1 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:15,640 Speaker 1: Diversion audio. A note this episode contains mature content and 2 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:19,120 Speaker 1: descriptions of violence that may be disturbing for some listeners. 3 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:42,320 Speaker 1: Please take care in listening. Detective Joseph Stahula was self 4 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:46,200 Speaker 1: conscious and uncomfortable as he approached the one story brick 5 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:50,599 Speaker 1: home in a quiet cul de sac in suburban Skokie, Illinois. 6 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: He was investigating the murder of respiratory therapist Teresita Basa. 7 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: Joseph was tired of spinning his wheels on the case. 8 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 1: There was so little to go on, and he was 9 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:08,160 Speaker 1: close to giving up. A tip just came in from 10 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:11,840 Speaker 1: a woman receiving threatening phone calls from one of Tarasda's coworkers. 11 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:22,760 Speaker 1: Joseph was here to follow up. The detective knocked on 12 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:27,520 Speaker 1: the door, a dark haired man in surgical scrubs greeted him. 13 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:33,520 Speaker 1: This was doctor Jose Chiua, the woman's husband. Jose led 14 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: Joseph into a gold carpeted sitting room and motioned for 15 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:39,560 Speaker 1: him to sit in one of the gold lure chairs 16 00:01:40,040 --> 00:01:44,520 Speaker 1: beside a gold draped window. It was nineteen seventy seven, 17 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: people still decorated in color. Then jose called his wife, Remy, 18 00:01:49,400 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 1: into the room and she sat beside Joseph. Remy explained 19 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: she once worked at the same hospital as Tacita, but 20 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:00,240 Speaker 1: they didn't have the same shifts and they never really 21 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:04,560 Speaker 1: knew each other. The one connection they did have was 22 00:02:04,600 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: an orderly named Alan. His shifts overlapped with both of theirs. 23 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:13,800 Speaker 1: Alan was a friend of Terasita's, and Remy and her 24 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: husband believed he was the one behind the phone call. 25 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:22,960 Speaker 1: As Remy explained the situation, Joseph noticed jose seemed anxious, 26 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: like there was something else on his mind. Finally, Joseph 27 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:30,400 Speaker 1: turned and asked if there was anything he needed to 28 00:02:30,440 --> 00:02:35,480 Speaker 1: get out. Jose looked even more uneasy. We don't really 29 00:02:35,520 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: want to get involved. Didn't you already speak with the 30 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:42,840 Speaker 1: Evanston police, Joseph shook his head. They told us about 31 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:45,680 Speaker 1: the phone calls and that you knew certain other information, 32 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:49,600 Speaker 1: but they were reluctant to give any details. Jose looked 33 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:52,960 Speaker 1: over at his wife. He was silent for a long time. 34 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:56,880 Speaker 1: Then he took a deep breath, looked into Joseph's eyes, 35 00:02:57,040 --> 00:03:17,799 Speaker 1: and asked, Detective, do you believe in the occult? Welcome 36 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:20,920 Speaker 1: to the greatest true crime stories ever told. I'm Mary 37 00:03:20,960 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 1: Kay McBrayer. Today's episode, we're calling Taracita Basa stretching the 38 00:03:27,200 --> 00:03:31,280 Speaker 1: boundaries of belief. There are plenty of true crime stories 39 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:34,560 Speaker 1: out there that are hard to believe, but this is 40 00:03:34,639 --> 00:03:39,200 Speaker 1: one that's more than just far fetched. It's about a 41 00:03:39,200 --> 00:03:42,320 Speaker 1: woman coming back from the dead to solve her own murder, 42 00:03:43,400 --> 00:03:47,080 Speaker 1: something beyond the realm of what most people consider possible. 43 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: And yet the story of Taracita Bassa was credible enough 44 00:03:54,120 --> 00:03:57,320 Speaker 1: to appear in a US court of law, come before 45 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 1: a judge and jury and send demand jail for murder. 46 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:19,520 Speaker 1: More after the break. I don't want to say that 47 00:04:19,640 --> 00:04:23,800 Speaker 1: I don't believe in the supernatural. I just don't want 48 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:26,720 Speaker 1: to believe in it. I do not have the second sight, 49 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:30,359 Speaker 1: and I do not want it. Here's a list of 50 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:33,440 Speaker 1: other things I don't want. I don't want to hear 51 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:36,040 Speaker 1: your dream about me. I don't want to know about 52 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:38,599 Speaker 1: your premonition. I don't want to hear that you see 53 00:04:38,600 --> 00:04:40,960 Speaker 1: a little boy's spirit in my house, no matter how 54 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 1: benevolent it seems to be. I don't want you to 55 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:46,839 Speaker 1: read my cards, or my palm or my tea leaves. 