Stranglers

Comedians Tess Barker and Babs Gray, who you might know from Lady to Lady or the now legendary Britney's Gram podcast, are here to bring you a brand new investigative series about Britney Spears' conservatorship and the court system that's allowed it to persist. After launching the #FreeBritney movement, they started to dig… And what they found out, you won't want to miss!  Join Tess and Babs as they talk to exclusive sources, examine new sides of the story, and uncover disturbing truths about our legal system that go way beyond Britney. Listen to Episodes 1 & 2 right now: link.chtbl.com/ToxicThePodcast See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Atlas Obscura's mission is to inspire wonder and curiosity about the incredible world we all share. Atlas Obscura co-founder and host Dylan Thuras is here to guide you on an audio journey to discover new and hidden places; perhaps on the other side of the world, or perhaps in your own backyard. Once there, you’ll hear stories and history from the incredible people who make these places special. Visit ​atlasobscura.com/podcast​ or follow the show in your favorite podcast app! New episodes are available every day, Monday through Thursday. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You might have learned that the Emancipation Proclamation and Union victories ended slavery in America. But so much more went into abolishing slavery than battles and declarations, and freedom meant more to Black people than eventually being paid for their labor. ​ Seizing Freedom ​​is a new Witness Docs and VPM podcast that focuses on the agency Black people exercised to define what freedom meant for themselves. You'll hear how they fought to liberate themselves during the Civil War and how they made freedom real by organizing for equality and justice during Reconstruction, despite every attempt at violent suppression. And you’ll hear how they did it in their own words. ​Seizing Freedom ​presents these stories through the lens of lived experience, drawing from letters, diary entries, autobiographies, and more to showcase voices from American history that have been ignored time and time again. Visit seizingfreedom.com, and subscribe now in Stitcher, or wherever you listen to podcasts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Verified: Dust Up is a new investigative documentary podcast produced by Witness Docs that poses the question: Could a product so many of us have in our medicine cabinets be putting us at risk? In the second season of Verified, Host Natasha Del Toro and the Verified team investigate whether a group of women developed ovarian cancer from dusting their bodies with Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder—an iconic brand associated with innocence and comfort since the 1800s. One woman's mysterious illness snowballs into thousands of court cases; a trusted brand fights to convince consumers and regulators that baby powder is safe while minimizing the work of the scientists who claim it is not. Verified: Dust Up is out NOW — listen and subscribe wherever you find your podcasts. If you want to get the first two episodes right now and weekly early releases of Verified: Dust Up without ads, sign up for Stitcher Premium at stitcherpremium.com. Use promo code WITNESS for 1 month free. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A divided community in the desert. A prophet with total power. A battle over family, home, and the limits of religious freedom. Unfinished: Short Creek, is the latest investigative true crime podcast from Witness Docs, and Critical Frequency. Short Creek, located on the Utah/Arizona border, is home to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a break-off from the Mormon church that practices polygamy. Since their leader, Warren Jeffs, was sentenced to life in prison in 2007, the people of Short Creek have been forced to reckon with their painful past, and struggle to define their future. Episodes 1 and 2 of Unfinished: Short Creek are out NOW — listen and subscribe wherever you find your podcasts. If you want to listen to the full season of Unfinished: Short Creek now, without ads, sign up for Stitcher Premium at stitcherpremium.com. Use promo code WITNESS for 1 month free. shortcreekpod.com See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

All-American is a new documentary podcast from Stitcher that explores a sports icon each season, starting with Tiger Woods. He’s been world-famous for decades and his story has many chapters that we all know: a phenom's rise, a shocking fall from grace, and debatably the greatest sports comeback of all time. But few people have really gotten to know Tiger Woods - it's been largely left to the media to define who he is. Listen to All-American: Tiger Woods now to find out what the media got right, and what it didn't: applepodcasts.co/allamerican See omnystudio.com/policies/listener for privacy information.

