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When Darkness Calls Part Two
3.5k Plays2 years ago
This Halloween, thirteen true crime podcasts (including Coffee and Cases) come together to share dark and disturbing stories. From haunted houses to serial killers, these tales will send chills down your spine and keep you up at night. Join us for this special 2-part Halloween episode entitled "When Darkness Calls" as we explore the darkest corners of humanity. But be warned: these stories are not for the faint of heart. When darkness calls, how will YOU respond? Listener discretion is advised.
Podcasts are listed here in order of appearance:
Part 1:
- True Crime South Africa https://linktr.ee/truecrimesouthafrica
- True Crime Cat Lawyer https://linktr.ee/truecrimecatlawyer
- Private Dicks https://linktr.ee/privatedicks
- Coffee and Cases https://linktr.ee/coffeeandcases
- Teachers Talk Crime: https://linktr.ee/teacherstalkcrime
- Excuse Me, That’s Illegal https://linktr.ee/excusemethatsillegal.pod
- Fresh Hell Podcast https://freshhellpodcast.com
Part 2:
- Twisted Travel and True Crime https://linktr.ee/twistedtraveltruecrimepodcast
- Body to Burial https://linktr.ee/bodytoburial
- Till Death Do Us Part https://linktr.ee/tilldeathdouspartpodcast
- Unethical Podcast https://linktr.ee/unethicalpodcast
- PNW Haunts & Homicides https://www.pnwhauntsandhomicides.com/
- True CrimeCast (https://linktr.ee/truecrimecast)
Recommended
Transcript
Into the Woods and the Unknown
00:00:01
Speaker
We continue our journey through the woods, deeper into the darkness. We still hear its soft, enticing, and unmistakable voice calling to us. We keep walking as we ponder how to respond. We can hear the sound of something moving in the bushes, but we cannot see what it is. We quicken
Around the Campfire: Experts Gather
00:00:21
Speaker
our pace, eager to reach the clearing where the final six podcast hosts are waiting.
00:00:27
Speaker
We finally reach the clearing and we see them gathered around a campfire. They are the ones who will lead us into those darkest corners of the human psyche and the supernatural realm. So gather round, dear listener, as the forest darkens around us.
Chilling Tales with Sandy from Twisted Travel and True Crime
00:00:46
Speaker
Sandy from Twisted Travel and True Crime is who we see first. She specializes in unsolved murders, a host whose voice is a chilling breeze on a moonless night. Her stories will take us down dark and twisted paths where we will learn about the dark side of human nature.
00:01:08
Speaker
Rebecca Gay loved the spooky season. Her home in Mount Pleasant trailer park in Michigan stood out among the sea of tiny homes because it was covered in scarecrows. With 13 of them adorning her mobile home and tiny yard, Rebecca was excited to take her three-year-old Conway trick-or-treating for the first time.
00:01:27
Speaker
It was a season of firsts for her, as she had recently acquired her own home, a place she could decorate to her heart's content. And for Rebecca, scarecrows were a must-have for all Hallows' Eve. Her journey hadn't been easy, but at age 24, things were looking up for her. She and her fiancé, Aaron, were finally going to move into their very own home.
00:01:51
Speaker
Rebecca and her son Conway bid farewell to the comfort of Erin's parents' house in August. With the help of her extended family, they moved into the mobile home she was renting. The move brought her closer to her workplace and to her mother's home, which was a blessing for both of them. Erin planned to join them once he found a job closer to Rebecca.
00:02:14
Speaker
Although she longed for Aaron's presence, Rebecca knew she had to be patient. She relied on her side of the family for support, and they were always there for her. They attended Christ Community Fellowship Church together, where Rebecca's mother was engaged to John White, the pastor.
The Mystery of Rebecca Gay's Disappearance
00:02:32
Speaker
John became involved in Rebecca's life babysitting Conway and assisting both Rebecca and her mother whenever he could. He even helped Rebecca set up her new trailer. They teased her about her spooky decorations and listened to her excitedly talk about Conway's Halloween costume and their plans for the holiday. Rebecca had arranged to work the earliest shift on Halloween day. That way she would have plenty of time to pick up Conway and get him ready for trick or treating.
00:03:01
Speaker
However, when Rebecca didn't show up for work that morning, her coworkers grew concerned. She was always punctual, so her absence was unusual. They tried calling her cell phone, but it went straight to voicemail. Worried, they decided to check on her at her house. Her car wasn't in the driveway, but they saw it across the street, backed into some brush behind a local bar. The bar was locked, as was Rebecca's home.
00:03:30
Speaker
Growing increasingly worried, her coworkers contacted her landlord, who came to unlock the door. Rebecca was nowhere to be found, but her purse sat on the kitchen table. It was one of her prized possessions, and she wouldn't go anywhere without it. Her cell phone and keys were missing. As they searched the house, they noticed the living room carpet was matted down, except for one small area, and there were small red stains on it.
00:03:58
Speaker
Alarmed, they called the police and informed Rebecca's family and friends, who immediately joined in the search. Thankfully, they discovered that Conway was safe and with his biological father. The police interviewed Rebecca's family and friends, starting with Aaron, who had last spoken to her the night before her disappearance. He mentioned that they had a pleasant conversation, but when he texted her on Halloween morning, she didn't reply.
00:04:26
Speaker
It seemed as though the message hadn't gone through at all. This was unusual as they hadn't been fighting and Rebecca typically charged her phone and was responsive. The police believed Aaron's genuine concern and cleared him of suspicion. Next, they turned their attention to Chad, Rebecca's ex and Conway's father. He cooperated with the police, stating that he and Rebecca had been co-parenting well without any major issues.
00:04:54
Speaker
He grew frustrated with the constant questioning as he wanted to join the search for the person who had taken Rebecca. The police tended to believe him too, leaving them puzzled. There were no signs of forced entry at Rebecca's home. So the police concluded that Rebecca had likely been abducted by someone she knew and trusted.
00:05:15
Speaker
As they built a timeline for her disappearance, they discovered that Rebecca was supposed to meet Chad at a Myers department store parking lot to exchange custody of Conway. However, John, her soon to be father-in-law, had dropped off Conway instead without Rebecca informing Chad about the change in plans. The investigators turned their eyes towards John, who had been actively involved in the search efforts for Rebecca and had willingly cooperated with the police.
00:05:45
Speaker
They discovered that he was the pastor at the local church and that he had reached out to his congregation that morning, urging them to assist in the search for Rebecca and pray for her safe return. He said that he had gone to Rebecca's trailer to babysit Conway that morning. He arrived at six-thirty and heard Rebecca getting ready for work. He fell asleep on the couch and was later woken by Conway, and Rebecca had gone.
00:06:11
Speaker
Given that John was the last person known to have been in Rebecca's presence, the police requested that he take a polygraph test. Initially hesitant, John eventually agreed to undergo the test. Since the police department in Mount Pleasant, Michigan didn't have its own polygraph machine, they planned to take John to the nearest one, in Lansing, approximately an hour away. During the drive, the officer who was accompanying him engaged in small talk, hoping to ease his nervousness.