56 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:51,720 Speaker 1: I don't want any of that. Keep all that shit 57 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 1: to yourself. I'm not saying it's not real, and I'm 58 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:57,440 Speaker 1: not calling you a fraud, but I am a cynic 59 00:04:57,600 --> 00:04:59,240 Speaker 1: and I don't want to hear it because I don't 60 00:04:59,279 --> 00:05:03,680 Speaker 1: want to activate my frequency illusion. That said, I think 61 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:07,359 Speaker 1: possession is an outlier. Okay, First, let me acknowledge that 62 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:12,000 Speaker 1: I know. It is an established fact that well intentioned 63 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:16,080 Speaker 1: exorcisms have resulted in the tortuous murders of many people 64 00:05:16,120 --> 00:05:20,279 Speaker 1: with mental and physical disorders, and obviously people in power 65 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:25,599 Speaker 1: have abused the idea of its existence. And yet this one, 66 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:29,839 Speaker 1: something about this one I can't shake off the way 67 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: I shake off the others. Maybe the idea of another 68 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: sentient thing entering my body without my permission and without 69 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 1: my knowledge is just too scary. It's just too real 70 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:45,640 Speaker 1: to completely abandon. But even with my beliefs, I couldn't 71 00:05:45,640 --> 00:05:49,479 Speaker 1: accept an instance of possession as fact, especially not in 72 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:53,200 Speaker 1: a court of law. But not everyone thinks like me, 73 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: and in some places the culture does widely accept possession 74 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:00,760 Speaker 1: as fact. It's something to keep in the back of 75 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:03,000 Speaker 1: our minds, at least as we talk about this case. 76 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 1: The Edgewater Hospital was an eight story yellow brick building 77 00:06:17,160 --> 00:06:21,480 Speaker 1: just a few blocks down from the lakefront in Uptown Chicago. 78 00:06:21,720 --> 00:06:25,760 Speaker 1: Originally constructed in nineteen twenty nine, it once functioned as 79 00:06:25,800 --> 00:06:28,280 Speaker 1: a low key rehab facility, and it was meant to 80 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: feel more like a luxury hotel than a hospital. It 81 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:33,440 Speaker 1: was the kind of place where Frank Sinatra went to 82 00:06:33,480 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 1: dry out. But as the White Flight of the nineteen 83 00:06:37,080 --> 00:06:40,920 Speaker 1: fifties led to the economic decline of the seventies, the 84 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:45,960 Speaker 1: hospital lost its sheen of luxury. Edgewater sank into bankruptcy, 85 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: and the buildings fell into disrepair. This tragedy involves three 86 00:06:51,360 --> 00:06:55,200 Speaker 1: people who worked at Edgewater during the mid nineteen seventies, 87 00:06:55,400 --> 00:07:06,480 Speaker 1: during its less glamorous period. The first of those three 88 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 1: employees is Taracita Basa, a generous extrovert who loved to read, 89 00:07:11,320 --> 00:07:15,760 Speaker 1: play the piano, and throw parties. Tarasita's childhood on the 90 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:19,720 Speaker 1: island of Negros in the Philippines was idyllic. She spent 91 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 1: it chewing sugarcane with the neighborhood children on the veranda, 92 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:26,280 Speaker 1: wandering through her mother's orchid gardens, and practicing piano on 93 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:30,560 Speaker 1: the family's mahogany steinway. In nineteen forty seven, when she 94 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 1: was eighteen, Terasita left home to study music in Manila. 95 00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,240 Speaker 1: There she lived with Senator Jose Romero and his family, 96 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:42,880 Speaker 1: who were old friends of her parents. Jose Romero became 97 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: the Philippine ambassador to England just as Tarasita was graduating 98 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:50,720 Speaker 1: from college. She went with his family to London and 99 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:53,960 Speaker 1: obtained a degree in piano forte at the Royal College 100 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 1: of Music. On one occasion, Teraesita even met the Queen 101 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 1: of England. But the meeting that ultimately changed her life 102 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:17,880 Speaker 1: forever was with a Russian composer named Alexander Shrepnan. Teracita 103 00:08:17,880 --> 00:08:21,239 Speaker 1: met Alexander after attending one of his concerts in Paris. 104 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:25,280 Speaker 1: She was instantly charmed by the famed and talented composer. 105 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:29,880 Speaker 1: He told her she was talented and possessed the potential 106 00:08:29,920 --> 00:08:33,560 Speaker 1: to become a truly great musician if she continued her studies. 107 00:08:34,920 --> 00:08:39,160 Speaker 1: Alexander and his wife both taught at DePaul University in Chicago, 108 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 1: and he suggested the city might do well for her studies, 109 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:49,160 Speaker 1: so she moved to nearby Bloomington and enrolled at Indiana University. There, 110 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:53,880 Speaker 1: Terasita studied music and piano. She went on to graduate school, 111 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:57,360 Speaker 1: where she worked in an assistant ship teaching the piano. 112 00:08:57,520 --> 00:08:59,920 Speaker 1: But when she learned the Romeros were moving to Washington, DC, 113 00:09:00,960 --> 00:09:04,679 Speaker 1: Terasita left Bloomington and went to live with them. It 114 00:09:04,760 --> 00:09:08,160 Speaker 1: was in d C in nineteen sixty five that Taracida 115 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:17,679 Speaker 1: met the only man she would ever really love. Tarasita 116 00:09:17,679 --> 00:09:20,360 Speaker 1: didn't like talking about the man she almost married, so 117 00:09:20,480 --> 00:09:23,600 Speaker 1: details of their whirlwind romance are hazy. We don't even 118 00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:26,560 Speaker 1: know his real name, but the story goes something like this. 119 00:09:27,920 --> 00:09:30,800 Speaker 1: Terasita met Joe at a party. He was a tall, 120 00:09:30,880 --> 00:09:35,120 Speaker 1: handsome lobbyist from Chicago who swept her off her feet 121 00:09:35,440 --> 00:09:39,080 Speaker 1: shortly after they started dating. Tarasda's immigration status put an 122 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:42,959 Speaker 1: ocean between them. To maintain her student visa, she had 123 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:46,240 Speaker 1: to return to the Philippines. She was only allowed to 124 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:49,760 Speaker 1: come back to the States after two years, so Joe 125 00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:54,440 Speaker 1: followed her to the Philippines. Then, just a week before 126 00:09:54,559 --> 00:09:57,200 Speaker 1: Joe was going to leave the island, the other shoe dropped. 