Every now and then, I like to binge on true crime stories. This book, A Death in Belmont, written by Sebastian Junger is one of the best true crime stories I have read in a long time. Sebastian Junger is a fantastic investigative journalist whose most recent book, War,provides and excellent look at the war in Afghanistan. Mr. Junger followed a single platoon through their 15 month tour of duty. What sets A Death in Belmont apart from other true crime stories is that Sebastian Junger provides a personal angle to this very interesting story.In the summer of 1963, in Sebastian Junger's very own neighborhood in Belmont, Massachusetts, there was a murder. Bessie Goldberg, a middle aged woman, was found strangled by her husband when he returned home from work. It just so happened that on the day of Mrs. Goldberg's murder, the Goldberg family had hired Roy Smith, an African American man, to help Bessie clean the home to ready it for a party. It was reported to police that Roy Smith had had been observed walking the streets in the community, observed by many residents and shop keepers. Roy Smith was memorable simply because seeing an African american man walking the streets of this particular community was an uncommon occurrence. To give a little historical perspective, the strangulation of Bessie Goldberg was just the latest in a series of strangulations which had been occurring in the Boston area. Police were, consequently, under a great deal of pressure from the community to solve these crimes. As Mr. Junger describes ... the subsequent arrest of Roy Smith was perhaps just as much an illustration of the state of race relations and racial inequality in the criminal justice system as it was an indication of his guilt. Mr. Junger meticulously laid out the case against Roy Smith and although I'm not an expert in the field of criminal justice, the evidence seemed the flimsiest of circumstantial at best. As you might imagine, Roy Smith WAS ultimately convicted and sent to prison. Consequently, the police were off the hook and the community felt as if they could breathe a little easier.. after all, the 'strangler' had been caught.What was of particular interest in this story was Mr. Junger's personal connection. During that summer of 1963, Mr. Junger's family was having some work done on their home in their Belmont neighborhood. A carpenter on this work crew was Albert DeSalvo... the very Albert DeSalvo who ended up confessing to police that HE was the 'Boston Strangler'.. long after Roy Smith had been sent away to prison. Mr. Junger related that a strange incident between his mother and Mr. DeSalvo is what had inspired him to look into this story. DeSalvo confessed to the many strangulations which had terrified the city .... giving details and explanations.. for all except one. He did NOT confess to the strangulation of Bessie Goldberg.... even though he was clearly in the Goldberg's neighborhood that day, working in the Junger home. Albert DeSalvo was indeed convicted of the strangulations in Boston and Roy Smith continued to spend his life in prison. Ultimately, Roy Smith's sentence was commuted but sadly, when he was finally told he was to be released, he was in the prison infirmary dying from cancer. Mr. Junger carefully and methodically laid out the case against Albert DeSalvo in the same way he laid out the case against Roy Smith...he described each man's criminal history and the evidence against them. The truth is that there was very little in terms of evidence to go on... in 1963, DNA testing was not available. Through Mr. Junger's thorough investigative reporting, what you DO get is the feel of the injustice that was, and is, ever present in the criminal justice system. Although Roy Smith always maintained that he had not strangled Mrs.Goldberg, he also made it very clear to the police officers questioning him that he was certain that, in the end, it would not matter what he said or what evidence was actually presented.. he WOULD be found guilty. Sadly Roy Smith was quite accurate in his pronouncements. Not only was Sebastian Junger's book about the very compelling case of the 'Boston Strangler', it also served to illuminate the injustice and inequalities (yes, racism) that were present in our criminal justice system... both in 1963 and sadly, even now.
