THE DISTURBING CASE OF DANIEL LAPLANTE _ The Boy In The Walls

"The family thought their house was haunted. They heard tapping in the walls at night. Objects moved. Ketchup messages appeared on mirrors. They even called a priest." But the monster wasn't a ghost. It was a 16-year-old boy who had been living inside their walls for months — watching, waiting, and escalating toward murder.In this chilling true crime episode, we investigate the case of Daniel LaPlante, a Massachusetts teenager whose crimes progressed from outlandish to unspeakable [citation:1]. In 1986, LaPlante secretly lived inside the Bowen family's home in Pepperell, hiding in crawl spaces and emerging at night to terrorize them [citation:7]. The family genuinely believed they were dealing with a demonic haunting — until they discovered the horrifying truth.But LaPlante's dark obsession didn't end there. On December 1, 1987, he entered the home of Priscilla Gustafson, a nursery school teacher in Townsend, Massachusetts [citation:2]. He raped her and shot her twice at close range through a pillow [citation:6]. He then drowned her two young children — seven-year-old Abigail and five-year-old William — in separate bathrooms [citation:6]. Priscilla was pregnant at the time of her death [citation:6].After a massive manhunt involving police dogs and helicopters, LaPlante was captured hiding in a dumpster [citation:6]. He was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to three consecutive life terms — with the possibility of parole only after 45 years [citation:6]. A forensic psychiatrist later evaluated LaPlante and found that he was not remorseful for his crimes [citation:6].This is the story of the teenage boy who hid in the walls and graduated to murder. Listener discretion absolutely required.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/red-tree-crime--6847553/support.