127 00:09:57,920 --> 00:10:01,760 Speaker 1: Tale as old as time. Terasida's father was tipped off 128 00:10:01,760 --> 00:10:05,120 Speaker 1: by an old friend Joe was wandering around the red 129 00:10:05,200 --> 00:10:09,680 Speaker 1: light district. The friend followed Joe to a brothel and 130 00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:12,360 Speaker 1: walked in on him with a seventeen year old sex worker. 131 00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:19,840 Speaker 1: Teresita was devastated and humiliated, and then her father's health declined. 132 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:24,880 Speaker 1: He passed away from a respiratory illness in the early seventies. 133 00:10:35,400 --> 00:10:38,400 Speaker 1: Terasita packed up her things, bid goodbye to her mother, 134 00:10:38,840 --> 00:10:42,559 Speaker 1: and boarded a plane back to Chicago. No longer willing 135 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: to accept financial assistance from her widowed mother, Teresita resolved 136 00:10:46,760 --> 00:10:50,880 Speaker 1: to support herself in returning to her music studies. Terasita 137 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,679 Speaker 1: enrolled as a respiratory student at a YMCA Community College 138 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:58,360 Speaker 1: and supported herself as a typist until she graduated in 139 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:02,520 Speaker 1: June of nineteen seventy four. Just a month later, she 140 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:06,400 Speaker 1: got a job as an inhalationian therapist at Edgewater Hospital. 141 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:18,440 Speaker 1: Teraseda returned to her nearly completed master's degree, and, in 142 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:23,000 Speaker 1: the phrase all post grad students know, she finished all 143 00:11:23,040 --> 00:11:27,640 Speaker 1: but her thesis on the works of Alexander Shrepman. She 144 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:30,720 Speaker 1: bought a piano and moved into a larger apartment where 145 00:11:30,720 --> 00:11:33,000 Speaker 1: she'd be able to host gatherings and play for her 146 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:37,320 Speaker 1: new friends. Terasita met folks from the Filipino community and 147 00:11:37,440 --> 00:11:40,479 Speaker 1: from her church. She formed a band called the Mahogany 148 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:44,560 Speaker 1: five plus one five Filipino musicians and a Polish drummer. 149 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:50,079 Speaker 1: By the winter of nineteen seventy seven, Teraesina was back 150 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:54,480 Speaker 1: to her real self, the glowing hostess, laughing and leading 151 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:58,840 Speaker 1: the party. She was happy and full of life, and 152 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:03,160 Speaker 1: on February twenty first first, nineteen seventy seven, that life 153 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:21,960 Speaker 1: came to an end. It was eight thirty pm on 154 00:12:22,040 --> 00:12:25,400 Speaker 1: a chilly night in February of nineteen seventy seven. An 155 00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:30,760 Speaker 1: acrid stench of burning filled Terrecita's apartment building. Within minutes, 156 00:12:31,040 --> 00:12:34,520 Speaker 1: fire trucks pulled up. They ran toward the smoke gathering 157 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:39,200 Speaker 1: in front of Apartment fifteen B. The janitor unlocked the door, 158 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:41,720 Speaker 1: and the firemen used a pike to break the glass 159 00:12:41,760 --> 00:12:44,600 Speaker 1: doors leading out to the balcony. The air and the 160 00:12:44,640 --> 00:12:48,800 Speaker 1: apartment began to clear. The fire started in the bedroom, 161 00:12:48,880 --> 00:12:51,560 Speaker 1: where a smoking mattress now sat in the middle of 162 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:56,920 Speaker 1: the floor. Something underneath the mattress continued to smolder, so 163 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:01,120 Speaker 1: the fireman pulled away the mattress. They found a pile 164 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:05,440 Speaker 1: of bedding and dirty clothes beneath. Then, as the men 165 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:09,200 Speaker 1: sorted through the burnt fabric, their flashlight beams landed on 166 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:13,160 Speaker 1: something which made everyone freeze. It was a woman's leg. 167 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:18,160 Speaker 1: Tarasita Bossa was dead. She was lying under the pile 168 00:13:18,200 --> 00:13:25,040 Speaker 1: of clothes, naked, with a knife sticking out of her chest. 169 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,640 Speaker 1: When the detectives arrived, there were a few details which 170 00:13:31,640 --> 00:13:35,560 Speaker 1: stood out to them immediately. The door was locked and 171 00:13:35,600 --> 00:13:38,440 Speaker 1: there were two beer cans in the living room. In 172 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:41,840 Speaker 1: the kitchen, a cutting board rested on the counter with 173 00:13:41,920 --> 00:13:45,600 Speaker 1: a half chopped tomato and no knife. There was also 174 00:13:45,720 --> 00:13:50,360 Speaker 1: a note in her diary reading get tickets for as 175 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:53,480 Speaker 1: But what stood out most of all was the destruction 176 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:58,640 Speaker 1: of the apartment. Tarasita's carefully organized books were thrown from 177 00:13:58,679 --> 00:14:02,280 Speaker 1: the shelves, her below OVID record collections spread across the floor, 178 00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:05,280 Speaker 1: and her jewelry tossed over the top of the dresser. 179 00:14:06,559 --> 00:14:09,800 Speaker 1: Tarasida's door was locked from the inside, so the killer 180 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:13,520 Speaker 1: must have been someone she knew and trusted. The position 181 00:14:13,559 --> 00:14:16,720 Speaker 1: of Tarasida's body initially suggested the crime may have been 182 00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:21,640 Speaker 1: sexually motivated, but the autopsy revealed Terasita was never assaulted. 183 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:26,600 Speaker 1: It seemed the killer only undressed Terasita in the hopes 184 00:14:26,640 --> 00:14:30,800 Speaker 1: of misleading the detectives. The last thing the killer did 185 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:33,960 Speaker 1: was to set the fire, probably hoping to get rid 186 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:38,160 Speaker 1: of the evidence. It's not exactly the plan of a genius, 187 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:41,520 Speaker 1: but the murderer was just smart enough, or maybe just 188 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:45,960 Speaker 1: lucky enough, not to leave any clues behind. With no 189 00:14:46,080 --> 00:14:49,480 Speaker 1: hard evidence to go on, the lead detectives on the case, 190 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:53,360 Speaker 1: Joseph and his partner Lee Epplin, decided to hit the pavement. 