Episode 1:  The Boston Strangler

• Welcome to Serial Defense;
• I’m Joey Walker, your host for this unique podcast;
• This material contains information on extremely violent crimes that some may find disturbing. 
• Listener discretion is advised!
  
  Each episode will have several objectives:
• Provide information on the selected serial sex offender or serial killer;
• Enlighten you on risk factors and relevant issues about their victims;
• And lastly, provide life saving tactics and physical techniques that with sufficient practice can be used to defeat a violent offender. 

Everyone has heard of Serial Murder, but what is Serial Defense?

• I developed Serial Defense to assist the public when series of sex crimes and/or homicides are occurring in a specific area;
• And, when citizens need to take proactive measures for their own self-defense, and, for the defense of their family members.

Focus:

• Our first task is to look at Serial offenders who commit violent crimes motivated by their sexual compulsion and/or homicidal acts.
• They are not restricted to geographical boundaries, and
• The time-line for their violent offenses can be separated by hours, days, weeks, months or even years.
• As you listen to each episode, place yourself in the position as one of the offender’s victims.
• Consider how you or your family can protect yourselves from being chosen as the offender’s victim;
• and if you were chosen, what you could do to survive the encounter;
• Think of the actions the victim had control over, and what you might do differently to effectively fight back.

Case Summary:

• In the early 1960’s, thirteen women were attacked and killed inside their own homes.  
• At first, all the victims were all elderly women.  
• Then, the killer changed how he operated;
• His last group of victims were women mostly under the age of twenty-five;
• Once the killer was inside the victims’ residence, the lone female was suddenly attacked, sexually assaulted and murdered;
• Police saw no signs of forced entry into each victims’ home. The women must have opened the door and let the killer inside.  
• The killer uses a piece of the victim’s own clothing (scarf, leotard, nylon stockings, etc.) as a ligature to strangle them to death, then left the item tied it around the victim’s neck. 
• Her body was posed and left to be discovered by others. 
• It appears the killer spent quite a bit of time inside each residence and not rushed to leave the crime scene.
• The location of these crimes; Boston, Massachusetts.
• And the killer is the Boston Strangler.
• Albert DeSalvo had a terrible childhood and grew up in a home where both he and his mother were repeatedly physically abused by Albert’s father,
• Albert also had to endure seeing his father bring home sex workers and have sex in front of him;
• Many believe the horrible behavior of Albert’s father predisposed him towards a life of violent crime, which resulted in Albert being sent to reform school on two occasions;
• When Albert is old enough, he joins the US Army and is stationed in Germany as a Military Police officer;
• Albert meets a woman and the two are married.  The couple returns to the United States and settles in Boston, MA;
• Albert DeSalvo was believed to have an insatiable sexual appetite and demands sex from his wife many times throughout the day; 
• In 1955, Albert DeSalvo is arrested for fondling a nine-year-old girl;
• The victim’s mother did not want to put her daughter to experience a trail and to protect her,  the mother preferred to just let it go;
• For that reason, the charges did not go on Albert DeSalvo’s record;
• Mrs. DeSalvo gave birth to her own baby girl who was born with a hip defect;
• Because of their special needs daughter, Mrs. DeSalvo was afraid of having another child with birth defects, and, began refusing to have sex with her husband.
• Albert DeSalvo feeling rejected by his wife,  devised a scam to use on innocent women;
• He would pose as a talent scout for a modeling agency, 
• He would knock on the doors of women who were alone at home.  Albert would tell these women her name was given as a possible model. After a few complements, designed to disarm the woman, he asked if he could take her measurements. 
• Once each woman allowed DeSalvo to enter her residence, he would use a measuring tape to place around various parts of their legs, thighs and chest, all for his own sexual gratification. 
• Only after DeSalvo left the residence, some women realized they had been scammed, and reported the bizarre incidents to police;
• One police detective commented the women who came into the police station to report DeSalvo’s scam, looked like they were contestants in a Miss Universe Pageant. 
• So many women reported the bizarre behavior, both the Police and the media dubbed the suspect as “The Measuring Man.” 
• In 1961, Albert DeSalvo obtains employment as a Handyman,
• DeSalvo’s job allows him to become familiar with the exterior and interior designs of many homes and apartments around Boston, 
• During this time, DeSalvo would burglarize many residences;
• DeSalvo was caught in the act of a burglary and arrested;
• In March of 1961, and while in jail, Albert DeSalvo confesses to being the Measuring Man;
• DeSalvo was examined at a State Mental Hospital and diagnosed as a Sociopath;
• He was ultimately convicted for the burglary, and given a sentenced of two years in prison, 
• But, in less than one year, DeSalvo was released from prison, and within a couple of months, women in Boston were being murdered inside their own homes.
• Authorities learned there were also a series of sexual assaults in other nearby areas.
• In those sexual assault cases, the victims reported the suspect subdued them before he sexually assaulted them at knife point.  
• After the suspect satisfies himself, and leaving  these victims alive, he fled the residence.
• In those sexual assault cases, the victims reported the suspect subdued them before he sexually assaulted them at knife point.  
• After the suspect satisfies himself, and leaving  these victims alive, he fled the residence.
• One victim gave a physical description of her suspect’s face and his “green work clothes.” 
• It is believed DeSalvo’s work as a handyman provided him with information about his intended victims, and the physical layout of their homes;
• This suspect became known as “The Green Man” and is reported to have attacked women in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Connecticut. 
• Police ultimately arrest thirty-three-year-old Albert DeSalvo for the Green man sex crimes, 
• At the time of his arrest, Albert had a wife and two children.
• While in custody, DeSalvo summoned and confessed to attorney F. Lee Bailey for the Strangler murders, admitting he entered each of the victim’s residence, not by using force, but by talking his way inside.
• DeSalvo’s approach was to tell those women, their landlord had sent him because their lease required they get a new refrigerator.  
• Once inside the residence, DeSalvo would subdue the women and commit the sex crimes and murders.  
• DeSalvo’s attorney, F. Lee Bailey, worked out a deal with police and prosecutors, stipulating his client would confess to the unsolved Strangler murders, but receive immunity for the those murders;
• And, he could only be prosecuted for the sexual assaults he committed as the Green man;
• In January of 1967, DeSalvo was found guilty of ten counts of sexual assault and sentenced to life in prison.
• Instead of being sent to prison, DeSalvo was sent to a mental hospital;
• In February of 1967, DeSalvo and two other inmates escape from the hospital;
• Shortly after their escape, DeSalvo contacts his attorney and surrenders to authorities;
• Instead of Albert DeSalvo returning to the mental hospital, he is finally sent to the State Prison.
• Albert DeSalvo met his demise on Nov 27, 1973, where was found stabbed to death in his prison cell.
• De Salvo was an Organized offender which means he had a specific plan on how the crime would be committed;
• He had to have stalked his victims to some degree because all the victims he attacked were alone inside their residence.
• De Salvo used a Confidence approach at the victim’s door,
• Once he talked his way into the residence, he attacked the women and gained control over them;
• He then bound the victim, using items from her own home;
• He then sexually assaulted and murders each victim.
• One interesting note. There were no reports from people in the surrounding homes or apartments who reported a knock on their door from DeSalvo.

