I have covered a lot of cases with twists, turns, and surprises. But I don’t think I’ve ever covered a case quite as unusual as the murder of Teresita Basa. Though the investigation into her murder was procedural and by the book, the manner in which it was solved has left those involved, as well as many true crime fans, both skeptical, and awed. Myself included, on both fronts.
Teresita Basa was born in 1929 in the Philippines, the only daughter of a prominent couple within the community. She was bright and bubbly, with a passion for music. She was an excellent student who enjoyed learning, and growing. After she graduated from Assumption College in Manila, Teresita began seriously thinking about which direction she wanted her future to go. In the 1960s, she made the decision to pursue her studies in music in the United States.
She enrolled in a Master’s program at Loyola University, in Chicago, Illinois, and continued her education in music. While in school, she also worked at Edgewater Hospital as a respiratory therapist. She lived a happy life, and earned a solid reputation around her apartment complex for being generous, and kind. Teresita would often open her door to her neighbours for social gatherings, and complimentary piano lessons for the neighbourhood children.
On Monday, February 21st, 1977, Teresita received a phone call from her friend, Ruth Loeb. The two chatted for a good half hour, when Teresita mentioned to Ruth that she was soon expecting company. She never mentioned whom she was meeting, but she seemed happy about it, and Ruth didn’t give the detail a second thought.
Roughly an hour after Ruth had spoken to her friend, Teresita’s neighbours phoned the fire department. There was smoke coming from her apartment, they said, and they were worried for their own homes and safety, as well as for the safety of Teresita herself, whom no one could get in couch with. After being told to evacuate the building, the fire department arrived in order to investigate.
Inside the apartment, they found that the living room had been ransacked, and that the source of the fire had come from the bedroom. In the bedroom they observed that the mattress had been pulled off the bed, and was piled with clothes on the floor. Moving the items, they ultimately found Teresita’s nude body, with a knife sticking out of her chest.
Out of their depth, the fire department contacted law enforcement. Upon their arrival, they determined that they were dealing with the homicide of 47-year-old Teresita Basa.
Investigators believed that the fire had been set in an effort to hide or destroy evidence of the crime. Despite finding her nude, it was concluded that Teresita had not been sexually assaulted. As such, law enforcement surmised that this had been a red herring on the part of the murderer.
Though Teresita’s living room had been ransacked, investigators were unable to determine if anything was taken. They didn’t rule out the possibility that robbery had been a precursor to Teresita’s murder, but they couldn’t conclude that robber was the motive either.
One piece of evidence seemed strange, though. Investigators found a memo pad, upon which Teresita had written the following: “Get theatre tickets for A.S.” Who was A.S.? And why did they want theatre tickets?
Speaking with Teresita’s colleagues, friends, classmates, and neighbours, they found that Teresita was quiet, kind, and polite. She enjoyed music, and nurturing her friendships. She was highly regarded by her patients, and was often praised for her dedication to their care.
Teresita was also often involved in local musical events, and often encouraged her friends and colleague to purchase tickets. Many of her colleagues would take her up on her offer, and she was always providing them with the best tickets available for the events she was involved in.
Learning of this, investigators remembered the note that was left in her apartment, the one that promised someone with the initials “A.S.” tickets. Was one of these events the reason behind her ruthless murder? It was an avenue to consider.
Investigators followed every lead tirelessly. They left no stone unturned. But they were stumped. They had no new leads to follow, and now indication as to who could have done such a horrific thing to such a lovely person.
On one quiet morning in July of 1977, Detective Joe Stachula found a note on his desk. The note asked him to call the Evanston Police Department, as someone there wanted to talk to him about the Teresita Basa murder investigation. Intrigued, Detective Stachula placed the call, and was stunned by what he heard.
Officers at Evanston had received a phone call from someone who claimed to have information about the murder. Detective Stachula was given Dr. Jose Chua’s contact information, and informed to give him a call. Detective Stachula had no idea what he could possible know about the Teresita Basa case, but figured ‘why not’?
Detective Stachula, with his partner Detective Lee Epplen, got in touch with Dr. Chua, and arranged to meet with him at his home for an interview. They weren’t really sure what would come of the meeting, but they weren’t about to turn down a potential lead.
