On February 21, 1977, respiratory therapist Teresita Basa was brutally murdered by an unknown assailant. Her body was discovered by firemen. It was immediately apparent that Teresita was a murder victim because the butcher knife used to murder her was still embedded in her naked body. Police assumed Teresita had been sexually assaulted and then the fire set deliberately to cover up her murder, but the autopsy results showed that the murder was not an attempt to cover up a rape. The fe only clue found at the scene was a note that simply said “Get theater tickets for A. S.”
Four months passed, and the investigation began to go cold. However, in August detective Joseph Stachula received a phone call out of the blue that blew the case wide open. A doctor named Jose Chua who worked at the same hospital as Teresita called to report a most unusual circumstance — his wife Remy had begun to go into trances and claimed to be temporarily possessed by the spirit of Teresita Basa, who then provided the doctor with specific information about her murderer. The Chuas claimed they did not know Teresita Basa–the only thing they had in common was the doctor worked at the same hospital and all three of them were Filipino.
The Chuas had not wanted to come forward or get involved out of the fear of looking ridiculous, but Basa’s ghost would not leave Remy Chua alone until Dr. Chua helped her by telling police what he “knew” about Basa’s murder. According to Basa’s ghost, a man named Allen Showery had come to her apartment to fix her broken television but while there decided to steal an expensive pearl ring Basa had received as an heirloom, and murdered Basa while robbing her.
Police investigated and discovered the stolen ring in the possession of Showery’s girlfriend, which Basa’s cousin confirmed after the alleged ghost provided police with her phone number.
Confronted with the physical evidence of the stolen ring and the fact his initials matched the clue on the note, Showery confessed to Basa’s murder and received a sentence of fourteen years in prison. Sadly, Showery was paroled after only serving five years.
Skeptics will naturally argue that the Chuas somehow solved Basa’s murder and were able to provide police with information that led to Showery’s conviction through deceit and subterfuge, but what would be their motive to invent such a preposterous story as a ghost encounter to explain how they knew Showery’s name and that the physical evidence was in his girlfriend’s possession? Either Showery told the Chuas, or Basa told the Chuas, or Remy Chua was extraordinarily good at guessing. And how would she even know the names and telephone numbers of Basa’s relatives who could confirm the stolen property? Christians who are skeptical will probably argue that it was a demon who provided the correct information, not the ghost of Teresita Basa.
But what interest would a demon have in receiving justice for Basa’s murder? I believed in ghosts before reading the account of Teresita Basa’s murder and the bizarre way investigators came to the information that led to her killer.
And what will the naturalist have to say about this fascinating murder case?
It can’t be called a lie because there are newspaper articles and numerous other accounts that document the basic details of the story. It also can’t be called a ghost or demonic possession because naturalists don’t believe in those things.
The only story that will work for these skeptics is that the Chuas somehow knew intimate details of Teresita Basa’s murder without being involved or having a good reason for the knowledge they subsequently conveyed to police. But why would the Chuas lie? Why would assuming the Chuas are lying make more sense than assuming they are telling the truth? What would be their motive for lying?
Inquiring minds would like to know…
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