Segway: Offender Violent Crime Phases:

• Every violent crime has phase’s the offender will transition through during the commission of their crimes;
• Regardless of the crime, a Home Invasion, an abduction, sexual assault or murder, the offender will experience and transition through these phases;
• Some offenders may escalate, or deescalate through these phases, based on their whim, or other factors made available to them at the time of their offenses.  
• The first of the six phases is the Selection of the victim; 
• An offender may select a victim based on their preferences. It could be the ease of access to the victim, their sexual fantasy or totally by happenstance.
• Sometimes it may be a specific victim chosen by the offender, or a person who is person in the wrong place at the wrong time, chosen as a target of opportunity. 
• The next violent crime phase is the Approach to the victim(which has one of two different types of strategies);
• A Confidence approach, which is when a suspect engages his potential victim in a non-threatening conversation;
• Then once the victims lowers their guard, the suspect attacks and overpowers the victim.
• The second type of approach does not involve the victim’s participation by allowing the suspect to get close and inside their comfort zone,
• Instead, the suspect appears almost out of nowhere and uses surprise to suddenly attack the victim.  This type of approach is called a “blitz attack”
• The next phase is Intimidation.
• The offender will use whatever he/she feels will be successful to force their victims into submission;
• With some offenders, they will use threats of physical violence, causing the victim to fear being harmed unless they completely cooperate with the demands of the offender; 
• This may often involve the offender using a handgun, a knife, or another weapon threatening to harm the victim;
• Others will use violent physical force to gain control over their victims;
• If ever an offender choses to continue to inflict physical violence on their intended victim beyond their initial greeting, the victim must do everything in their power to resist and effectively fight back;
• Failure to effectively counter-attack the offender sufficiently enough to repel the attack can result in the offender overcoming the victim and causing severe harm, perhaps even death.
• What you must know is that some offender may prefer to sexually assault a deceased victim, rather than continue to tolerate a living victim.
• The Act or multiple Acts is next:
• In this phase, the offender may intend to commit one crime, but decide to escalate, or deescalate to other crimes;
• For example, the offender may have intended to sexually assault a victim, but decides to escalate to murder;
• In some cases, the offender may have intended to murder their victim, and for some unknown reason, the offender chose to release his victim allowing her to live.
• The next phase is the Prelude to the Escape;
• In this phase, the offender has transitioned towards how he is going to leave the crime scene.
• In some cases, the victims are threatened to stay quiet, in other cases the victim is bound to prevent them from immediately calling police, and in other cases, the victim may be murdered to prevent identifying the offender. 
• The last phase of a violent crime is the Offender’s Escape.
• In most cases, we want the offender to stop causing continued harm to their victim and leave the scene of the crime;
• There are only two occasions when the offender’s escape from an intended victim is not preferred;
• When there exists a likelihood, the police can apprehend the offender without the offender causing additional harm to the victim, and
• If the offender will attempt to escape with the victim to a more secluded location, or the offender intends on  escaping with a hostage. 