Once the detectives arrived at the house, Dr. Chua told them that if he had been in their position, he wouldn’t believe what he was about to tell them either. However, he and his wife had lived it, and they needed to tell the police what they knew.
Shortly after Teresita had been murdered, Dr. Chua’s wife Remibias, who preferred to go by Remy, began having “visions”. Or so the couple claimed. Both Remy and Dr. Chua had been acquaintances of Teresita, they disclosed, as they worked with her at Edgewater Hospital, though their paths rarely crossed.
Dr. Chua stated that his wife began acting strangely, adopting mannerisms and habits that were not her own, using Teresita’s locker at the hospital, and even sitting in her usual seat in the staff cafeteria. When asked, Remy simply shrugged it off. When her colleagues complained of the odd behaviour, Remy behaved irrationally, flying into a rage, and complaining of the terrible treatment staff received at the hospital.
Remy’s supervisor tried to calm her down, and suggested that she take a leave of absence. Remy refused, and her employment at Edgewater was terminated. Remy expressed relief about this situation, believing maybe she had just been more affected than she initially thought over the death of her colleague.
Following Remy’s forced exit from the hospital, her behaviour grew more and more bizarre. Dr. Chua told the detectives that one night, Remy fell into a comatose-like trance, and began speaking to him. However, it wasn’t the sound of Remy’s voice that he heard, and he did not recognize the voice of the speaker. However, his wife’s words stuck out to him: “Doctor, I would like to ask for your help. The man who murdered me is still at large.”
Dr. Chua then asked whom he was speaking to, and Remy replied: “Ako y [I am] Teresita Basa.”
Dr. Chua was taken aback. He knew of the case, of course. But he had no idea what to make of this. Questioning his wife further, in a voice that was not her own, Remy informed him that Teresita had been murdered by a man named Allan Showery.
A little while later, Remy awoke from her sleep. When questioned by her husband, she had no knowledge of what had transpired. When he told her what she’d said, she merely stared blankly at him, and went about her routine. Dr. Chua put it out of his mind. If Remy wasn’t bothered, then neither was he.
Roughly a week later, Remy once again fell into a trance, and spoke to her husband in a voice that was not hers, repeating the information that she was Teresita Basa, who had been murdered by Allan Showery.
She was annoyed that neither Remy nor Dr. Chua had gone to the police with this information. Ever the pragmatic man, Dr. Chua informed ‘Teresita’ that he couldn’t possibly go to the police on a whim with no proof. ‘Teresita’ scoffed. She had proof, she told him sternly.
She informed Dr. Chua that Showery had stolen a couple pieces of jewelry from her apartment following her murder. A couple of pieces stood out, especially a cocktail ring and a pendant necklace. The pieces were sentimental to Teresita. Her father had purchased them for her mother in France. Before she’d left her home for the United States, her mother had gifted them to her.
Showery had stolen the jewelry, and then gifted it to his girlfriend. Remy, possibly channelling Teresita, provided her husband with the names and phone numbers of four people – friends and family – who were close to Teresita. Should the police get in touch with them, they would certainly be able to identify the pieces of jewelry.
Upon hearing the story, the detectives were skeptical. At best.
However, the name – Allan Showery – matched the initials that Teresita had written down on her memo pad. Weighing the pros and cons, the detectives decided to follow up. It was the first lead of any sort they’d received in the six months since Teresita’s horrific murder. They would have been remiss not to at least take a cursory glance into it.
Wasting no time, the pair of detectives ran a background check on Showery. They found that he lived in an apartment new Teresita’s, and that he was also employed by Edgewater Hospital. While eyebrow raising, these facts were circumstantial at best. They needed to dig further.
The detectives made the rounds around Edgewater Hospital, speaking this time to Showery’s colleagues, rather than Teresita’s. Many of them told the same story – shortly after it was discovered by hospital staff that Teresita has been murdered, Showery went around telling multiple people that he had been by Teresita’s apartment to fix her television the night of her murder.
It was time detectives approached Allan Showery himself.