191 00:14:54,320 --> 00:14:58,360 Speaker 1: As they interviewed Tarasida's friends and acquaintances, they pieced together 192 00:14:58,400 --> 00:15:10,040 Speaker 1: her last day. Terasita went to work as usual. She 193 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:13,320 Speaker 1: finished her shift and left the hospital around three pm. 194 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:18,360 Speaker 1: Around sevent ten, she took a call from doctor John Abela, 195 00:15:18,880 --> 00:15:22,920 Speaker 1: another member of her band. They chatted about ticket sales 196 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:25,520 Speaker 1: for the upcoming concert, but in the middle of the 197 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:29,000 Speaker 1: phone call, Teracita paused to answer and knock at the door. 198 00:15:29,880 --> 00:15:32,720 Speaker 1: She told John she would call him back later. A 199 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:35,880 Speaker 1: guest just arrived, someone she might be able to sell 200 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:40,080 Speaker 1: a ticket to. Not long after that, she received another 201 00:15:40,160 --> 00:15:42,560 Speaker 1: phone call, this time from a friend at the hospital. 202 00:15:43,400 --> 00:15:45,920 Speaker 1: She heard a man's voice in the background and asked 203 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:50,200 Speaker 1: Terasita if she was interrupting something. Terasita laughed and said 204 00:15:50,200 --> 00:15:52,400 Speaker 1: it was nothing like that and she would tell her 205 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 1: about it at lunch. The next day, they hung up, 206 00:15:55,560 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 1: and forty minutes later, her neighbor smelled smoke. By the 207 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:11,760 Speaker 1: end of March, the detectives knew all the details of 208 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:15,280 Speaker 1: this story from Tarasita's friends and family members, but that 209 00:16:15,440 --> 00:16:19,880 Speaker 1: was when things started to stall. Lee and Joseph followed 210 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:24,360 Speaker 1: one dead end lead after another. Everyone she regularly interacted with, 211 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:27,640 Speaker 1: from her thesis adviser, her friends, and even a legal 212 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:30,960 Speaker 1: assistant who helped her with her immigration paperwork, they all 213 00:16:30,960 --> 00:16:36,280 Speaker 1: had alibis. Months passed and still there was no progress 214 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:40,480 Speaker 1: on the case. Then in August, a phone call came 215 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:45,360 Speaker 1: into the Evanston Police Department. It was from Remichua, another 216 00:16:45,400 --> 00:16:48,400 Speaker 1: Filipino woman who worked at the same hospital as Tarasita 217 00:16:49,080 --> 00:16:52,160 Speaker 1: and whom you might remember from the top of the episode. 218 00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:55,000 Speaker 1: She claimed to have received a number of threatening phone 219 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:57,600 Speaker 1: calls from one of the orderlies at the hospital where 220 00:16:57,640 --> 00:17:02,760 Speaker 1: she and Tarasita worked, a man named Alioi. Actually, the 221 00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:05,520 Speaker 1: call to the Evanston Police Department was the second one 222 00:17:05,560 --> 00:17:08,600 Speaker 1: that Remy made. The first call she made was to 223 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:13,040 Speaker 1: the Filipino consul general. In that call, Remy had more 224 00:17:13,080 --> 00:17:16,000 Speaker 1: to say. She also claimed that she knew it was 225 00:17:16,040 --> 00:17:20,560 Speaker 1: Alan SHOWI who killed Teresita. She said she knew because 226 00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:33,120 Speaker 1: Teresita entered her body and said it herself. The Chuas 227 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:37,360 Speaker 1: did not believe in superstitions. They were medical professionals who 228 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:39,879 Speaker 1: moved to the United States from the Philippine island of 229 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:44,560 Speaker 1: Lucan three years earlier. Jose Chua was a doctor back 230 00:17:44,560 --> 00:17:48,040 Speaker 1: in the Philippines and his wife, Remy, was a pharmacist. 231 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:51,439 Speaker 1: They were both in the process of becoming licensed to 232 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:55,320 Speaker 1: practice medicine in the United States. They were a working 233 00:17:55,359 --> 00:17:57,960 Speaker 1: couple with four children, and they didn't have time for 234 00:17:57,960 --> 00:18:02,800 Speaker 1: ghost stories, and yet in the summer of nineteen seventy seven, 235 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:18,800 Speaker 1: they were the center of a baffling supernatural occurrence. On 236 00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: July eleventh, co workers said they saw Remy run terrified 237 00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:27,520 Speaker 1: out of the locker room of the Edgewater Hospital. When 238 00:18:27,560 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 1: asked about the incident, Remy brushed it off, but later 239 00:18:31,320 --> 00:18:35,280 Speaker 1: she told a different story. Remy claimed she was sitting 240 00:18:35,359 --> 00:18:40,480 Speaker 1: in the locker room when Teracita Bossa appeared. She was silent, 241 00:18:41,119 --> 00:18:45,080 Speaker 1: She didn't move, and she didn't explain herself. She just 242 00:18:45,119 --> 00:18:50,040 Speaker 1: stood there until Remy fled the room. Remy's strange behavior 243 00:18:50,119 --> 00:18:54,400 Speaker 1: continued at the hospital she started sitting at Tarasita's lunch 244 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:58,600 Speaker 1: table and singing softly to herself, just as Tarasita once did. 245 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:03,800 Speaker 1: Remy did not know Terasita, but suddenly she was acting 246 00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 1: a lot like her. She would speak with Tarasita's distinctive 247 00:19:08,040 --> 00:19:12,480 Speaker 1: regional accent and make conversation about things Tasita loved, like 248 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:18,480 Speaker 1: parties orchids in classical piano. Understandably, her co workers, many 249 00:19:18,560 --> 00:19:21,400 Speaker 1: of whom did know the murdered woman, did not find 250 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:27,080 Speaker 1: this amusing. Several employees complained to Remy's supervisor, but when confronted, 251 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:29,800 Speaker 1: Remy claimed she didn't know what they were talking about. 