Sebastian Junger is a great non-fiction writer in any circumstance, but he's especially well-suited to cover the Boston Strangler story. Why? Well, because the man who was in all likelihood the culprit of said stranglings was also working on an addition to his family's house in 1962 in Belmont, Massachusetts. At the very least, the fact that his mother, Ellen, was home alone with this man on multiple occasions is a creepy anecdote.Of course, Junger's family connection to the case serves only as a starting point for an examination of a larger story (or stories). The first is of the murder of Bessie Goldberg in Belmont in 1963, a murder that closely fit the pattern of "the strangler," but for which (through an interesting series of events- read the book for these) an Oxford, Mississippi man, Roy Smith, was ultimately convicted. While there's no hard and fast conclusion that exonerates or condemns Smith, his story is, nevertheless, inextricably entwined with a closed-circuit and fallible legal system. However, it wasn't Roy Smith who was working in the Junger residence circa 1962, that man was Al DeSalvo. The DeSalvo story (which Junger covers reasonably well) is one you can read in any number of volumes on "the Boston Strangler," as he confessed to those murders. What Junger examines, though, is his potential involvement in the Belmont murder for which Smith was convicted. As far as true crime goes, this was a reasonably good book. While Junger undoubtedly points out some "miscarriages of justice" and certainly had me on board with his conclusion, his reasoning, at times, seemed flawed. In furthering his own case, Junger uses some of the same tautological arguments of innocent men acting innocent etc. that can result in false convictions; though, my take on that is heavily influenced by my recent reading of Mistakes Were Made (but not be me) .Junger did a great piece for Vanity Fair, "Alone with the Strangler," that covers some of the more interesting pieces of the book- so if this sounds more six pages worth of interesting to you than 288, go check that out.
What do You think about A Death In Belmont (2006)?
If you have never heard of the Boston Strangler, and you have absolutely zero knowledge of how a case is tried in court, you might find this book to be profound and exciting and give it 5 stars. However, as someone with even limited knowledge of courtroom procedure and someone who has read my share of serial killer/true crime books, this felt amateur, not to mention self-indulgent. So you briefly met a suspected serial killer when you were a kid. Ok. So you read a bunch of law books and can explain "burden of proof" as if talking to a 5th grader. Ok. This whole book just had a sense of arrogance from Junger. It was interesting enough to keep reading the 260 pages, but almost insufferable in terms of tone and style.
—Bridgette
This is a documentary on the Boston Strangler and Roy Smith who was a black man charged with killing a Boston surburb housewife. The murder had all the ear marks for the Boston Strangler but at the time it was the early 60's and blacks were being hauled to jail for crimes they did not commit.The reader can tell from the point of the author that Roy Smith was innocent and, in fact, from what he reveals it sounds like he was.I thought this was a good history of both Roy Smith and the Boston Strangler. It does bounce around a bit like the author is telling the story and something comes to him that he didn't mention before.
—Diane
Many years ago I was on an Ann Rule binge reading her vast library of true crime novels. One that was of interest, in part because it was set in Florida, was The Stranger Beside Me, an account of serial killer Ted Bundy. Before his name was in every household as a prolific murderer, Rule had worked next to Bundy as a volunteer at a suicide prevention center in Seattle, Washington, where she lived and worked. (Yes, really, Bundy was a volunteer for a suicide prevention crisis line.)Sebastian Junger (and more specifically Junger's mother) was also connected to a serial killer, the Boston Strangler, Albert DeSalvo who confessed to murdering 12 or 13 women. (It’s unclear the exact number since DeSalvo confessed then recanted. And one elderly woman died of a heart attack when she answered the door, thinking the man at the door was the Boston Strangler. Would this be considered murder?) I read Junger’s The Perfect Storm, twice within six months because I enjoyed it so much. However, A Death In Belmont, well, 'it ain’t no' In Cold Blood as the back cover states. 'For anyone who wants a lesson on legal procedures, this is a good book to read since Junger does much to explain the intricacies of the legal system. Other than that, Junger does a bang up job leaving me in the dark about DeSalvo and Roy Smith who was charged with the murder of Bessie Goldberg. Maybe Junger wrote this for his mother who, it appears, just barely escaped being an early victim. All in all, for me, just a so-so read.
—Cathy DuPont