Stopping by Showery’s last known address, detectives found both him and his girlfriend, Yanka Kamluk, at home. They asked Showery if he wouldn’t mind terribly accompanying them to the station to make a formal statement. They were investigating Teresita’s murder, and they were hoping he might have some information. Showery and Yanka both agreed, and went with them willingly.
When asked about visiting Teresita’s apartment, Showery initially denied ever having been there. However, when confronted with the statements made by his colleagues, Showery was cornered.
He admitted that he’d been there, and that she had asked him to fix her television. When he arrived, he realized he was missing a tool that he would need to complete the repair. He left shortly thereafter, scheduling another time with Teresita to fix her television. The murder must have occurred after he’d left, Showery concluded to detectives.
Moreover, he went right back home to Yanka. Yanka had told him that she had noticed some electrical issues in their own apartment. Realizing he couldn’t help Teresita, he decided to prioritize his own home, and fix the electrical issue there.
Gathering Showery’s statement, the detectives paused the interview, and decided to interview Yanka. They wanted to cross-reference Showery’s statement against his alibi.
When discussing the finer details with Yanka, she appeared extremely puzzled. She told them that their apartment definitely didn’t have any electrical issues, and that even if they did, Showery did not have the knowledge to fix them.
Further questioning informed detectives that Yanka had received jewelry from Showery back in February. She told them that Showery had given them to her as late Christmas gifts. In fact, she was wearing them right at that moment. She then pointed first to the pendant, then to the cocktail ring.
The detectives couldn’t believe what they were seeing, and hearing. This could absolutely not be possible. But, they had a gut feeling they were on the right track.
The detectives called the contacts that Dr. Chua, through Remy, had stated would be able to identify the pieces. The took the pieces from Yanka as evidence, and waited. Lo and behold, the contacts were able to positively identify the pendant necklace and the cocktail ring as having belonged to Teresita Basa – it was just as Remy had said.
With this information, the detectives questioned Showery again. Nonchalantly, he confessed to the murder.
Allan Showery detailed to detectives that he had gone to her with the intention of robbing her for rent money. The bills were piling up, and he was low on funds. Teresita had already been expecting him, having agreed to allow him into her home to fix her television. She had already been planning on giving him theatre tickets, the TV fix was an added bonus. As soon as she turned her back, she attacked.
He stated that he hadn’t intended on killing her, but upon realizing what he’d done, he needed to cover it up. He took of her clothes and posed her to make it look like she’d been sexually assaulted. Then, he searched her apartment. All he found were the pieces of jewelry he gave to Yanka, and $30.
To further cover his tracks, he set Teresita’s apartment on fire, and then fled.
On January 21st, 1979, Allan Showery went on trial for first degree murder, after initially pleading not guilty despite his confession. Four weeks later, the trial resulted in a hung jury.
Showery waited in prison for a retrial, which gave him time to think. Prior to the beginning of his second trial, Allan Showery changed his plea.
In exchange for a lighter sentence, he pleaded guilty. He was then sentenced to fourteen years in prison for murder, four for robbery, and four for arson.
In 1983, Allan Showery was released from prison on parole, and more or less vanished into the ether, though some say he went to New York City upon his release.
The case of Teresita Basa reads a bit like a soap opera. It also reads like a ghost story, and a murder mystery. There remains a healthy level of skepticism as to whether or not Remy Chua truly channelled Teresita in order to deliver a message to someone who would apprehend her murderer. But in the end, Allan Showery was convicted, and he served his time.
My questions are: Was Allan Showery the true perpetrator of Teresita Basa’s murder? Of was he a very convenient scapegoat?
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Sources:
The Chilling Story Of Teresita Basa, The Woman Whose ‘Ghost’ May Have Solved Her Own Murder – Bernadette Giacomazzo & Erik Hawkins – All That’s Interesting
Did Teresita Basa Solve Her Own Murder? – Jenn Baxter – Medium
Teresita Basa: True Crime From Beyond the Grave – Vernieda Vergara – The Lineup
The Case of Teresita Basa–How a Ghost Solved a Murder – Abe Croft – Paranorms
If the Walls Could Talk podcast – Teresita Basa