Teresita Basa: The Victim Who Solved Her Own Murder

There's an old folk tale called The Singing Bone. In the story, a man is murdered by his own brother and buried beneath a bridge. Years past, the world moves on, but one day, a shepherd finds a bleached white bone in the dust and he carves it into a mouthpiece for his flute. And when he blows into it, the bone begins to sing. It doesn't play a melody, it speaks a name, it tells the story of the murder. We call these fairy tales, because we want to believe that death is a door that locks from the outside. We want to believe that once a voice is extinguished, it stays silent. But sometimes, the truth is too heavy for the grave to hold. Sometimes a victim refuses to stay a victim and sometimes the only person who can solve the murder is the person who was murdered. I'm Harvigianne and this is Killer Stories. This February 1977, 8pm, on a Monday night, De Ricitabasa is home in her Chicago apartment, talking to a friend on the phone, Ruth, they work together. The conversation is casual, just two middle-aged women shooting the breeze, but at some point Ruth hears a man's voice in the background. It sounds like De Ricitab has a gentleman collar over, which is exciting. But Ruth never gets the full scoop on who he is, not even a name. They make plans to get lunch the next day, and the call ends around 8.15, as late as 8.20. At 8.40pm, a couple who lives down the hall from De Ricitab, smells smoke. At first they think they left their stove on after dinner, but they eventually learn it's coming from outside. They open their front door to find the hallway filled with a grey haze, smoke billowing out from an apartment down the way. 15B, De Ricitabasa. The firefighters arrive and a janitor keys them in. It's mostly dark inside because the electricity has been knocked out, but flashlights illuminate enough to tell the place is a mess. It looks like it's been torn apart, and they quickly find the source of the smoke. In the bedroom, there's a mattress and a pile of clothes on fire, but the real surprise is what firefighters find underneath that is seat thus dead body. She's naked, lying on her back with her legs spread, and there's a butcher knife in the exact center of her chest, embedded all the way to the handle. Firefighters smash the window in the apartment to clear the smoke, and police begin assessing the scene. It looks as if someone had been frantically searching for something. There's an up-ended cocktail table, overturned plants, ash trays, napkins, and clothes thrown around the room, a butter wiser can under the edge of a couch, and yet the only clue in the entire apartment as to what might have happened is the most recent note that he seat that wrote on her memo pad. It says, "Get concert tickets for AS. That's a period S period." Like initials. Nobody knows who or what that could mean, and shortly after 11pm, that he seat thus body is driven to the nearest hospital where she's pronounced dead on arrival. She's 47 years old. The murder shocks everyone in that is seat thus orbit. Who could have wanted such a sweet woman dead? She worked as a respiratory therapist in a hospital during the day helping people. At night, she studied to complete her doctorate in music. She taught piano lessons on the side, and in her spare time, she was writing a book. I feel like I'm a busy person, but like that is seat that makes me feel like I'm lazy. She came to America from the Philippines where she was born into the country's aristocracy. She loved Chicago. She loved people. She was a rule follower, a devout Christian, really kind. The type of person who didn't drink but always kept alcohol stocked for whenever friends came over. I mean, really, why murder anyone, but why murder her? Detectives interview everyone they can, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and they get a number of stories, they're hopeful we'll turn into leads. Like how a neighbor saw that is seat that get into an argument with a gray and white man in his 50s three weeks earlier, or how a friend said she was in a financial dispute with her book publisher, or how her building manager said her most frequent visitor was a construction worker friend, a man who liked beer. Investigators also learn about two crimes that were never reported to police. First, someone had broken into that is seat that's place before they didn't steal anything valuable. A pan, a cup of spare change, some whiskey, and records show her locks were changed afterward. And then there's an incident that's harder to verify. It's mostly just a rumor going around the building, but it supposedly happened just two weeks earlier that is seat that was attacked by a man in a ski mask while waiting to be led into her apartment. She had forgotten her keys. Since first theory is there must have been some type of sexual component to the crime since she was found naked with her legs apart, but that theory is quickly thrown out. A medical exam shows no sign of an assault, and officials are extra sure their findings are correct because the examiner tells them that is seat that never had sex. He died a virgin, at least in the traditional technical sense. The medical exam also shows that is seat that wasn't just stabbed. She was choked too, hard enough to fracture her larynx. The results send detectives back to the drawing board. They're thinking maybe the killer staged that is seat that's body to throw them off. It could have just been a robbery gone wrong. That would explain the disheveled state of the apartment, but it didn't look like much of anything was taken. Plus, if it was just a robbery, why so much violence? Why stripper naked? Why set a fire? What kind of robber kills with a butcher's knife? Detectives assume the answers to all their questions lies with a gentleman collar. The man that is seat that had over that night, clearly they were close. At least, close enough for her to take a phone call while he was in there. But no matter how hard they try, detectives can find that mystery man. The case turns out to have a lot more suspects than anyone expected. But one by one, officials go down their list until it runs dry. The investigation hits a standstill, and when weeks of nothing turn into months of nothing, it starts looking like the case