The Hunt for the Boston Strangler

The Hunt for the Boston Strangler (2007)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

This made-for-TV documentary does a nice job telling the history of the Boston Strangler case. We start off going over the eleven murders, sharing bits of evidence that connected all the deaths and we learn about the sexual nature of the crimes. From here we learn about how there was very little evidence against Albert DeSalvo outside his very confession. From here we hear from various experts who believe that this confession was just a way for DeSalvo to get a book and movie deal so that he could support his family since he was about to be sent to prison for possibly life so he needed something to make them money. It's interesting but his attorney, F. Lee Bailey, is interviewed here and talks about how he got involved with DeSalvo and what his client wanted to do with the confession. Bailey makes it clear that he believes his client was telling the truth about the murders even though he admits that some of the confession doesn't add up to the evidence gathered at various scenes. Overall if you're unfamiliar with the case then this documentary does a pretty good job at giving the details of the crimes as well as all the possible reasons as to why the confession might be false. Actual crime photos are shown so this is certainly going to turn off a lot of people but you can always look away. The story of the events are quite interesting as is the possibility that one or more killers might have gotten away with crimes.