A Rose for Mary
Subtitle: The Hunt for the Real Boston Strangler
By: Casey Sherman
Publisher: Northeastern University Press/Warner Books
Published: September 18, 2003
Work titles: True Crime/Non-Fiction
Description: Casey Sherman made international headlines with his re-investigation of the notorious Boston Strangler case in 1999. it was a personal crusade for the veteran jounalist. Sherman is the nephew of 19-year old Mary Sullivan, believed to be the last victim of the Boston Strangler. Through Sherman's re-investigation, he was able to prove that self-confessed killer Albert DeSalvo did not murder his aunt on January 4, 1964. Sherman was able to prove this by uncovering DeSalvo's long-lost confession tape and comparing it to the autopsy report in Mary Sullivan's murder. There were stark inaccuracies in the DeSalvo confession. Sherman also elicited the aid of an all-star forensic team led by George Washington University professor James Starrs to exhume Sullivan's remains for DNA testing. Starrs'team was able to find trace evidence of the killer on Sullivan's body and that DNA evidence did not match Albert DeSalvo. Sherman chronicled the re-investigation in his 2003 acclaimed true-crime thriller, A Rose for Mary: The Hunt for the Real Boston Strangler (Northeastern University Press). The book was later released in paperback under a new title: Search for the Strangler (Warner Books 2005).