00:06:40
Speaker
The officer asked John about his background and personal life, eventually broaching the topic of his concerns about the polygraph. John admitted he was worried because he had a criminal past, revealing that he had been involved in an attempted murder case that was ultimately dismissed. It resulted in a two-year prison sentence. The thing was, John wasn't telling everything about his past.
00:07:06
Speaker
Unlike the scarecrows that decorated Rebecca's house, this officer had a brain. He pulled up John's criminal record, and to his astonishment he discovered that the man who presented himself as a devoted preacher had a far from saintly past. In 1980, when John was just 22 years old and living with his family in Battle Creek, Michigan, he invited his 17-year-old neighbor, Teresa Atherton, to his basement, under the pretense of showing her his racetrack.
00:07:36
Speaker
Teresa, being a kind-hearted girl, likely feigned interest out of politeness. However, as she turned to face the racetrack, John viciously stabbed her under the right shoulder blade. With a chilling smile on his face, he continued to stab her a total of fourteen times, before choking her and callously uttering the words, You're going to go now.
00:08:01
Speaker
Miraculously, Teresa survived this brutal attack, and John White was arrested. He did go to jail, and he did only serve two years. Fast forward to 1994. John was still married to his first wife, despite his troubled past. Yes, I can't explain that one. His wife was pregnant with their third child when John started an affair with a co-worker named Vicki Wall.
00:08:31
Speaker
When Vicky suddenly disappeared, suspicion immediately fell on John. He initially denied any involvement in her disappearance, claiming he had no knowledge of what happened to her.
00:08:42
Speaker
However, when he was confronted with surveillance footage showing Vicki getting into a large pickup truck with a bearded man in the Meyer parking lot, he admitted to meeting her, but insisted he was alive when he left her. As the detectives continued their investigation, Vicki's relatives looked for her body, convinced she was buried nearby. Their worst fears were confirmed six weeks later, when a resident stumbled upon a gruesome scene.
00:09:08
Speaker
Her body was decomposed and partially covered by a shirt and bra around her neck. The autopsy couldn't determine the cause of death, but the pathologist believed it was a homicide. John was charged with murder. However, due to the lack of conclusive evidence and the difficulty in determining the cause of death, he ultimately pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
00:09:32
Speaker
Police believe that John's motive for killing Vicki was that she was pressuring him about their affair, and maybe she threatened to tell his wife. The judge recognized John's dangerous nature and sentenced him to the maximum term of 8 to 15 years in prison.
00:09:48
Speaker
After serving nearly thirteen years, he was released and relocated to Mount Pleasant, where he took on the persona of Pastor White, fiancé to Sally, an all-around good guy. Except he wasn't. If there was good in John, it was that he would eventually admit to police what he had done to Rebecca that Halloween morning.
00:10:09
Speaker
Behind closed doors he had scoured the darkest corners of the internet, immersing himself in depravity and feeding his dark desires. The screen flickered with images that fascinated and repulsed him. Murder and necrophilia were consistently on his mind. That night, as Rebecca tucked her son into bed and kissed him good night, she had no idea that it would be for the last time.
00:10:34
Speaker
At two in the morning she was sleeping peacefully when she was startled awake by a chilling sound and a sense of panic. She walked out of her room, her heart pounding in her chest, worried that her son was up, or something worse. In a horrifying instant John pounced on her, his face contorted with a mixture of madness and sadistic pleasure.
00:10:55
Speaker
He held a rubber mallet in his hand, and with brutal force he struck her repeatedly. Her cries for help were drowned out by the sickening thud of the mallet as it connected with her head. Rebecca, in the midst of the brutal attack, recognized her assailant. She managed to utter the words, I know you, before John tightened a zip-tie around her neck, strangling her. Then he had his way with her.
00:11:21
Speaker
John's true nature came to the surface in the early hours of Halloween morning, leaving Sally, Rebecca's mother, in a state of profound shock. Not only had she lost her beloved daughter, but she found out that she had fallen in love with the murderer. In the courtroom, as the judge pronounced the sentence, John gazed around the room with an unsettling detachment, seeming unaffected by the pain he had inflicted on Rebecca and her loved ones.
00:11:47
Speaker
The judge handed down a severe sentence condemning him to between 56 and 85 years in prison.
00:11:56
Speaker
You are safe from John Douglas White this Halloween, but be aware of all the other ghosts, ghouls, and things that go bump in the night. If you'd like to hear more details about this case, I'd like to invite you to listen to the extended version called The Devil's Disguise, The Murder of Rebecca Gay.
Supernatural Insights with Paranormal Investigators
00:12:12
Speaker
Thanks for listening to Twisted Travel and True Crime, and for all the good things you do to support these podcasts. I wish you all fair winds, following seas, and the safest of Halloween nights.
00:12:26
Speaker
Nikki and Mariah, the hosts of Body to Burial, speak each week to experts who have seen and heard things that will make our blood run cold. Their tails are like a pair of haunting eyes, ever watching in the darkness, ready to reveal the truth behind the unexplained in crimes, in death, and in what might happen after.
00:12:52
Speaker
This week's episode, I think you're just going to be so excited about. I feel like it speaks to your soul and I'm really excited for you to hear it and participate. So we have two gentlemen joining us today, which I guess is actually another body to burial first for us.
00:13:13
Speaker
We have a duo. So we have Matthew and Matthew is a Chicago fire department firefighter. And we have David, who is a Chicago police officer. I'm sure you're wondering why do we have a firefighter and a police officer? What's
00:13:32
Speaker
Why am I so jazzed about that? Yeah, I am. Right, right. Well, the dynamic duo of Matt and David, they also have a little side hustle, which, you know, I love, paranormal investigators. I love, I love that. You know, I love that. Yeah. So, you know, Mary, all the fun stuff. All I want to do right now is sing the Ghostbusters theme song, but I won't do that to our listeners, but it's literally on loop in my brain right now.
00:14:01
Speaker
Oh my God. No, that is really a different side hustle than what their normal job is. That's right. Incredible. Actually. Yes. Oh, you know, I love ghost stuff. Okay. Yeah. I'm excited. Well, let me go grab them. Oh, okay. Hello, Matthew. David. Can you hear us? This is Dave. Can you hear me? Yay. Yes. Hello.
00:14:26
Speaker
And I'm on two. Yay. Thank you both for taking the time to talk to us. I appreciate you indulging in our request to have you guys. Nikki is obsessed with paranormal, all the shows. And so this is really exciting for her to have you guys. Yeah, I really am so excited.
00:14:46
Speaker
Let's jump into it. I think the first question we have to get out of the way is how did this come about? I call it a side hustle, but how did you guys go from being a firefighter, police officer to deciding to investigate paranormal activities? How do you even get into that? What sparked the idea? Matt, do you want to start?