252 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:34,920 Speaker 1: Remy's odd behavior continued until an afternoon in mid July, 253 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:38,360 Speaker 1: when she showed up on her day off and verbally 254 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:44,400 Speaker 1: accosted her supervisor seemingly unprovoked. She yelled about working conditions 255 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:48,920 Speaker 1: at the hospital and complained about her coworkers. Her supervisor 256 00:19:48,960 --> 00:19:51,359 Speaker 1: tried to calm her down, but when she wouldn't stop yelling, 257 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:55,000 Speaker 1: he fired her on the spot. To those around her, 258 00:19:55,119 --> 00:19:58,639 Speaker 1: it seemed like Remy was having some kind of breakdown. 259 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:14,840 Speaker 1: That evening things we worsened. Remy and her husband were 260 00:20:14,840 --> 00:20:17,800 Speaker 1: sitting together in the living room when she abruptly stood 261 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:21,520 Speaker 1: up and walked down the hall towards the bedroom. Jose 262 00:20:21,680 --> 00:20:24,159 Speaker 1: followed after her and found her lying on their beds, 263 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:27,480 Speaker 1: staring at the ceiling. When he asked if she was 264 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:32,520 Speaker 1: all right, she replied, Mama, Mama, are you there, Mama. 265 00:20:33,040 --> 00:20:37,520 Speaker 1: Jose froze. The voice coming from his wife's lips didn't 266 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:42,879 Speaker 1: sound like her own. Something was obviously very wrong. He 267 00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:47,480 Speaker 1: asked her if she knew her name. Remy replied in Tagalag, 268 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:51,520 Speaker 1: I am tacita Basa. Tagalag is one of the official 269 00:20:51,560 --> 00:20:54,320 Speaker 1: languages of the Philippines, but it was not the one 270 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:56,880 Speaker 1: that Jose and Remy used to speak to each other. 271 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:00,880 Speaker 1: They were both from Northern Lucan and spoke to each 272 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:04,320 Speaker 1: other in their regional mother tongue. Not only that, but 273 00:21:04,359 --> 00:21:06,919 Speaker 1: Remy was speaking with an odd Spanish accent that he 274 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:11,960 Speaker 1: never heard her use before. She repeated I am Tarasi 275 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:16,240 Speaker 1: to Basa. Jose was terrified. She said she wanted his help, 276 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:20,399 Speaker 1: she needed him to stop her killer. Jose insisted he 277 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:24,000 Speaker 1: didn't understand, but Remy insisted right back that she needed 278 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:25,919 Speaker 1: him to go to the police with the name of 279 00:21:25,920 --> 00:21:30,280 Speaker 1: her killer. But before she could give a name. Remy 280 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:34,280 Speaker 1: blinked and her expression changed. She looked around and asked, 281 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:37,600 Speaker 1: what happened? How did I get in the bedroom? Remy 282 00:21:37,600 --> 00:21:39,880 Speaker 1: didn't remember anything, and when her husband tried to tell 283 00:21:39,920 --> 00:21:42,240 Speaker 1: her about her odd behavior, she insisted it must have 284 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:45,840 Speaker 1: been some kind of sleepwalking. Jose asked if she was 285 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:48,639 Speaker 1: feeling all right, and Remy claimed she was fine, just 286 00:21:48,680 --> 00:21:52,400 Speaker 1: really thirsty. For the rest of the evening, Remy looked 287 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:58,000 Speaker 1: fine until around eleven, the phone rang. Jose picked it up, 288 00:21:58,080 --> 00:22:02,280 Speaker 1: and a man's voice asked for Remy Chuah. Jose handed 289 00:22:02,280 --> 00:22:05,000 Speaker 1: the phone to his wife. She listened for a moment 290 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:08,159 Speaker 1: and then hung up. Jose asked her who it was, 291 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,200 Speaker 1: and she told him she didn't know, but he threatened her. 292 00:22:12,119 --> 00:22:23,240 Speaker 1: He told her she was going to be next. Okay, 293 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:25,680 Speaker 1: if this was fiction, which it's not. It's a true story. 294 00:22:25,720 --> 00:22:28,240 Speaker 1: But if it was fiction, this is where I would 295 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:31,840 Speaker 1: be punching holes in the conceit you mean, On the 296 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:36,560 Speaker 1: same night Tarasina possesses Remy, Tarasina's killer calls her and 297 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:40,000 Speaker 1: threatens your next Why would the killer just happen to 298 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:43,280 Speaker 1: call Remy Chua a random coworker of his first victim, 299 00:22:43,720 --> 00:22:46,879 Speaker 1: Mere hours after, she was possessed by the very ghost 300 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:49,719 Speaker 1: of the woman he killed. Unless the killer was now 301 00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:53,120 Speaker 1: a ghost too, I might be a skeptic, but when 302 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:55,919 Speaker 1: a conceit as well established and consistent, I will go 303 00:22:56,040 --> 00:22:59,040 Speaker 1: with it. That's of course, if the story was fiction, 304 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:03,600 Speaker 1: which it's not. It's real, and Jose later testified to 305 00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:08,320 Speaker 1: this call under oath. Jose hoped it was over after 306 00:23:08,359 --> 00:23:11,919 Speaker 1: this incident, maybe it was a bad and tasteless prank. 307 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:16,480 Speaker 1: But then two days later it happened again. This time 308 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:19,080 Speaker 1: it was in the middle of a phone call. The 309 00:23:19,160 --> 00:23:21,720 Speaker 1: chewas were trying to sell their house, and Remy was 310 00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:24,800 Speaker 1: talking to their real estate agent. Suddenly, she handed the 311 00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:28,280 Speaker 1: phone to her husband and said, Terosita wants to come back. 312 00:23:30,040 --> 00:23:34,240 Speaker 1: It happened just as before, only this time Terasita seemed 313 00:23:34,280 --> 00:23:38,000 Speaker 1: more desperate. She said, you have to go to the police. 314 00:23:39,280 --> 00:23:41,560 Speaker 1: Jose told her he couldn't, he didn't have any proof. 