We’re bringing you a special clip from Verified, a new investigative true crime podcast from Witness Docs and Stitcher. Season one of Verified tells the story of a group of fearless women from around the world who band together with a team of Italian reporters to bring a policeman turned sexual predator to justice. Hosted by investigative reporter Natasha Del Toro, this ten-episode, immersive true crime series examines the trust we place in the sharing economy and the power that a simple checkmark or digital review can hold over our lives. Subscribe to Verified in Stitcher or wherever you listen: www.verified-podcast.com

55 years after the Boston Strangler murders first began, and despite decades of investigation, the search for answers continues. Although we may never know the truth about what happened to these women, we can draw some conclusions about the likely killers, and we can reach a new understanding about how crimes like this occur. In our final episode, Adele Roof, once nearly a victim herself, joins host Portland Helmich on a touching, thought-provoking journey back to Boston.

Doubts and confusion about the identity of the Boston Strangler didn’t end with the death of lead suspect Albert DeSalvo. In fact, a small but determined group of family members and journalists continued to investigate the many unresolved questions surrounding the case--including the chilling possibility that some stranglers continued to live freely. In this episode, host Portland Helmich talks to Casey Sherman, nephew of victim Mary Sullivan (profiled in Episode 1) about his unlikely effort to exonerate DeSalvo. We learn about the existence of new forensic evidence, and about the strange, post-Strangler career of another major suspect: he moved to Michigan, and—perhaps coincidentally—a new series of murders began.

Boston is gripped by fear once again after Albert DeSalvo escapes from Bridgewater State Hospital. But imprisonment never stops the man most people believed to be the Boston Strangler from communicating with—and attempting to manipulate—those outside. In this episode, we get an exclusive glimpse of DeSalvo’s extensive correspondence with his pursuer, Detective Phil DiNatale. DeSalvo never left prison again, but host Portland Helmich follows Phil DiNatale to Hollywood, where he became an official advisor and major character in the very successful 1968 film, The Boston Strangler. While the movie solidified many of the publicly accepted myths about the stranglings, DeSalvo’s mysterious death in prison only adds to the confusion surrounding the Strangler’s identity.

Albert Desalvo said he committed all the Strangler murders, but he would never be tried for those crimes. Instead, he would stand trial for his crimes as the Green Man. DeSalvo’s wily lawyer, F. Lee Bailey, used DeSalvo’s violent history and his reputation as the Boston Strangler to assert that his client was not guilty by reason of legal insanity. In this episode, we’ll follow the prosecution and defense as they attempt to sway the jury, and we'll hear chilling trial excerpts. We’ll also learn how one popular '50s television sitcom may have given Albert DeSalvo the rationale he needed to invade the homes of hundreds—perhaps thousands—of women.

In 1965, a series of swift maneuvers by Albert DeSalvo’s attorney, F. Lee Bailey, blocked investigators from closing in on their prime Strangler suspect. DeSalvo was more than ready to talk: he had given investigators nearly 60 hours of recorded confessions. But before fully understanding the crimes DeSalvo had committed, the State of Massachusetts agreed that DeSalvo’s testimony about the murders couldn’t be used against him in court. Bailey leads host Portland Helmich through his legal maneuvers as he battles to keep DeSalvo out of the electric chair. We also hear chilling details about the Strangler murders in excerpts from DeSalvo’s recorded confessions. Despite DeSalvo’s astonishing recall of the 13 stranglings, he gets the most important detail wrong. Could he in fact be lying?

By November, 1964, detective Phil DiNatale was closing in on a prime suspect, Albert DeSalvo, who had a long record of sexual assaults. DeSalvo was already in custody, in fact, at Bridgewater State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, where he was undergoing psychiatric evaluation. But while the police were gathering evidence, DeSalvo was confessing to a fellow inmate, George Nassar, that HE was the Boston Strangler. In this episode, host Portland Helmich visits George Nassar in prison to learn more about DeSalvo’s confession. She also meets DeSalvo’s attorney, F. Lee Bailey, who rose to prominence in his defense of DeSalvo, and who changed the course of the Boston Strangler investigation by getting to Bridgewater and DeSalvo one day ahead of the police.