00:15:07
Speaker
Yeah, sure. So me and Dave met, Dave had already been investigating and, uh, I was actually out on the street with the fire truck collecting for, uh, make a wish, you know, shake the boot, collect the money for kids and stuff like that. And, uh, David rolled up in the, what we call MISTI, which is our command center. I saw his police shirt and I'm like, what kind of special, I thought it was like a special unit with the Chicago police department. So I'm like, Oh, what's going on here? Who are you? And he goes, well, I'm not sure if you believe it or not, but I'm a paranormal investigator. And I'm like, get out of here. You know,
00:15:37
Speaker
We had like, we had like two, like maybe 30 seconds to a minute to actually converse because it was like the delight had turned green. He was off to his, uh, one of his other jobs. I went back to collecting and I thought about it later. I sent Dave an email. I looked them up. I looked up all his evidence and I had been interested in the paranormal, never really did any investigations. So I looked up his stuff and, uh, looked them up, sent them an email, say, Hey, I'd love to join you, you know, check out an investigation.
00:16:04
Speaker
And I think maybe a month or two, something came up and, uh, yeah. So it's been, I don't even know how long that's been maybe eight years, Dave. So then how did you, I know that's going to sound like, what is that six cents? Like I see dead people, but like, how did you even get into that? Like where you could know how to do it, all that stuff.
00:16:26
Speaker
I've become... I'm still skeptical, of course, because that's what I have to be. You gotta be even I am at times. You can't be all in paranormal. You gotta look at both angles.
00:16:40
Speaker
I had to see it to believe it. And then one of the first full body apparition that we captured on camera was like, it blew my mind. I'm like, I couldn't believe it. Cause I was like, yeah, like I was there. I knew what was going on. I mean, I, we didn't see it physically with our eyes. Uh, actually I wasn't even in the room when it happened, but David took it to take a series of pictures with a full spectrum camera. And later on through evidence review, he finds this like full body shadow. No.
00:17:07
Speaker
Yeah. It almost looked like a civil war soldier or somebody in a jumpsuit. It was an old, it was a building that used to be used. Yeah. The Inglewood alarm office. Yeah. That is so interesting to me. Do people call you and say, Hey, I think my house is haunted or you just kind of go to different kind of known. Both. I get a lot of.
00:17:30
Speaker
A lot of emails all the time from Facebook messages to the website, emails, word of mouth. And, you know, when I first started this, I used to try to go to all of them, but it just can't do it because with Matt, myself, and some of the other members, you know, sometimes we got to take off work. It's costing money.
00:17:50
Speaker
you know, using a vacation day or we can do it. So we try to pick and choose which ones are important or which ones we would really like to go to. And then after doing an investigation, it takes days, weeks to go through everything and match everything up. So we try to pick and choose the ones that need help, you know, the good ones.
00:18:11
Speaker
So cause I had, I had told Mariah this a really long time ago, but I had an apartment. I moved out of it two months early cause I swear it was haunted. And then one of my, it really was like, sir. And then one of my friends from work, she was telling me to like sage the place. And then she was telling me to tell it to go to the light. So I turned on the TV as loud as I could, because I was afraid it was going to tell me no.
00:18:37
Speaker
And so I did that and nothing happened, but I got, um, I got a dog and after I got my dog, things kind of settled down a little bit, but I still moved out early. And then when you guys low, like say you went to my apartment and you're like, yeah, there's a creeper in here. What would you do to get them to try and go away?
00:18:58
Speaker
Well, you know, depending on what your beliefs are, there's different things you can do. But when it comes to like apartments, you might have to do a daily, weekly, monthly enough to see what works. But usually when we cleanse ourself, our equipment and stuff after an investigation, we use White Sage, we use Palo Santo, Holywood. And then I have what is called Dragon's Blood. It's basically sage, but it's like a has a reddish tint to it. And it's a little, little more kick to it.
00:19:23
Speaker
Okay. I'll use anything. I'll use it all. It doesn't. I also have, uh, what is it? Frankincense and mirth. That that's what a lot of the churches use, you know, especially when it comes to, uh, like a, you know, a funeral and a body pass. And if you see like the, the priest or the pastor with, um, the incense going around the body and most of the time that's like Frankincense and mirth. So sometimes I'll use that, uh, maybe for a spirit to go into the light or go to the next step.
00:19:52
Speaker
Have, have you ever encountered evil, I guess, because there's probably just like, you know, grandma that passed and she likes her house and she's hanging out or, you know, but then there's also the dangerous type ones, I guess, is that a few, until I experienced it myself and like, it's the max, uh, pretty much the same way. Correct. Until we experienced it ourselves, you know, I'll keep an open mind, but sometimes I'll be like, Oh, that's full of beep, you know,
00:20:19
Speaker
Once I experienced it or it comes something close to it, then I'm like, Oh my God, there's something to that. Yeah. Yeah. There's a few cases that opened my eyes that there's looks like there's evil out there. And from my experiences dealing with different psychic mediums that I trust and stuff.
00:20:36
Speaker
You know, whatever the reason is, you got earthbound spirits and you got more sinister evil stuff if that's what you believe. That's what I'm telling them to believe now. But earthbound is just for whatever reason, the spirits did not move on to the next step. Whatever you decide that next step is, they just stayed earthbound.
00:20:57
Speaker
And then they say, if you haven't moved on to the next step, you know, in your earthbound, you're going to be that same person you were when you were living. So if you were a crab, you old man or old lady and you're in their house, they might be treating you the same way. You know, so I do get a lot of get out, get out of here, get out. So that's probably the old man thinking I'm trespassing. How is that? Oh yeah. Like where you can hear, like where you can hear something that says like, get out.
00:21:22
Speaker
Yes, I get that a lot. No help me and a lot of get outs. And when you hear like weeks later, when you do your, finish the investigation, that's when you're listening to the get outs or can you hear it right then and there, you know, that there is times it's not often, but there's times, especially if you're a little more sensitive, like sometimes it seems like I'm able to tune in a little more than some of the other people where I could hear my own, my own ears. But, uh,
00:21:49
Speaker
There's times you get to hear stuff with your own ears, disembodied voices that comes through strong where you don't need the frequencies of the voice recorders or the mics picking it up. Sometimes we're able to hear it, but there's something out there. I think it's spirits, but if not, maybe it's another dimension of some type or tapping into something. But there's definitely, and I say you would agree, Matt, there's intelligent spirits or whatever you want to call it out there that could communicate back.
00:22:15
Speaker
And there's trapped energy residual energy that no matter if you're there or not, it's going to make that same noise, same footsteps, same door open. This is for some reason, some energies being trapped in that, that area or that house or whatever you want to call it that room.
00:22:31
Speaker
And you think that's, they've already gone, let's just say to the light or like beyond and, but their energy, a little bit of their energies there. It could be something I'll give you an example of on a case that we handled. I don't think you were at that one, Matt, but, uh, there was a house in Wisconsin where this lady was complaining about a male spirit that will lean against the fireplace.
