A Girl Who Kept Hearing Voices First Thought There Was a 'Ghost' in Her Home. The Truth Freaked Her Out More.
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A teenage boy from Massachusetts tormented a pair of sisters for months, got arrested for it, and then went on to commit a triple murder in his neighborhood after getting released, police said.
For weeks in 1987, Daniel LaPlante kept his classmate Tina Bowen and her sister on their toes with his actions in their home in Townsend, Indy100 reported.
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LaPlante became obsessed with Tina Bowen, a 15-year-old girl who was attending the same school as him, ATI reported. Over the Easter holidays, LaPlante took Tina Bowen out on a date. After coming back to school, Tina Bowen was told by some students that LaPlante was facing rape charges. Their relationship came to a close after the revelation.
LaPlante was not ready to give up on Tina Bowen, and during the late fall of 1986, found his way into the Bowen house at 93 Lawrence Street, in Pepperell, near Townsend, ATI reported. He hid himself in a small crawl space, no wider than six inches, to keep an eye on Tina Bowen. Later on, he decided to torture the entire family psychologically.
Tina Bowen and her sister who had lost their mother recently used an Oijua board to connect with the departed soul, ATI reported. LaPlante began to impersonate as a ghost, to scare the girls. The sisters started to notice rearranged items, and food items being mysteriously consumed.
LaPlante upped the ante by emptying alcohol bottles and scrawling messages like “marry me” and “I’m in your room. Come and find me,” on the walls, with mayonnaise and ketchup, ATI reported.
The girls got very afraid and went to their father, Frank Bowen, Indy100 reported. Their father did not pay attention to their claims and thought that they were playing pranks on each other. He finally believed them when one day, the family returned home to find their toilet being used.
Frank Bowen searched the entire property and found LaPlante hiding in a wardrobe, Indy100 reported.
LaPlante threatened the family with a wrench and a hatchet and ordered them to go inside a bedroom, ATI reported. He then hid himself somewhere in the residence.
Tina Bowen managed to escape from a window and called the police. Authorities searched the house for two days and found LaPlante tucked away in the cellar.
Seeing the condition of the space where he was found, authorities guessed that the teenager had been living there for weeks, ATI reported. LaPlante was arrested and kept in a juvenile facility.
His mother remortgaged their house and arranged for his bail. He walked out in October 1987, and two months later murdered three people, the outlet reported.
On November 16, 1987, LaPlante burglarized the home of the Gustafson family, ATI reported. The family included school teacher, Priscilla Gustafson, who was pregnant, her husband Andrew Gustafson, and their two children, 5-year-old William and 7-year-old Abigail.
On December 1, LaPlante came back again, with a gun, and this time, found Priscilla Gustafson and her son, William, ATI reported.
LaPlante threatened the mother with a gun and led her to the bedroom where he raped her. He locked William in the cupboard, as per retired Pepperell Lieutenant, Thomas Lane, the outlet reported.
LaPlante shot Priscilla Gustafson two times in her head and drowned William. While leaving the house he encountered Abigail, who had arrived from school. He took her to one of the bathrooms and drowned her, too, the outlet reported.
Andrew Gustafson found his wife's dead body and called the police, ATI reported. Forensic evidence connected LaPlante to the crime and he was arrested after a manhunt.
He went on trial and was sentenced to three life sentences. In 2017, he appealed his sentences but the judge upheld them.