With 2016 behind us, we want to take a quick minute to thank you all for supporting this podcast. The Atlantic listed us at #7 in their top 50 podcasts of 2016, and we were first in GQ Magazine’s list of the 7 best new podcasts to check out. We’re very proud of the recognition and very grateful to all of you for listening, for subscribing, for telling your friends about Stranglers, and for all your comments online (even the criticisms...we read those too!). On behalf of the Stranglers production team, I want to wish you all a very happy new year & let you know that next week, Stranglers returns with the 2nd half of our season. Another week might feel like a long time to wait, so give a listen to this sneak peek of what’s in store…

In 1963 and 1964, several more Strangler murders drive the city of Boston and the state of Massachusetts to take extraordinary measures. Attorney General Edward Brooke creates a special task force to coordinate police work across the state, but the killer continues to elude his pursuers. Desperate, the police even fly in a psychic. One dogged investigator, detective Phil DiNatale, finds a clue that he believes will lead him to the Strangler. His lead: the mysterious “measuring man,” who approaches women at home and attempts to convince them they have a future in modeling. Host Portland Helmich meets Carole, who reveals the chilling details of her encounters with the “measuring man.” Detective DiNatale, sensing he might have found the killer, gets down to the hard work of gumshoe policing in order to prove his case.

Two more murders in Boston bring the total to 7. The Strangler continues to elude investigators through the winter and spring of 1963. Then, in June, New York police find the body of sixty-two-year-old Zenovia Clegg in a Times Square hotel. She had been strangled, using a scarf tied in the Strangler’s signature bow. The NYPD quickly catches Clegg’s killer, a drifter from Maine named Charles Terry, and one legendary detective there, Tom Cavanagh, begins to suspect that he has arrested the real Boston Strangler. But the Boston PD doesn't seem to care. Host Portland Helmich traces Cavanagh’s life-long pursuit of evidence supporting his theory, and reveals the surprising details of Charles Terry’s life that seem to confirm his guilt.

On December 29, 1962, twenty-three-year old Patricia Bissette was found strangled in her Boston apartment. She was second young victim, and the seventh overall attributed to The Boston Strangler. But there were some who weren't so sure Bissette was a victim of THE Strangler. There was legitimate suspicion that Bissette’s boss—a married man with a motive for keeping his affair with Bissette quiet—had killed her. In this episode, host Portland Helmich reveals how one significant detail, Bissette’s address, might have helped police find the real killer in 1962. We’ll hear more about the tragic consequences of this missed opportunity, and we’ll meet Adele Roof, who believes that she befriended the Boston Strangler in 1962—and almost became one of his victims.

Three months with no new deaths: investigators were beginning to believe that the Boston Strangler’s killing spree had ended. Then, on December 5, 1962, a roommate found the body of 20 year old Sophie Clark, and the case took a terrifying new turn. Had the killer changed his M.O.? Were two or more Boston Stranglers at large? Host Portland Helmich digs into the details surrounding Clark’s murder, and learns much more about the obsessive patterns serial killers usually follow. She also talks to Jane Caputi, an expert who studies the ways in which society turns some serial killers into outlaw heroes. This episode is brought to you by Blue Apron and First Day Back.

Two more murders bring the total to five, terrorizing the city. As the police come up short in their attempt to protect the city, women take desperate measures to protect themselves. In this episode, host Portland Helmich meets a granddaughter of the Strangler’s fourth victim, and she follows the Boston police as they launch and attempt to control one of the largest manhunts the city had ever known. We’ll hear the voice of the late detective Phil DiNatale, meet his son, John, and explore the family’s vast archive of original Strangler notes, photos and diaries. Portland also interviews Mark Safarik, a retired FBI agent, who specializes in the homicides of elderly women. Safarik explains that with an unprecedented crime, traditional crime-solving techniques are almost never effective. This episode is brought to you by Blue Apron.

In 1964, 19-year-old Mary Sullivan was strangled to death in her apartment, the 13th victim of a killing spree that had terrorized Boston for 18 months. Her death remained unsolved for nearly 50 years. The same is true for a dozen more deaths attributed to the Boston Strangler. In our first episode, we meet Mary, as well as the killer’s first victims, and begin to explore the many unanswered questions that continue to haunt the victims’ families, the police who worked on the case, and the reporters who turned it into a national story.