Victim’s Segway: 

• Violent criminal offenders need to carry out their crimes on victims they believe will be easily accessible to them during their selection stage, and, more susceptible to whichever approach strategy they prefer to be most successful for them;
• With that in mind, the victims usually fit into a certain mold the offender needs in order to commit their violent crime. 
• For those reasons, victims of violent crimes can be placed into Risk Factors. 
• These Risk factors are determined by characteristics such as age, occupation, life-style, etc.
• High-risk victims are typically known to be in locations where the offender knows the victims are vulnerable. 
• Examples would be persons who have a proclivity to frequent high crime areas.
• As an example, in some serial murder cases, sex workers, those who use and abuse illegal drugs, runaways and others willingly participating in other crimes unknowingly place themselves in a high-risk category.
• “Low-Risk” victims are those whose occupations or daily life-styles do not place them out into the public eye and usually, do not lead them to being targeted. 
• The people who neither frequent high-crime areas, nor participate in illegal activities are considered in the low-risk category of victims.
• DeSalvo’s victims are classified as “low risk” victims.
• None of the victims did anything that made themselves known to DeSalvo.
• Each of DeSalvo’s victims were inside homes where they expected to be safe.
• DeSalvo only attacked victims who were alone inside their own homes;
• And none of his victims were in any way related to one another.
• Even though the media reported the killer was attacking women in their own residence, the suspect was still able to convince a woman alone in her home to open her door to unexpected and unannounced strangers.  
• One can only assume, these women must have assumed the man at their door could not be the killer by either how the suspect looked, or by the convincing ruse the suspect used.

Shift in Responsibility: 

• Our best chance of success occurs when we Prepare, Protect and Prevail against a violent attack.
• We Prepare for the best-and worst-case scenario;
• We Protect ourselves from being targeted by the violent offender, and if we are selected, have viable options for survival that can be used.
• And most importantly, we Prevail by using whatever tactic or technique we need to in order to survive the violent crime, no matter how we made it happen, the person did it the right way to make themselves a survivor and not a victim.
• Law Enforcement cannot be everywhere to prevent every violent crime from occurring;
• Know that when seconds count, police may be minutes away.
• Every person should know what to do, before, during and after a crime.
• Whenever a community is faced with a violent offender, 
• And, when law enforcement is not able to immediately apprehend the violent offender,
• Each person should take personal responsibility for their own safety as well as the safety of their family members.
• One of the unique features of this podcast is to provide the listener with tools to not only meet, but to survive the challenges a violent offender will bring.
• Each episode will have specific tactics and physical techniques that could be applied to the highlighted offender and others comparable to him or her.

To recap:

• In short, DeSalvo entered homes where he sexually assaulted and murdered the lone resident;
• In some cases, DeSalvo physically forced entry into the residence, while in other cases he talked his way into the home;
• He used a blitz attack, overwhelmed and bound each victim;
• There was no evidence that any of his victims effectively fought back;
• Nor was there any evidence they used or attempted to use any improvised or defensive weapon against DeSalvo.

Here are the top 2 ways to enhance the physical security of your home:

• Make sure you have adequate locks on all doors and windows. If you are not sure, have a trusted locksmith inspect your doors and perhaps install additional hardware.
• Use today’s technology (video doorbells, cameras, alarm systems) and motion lights that allow you to take the time to confirm your wanted visitor before you answer your door.

These are the top 2 Tactics to  increase your Personal Safety:

• Situational Awareness is very important – be aware of your surroundings especially when apparently random and violent crimes such as sexual assault, home invasions and murders are occurring anywhere within 100 miles of your home;
• Do not respond to the door for unexpected visitors.  Have a plan for those unexpected visitors at your door.  Use today’s technology to observe or answer the door.

And here are the top 2 Defensive Techniques specific to this case:

• Take self-defense classes from a reputable instructor with the focus on   learning how to disarm an offender armed with a handgun or a knife. Regularly practice these techniques to maintain proficiency.
• Learn how to apply a Carotid Control hold to incapacitate a person.  Practice applying the hold from the rear of the offender as well as from the front and side of the offender. 

Closing: 

• Once you become a member of our Serial Defense program;
• You will have full access to the episodes on Serial Defense including additional self-defense and personal safety tactics and techniques.
• If you are not a member of our Serial Defense program, you can join us on our website at SerialDefense.com
• You can sign up for just $5.00 per month for full access;
• Audio editing and engineered by Jeff Bonano
• Graphics design by Samantha Joi
• I’m your host Joey Walker;
• Thanks for listening, and I hope this Podcast on Serial Defense was helpful;
• My ultimate objective is to provide you with knowledge that will empower you on your options for survival. 
• Please visit the website at SerialDefense.com
• Look for future Podcast on Serial Defense that will highlight other Serial offenders from the distant and recent past, whether they were in your city, state or even your country.

Until then, I leave you with three rules of Self defense

• Protect yourself at all times!
• Do unto bad guys before they do unto you, and
• Always and everywhere – Be ready!
• Take care!