- Helen Blake
- Ida Irga
- Jane Sullivan
- Sophie Clark
- Patricia Bissette
- Mary Brown
- Beverly Samans
- Evelyn Corbin
- Joann Graff
- Mary Sullivan
Thirteen women who deserved to grow old, to achieve their dreams, to live in apartments where they felt safe. Thirteen women who were more than just victims.
The next time you dive into a true crime rabbit hole (and trust me, I know you will), take a moment to see past the gruesome details. Remember the lives that were lived before they were taken. That’s how we honor them.
And maybe—just maybe—triple-check your locks before bed tonight.