315 00:23:41,840 --> 00:23:45,160 Speaker 1: He was going to look crazy. Remy took his hand 316 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:47,600 Speaker 1: and said if he needed proof, she would give it 317 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:52,160 Speaker 1: to him. The third and final possession happened the following day. 318 00:23:52,800 --> 00:23:55,760 Speaker 1: Jose came home from work to find his wife sobbing 319 00:23:55,800 --> 00:24:00,400 Speaker 1: on their bed. She was crying for her mama back, 320 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:03,919 Speaker 1: but this time she finally told him the name of 321 00:24:03,960 --> 00:24:09,240 Speaker 1: the killer. It was Alan Showy, and Teraraesita knew how 322 00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:26,280 Speaker 1: the Chewas could prove it. Joseph listened to the Chewas 323 00:24:26,320 --> 00:24:30,520 Speaker 1: story in a state of disbelief. It sounded crazy, and 324 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:34,480 Speaker 1: yet there was something about jose He just seemed so earnest. 325 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:38,240 Speaker 1: Then there was the jewelry. Chewas claimed. The spirit told 326 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:41,640 Speaker 1: them about two pieces of jewelry Alan stole from Tarasita's apartment. 327 00:24:42,720 --> 00:24:45,080 Speaker 1: There was a jade pendant and a pearl cocktail ring 328 00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:49,440 Speaker 1: from Paris. Teresita also told them her cousin ron Selma 329 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:54,040 Speaker 1: could identify the pieces if he saw them. As Joseph 330 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:56,760 Speaker 1: drove back from the Chua's, he couldn't help thinking that 331 00:24:56,880 --> 00:25:01,919 Speaker 1: he was in an impossible situation. Alan Showi was a 332 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:04,640 Speaker 1: good suspect, and even though he was a known friend 333 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:18,200 Speaker 1: of Terasita's, the police had never really interviewed him. Alan 334 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:22,000 Speaker 1: was a handsome black man in his early thirties. After 335 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:24,840 Speaker 1: graduating from high school, he enrolled at NYU, but he 336 00:25:24,920 --> 00:25:28,200 Speaker 1: dropped out after about a year. From there, he bounced 337 00:25:28,200 --> 00:25:32,000 Speaker 1: around the United States and ultimately landed in Chicago. That 338 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:34,400 Speaker 1: was when he moved in with a German immigrant named 339 00:25:34,480 --> 00:25:37,840 Speaker 1: Yanka Kalmuk and eventually got a job as an orderly 340 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:42,199 Speaker 1: at Edgewater Hospital. Alan was known around the hospital as 341 00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:44,400 Speaker 1: a jack of all trades and he would often help 342 00:25:44,480 --> 00:25:48,840 Speaker 1: Terasda with repairs and odd jobs. Tarasita trusted it Alan. 343 00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:51,439 Speaker 1: He'd been to her apartment before and he was a 344 00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:53,560 Speaker 1: person she would have let in without a second thought. 345 00:25:54,800 --> 00:25:57,480 Speaker 1: But the minute Joseph mentioned where his tip came from, 346 00:25:58,200 --> 00:26:00,400 Speaker 1: he was going to be the laughingstock of the entire 347 00:26:00,400 --> 00:26:15,280 Speaker 1: police force. When Joseph returned to the station, he pulled 348 00:26:15,280 --> 00:26:19,000 Speaker 1: Tarasita's file. The first thing he saw was the note 349 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:24,640 Speaker 1: from Tarasita diary get tickets for as as could be 350 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:28,919 Speaker 1: Alan SHOWI. It took six days to track down Alan, 351 00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:32,000 Speaker 1: but the two detectives eventually found him in a tidy 352 00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:37,479 Speaker 1: little apartment where he lived with his pregnant common law wife, Yanka. Shawi. 353 00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:39,960 Speaker 1: Was friendly and pleasant when he greeted them at the door, 354 00:26:40,720 --> 00:26:44,280 Speaker 1: and as he welcomed the detectives into his apartment, Joseph 355 00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:48,480 Speaker 1: couldn't help noticing that Yanka was sitting cross legged in 356 00:26:48,520 --> 00:26:51,399 Speaker 1: the dining room next to a stack of books about 357 00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:55,640 Speaker 1: ghosts and the occult. Alan seemed eager to help. Once 358 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:59,000 Speaker 1: Joseph explained he was investigating the murder of tarased to Bassa, 359 00:27:00,119 --> 00:27:02,160 Speaker 1: he agreed to come down to the station and answer 360 00:27:02,200 --> 00:27:07,040 Speaker 1: a few questions. At the station, the detectives told Alan 361 00:27:07,119 --> 00:27:11,520 Speaker 1: they found his fingerprints all over Taraseda's apartment. They hadn't 362 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:14,840 Speaker 1: actually found his fingerprints, and it seems to me, at 363 00:27:14,960 --> 00:27:18,479 Speaker 1: best morally ambiguous to lie that they did, but it 364 00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:20,919 Speaker 1: did get Alan to admit that he was in Taraseda's 365 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:24,680 Speaker 1: home on the night she died. He said Tarasita was 366 00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:28,720 Speaker 1: complaining about her broken TV set, and Alan showy offered 367 00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:31,840 Speaker 1: to help fix it. He arrived around six point thirty, 368 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:34,600 Speaker 1: and Taracita brought him a can of beer to drink 369 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:38,480 Speaker 1: while he worked. That same can would later be found 370 00:27:38,520 --> 00:27:42,560 Speaker 1: in the wreckage of her trashed apartment. When Alan realized 371 00:27:42,560 --> 00:27:45,080 Speaker 1: he didn't have the right parts for the TV, he 372 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:47,720 Speaker 1: left and spent the rest of the night at home 373 00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:52,879 Speaker 1: with Yanka. Alan said Yanka could vouch for him. They 374 00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:55,960 Speaker 1: left Alan in the interrogation room and drove back to 375 00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:59,320 Speaker 1: his apartment to speak with Yanka. While they were doing that, 376 00:27:59,800 --> 00:28:02,840 Speaker 1: another cop was getting in touch with tarasida friends and family, 377 00:28:03,480 --> 00:28:06,000 Speaker 1: asking if anyone would be willing to come in and 378 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:09,600 