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Chapter 1: What strange occurrences started happening in the Bowen household?
When we get into this, I know I've told this story on the podcast before. You can tell it again. I will tell it again because it's so horrific and it's so on point. But this experience of mine that you will hear about from law school touches right on what we're about to talk about. I did not die in my experience, but you see how close to kind of the edge you always are.
So that's why this case really struck a chord with me because it was a little too close to home.
Well, this case is going to take us all the way back to June 1986. So Frank Bowen and his daughters, Tina and Karen, they began to notice some strange happenings at their home in Pepperell, Massachusetts. So it started out innocuous enough. Strange sounds throughout the evening. Human-shaped shadows everywhere.
on the wall which doesn't seem innocuous to me by the way maybe innocuous wasn't the right word to use there and someone repeatedly ding dong ditching the home but things only got stranger tina and karen would pour a glass of milk and then find that it had been drank before they were even able to take a sip.
The channels on the TV would change without the family members touching any sort of remote control or the television itself. Food and personal belongings began to go missing. Now this was weird, obviously. I've never experienced anything like this. But Frank, he was skeptical. When his daughters came and told him about all these strange things that were happening.
And I have a deal with my wife because the one thing I've noticed about horror movies and horror novels and everything else is the significant other never believes it. They always doubt. And it always turns out that they're right. And then, you know, the other person's telling them, hey, this is happening. This strange thing's happening. And they're always like, oh, Susanna. It's fine.
I'm sure it's nothing. It's all in your head. And then sure enough, it turns out it's like, you know, either the house is haunted by some ancient evil or some serial killers after them or whatever. And if only they'd listened, they could have saved everybody. And usually the husband or wife who doesn't believe is one of the people who ends up dead. So anyway, so I have a deal with my wife.
Always believe. If I ever tell you, you know, this crazy weird thing's happening, you have to believe it. So hopefully she'll stick to that. Anyways, but Dad, he is skeptical. He does not believe. He hears his daughter telling him this, and he thinks that they are still having a hard time coping with the death of their mother, who had died only a year prior. And this is perfectly logical.
I can imagine thinking something like this. And that's what he's saying. He's like... These weird things are on the girl's heads. Everybody processes grief differently. They're obviously doing that. They've suffered this tragedy. So I'm going to let them sort of I'm going to indulge these fantasies they have. But there's nothing to it. But things continued to escalate.
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Chapter 2: How did the Bowen family first encounter the intruder?
But his attorneys cited the change in state law that allows juveniles convicted of murder with extreme cruelty and atrocity to ask for parole after they've been behind bars for a minimum of 30 years. Again, the whole not remorseful thing. We're not talking about someone who's like 12. He was really on the cusp of 18. He was already out on bond at the time. He's stealing guns.
His crime is truly not one that really draws on the sympathy strings of someone's heart.
And look, I believe in parole, but can we start prioritizing victims and protecting society and not like, why do you have a law? specifically cites crimes of extreme cruelty and atrocity as ones you're going to allow parole on. Extreme cruelty and atrocity should be the ones that don't get parole. Those should be the people who die in prison. That's what should happen to Daniel.
He should die in prison. But, you know, whatever. They're citing this law. Fortunately, and I think this speaks to just how horrible Daniel's crimes were that the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which is not exactly known to be tough on crime.
Pretty pro criminal defendant.
Pretty pro, however you want to put that. They are it. Well, they denied Laplante's request for early trial. eligibility for parole. Justice David Lowy wrote the court decision and he provided the following rationale. The defendant's sentence is proportional both to the crimes he committed and to his particular characteristics as an offender. Yes, it is.
Ultimately, the resentencing judge concluded that although the defendant had shown signs of improved behavior in recent years, his prognosis for rehabilitation in the future is guarded. You can say that again. Daniel is currently being held at the Massachusetts Correctional Institute in Norfolk. He will be eligible for parole in 2033.
So in eight years, those of you living in Massachusetts, prepare yourselves for his possibility of parole, though we can hope he'll never get parole. He will be 62 years old at that time.
So there's really no mystery about this case. It was, I think, open and shut from the beginning, but I think it is a fascinating view into a very short amount of time in which the crimes escalated so quickly. And you can clearly see where Daniel's trajectory was going. It was only going to become more and more violent and more and more horrific and The justice system works swiftly in this case.
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