00:22:54
Speaker
from the fireplace, it would go down the hallway to her room, stand over her, and then back to the fireplace. That's the route it would take. It had nothing to do with the house. And she physically could see him? Yes. Like it's the physical thing? Yes. Okay. So she had the same spirit at the house she lived in before. So she moved to this new house. She was there six months, still experiencing that spirit, among other stuff that I could get into later. But anyway,
00:23:20
Speaker
when we were there, we're investigating, somehow we linked this fireplace, it was a fake fireplace, and she was an artist. So she saw it on the curbside at her old place, and didn't know really the history on it. She's like, Oh, this is a nice, nice piece of art, you know, and she fixed it up. And from that place brought it to her new place. And they had this male spirit. So we link that this male spirit was attached to this piece, you know, the fireplace. Yeah. So
00:23:47
Speaker
that night, she had us get rid of it. And from that point on, she never saw it again. But we found out later interviewing old neighbors that the guy who made this piece committed suicide. And this was his favorite piece. And then when once he died, you know, they removed all his belongings and put them on the curb and earns whatever. And that's when she picked it up. But so that that male spirit who committed suicide was attached to this favorite fireplace. Yeah.
00:24:15
Speaker
Does that happen a lot? Cause I've heard of that too. That's why my husband's like never get anything from a flea market. I'm cautious myself when it comes to that, but they say, uh, some of the mediums that we deal with in, you know, I can't say it works a hundred percent. They preach.
00:24:33
Speaker
that if you're going to buy anything, use any antiques, garage sales, have a bottle filled with water and sea salt, a spray bottle and spray the item before putting it in your car. And they kind of compare it to like, if you're cooking with a Teflon pan, how nothing sticks to it. So when you coat it with the sea salt and water, that energy is supposed to slide. Yeah. Yeah. That's cause that just reminded me of what I was going to ask you before was can anything come home with you, like get attached to you?
00:25:02
Speaker
Yes. Um, I, I wasn't a believer in that. I thought that was full of crap. Excuse my expression, but until, until I experienced it myself, at least a handful of times. And it took that to get me into saging and protecting myself, family, you know, other team members with, you know, saging after an investigation because there's been a handful of times, thank God, nothing bad. You know, I, even one time I had, uh,
00:25:28
Speaker
family over from out of state and they experienced it too and never had a problem with my house until I started this. And it's just something like my very first investigation where I had someone follow me. I think it's something that I knew they knew I saw it or heard it and just want us to continue to communicate. So it's tugging me, tugging my shirt. And this is all new to me. I have to admit I made like a little baby to my wife. You know,
00:25:55
Speaker
You know, I remember I was in the kitchen and we just had the basement already done with a nice family room and stuff put down there and I'm in the kitchen. I think I was cooking dinner and I get like three or four tugs on my my shirt. I mean, really hard where it's pulling them like and I jump and I look, you know, and I look and there's no one around and there's nothing I could have got hooked on. And I was like a Scooby Doo, you know, running down and this just happened to me, you know.
00:26:24
Speaker
And you know, you're only human until you start experiencing it. But I was in the shower and I hear a male's voice whispering in my ear. And this was from the same investigation. But I jumped out like a little kid. I hate to admit, but I tore down the shower curtains and I was just stunned. I'm like, what the?
00:26:43
Speaker
it's going on here. But so yeah, it took that for me to start learning, you know, through the help of the psychic mediums, we deal with how to protect myself, you know, the house, my wife, daughter. Yeah, the last thing I want to do is bring something home and then have them, you know, being bothered with stuff. So yeah, but you know, it's a matter of telling them, okay, I know you're here. You're not welcome. It's time for you to leave. You know, very respectful because you know, it
00:27:10
Speaker
It could be someone's mother, father, grandfather, whatever. You know, so talk to it like you and I are talking and just, you know, sometimes you have to give it demands and then go through the process of staging every room, every corner of the room. And, you know, there's certain ways of doing things and, you know, tell it to leave. And it was no problem. I'd never experienced it again.
00:27:32
Speaker
Does it usually leave? Like, well, what is that normal like for it to go with doing all those steps? Yeah, it depends. They say in like, I can't prove this, but this is what I've been told. Uh, you know, for people in that field, uh, like the psychic mediums that go with a plant, you know,
00:27:51
Speaker
cleansing homes and stuff, they say you can't force an unwilling earthbound spirit to leave. There's things you could do to decrease its energy with saging. You might maybe force it out of the house, but it could possibly come back. This is why you got to continue.
00:28:08
Speaker
Melissa and Daniel from Till Death Do Us Part podcast study the murders, myths, and legends of the world. They bring revealing tales of restless spirits that drift through the darkness like this one yearning to find their way home.
00:28:26
Speaker
Hello and welcome to Till Death Do Us Part. I'm Daniel. And I'm his lovely wife, Melissa. Yes, she is. Now, I usually tell Daniel and our 11 listeners true crime cases involving couples whose love story eventually turned into murder.
00:28:47
Speaker
But today I'm going to share with all of you a haunting. The haunting of the Banff Springs Hotel, which is now known as the Fairmont Banff Springs. Banff. Say that without spitting. Banff-a-fa. I want to go. Is that expensive? Yeah. Nope, I don't want to go anymore.
00:29:09
Speaker
This majestic hotel is located in Canada's Rocky Mountains in the heart of Banff National Park in Banff, Alberta, Canada.
Haunted Histories: Banff Springs and Beyond
00:29:20
Speaker
How many more times are you going to say Banff-a-Fuff?
00:29:22
Speaker
Hopefully no more because I can hardly say it. It was opened in 1888 by the Canadian Pacific Railway as a retreat for traveling businessmen. The original structure was a five-story wood frame and was able to accommodate 280 guests. The hotel drew its water from the nearby natural springs. The pipe system filled the hotel's pool with thermal spring water.
00:29:51
Speaker
Oh, that's kind of awesome. That sounds lovely. A luxurious oasis for only $3.50 a night. Deal. Which is about $120 today.
00:30:04
Speaker
Is it $120 a day to stay there? It is not. I just looked it up. It's about $500 to $600 a night. What? But it is Halloween. It is October. Yeah. But in 1926, there was a devastating fire that burned the wooden structure to the ground. A new steel structure was built in its place using limestone rock from nearby Mount Rundle.
00:30:29
Speaker
The Banff Springs Hotel was built by the workmanship of hundreds of Italian stone cutters and Scottish stonemasons. So it's quite a structure now. It's gorgeous. Yeah, like it's not going to blow away. No. And this has helped to give the hotel its nickname of the Castle in the Rockies. Nice. It very much looks like a castle. In the last few decades, the hotel has given way to a few ghost tales.
00:30:58
Speaker
and I'm about to tell you those. That's good because I believe in ghosts. No you don't. No. Don't lie to these good people that are listening right now. It's fine. He does not believe in the paranormal or anything of that nature. No, so I would gladly stay in a haunted hotel because it's not going to be haunted and it's probably going to be my best night's sleep ever.
00:31:19
Speaker
Well, first we have the ghost bride. She's been seen dancing in the ballroom or walking up one of the marble staircases, her face shrouded behind a white veil. It is said that this specter is the ghost of a young woman who was due to be married on the hotel grounds in the early 1930s.
00:31:41
Speaker
When, as she was walking down the staircase to the waiting arms of her soon-to-be husband, her gown caught on fire by one of the many candles that adorned the stairwell. The bride stepped on the hem of her dress, causing her to lose her footing and fall forward to the bottom of the marble staircase. The bride snapped her neck in the process and died.