Speaker 1: look at some jewelry. Yanka agreed to come down to 379 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,840 Speaker 1: the station and even bring along her jewelry box, though 380 00:28:12,840 --> 00:28:18,040 Speaker 1: she didn't understand why she needed to. Charasida's friend, Richard Passatti, 381 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:21,760 Speaker 1: was waiting at the station, and as soon as he 382 00:28:21,800 --> 00:28:26,879 Speaker 1: saw Yanka, he went white. He pulled Joseph aside and whispered, 383 00:28:27,640 --> 00:28:31,760 Speaker 1: that woman is wearing Tarasedas ring. It was the pearl 384 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:36,680 Speaker 1: cocktail ring Tarasida's mother bought in Paris. When Richard looked 385 00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:39,440 Speaker 1: through the rest of Yanka's jewelry, he found a jade 386 00:28:39,440 --> 00:28:43,239 Speaker 1: pendant of Tarasitas as well. Yanka said Alan gave her 387 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:48,120 Speaker 1: the items as belated Christmas gifts. The detectives claimed that 388 00:28:48,160 --> 00:28:51,560 Speaker 1: when they confronted Alan with these facts, he admitted that 389 00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:54,240 Speaker 1: he was behind on his bills and was falling further 390 00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:59,000 Speaker 1: into debt. He knew Taraesita must have money, she always 391 00:28:59,040 --> 00:29:01,480 Speaker 1: tipped him so generally when he did work for her. 392 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:04,760 Speaker 1: He heard she was from a wealthy family in the 393 00:29:04,800 --> 00:29:07,840 Speaker 1: Philippines and that she once met the Queen of England, 394 00:29:08,720 --> 00:29:11,200 Speaker 1: so he returned to her apartment after leaving to look 395 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:14,239 Speaker 1: for the right parts for the TV. He put her 396 00:29:14,240 --> 00:29:17,560 Speaker 1: in a chokehold until she passed out. Then he dragged 397 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:20,320 Speaker 1: her to the bedroom and dressed her, stabbed her in 398 00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:23,480 Speaker 1: the chest, and set her body on fire. When he 399 00:29:23,520 --> 00:29:27,720 Speaker 1: searched her apartment, he found only thirty dollars. By the 400 00:29:27,800 --> 00:29:31,160 Speaker 1: end of the night, Alan signed a confession, he was 401 00:29:31,240 --> 00:29:46,840 Speaker 1: charged with homicide, and the case was declared closed. At 402 00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:50,560 Speaker 1: least that's one version of the story. At the trial, 403 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:56,040 Speaker 1: Alan claimed after police found Tera Sita's jewelry in Alan's possession, 404 00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,960 Speaker 1: that they threatened to arrest Yanka as an accessory to murder. 405 00:30:01,360 --> 00:30:04,960 Speaker 1: Yanka was eight months pregnant, meaning if she was arrested, 406 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:07,920 Speaker 1: she might very well be forced to give birth in prison. 407 00:30:09,120 --> 00:30:12,280 Speaker 1: The detectives knew that, and they used it to coerce 408 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:17,120 Speaker 1: Alan into a confession. And there was more. There was 409 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:20,240 Speaker 1: the fact Alan's fingerprints did not match the ones found 410 00:30:20,280 --> 00:30:23,960 Speaker 1: on the beer cans at Tarasida's apartment. There were the 411 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:26,920 Speaker 1: five strands of hair found on Tarasieda's body at the 412 00:30:26,960 --> 00:30:31,400 Speaker 1: morgue which definitely did not belong to Alan Showi, and 413 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:35,040 Speaker 1: perhaps most concerning of all, an attorney for the defense 414 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:40,719 Speaker 1: discovered Remi Chua was known to sell jewelry at Edgewater Hospital. 415 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:45,520 Speaker 1: When Yanka testified, she said that Alan told her he 416 00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:49,280 Speaker 1: bought the jewelry at the hospital, and a different picture 417 00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:54,400 Speaker 1: started coming together. After a grueling thirteen hours of deliberation, 418 00:30:55,160 --> 00:30:59,280 Speaker 1: the jurors could not come to a conclusion they were 419 00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:04,400 Speaker 1: actually divine along racial lines. The four black jurors believed 420 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:08,880 Speaker 1: it was possible that Chicago police might use unethical means 421 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:12,360 Speaker 1: to force an innocent black man into signing a confession 422 00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:17,160 Speaker 1: that seems so obvious to me. I'm tempted to write 423 00:31:17,160 --> 00:31:19,640 Speaker 1: off the reservation of the rest of the jurors as well, 424 00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:22,800 Speaker 1: because I guess they believed in ghosts more than racism. 425 00:31:23,280 --> 00:31:27,280 Speaker 1: But bear with me. The trial ended in a hung jury, 426 00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:31,680 Speaker 1: but before another trial could begin, Alan Showy ignored his 427 00:31:31,720 --> 00:31:36,440 Speaker 1: attorney's advice and changed his plea to guilty. Some people 428 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:39,800 Speaker 1: might attribute this change to the influence of Tarasee to spirit. 429 00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:44,400 Speaker 1: Others might consider that if Alan was tried again and convicted, 430 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:48,560 Speaker 1: he would face serious charges. Changing his plead to guilty 431 00:31:48,960 --> 00:31:52,920 Speaker 1: could have meant a more lenient sentence. In the end, 432 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:57,080 Speaker 1: Alan did get some clemency. He was given the minimum 433 00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:01,440 Speaker 1: sentence for murder fourteen years, was out on parole after 434 00:32:01,480 --> 00:32:05,480 Speaker 1: four and a half. So what can we take from this? 435 00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:09,440 Speaker 1: Did Remicua stumble into the wrong room at the wrong 436 00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:12,400 Speaker 1: time and somehow become the unwitting host for the spirit 437 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:15,800 Speaker 1: of Terracita? Did she have some knowledge of the crime 438 00:32:15,880 --> 00:32:19,520 Speaker 1: but worried that coming forward might implicate her? And if 439 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:23,160 Speaker 1: that was the case, how could a possession help or 440 00:32:23,240 --> 00:32:25,240 Speaker 1: what place does it have in a crime at all? 441 00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:28,760 Speaker 1: We're going to understand that it might be good to 442 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:38,920 Speaker 1: understand the way people see possession in the Philippines. In 443 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:42,120 Speaker 1: October of twenty twenty three, a high school in the 444 00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:47,120 Speaker 1: small Philippine community of Lawis was closed following an incident 445 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:51,040 Speaker 1: where fourteen students claimed to be possessed by sinister spirits. 