EP 58 | The Pepperell Prequel & The True Story of The Bowen Family Nightmare, Pepperell, Massachusetts

Crime of the Truest Kind

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This is a bizarre case, not only for what happened to a Massachusetts family in the privacy of their home, but also how their story was reshaped and retold by urban legend and lore.
This is the prequel: The Gustafson family story (EP 57) is far less known than that of the person responsible. That's part of the problem. Before Daniel LaPlante, a disturbed kid from Townsend, went on the run and was caught after a 24 hour manhunt, he was already the stuff of legend, "the boy in the wall." That is what the quiet drone of the years has done; because everybody loves a good boogeyman story, right?
A creepy low budget fright. It is so much more than that.
What led to the events of that day when the a family was ambushed in their home, and a mother and two children brutally killed. Well, this is truly the story of nightmares.
This episode is about stalking, child abuse and child sexual abuse, mental illness, personality disorder, SA, violent crime against women and children. This is about one child destroying a family and almost destroying another. A broken boy or was he always going to be this way?
The Bowens of Pepperell were scared out of their home by a menacing presence. Months passed before they learned someone had been living in a narrow space in their wall, and was watching them. Due to the nature of all involved being minors at the time, there is no documentation available to the public about the Bowen's actual nightmare living situation.
Daniel LaPlante suffered from a childhood marred by the worst kind of abuse, by the people he should have been able to trust. We go back to the beginning, before his gruesome crimes to see the making of a monster. How he developed hobbies of crime, hobbies that grew into a practice - break ins, haunting people in their homes, to stalking to stealing guns and money, to kidnapping and murder. His crimes robbed the community of its peace, while many wanted to forget, others could never get it out of their minds.

Crime of the Truest Kind
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This podcast has minimal profanity but from time to time you get one or some curse words. This isn't for kids.
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Music included in episodes from Joe "onlyone" Kowalski, Dug McCormack's Math Ghosts and Shredding by Andrew King

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1. Crime of the Truest Kind (00:00:00)

2. Maura Maura anniversary vigil (00:02:00)

3. Gustafson family of Townsend (00:06:54)

4. The West Elm Street Nightmare (00:10:52)

5. Making of a Monster (00:14:38)

6. Two live shows! 2/15 in Malden + 3/7 in Beverly (00:26:06)

7. The Bowen Family Nightmare Begins (00:27:31)

8. Daniel Laplante's Crimes and Investigation (00:42:48)