might go cold. But then, that August, a new lead falls into the detectives' laps, and it's the most unexpected break of their careers. A call from police in the suburbs of Chicago leads to a conversation with a married couple named Jose and Remy Chua. According to the police, the Chua's have some crucial information that could help in Tennessee does murder case, which is music to the detectives' ears. But when they actually sit down with the Chua's, something feels off at first. It takes a while for them to open up, like they're reluctant or too embarrassed to speak openly. Jose's a medical doctor in Remy, she's a respiratory therapist. So, they worked in the same field as that of Cita, but Remy barely knew her. She met that Cita once at an orientation a while back. But they worked different hours, and Jose didn't know her at all. In fact, he didn't even know she'd been murdered until months after the fact, until the first time he heard her name spoken out loud. First second, Jose hesitates when talking to police, unsure whether to continue. It starts to feel like detectives are wasting their time, but then he launches into a preface, He says. Listen, I know I'm a man of science, but I believe there are some things science can't explain. And then with the face that's stone-cold serious, he asks, "Do you believe in exorcisms?" Missing children, murder victims, unsolved homicides, breaking news, these are the cases that demand answers. I'm Nancy Grace. On Crime Stories, we go inside the courtroom, speak with investigators and top experts. We hear from victims and their families, and we bring you the latest on the cases that grip the nation and cases you may have never heard of. Please join us at Crime Stories with Nancy Grace on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast. Okay, so Dr. Hosechua and his wife, Remi, both say they basically didn't know that Isitabasa. They might as well have been complete strangers, which makes the story they tell detectives in August 1977, all the more strange. Now, when you hear it, you'll understand why Josep prefaced things by using the word "exorcism," but that word isn't totally accurate. There were no demons involved, at least not that we know of. Anyway, this is a story he shares with police. It's just a few weeks earlier, late summer. A regular day like any other, Jose and Remi are in their living room, relaxing when out of nowhere, Remi stands up from her chair and walks away silently, mid-conversation, with a strange expression on her face. Like she's in a daze. Confused Josep follows Remi. Something like this has never happened before. He eventually finds his wife in their bedroom, lying on her back on their bed. She stiff, eyes wide open, and she remains completely still until Jose leans over her body and asks if she's okay. That's when she finally opens her mouth to speak, but when she does, it's not her voice that comes out. It's something else. Someone else. And the voice shall. Mama? Mama, are you there? Mama? It's speaking in Tagala, the national language of the Philippines. A language Remi knows, but the voice has a sing-song quality to it. And it's almost sounds like it has a Spanish accent to it. The voice coming out of his wife's body also tells Jose point-blank that it's not his wife. It says, "I am Derecita Basa." Now, according to Josep, this is the first time he's ever heard that name before. So he has no idea he's listening to a dead woman speak, but he's obviously still confused and disturbed and concerned for his wife for himself. And then the voice, aka, "Derecita, catches him up to speed." It says, "It's coming to him from beyond the grave." To talk about her murder and not invade terms either. It doesn't say, "Hey, some man came into my apartment and killed me." Details that had already been public. No. It's like my killer's name is Alan Shao-ri. That's Alan with two Ls and two A's and Shao-ri like Shao-ri with a Y. He's the man who murdered me in cold blood. Tell the police. Now, I don't know how you're supposed to react to a dead woman's voice emanating from your living wife's possessed body, but Jose apparently chooses kindness. He tries to empathize with what it's saying and ask more questions about what happened that night, and he learns a few different things. Like that Alan arrived at the apartment around 7 p.m. That he came alone, that he stabbed that Isita with a knife, and that Isita let Alan in because Alan was her friend. Now, let's pause for a second. Can you imagine being the first person hearing the story? I mean, if you're a homicide detective chances are you're not big on supernatural explanations, but you deal with them a lot more than most people think. Mostly self-proclaimed psychics calling into tip hotlines trying to solve big cases, which is kind of like playing the lottery. If they're wrong, no one's really gonna find out, so it's no skin off their back. Just false hope for the people who have stakes in the case. And if they're right, they get their 15 minutes of fame and possibly some pretty lucrative opportunities. But the interaction detectives have with the Chua's doesn't feel like playing the lottery. It feels different. For starters, it's not an anonymous tip by a self-proclaimed psychic. It's a medical doctor, referred by other police officers, and sure some of the details could have been pieced together by reading about that Isita's murder in the papers, but not all of them, like the killer arriving at 7 and acted alone. The timeline lines up with what detectives already know and detectives Presco Say on if the voice said anything about rape. And he says no, just that she was rendered unconscious and stabbed. So that checks out too. But there's one detail that obviously stands out above the rest, the killer's alleged name, Alan Shaoery. Detectives haven't heard it before, but its initials are A-S. Like that note, that Isita wrote to herself. Get concert tickets for A-S. When talking with detectives, Jose also acknowledges how strange his story sounds, and Remi, too. Remi, though, says she barely has any memories of what happened. It was like she blacked out every time. It started as a little episode at work, seeing that Isita in the bathroom mirror, and she says it progressed into what Jose saw that day. The two of