00:32:06
Speaker
The ghost bride has never left the Grand Hotel, and she spends her nights searching for her lost love. Okay, so she not only catches fire, but she trips, falls, and breaks her neck while her dress is on fire. It's like a triple threat. Holy crap. I already forgot. But when did the thing burn to the ground? 1927. Okay. So this was right before that. This was after. This was after. This was in the 1930s. Okay.
00:32:36
Speaker
The bride's haunting is so well known that in 2014 a collector coin and stamp were distributed to commemorate her story. But she doesn't have a name, so that's interesting. Another resident ghost is known by his Christian name, a Mr. Samuel McCauley, a Scotsman.
00:32:56
Speaker
Mr. McCauley was the lead bellman at the hotel in the 1960s up through the 1970s. He loved the hotel so much that on his death bed in 1975, Sam said that he would return to the Banff Springs after his death to haunt its halls. And he does. So there is life after death. It gives you something to do. You have something to look forward to. I just love that he's like, I'm going to haunt the halls. Please don't. Wow.
00:33:26
Speaker
Guests of the hotel have encountered this helpful and friendly bellhop wearing an out-of-date bellhop's uniform with a strong Scottish brogue. But when offered a tip, he just vanishes. One of the most famous tales was that of two women who had locked themselves out of their hotel room. They headed down to the front desk and waited for the bellhop on duty for 15 minutes.
00:33:51
Speaker
The women decided to walk back up to their room. Once they were back at their door, a man in an older looking bellhop uniform approached them and unlocked their hotel room door. They thanked the man and he happily walked away. I have a serious question. What's that? Okay. I come out in an old bellhop uniform, walk around the house. What do you think? Does that work for you or no? I'm not giving you a tip for that. Really?
00:34:22
Speaker
Maybe. Okay, but it kind of is scary that he can just get into any room, right? Yeah, because there's no privacy. No, there's no privacy at this hotel now. Sam is also seen in his old office on the mezzanine floor, which has been converted into an actual guest room. But the saddest tale of all is that of room 873. I also read that it was room 875. Well, they're next door to each other.
00:34:51
Speaker
I think so. A young family was staying in the room, and one night the husband and wife began arguing. The husband went down to the hotel bar and became intoxicated. He grabbed a large knife from the kitchen and stabbed his wife and daughter to death in room 873 or 875, and then turned the knife on himself.
00:35:14
Speaker
Guests of the room have complained of hearing disembodied screams and shrieks in the middle of the night. If they dared turn on the light, they would see bloody handprints on the bathroom mirror that could not be washed away. Due to the paranormal activity within those four walls, management made the decision to brick up the entrance to the room.
00:35:38
Speaker
Recent guests who are permitted on the 8th floor have said that there is no room 873 or 875 even though the baseboard is cut where a door used to be. There is a light hanging over an empty space on the wall where a door should be. It is also said that if you knock on an area of the wall you hear a hollow sound. Oh boy.
00:36:02
Speaker
A few guests have even reported seeing a young girl standing outside of a room looking as if she is lost. Okay, so if you had a hotel and allegedly there were a couple of rooms that were haunted, wouldn't you leave those open and then, you know, the word would get out that those are haunted rooms? Yeah, I'd charge more. You would get a line of people wanting to stay in those rooms. I would. Yeah, I'd totally keep it open.
00:36:27
Speaker
I did go down the Reddit hole and came across something very interesting. Okay. Reddit user TJ Smudger92 said that he used to work at the Banff Springs Hotel. TJ claims that all the ghost stories and paranormal activity are made up by the previous staff. There it is.
00:36:48
Speaker
The origins of the ghost bride were told to TJ by the hotel's former vice president. In 1986, a group of the hotel's colleagues set out to see who could come up with the best ghost story and one of them came up with the story of the bride. And it is still told today.
00:37:07
Speaker
Sam the Bellman is based on a real former bellhop who worked in the hotel for 20 years. The ghost was made up by the old head of the bell desk. It became a sort of joke. If a bag ended up in the wrong room, it would be blamed on Sam the Ghost.
00:37:26
Speaker
Huh. The haunted room 873 or 875 cannot be found on the 8th floor any longer because the room next to it was expanded. I was totally gonna say that. Encompassing the room. Yeah, why don't they just expand the room next door into a bigger room and then if they wanted to someone wanted a bigger room then they'd have it available. Because I had read that on the 8th floor the rooms are tiny. Yeah. So they wanted to have bigger rooms so they were expanding these rooms. Right.
00:37:54
Speaker
If you happen to stay in the expanded room You will be awakened all night by people knocking on the wall where the door used to be oh now that I could believe That's annoying because I 100% would do that you would knock on the wall
00:38:11
Speaker
No. So is the Banff Springs Hotel haunted or not? Yes. No one knows for sure, but it sounds fun. All right. Well, we hope you enjoyed a little snippet of us. Check out our podcast at Till Death Do Us Part and... Be careful. For marriage is a life sentence. And divorce is always the better option. It is. Bye. Bye-bye.
The Tale of the Bell Witch of Tennessee
00:38:40
Speaker
We turn our attention next to two of the three hosts from Unethical Podcast. Celeste and Kristi specialize in the study of fear and the human psyche, but in ways that will have you laughing maniacally as you do so. Their stories tell of the evil entities lurking in the inky shadows. Our mouths curve up at the humor until we realize that the darkness they speak of still surrounds us.
00:39:11
Speaker
I'm Sarah Dingus and I'm from Unethical Podcast and Celeste is here with me today. Hi, I'm also from Unethical Podcast. And today I have a spooky little story coming from Tennessee. In 1804, John and Lucy Bell started a farm near the Red River in Robertson County, Tennessee, which is right outside of Nashville. They had nine children at the time.
00:39:37
Speaker
It's a lot. Right? Years after they had moved to this property in 1817, they began experiencing some strange things. And it all happened after John Bell shot at a dog-like creature. And it disappeared after he fired the shot.
00:39:55
Speaker
But then the children began seeing more strange creatures and hearing unexplained noises in the house, such as knocking on doors and windows, wings flapping on the ceiling, sounds of choking and strangling, heavy objects moving around, chains hitting and dragging on the floor. Had these people ever seen a dog before? Because the wings and the chains, none of that sounds like a dog to me.
00:40:21
Speaker
No. I like the best description we have is dog-like, so like maybe it was some demonic looking thing, but like it could have been a coyote. Who the f*** knows? Okay. Alright. Bat Yodie. The wild chained Bat Yodie. They're native to Nashville, Tennessee. They escaped the caves. Alright. Continue. Sometimes these sounds were deafening to family members that they were so loud.
00:40:50
Speaker
And originally they just referred to this as the spirit. And eventually it became known as the Bell Witch. And the Bell Witch would even speak to the family in a disembodied voice. And eventually it became violent and it started beating and pinching and pulling hair, especially aimed at John Bell and his daughter, Betsy. They were the two that the Bell Witch absolutely hated.
