The Boston Strangler
After three murders of elderly women with the same M.O. (the victims were strangled and penetrated with foreign objects), the Boston police conclude that they have a serial killer on their hands. As the murders stretch over several police jurisdictions, a "Strangler Bureau" is set up to coordinate the investigations, with John S. Bottomly (Henry Fonda) appointed as its head. Several suspects are interrogated, with all cleared of the murders.
As the body count grows, Bottomly, in desperation, calls in a psychic, Peter Hurkos (George Voskovec), who pinpoints a man who seems to fit the profile. The (severely masochistic) man is taken in for psychiatric observation for ten days, but nothing conclusive tying him to the murders is found. There is another murder during the time the man is under observation, clearing him of suspicion.
While the 1963 funeral of John F. Kennedy is on television, Albert DeSalvo (Tony Curtis) leaves his wife and children under the pretext of work. Instead, he gains entry into the apartment of a woman by posing as a plumber sent by the building supervisor. He attacks her, tying her to her bed with rags ripped from her dress. But when DeSalvo is taken aback by the sight of himself in a mirror as he tries to subdue the woman, she struggles free and bites his hand. DeSalvo flees.
At a later date, he tries to enter the apartment of another woman only to find that her husband is home. DeSalvo is apprehended by a passing police patrol. Found incompetent to stand trial for attempted breaking and entering, he is committed to a hospital for psychiatric observation. By chance, Bottomly and Detective Phil DiNatale (George Kennedy) pass by in an elevator where they had been visiting the woman who survived the earlier attack. Observing the wound on DeSalvo's hand (the woman who survived attack could only remember biting him, not how he looked), the pair soon finds him a prime suspect for the Boston Strangler murders.
Conventional interrogation is ineffective because the treating physician theorizes that DeSalvo suffers from a split personality; he has two identities that are unaware of each other, his "normal" personality fabricating memories in place of the memories of murder committed by the "strangler" personality. The treating physician theorizes that DeSalvo could be made to confront the facts, but that the shock of this realization risks putting him in a catatonic state. Bottomly expresses the opinion that this outcome is the next best thing to a conviction.
Under the condition (imposed by DeSalvo's defense counsel) that none of what comes to light is admissible in court, Bottomly is allowed a final round of interviews with DeSalvo. After several sessions, Bottomly manages to reveal DeSalvo's hidden personality to himself. Reeling from the shock, DeSalvo slips into a catatonic state.
paranormal, psychedelic, murder, flashback