5 comments about A Death in Belmont (Unabridged).

1. A quick read of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court opinion upholding the conviction of Roy Smith proves Junger's story to be highly inaccurate, misleading, and consistently manipulative. The damning evidence presented against Smith at his trial is withheld from the reader.



2. This was a great book. It is a fresh take on the old story of the boston strangler. Junger looks at it from every angle, going into the history and time and place where the investigations and trial ocurred. Absolutely an amazing book.



3. A very good book that was easy to read. It often seemed like a novel. I particularly liked the "Conversation with Sebastian Junger" by Jill Owens at the end of the book. I pointed out some subtleties that I missed.



4. I have some doubts regarding Albert DeSalvo's guilt in the Boston strangling murders in the early 1960s. The author does argue for the innocence of an African American Roy Smith who is falsely accused of killing Bessie Goldberg since he was there to clean her home. He had left before the murder occurred and her body was discovered by her husband. The police of Belmont believed that Roy Smith was responsible despite his pleas of innocence. How could a man who had witnessed such cruel behavior in the south such as lynchings and murders if he so much looked at a white woman. Besides Bessie Goldberg wasn't his type. She was much older and could have been his mother. Junger also describes the creepiness surrounding the presence of Albert DeSalvo, a married father of two children, who helped work in his parents' home. Junger is a good writer but he doesn't make me want to read this book at a record pace like a I normally would have done in a true crime case. He does allow and explain the circumstances of life especially Roy Smith's circumstances. Granted, Roy Smith was no angel but he was no killer much less the Boston Strangler. He was just there at the wrong place at the wrong time not because he witnessed the ghastly rape and strangulation but that he left before it happened and nobody else saw the Boston Stranger go into the Goldberg home that was a safe place in the suburbs away from the crime of the city. Ironically, the Boston Strangler struck and killed in the nearby suburbs of the city itself.



5. S. Junger has traveled far from the truth in his attempt to connect the murder of Bessie Goldberg from his hometown of Belmont , Massachusetts to Albert DeSalvo the discredited Boston Strangler who once worked for Junger's mother. The facts of the case are cast aside as Junger exaggerates, distorts, lies, and omits important trial evidence.
   
   The murder victim advertised as a neighbor of the Junger family actually lived on the other side of town. Between the two homes were 95 private residences, 15 cross streets and approximately 40 stores.
   
   Although in 1966 the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court , after appeal, upheld the conviction of Roy Smith, this information is never revealed.
   
   Junger who says that Smith, a career criminal, never lied to the police has seriously misinformed the reader. According to the Supreme Court Justices as they spelled out the evidence from trial testimony, Smith lied about his times of arrival and departure from the Goldberg home, staying almost two hours less than he claimed. Although Smith told authorities he had finished cleaning the house and left it "in order" the police testified that the house had never been cleaned. The living room furniture was found pushed to the center of the room, the mirror was covered with cleaner (complete with Smith's handprints), the living room ornaments were sitting on the dining room table waiting to be dusted while the vacuum cleaner complete with attachments lay nearby.
   
   Nothing much is made of the testimony of Smith's friends who said he spent $15.00, the amount stolen from the Goldberg home, on liquor the night of the murder. When questioned by the police Smith could not account for the source of his funds.
   
   The Supreme Court Justices stated, " The jury could have found unusual opportunity, motive, possession after the crime of unexplained funds, incriminating action in leaving the house in disorder and the work unfinished, and subsequent conduct and false statements showing consciousness of guilt."

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No comments about Fate Magazine, May 1967: Peter Hurkos & the Boston Strangler (Vol. 20, No. 5).

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1 comments about Confessions of the Boston strangler.

1. I am almost finished reading this documentary. I recommend it to all fans of great serial killers. Albert DeSalvo was one of the most unknown until his confession that stirred the whole northern district. The exact tape-recorded interviews, police reports, and pictures are also very interesting. However, I feel that more pictures could have been obtained and captured all of the victims the strangler destroyed.
   
   
   <3
   `ngie

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