00:41:19
Speaker
This sounds like sibling rivalry. Yeah. Mama John pulled my hair. No, I didn't. It was the bell witch, mama. It wasn't me. It does sound like the kids would have like stuck just to like get out of it, out of things. Sounds like, sounds like they, they broke Pa's favorite smoking pipe and they were like, what next, Pa? Got dang bell witch again.
00:41:47
Speaker
But Lucy Bell, wife of John Bell, was least affected by the spirit. And the spirit even proclaimed her to be the most perfect woman living. After nine kids, that's no slouch. Right? And I guess if you're going to have a spirit in your house, at least have it think you're a bad d***, you know? Right? Where are my complimentary spirits at?
00:42:10
Speaker
And apparently, the Bell Witch would even sing to her when she was sick and just hang out and care for her, which I don't know how much a spirit can care for someone, but I hope she doesn't ghost her.
00:42:30
Speaker
However, Betsy Bell endured the most torment from the witch. For years, the Bell Witch tormented her, and she wouldn't find relief from the spirit until she married her former school teacher and moved to Mississippi in 1820.
00:42:45
Speaker
Quick question. The mom is being like caressed and having sweet nothings whispered in her ear and fed soup when she's ill by this spirit. But her daughter is getting like her hair pulled and being called a fad.
00:43:01
Speaker
and all that other stuff. And the mom is just like, she'll take a second to be like, which, how come you're torturing my daughter? I have no idea. And so Betsy was previously engaged to another man, but the Bell Witch hated that man. And so that's how she ended up with her former school teacher and marrying him and moving to Mississippi. And when she moved to Mississippi is when finally the torment stopped for her.
00:43:28
Speaker
That would have been a much better time to use ghosting as a pun for breaking up with someone. Betsy ghosted her first lover, Mr. John Doar teacher. Five and a dollar. The Bell Witch referred to John Bell as old Jack. He wouldn't be so lucky to be able to escape this.
00:43:49
Speaker
And after years of physical violence and threats, John was bedridden on December 19th, 1820. And his son, John Jr., was caring for him and went to get medicine bottles out of the cabinet to help his father. And when he opened the cabinet, he only found one vial of a mysterious liquid.
00:44:11
Speaker
And the Bell Witch told him, it's useless to relieve old Jack. I've got him this time. And upon hearing that, John Jr. threw the bottle into a fire, and it burst in blue flame. And John Bell died December 20, 1820. And supposedly, the Bell Witch crashed his funeral service by obnoxiously singing drinking songs. OK, this is the husband of the one that the Bell Witch loved.
00:44:40
Speaker
Yes. Okay. Okay. So was she trying to smash or like, did she, was her husband just not a nice man? No explanation. Oh, wow. Just the Bell Witch hated John, loved Lucy, had a problem with a couple of the kids. Okay. So the Bell Witch poisoned him to death. Yes. And then took all the medicine away so he couldn't be fixed.
00:45:08
Speaker
Yeah, and was basically telling John Jr., hey, don't even try to save your father because he's gonna die. Like I got him this time. I don't know, man. I don't know. Seems a little suspicious. I feel like I've heard this excuse before.
00:45:24
Speaker
That leads me to the next point. So it was, as best as it could have been in 1820, somewhat investigated and went to court. And this is where Tennessee became the first state to contribute the death of an individual to the supernatural, because even the court was like, yep, that witch.
00:45:45
Speaker
Ghost did it. Ghost did it. First or only? I think first and only. All right. Well, I would have expected more from Tennessee, so that's surprising. So that's it, open and shut. Pretty cruel as far as state of Tennessee was concerned, yep. Bang the gavel, judge. Ghost did it. Everybody go home.
00:46:13
Speaker
Did they try hanging her? But they set up like an invisible wire and they just like, ooh. Like an invisible fire, like we're just gonna burn the witch.
00:46:24
Speaker
Well, the Bell Witch in the spring of 1821 told the family that it would be back in seven years, which Lucy and two of her children reported that it did come back in much of the same way that it had before, as far as strange noises and all of that. But shortly after it returned, it left again, claiming that it would haunt the Bell family descendants again in 1935.
00:46:50
Speaker
And while some people report strange happenings still on the family land, it's never been to the same severity as what the original Bells reported in the 1800s. Today you can tour a replica of their cabin, and you can also tour the caves.
00:47:11
Speaker
And the caves is where people believe the Bell Witch may have retreated to during the times that it said it was leaving and it would be back or whatever. And so you can tour the Bell Witch caves that are on the old Bell property. Right. Because the life cycle, of course, was bat and then bat Yodie and then witch. So she was returning home to her birthplace, the caves where the bats are born, I assume.
00:47:38
Speaker
Right, right, that all checks out. I have no questions. Yeah, she came, she murdered a man, she left. As one does. Thank you guys for listening and happy Halloween. Happy Halloween, thanks guys. Cassie and Caitlin, the host of P and W haunts and homicides, descend deep into the unknown to bring tales of murder, the ghastly and the otherworldly.
Complex Cases: The Haunting of Arpana
00:48:07
Speaker
Their stories will reveal hidden horrors of the past and show us how the darkness waits to ensnare the curious wanderer. They'll also have you questioning every rustle in the leaves and every creek from the forest.
00:48:23
Speaker
Hi, Cassie. Hi, Caitlin. Hi, creepy people. Hello. Hello. This is P&W, haunts and homicides. Can you imagine what it would be like if the frivolity of your youth, presuming that you were permitted any, was cut short by a horrific event?
00:48:44
Speaker
For more than one family, that sentiment is all too real. Emmanuel Fair was imprisoned in King County, Washington for nearly a decade for a crime that he says he did not commit. He told the Seattle Times about being incarcerated for so long without a conviction. I always knew I was going to get out.
00:49:07
Speaker
I just didn't think it would take as long as it took. Ten years, you said? That he was in prison, yes. At the Valley View Apartments near Lake Sammamish, hashtag neverbunday. Eww. Mm-hmm. If you know, you know, icky ick and all that.
00:49:26
Speaker
Emmanuel was one of dozens of people, both other residents of the complex, as well as their guests, that were in and out of one of several apartment units during the Halloween party that took place nearly 15 years ago.
00:49:41
Speaker
Okay, can I just say that that sounds like a lot of fun? Yeah. Like a whole apartment building party. Yeah. That sounds great. I think it sounds fantastic. Reminds me like a dorm kind of. Yeah. Situation. I think it very much had that kind of a vibe because it seems like there were a lot of people that were in their, you know, early to mid 20s. So maybe recent college grads or you know, people kind of getting their lives started up.
00:50:09
Speaker
So great. The gravity of the situation didn't really hit until later though, when a young woman's body was discovered in her very own bedroom. Arpana was a 24-year-old immigrant who worked as a software engineer at a company called EMC in Bellevue.
00:50:30
Speaker
And though she lived less than a dozen miles from her workplace, she had been born nearly a world away from the state of Washington in Hadirabad, India. That's a whole world away? I mean, yeah, basically. I feel like it's in the same world. Yeah.
