Boston Strangler Ending Explained

Boston Strangler Ending ExplainedShow more

Hulu's Boston Strangler movie wraps up its fictionalized story but leaves some questions about the true history of the Boston Strangler case. Warning: This article contains spoilers for Boston Strangler. The Boston Strangler ending may leave more questions than answers about the true story that inspired the film. The new true crime movie follows the two "girl reporters" who broke the story of someone murdering mostly single elderly women living alone in Boston in the early 1960s. The case becomes more complex as more women are killed, including some that break the killer's original modus operandi. Boston Strangler ultimately theorizes...

Hulu's Boston Strangler movie wraps up its fictionalized story but leaves some questions about the true history of the Boston Strangler case. Warning: This article contains spoilers for Boston Strangler. The Boston Strangler ending may leave more questions than answers about the true story that inspired the film. The new true crime movie follows the two "girl reporters" who broke the story of someone murdering mostly single elderly women living alone in Boston in the early 1960s. The case becomes more complex as more women are killed, including some that break the killer's original modus operandi. Boston Strangler ultimately theorizes that there were multiple killers behind the crimes. The true crime story of the Boston Strangler movie focuses on Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightly), as well as Jean Cole (Carrie Coon), the two women covering the story for the Boston Record American newspaper. Their work seems to be done after Albert DeSalvo confesses to the crimes, but not every detail adds up. Just after DeSalvo agrees to meet with Loretta, he's killed in prison. She then writes one final article, "Boston Stranglers," suggesting DeSalvo wasn't the only killer. The Boston Strangler ending closes with Loretta looking pensive as she drinks in a bar with Jean, leaving many questions for the audience to dwell on. Were Loretta's Boston Strangler Articles Real? Loretta McLaughlin and Jean Cole were the real women who broke the story of the Boston Strangler in the Record American, and it was McLaughlin who coined the name of the Boston Strangler — a name that would inspire other "strangler" serial killer names in real life and in fiction. Most of McLaughlin and Cole's articles seen in Hulu's Boston Strangler, including "Two Girl Reporters Analyze Strangler," were real. However, McLaughlin's final "Boston Stranglers" article was seemingly invented to create a more dramatic ending. Other Record American reporters, including Eddie Corsetti, also covered the Boston Strangler stories, and Jean Cole wrote some articles by herself. McLaughlin left the Record American sometime in the 1960s, but Cole continued to cover the life of DeSalvo into at least 1967. She wrote "Girls: Keep Doors Shut 'Til DeSalvo Again in Custody" during DeSalvo's brief escape from prison, which wasn't included in Boston Strangler. The Michigan Murders Were Not Linked to the Boston Strangler Boston Strangler unexpectedly opens with a murder in Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1965, before flashing back to 1962 Boston. The true crime story of the Michigan murders are returned to later, with Detective DeLine (Rory Cochrane of CSI: Miami) contacting Loretta about a possible connection to the Boston Strangler. This seems to be in reference to a series of so-called Michigan Murders that happened from 1967 to 1969. Though Boston Strangler draws a comparison between the Michigan Murders and the Boston Strangler murders, there is no known connection between them. There are some similarities - namely that stockings were used to strangle some of the victims - but the Michigan Murders were committed by John Norman Collins. Boston Strangler only used the Michigan Murders to show that similar crimes, unfortunately, have always and will always happen. George Nassar is Still in Prison As stated on-screen before the Boston Strangler ending credits, George Nassar is still in prison in Massachusetts, having been convicted of killing Dominic Kirmil in 1948. In the true crime movie, a neighbor of one victim identifies Nassar over DeSalvo as the potential killer. Though it's stated Nassar was in prison during the murders, so could not be the Boston Strangler, in real life he was out of prison on parole from 1961 to 1964, during some of the murders. While out of prison, Nassar killed Texaco station owner Irvin Hilton...