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Loading... A Death in Belmontby Sebastian Junger
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  michaelm42071 | Sep 4, 2009 |  A well told story. Junger does a great job of laying out the facts of not only the Spring 1963 murder of Bessie Goldberg but also the Boston Strangler case. No assumptions are made and when all is said and done, we, as readers, are left with the same questions we started with - Did Roy Smith kill Bessie Goldberg? Was Albert DeSalvo the Boston Strangler? And lastly, on a more personal note for the author - What if Junger's mother hadn't left their Belmont home that Spring day in 1963? Recommended for True Crime non-fiction fans - 3 1/2 stars (  ) WilowRaven | Jul 10, 2009 | I found this true life tale to be fascinating, if a bit gruesome. The story of the alleged Boston Strangler and the crossing of his path with that of the author's family. Sebastian Junger obviously did extensive research and it shows in the detail he is able to offer in descriptions of people, places, and events as well as placing them within the social context of the times. (  ) hemlokgang | Jan 31, 2009 | This is a very compelling book. Over the last 10-20 years most people so be aware of the 2 sides to the question of who the Boston Strangler was. This story is about the one man arrested and convicted of what is one of the real Strangler's victims, #8 Bessie Goldberg a resident of Belmont Massachusetts. It's about the investigation into her murder and the one and only suspect the police looked at: Roy Smith, a black man raised in Mississippi who had a history of run ins with the law, tho' nothing really violent. It also has a fascinating look at Albert DeSalvo who is known as the Boston Strangler from the observation and casual knowledge of the writer's mother, who for a brief time employed Albert DeSalvo on a building project to add a room to their home. The writer pulls you into the story from the first page and keeps the story flowing and your interest peaked. I picked this book up and read it straight thru. A must read. (  ) booknutzz | Dec 19, 2008 | This book was quite interesting. The question of whether DeSalvo was really the Boston Strangler and whether he committed the murder in Belmont has never been definitively answered, but it is pretty obvious what Junger believes (though he does well at keeping things relatively unbiased until the end). The story of Roy Smith is also undeniably tragic. Junger writes good, readable non-fiction. If you're at all interested in this case, I recommend this book. You can see a response from the victim's daughter at http://www.jaimesdesigns.com/bookblog... ( ) miyurose | Dec 12, 2008 |  no reviews | add a review
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The quiet suburb of Belmont, Massacuusetts, is in the grip of fear. The Boston Strangler murders have taken place nearby, and now there is another shocking sex crime, right in Belmont. The victim is Bessie Goldberg, a middle-aged woman who had hired a cleaning man to help out around the house on that fall day in 1963. He is a black man named Roy Smith. He did the appointed chores, collected his money and left a receipt on the kitchen table. Neighbors will say that he looked furtive when he walked down the street, that he was in a hurry, that he stopped to buy cigarettes, that he looked over his shoulder. They didn't see a black man in Belmont very often, so, of course, they noticed him. So the story went, and on these slender threads, and his own checkered history, Roy Smith is convicted of the Belmont murder and sent to prison.
On the day of the murder, Albert DeSalvo, an Italian-American handyman, is also in Belmont, working as a carpenter in the Junger home, where the picture is taken. Two years after his work for the Jungers, he confesses in vivid detail to the crimes of which the Boston Strangler is accused, and sent to prison, where he is stabbed to death by an inmate. But he never confesses to the Bessie Goldberg murder. Could he have left the Junger home, committed the murder a few blocks away and calmly returned to finish his day's work? Could Roy Smith really have been the guilty party, even though his sentence was commuted after De Salvo confessed?
In the grand tradition of his bestselling The Perfect Storm, Junger tells a terrific story, lining up all the elements, asking all the pertinent questions, digging into the backgrounds of both men, retelling his mother's very strange encounter with Albert when she is home alone with Sebastian. He then asks the larger questions: Was Roy Smith convicted summarily because he was black? Was Albert De Salvo really the Boston Strangler?
Junger cannot answer all the questions, as no one can. Without DNA, there is no way to be certain of which of the two men might have committed the rape and murder of Bessie Goldberg, or if neither of them is guilty. While it is frustrating not to know for sure, the story is fascinating, reads like a tautly plotted mystery thriller, and Junger's close connection is downright creepy. --Valerie Ryan
(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:58 -0400)
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Wikipedia in English (3)
DeSalvo was stabbed to death in a prison hospital in November, 1973, ten years after Roy Smith’s conviction. Roy Smith died of lung cancer in another prison hospital in 1976. Junger cannot prove that Smith was innocent and DeSalvo guilty of the Belmont strangling (the way it was told to him by his parents when he was a child), and during his investigation of the crimes and the people involved he is not always convinced that is the way it happened, but he seems to end with that conviction, though he admits it cannot be proved. (