00:50:49
Speaker
I know what you're saying though. It is probably a whole different world. Definitely. And most of her family was still there. She was an alum of Rutgers University, but her accolades didn't stop there because I'm pretty sure just getting into Rutgers is an accomplishment in and of itself. She had won an international software award and was a rising star in her Bellevue workplace. Hell yeah.
00:51:19
Speaker
She was an active and friendly, outgoing young woman, but she also had an eye for promising volunteer opportunities, such as those that she took on both at an animal shelter as well as with a local fire department. Aw, well, isn't she the sweetest? I know. She'd lived in the area for less than a year and signed up to volunteer her time to both in the Redmond area. Aw, I know that area. Yeah.
00:51:48
Speaker
Nearly two years later, in October 2010, Emmanuel was placed in a Seattle holding cell for the 2008 sexual assault and murder of Arpana Shinnaka.
00:52:04
Speaker
At the time, they were continuing to gather evidence against him. For reference, DNA found at the scene of the crime would be linked to three men in total, but only one would ultimately be charged in connection with her death. Whoa. So they ran a test on the DNA and it matched three different people? There were a number of samples taken.
00:52:31
Speaker
from various items in the apartment and that were discovered in another area. And we're gonna talk about that in a second. But some of the samples matched one guy, some of the samples matched another. There may have been some co-mingling of samples, but yeah. We don't like co-mingling of samples. Don't love that. It's not a good time. No.
00:52:55
Speaker
The evidence used against him was collected from a dumpster on the complex property. According to prosecutors, Emanuel's DNA was discovered on multiple items that they believed the killer touched, including tape in the apartment mixed with Arpana's blood stains on a red robe found in a dumpster. Oh. Also, on a swab taken from Arpana's neck. Oh, okay.
00:53:25
Speaker
Yeah. So we've got some different places where it's being found, but we're going to come back, put a pin in the DNA evidence for our full length episode in the P&W, Hans and homicides podcast feed. Cause we going to get to her. I'll be there. Okay. When our pond is body was found in her apartment back in 2008, a few specific sensory details stood out to those working the case.
00:53:55
Speaker
the smell of bleach for one, but also how her bedroom seemed to be completely saturated with an oily substance, which was later determined to be motor oil. Oh, ew. Yeah.
00:54:11
Speaker
Okay, I imagine that's very smelly bleach and motor oil. And what the f*** is going on with motor oil? I had a lot of questions. Maybe, oh, did they think it was flammable and they wanted to like porch the place? Well, that's what I thought. Which would also later explain the burn marks on her bedroom carpet, as well as the satin sheets pulled from the garbage dumpster.
00:54:35
Speaker
Absolutely horrifying. They were burned, like not chemical burns, like fire burns. That's my understanding. Yeah, because they say burn marks. The way that it's phrased in the source material, yeah, it does sound like fire burns, not like a, like, ooh, ouch, that's going to blister in a weird chemical way. But I guess they probably wouldn't say chemical burn if it wasn't on a person. Yeah.
00:55:04
Speaker
Neighboring tenants would also say that they heard what they described as muffled moaning, but didn't indicate that they had any reason to be particularly concerned about the noise, at least on that night.
00:55:19
Speaker
Does sound like a party house, so I'm sure noise is common. Yeah, I mean, it's a Halloween party. Right. I feel like enough said, you know what I mean? Except maybe not. However, it wouldn't take long for serious concern to develop. By November 2nd, Arpana's family had not spoken to her for a couple of days. This was extremely unusual, as they typically spoke to her every day, daily.
00:55:48
Speaker
prompting her father to ask a family friend that lived in the area to check in on her. Whether they expected anything was truly wrong or just wanted to check on her in an abundance of caution, the scene that the family friend, along with one of Arpana's neighbors, walked into was the absolute worst case scenario imaginable. Oh. Unimaginable, but... And you said her family isn't local, right? Right.
00:56:17
Speaker
they found Arpana at the foot of her bed. Her autopsy would later show that she died of asphyxia by ligature strangulation.
00:56:28
Speaker
No. Ligature strangulation occurs when an external object is placed around the neck and provides compression. Oh God. The compression is usually applied to the neck by using the decedent's own body weight in what would generally be described as either a partial or complete hanging. Oh my God, that sounds violent.
00:56:54
Speaker
Yes. Her manner of death was obviously brutal, but within the report, it was also noted that she had sustained multiple blunt force injuries. Prior to leaving the scene, the killer, or killers, had used bleach, blue toilet bowl cleaner, a common household type of soap, and motor oil to strip away forensic evidence linking them to the crime.
00:57:24
Speaker
Man, traces of the various cleansers were found on Arpana's body, the carpet, her comforter, the bathtub, as well as the bathroom counter and her mattress from which the comforter had been removed.
00:57:43
Speaker
Now, it's important to note that depending on who you ask, Arpana's killer was already imprisoned, but has since been released. Others believe that one of the other persons of interest is the likely killer, or even that a combination of multiple killers is most likely.
00:58:03
Speaker
Some have even speculated about other high-profile violent maniacs such as Israel Keys. And he's not the only one. Oh, usually that's a theory that could be easily dismissed, especially if we're not sure that it's coming from an entirely reliable source.
00:58:23
Speaker
However, in this case, it does seem that Israel Keys was in fact in the Seattle area between October 31st and November 2nd. Oh, that makes me really uncomfortable. As it should. So while it may be far-fetched, it's possible that you may not want to roll that one out entirely. Okay.
00:58:51
Speaker
Emmanuel Fair's trial would begin in February of 2017, more than six years after he had originally been charged and more than eight years after Arpana was murdered. For the rest of the story and this episode's tarot reading, you'll have to join us on our regular feed. Well, I'm not really that interested in hearing the rest of the details, but I'm really interested in the tarot.
00:59:19
Speaker
Yeah, that's what I'm here for. I know, I know. To everyone listening, have a creepy Halloween.
Ghost Solving: The Story of Teresita Baza
00:59:29
Speaker
Finally, we turn to Jamie and John from True Crimecast. As we huddle close to the fire, they share tales of both visible and invisible terrors, of voices that invade your very soul, that lead us into the heart of terror. Listen closely and your heart will race with each whispered word.
00:59:56
Speaker
Hey true crime cast fans, Jamie and John here super excited to be a part of this Halloween collaboration. When darkness falls, we were excited to be contacted by Allison from coffee and cases, and we've got our own spooky little tale to tell here today. So get us rolling, John.
01:00:13
Speaker
We are going to be talking about Teresita Baza who was born in 1929 in the Philippines and was the only child to her parents who were well off and very wealthy. She went to college there and then moved to the United States in 1960 to earn her master's degree in music. However, she would become a respiratory therapist
01:00:35
Speaker
at Edgewater Hospital, located just outside of Chicago. Fun fact, this was the same hospital that was the birthplace of both John Wayne Gacy and Hillary Clinton. What a club. Teresita was a kind, hard-working lady and lived a simple life in which she kept to herself. She wasn't the type of person to make enemies or make anybody angry. On February 21st,
01:00:58
Speaker
Teresita worked a normal day and then at seven that evening she got a phone call from a friend who was a doctor at Edgewater Hospital. They spoke about concert tickets and trying to sell some. They were on the phone till about 7 20 and she said a friend arrived and she had to go. She got another call at 7 30. This was from Ruth Moab who also worked at the hospital and they talked for about 20 minutes and Teresita stated that she had to run because somebody was there to fix her television.