446 00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:55,040 Speaker 1: It was called a mass possession, and it was not 447 00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:58,959 Speaker 1: the only one of its kind. Just a month earlier, 448 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:01,640 Speaker 1: seven students were from their high school on the neighboring 449 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:06,840 Speaker 1: island of Cebu after the apparent sudden onset of spiritual possession. 450 00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:11,240 Speaker 1: In twenty nineteen, a school on the island of Negros, 451 00:33:11,680 --> 00:33:15,080 Speaker 1: the same island where Tarasita grew up was closed after 452 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:20,160 Speaker 1: twenty students collapsed in class due to similarly other worldly forces. 453 00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:25,440 Speaker 1: Spiritual possession is nothing new in the Philippines. The Filipino 454 00:33:25,520 --> 00:33:29,320 Speaker 1: word for it is sapi. It translates to joining. The 455 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:33,760 Speaker 1: concept came from what scholars call folk Catholicism, that is, 456 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:38,320 Speaker 1: the sect of Catholicism, which evolved when indigenous spiritual practices 457 00:33:38,920 --> 00:33:43,880 Speaker 1: fused with the religion imposed by Spanish colonists. Cases of 458 00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:47,240 Speaker 1: sapi can vary wildly, but many of them follow a 459 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:52,959 Speaker 1: similar pattern. The possessed person begins acting strangely, and there 460 00:33:53,040 --> 00:33:56,240 Speaker 1: might be changes to their voice or posture. They will 461 00:33:56,320 --> 00:34:00,400 Speaker 1: usually admit they are possessed and speak as the possessing entity. 462 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:04,280 Speaker 1: When the incident is over, the person often has no 463 00:34:04,400 --> 00:34:07,360 Speaker 1: memory of it. In fact, they may not even know 464 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:11,600 Speaker 1: anything happened at all, which is a mercy. Can you 465 00:34:11,640 --> 00:34:13,759 Speaker 1: imagine being possessed? I mean no, I don't want to 466 00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:16,520 Speaker 1: imagine it. But imagine if you were possessed and you 467 00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:22,480 Speaker 1: knew it. Okay, But back to the anthropology. To Western doctors, 468 00:34:22,960 --> 00:34:25,640 Speaker 1: this phenomenon of possession can look a lot like a 469 00:34:25,680 --> 00:34:30,960 Speaker 1: dissociative episode caused by trauma, but in a twenty nineteen article, 470 00:34:31,520 --> 00:34:38,759 Speaker 1: professors Christina Jaime Montiel and Angelica Vidalo Eeing argue this 471 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:42,759 Speaker 1: view of possession is limiting as long as the possessed 472 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:46,680 Speaker 1: person believes they are occupied by a spirit in that 473 00:34:46,760 --> 00:34:49,960 Speaker 1: belief will have a real impact on what happens when 474 00:34:49,960 --> 00:34:55,359 Speaker 1: they are treated. They're saying, essentially, if Remy believed her 475 00:34:55,400 --> 00:34:58,759 Speaker 1: possession was real, and she came from a culture which 476 00:34:58,840 --> 00:35:03,279 Speaker 1: backed up that belief, then it was real. Even if 477 00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:07,319 Speaker 1: it came from a place of trauma and dissociation, like say, 478 00:35:07,960 --> 00:35:11,120 Speaker 1: if she witnessed or was a part of something terrible 479 00:35:12,040 --> 00:35:15,600 Speaker 1: like a murder. The question is did Remy believe she 480 00:35:15,719 --> 00:35:19,040 Speaker 1: was possessed? Could she have believed it if she was 481 00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:23,400 Speaker 1: unaware that it was happening, and did the possession bring 482 00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:28,239 Speaker 1: honest justice? Ghost stories never wrap up neatly. It's one 483 00:35:28,280 --> 00:35:30,239 Speaker 1: reason why I don't like them, in addition to the 484 00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:33,440 Speaker 1: many that I listed earlier. At the very least, I 485 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:37,920 Speaker 1: will be unsettled, because, like with this ghost story, in 486 00:35:37,960 --> 00:35:43,360 Speaker 1: its unclear conclusion, I will leave it feeling uneasy and unsatisfied. 487 00:35:59,160 --> 00:36:02,319 Speaker 1: Thank you to John O'Brien and Edward Bauman for their 488 00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:06,360 Speaker 1: book Teresita the voice from the grave. I do not 489 00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:09,400 Speaker 1: have the fortitude to dive this deep into the occult. 490 00:36:09,520 --> 00:36:14,359 Speaker 1: So many thanks to Zoe Luisa Lewis for writing this episode. 491 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:17,879 Speaker 1: We also used a number of articles in researching. All 492 00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:20,480 Speaker 1: of these sources are linked in our show notes. If 493 00:36:20,480 --> 00:36:24,080 Speaker 1: you want to learn more, join me next week on 494 00:36:24,160 --> 00:36:27,360 Speaker 1: the Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told for a story 495 00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:31,760 Speaker 1: about a sweet looking Chinese grandmother who earned her moniker 496 00:36:32,160 --> 00:36:36,200 Speaker 1: the Mother of All Snakeheads, by rising up the ranks 497 00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:40,440 Speaker 1: of the Fujianese gang world and becoming one of the 498 00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:54,759 Speaker 1: most prolific human traffickers of all time. The Greatest True 499 00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:57,760 Speaker 1: Crime Stories Ever Told is a production of Diversion Audio. 500 00:36:58,200 --> 00:37:01,520 Speaker 1: Your host is me Mary Kay MC and this episode 501 00:37:01,640 --> 00:37:05,440 Speaker 1: was written by Zoe Luisa Lewis. Our show is produced 502 00:37:05,440 --> 00:37:09,520 Speaker 1: by Leo Culp and edited by Antonio Enriquez. Our theme 503 00:37:09,600 --> 00:37:13,320 Speaker 1: music is by Tyler Cash. Executive produced by Scott Waxman.