Strangler's family wants prosecutors to reopen case

BOSTON -- Relatives of a man long-suspected of being the Boston Strangler on Friday accused prosecutors of stonewalling rather than reopening the case using new DNA evidence to find the real culprit.

The families of Albert DeSalvo, who confessed to the murders but later recanted, said authorities have ignored inconsistencies between DeSalvo's confession and the 11 killings.

A team of forensic scientists exhumed the body of Mary Sullivan, believed to be the strangler's last victim, more than a year ago and DeSalvo's body six weeks ago. They revealed Thursday that tests on her clothing and remains found DNA from two individuals other than Sullivan -- neither was DeSalvo.

But Julian Soshnick, a prosecutor who worked on the original investigation, said the new tests do not prove DeSalvo's innocence.

Soshnick said DeSalvo accurately described what type of ligatures were used and how he tied them around the victims' necks.