01:01:28
Speaker
At 8.40 PM, neighbors in their apartments smelled smoke in their units and they opened the doors and saw smoke coming from Tarasita's apartment. When firefighters got there, they found the source of the flames was a mattress that had caught on fire. When they had put out the fire, they found Tarasita's body under the mattress, laying down with her hands over her head. She was in just a horrible situation and it very much seemed as if foul play was involved.
01:01:57
Speaker
Because Teresita lived alone, police weren't able to find out if anything was missing from the home. Was this a burglary? Was this personal? Was this a sexual assault later on? We would find out that there was no sexual assault. But so many questions, police did find a note that said get tickets for AS, AS being initials.
01:02:18
Speaker
Police didn't know who had come to repair the TV because Teresita hadn't told anybody a name or a company of anybody that was supposed to be coming to the house. So all police know is we have this note, we have these phone calls and we have somebody fixing her TV and that's all they got.
01:02:35
Speaker
This case would basically go nowhere for months. However, in August of 1977, six months after the murder, police would receive a fairly strange tip. Another department around Chicago, Evanstown, called the CPD to ask if they had looked into a man named Alan Showery, who also worked at Edgewater Hospital,
01:02:58
Speaker
The police department had not looked into this man and of course they wanted to know why they were even asking and Evansville Police Department gave them the name of Dr. Jose Shao as someone that they could call and speak with and that's when the story gets really spooky.
01:03:15
Speaker
Yeah, Dr. Shao's wife, whose name was Remy, also worked at the Edgewater Hospital. Dr. Shao worked elsewhere. So detectives went to their home to learn why they would even ask about Alan Showery and what connection they had to Teresita. They seemed shy or kind of ashamed almost at first, didn't really want to talk. But during the home visit, Dr. Shao asked one of the detectives if he believed in the occult and demonic forces.
01:03:44
Speaker
That's got to be a question as a police officer, you're there to get a report and get some facts. That's got to put you on your heels. I would think, right? Dr. Shell said that he's a physician, but he had seen some things in his life that science just would not explain. He went on to say that he didn't know to recede.
01:04:03
Speaker
or even know about her murder until one night when his wife Remy had become possessed by the spirit of Teresa de Vasa. Dr. Shao stated that the first time he saw this was in their home. Remy had got up from the couch, walked into her bedroom, and was just sitting there on the bed staring with a blank face. He asked her if she was okay, and she began speaking in a foreign language. This language was Tagalog.
01:04:32
Speaker
and her voice was not his wife's. Now Tagalog was a national language of the Philippines where Teresita and Remy are from. Obviously Dr. Shao was concerned for his wife and just like a doctor, he wanted to make sure that she was oriented. So he asked her if she knew who she was. And the voice said, I am Teresita Baza.
01:04:56
Speaker
The voice told him that she needed help solving her murder and that the man who murdered her was Alan Showery. The voice explained that Alan showed up to work on the TV but instead she was stabbed by Alan.
01:05:12
Speaker
Dr. Shao then said that once the voice left, Remy was back and had no memory of this experience. When Dr. Shao asked Remy if she knew Teresita, she said that they may have met once during orientation at work, but they worked different shifts and really didn't know each other. They certainly weren't friends.
01:05:31
Speaker
He stated that another time it happened in the middle of the night while Remy was asleep. The voice woke her up and asked why he hadn't gone to the police yet. Dr. Shao said, I'm a scientist. I need proof of this before I go to police.
01:05:47
Speaker
The voice then described two pieces of jewelry that had been stolen from Tericita's house by Allen the night of her murder. He went on to give those to his girlfriend. The voice also told Dr. Shao the names of relatives of Tericita who could identify the jewelry as hers.
01:06:05
Speaker
Remy told the police that sometimes in the hospital locker room, she would look around and see visions of Terry Cita with Alan's face behind her. So all kinds of supernatural imagery and claims of voices, not our typical leads.
01:06:24
Speaker
They asked some of his coworkers about Alan and Tarasita and one of them had mentioned that he remembered Alan saying that he was going to work on her TV at some point. With this and the note from her home about having tickets to give to AS, police paid him a visit as well as his girlfriend. And at first he said he didn't know her.
01:06:46
Speaker
But when confronted with the testimony about working on our TV, his story began to change. He stated that he had went there for just a short time, but didn't have the right tool that he needed to fix the TV, so he left fairly quickly.
01:07:01
Speaker
They asked his girlfriend if she had been given any jewelry and she showed them two pieces that were a perfect match to the ones that were described from the ghost and she stated that he had given them to her in January as a late Christmas gift.
01:07:17
Speaker
Police showed these pieces of jewelry to Teresita's family and they confirmed that they were indeed Teresita's. You mentioned you got chills when you quoted the quote unquote ghost earlier. I just got chills that the jewelry claim was right. How on earth
01:07:35
Speaker
could Remy have known about this other than this being possessed as she claimed to be. Eventually Alan would confess when he was confronted with all this evidence. He said he got there that night and he killed her looking for money. He only found $30 and he took two pieces of jewelry. So that's what her life was worth to him. He was charged with murder and this trial in the public was nicknamed the voice from the grave.
01:08:03
Speaker
Four weeks later, there was a hung jury because of the ghost witness. A lot of the jurors, while they thought he probably did this, were so hung up on the unlikelihood of Remy knowing this from a ghost that they couldn't commit to a guilty verdict. But before there could be another trial, Allen pled guilty for a shorter sentence of 14 years for murder.
01:08:27
Speaker
And after everything was said and done, he only ended up serving four years before he was released. That's the most insane part of this story. And I know that I just said a ghost told somebody who murdered her, but the fact that he only got four years for this is mind blowing to me. It is. And
01:08:47
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, who's to say how she had this information? I can't think of a logical scenario where she knew this unless somebody around the hospital was talking about it. I guess that's possible, but I think that's the story you go to police with, not the story of she was possessed by ghosts of a dead person that woke me up in the middle of the night. They were reliable witnesses. Everything they said proved to be true though. So it is what it is.
01:09:10
Speaker
Yeah. I legitimately think that the ghost of terracita helped solve her own murder and that we as society and the justice system were the ones that dropped the ball. Again, we're thrilled to be a part of this when darkness falls collaboration. You can find true crime cast anywhere you find your favorite podcasts with new episodes every Tuesday and Friday until next crime. This has been true crime cast and happy Halloween.
01:09:40
Speaker
We look at each other and we know what we must do. We must listen to their stories. We must learn about the darkness that lurks in the world both inside and out because that is the only way to escape it.
01:09:57
Speaker
Be sure to subscribe to all 13 participating podcasts listed in our show notes so you don't miss a single episode or tale of terror. And again, listener, remember, when darkness calls, answer at your own peril.