us both decide not to tell anyone what happened at first. They assumed no one would believe them, and they didn't want to look foolish or waste anyone's time. But then the voice returned again, and again. And each time it kept begging Jose to do something, to help solve that Isita's murder. So Jose finally gave in. With one caveat, he told the voice he needed real evidence, something that could prove to the police he wasn't making things up, and that's when it gave Jose information, not even the police knew yet. It said that a few pieces of jewelry were stolen from Isita's apartment that night, a Filipino pendant, which was a gift from her father and a Parisian cocktail ring, which was a gift from her mother, that Isita's family could identify them both for the police. As for where to find them, the voice says Alan gave them both to his wife. It's a lot to process. And I'm not going to say detectives are convinced by the true story, but they are intrigued enough to suspend disbelief for a while. They don't have any other working leads, so they decide to put the impossible to the test, to find out if they're working the first ever murder case that could be solved by the victim themselves. They show up on Alan's doorstep with the hope and a prayer. Like, knocky, knocky, Mr. Showery is a killer home? If you're having a hard time believing the whole ghost Nancy Drew thing, well, you're not alone. The lead detectives on Isita's case catch a lot of flak around the office. There's a near endless stream of jokes, paper clips thrown at their heads, mailboxes filled with fake notes from the dead, you know, your typical light bullying. But here's the thing, when those same lead detectives actually dig into Alan Showery, the person three facts stand out. One, he worked at the same hospital that Isita did as an orderly. Two, he had a rap sheet that included some serious crimes. And three, he lived within walking distance of that Isita's apartment. So with that info in mind, does it really matter how they found out about Alan that detectives trying to solve the case? Think no. When they show up at Alan's apartment, almost six months have passed since Teresa does murder. Alan answers the door, and immediately knows why detectives are there. He's like, "Ugh, this must be about Teresa Tabasa." Come in. The detectives find themselves in a dining room, staring at a blonde woman, sitting cross-legged on the floor. It's Alan's wife, Yangka. She's German, beautiful, and very pregnant. She's wearing a maternity gown and surrounded by books about psychic phenomena, which feels like a really weird coincidence given what drove detectives to Alan in the first place, but they remain level-headed. They ask Alan if he'll come down to the station and answer some questions. He agrees, and they follow him into the bedroom, as he changes. They pat him down when he finishes dressing to make sure he doesn't have any weapons on him. Alan's agreeable about everything. He tells his wife, "Yanka, he'll be right back." At the station, Alan seems excited to be able to help. He tells detectives that he and Teresa were very good friends. Totally platonic. They work together and often row the bus home at the same time since they live so close. Sometimes, Teresa would invite Alan over for a beer because she liked the company. And Alan says the last time that happened was about six months before her murder. Now, at this point, detectives decide to bluff, because why not? They're already listening to voices from beyond the grave. This whole Alan thing was a long shot from the start. So, they tell Alan that they found his fingerprints all over that it seat thus apartment. It's a bold lie. Because if that were actually true, he would have been a suspect long ago. But, Alan takes the bait. Suddenly, his mood shifts. Nerves set in. Backpedaling happens. His story changes. In consistencies begin appearing. And when detectives start to point them out, Alan eventually comes clean. He admits that he went to Teresa's apartment on the night she died. He says he showed up around 630 to help her fix her television, but he didn't stay long. He told Teresa that he'd be back later to finish the job. But he forgot to return. He tried calling her later that night, but the line was busy. He says they can ask his wife, "Yanka, he was home. He didn't go back. He was fixing some wiring at their place." This time detectives suspect that Alan is the one bluffing. So, they call him out on it. They say they'd love to go back to his place and speak with Yanka. Alone, Alan can wait at the station. And, while they're at his house, they'd also like to take a look at her jewelry. Back at Alan's place, Yanka says she remembers a lot about the night that a seat that was murdered. Detectives tell her they suspect Alan could be the killer. But she finds that totally unbelievable. She says she's confident her testimony will clear his name. But without knowing it, Yanka's account completely undermines her husband. She says Alan came home at APM. And he never fixed any wiring in their home. In fact, they never had any problems with their electricity before, not that she's aware of. And she remembers the sirens started only after Alan came home. She says they both found out about the murder later, from TV news. At this point, detectives can't believe their look. That things are playing out the way they are. One of them points to Yanka's books on ghosts, psychic phenomena, and ESP. He asks her if she has any interest in that kind of stuff. And when she says yes, he tells her. One day, I'll tell you a story about a psychic experience I had. Then he's like, grab your jewelry box. We're heading down to the station. With Yanka in one interview room and Alan in another, officials called that she sees the family and friends to see if someone can come identify her jewelry. And the first person to answer comes to the station and notices that a seat does ring right away. It's on Yanka's finger. She had been wearing it the whole time. They're 100% certain detectives press Yanka and she tells them Alan gave for the ring some time in late February as a belated Christmas gift, aka shortly after that a seat does murder. And with everything seemingly falling into place, officials stop making jokes about ghosts and exorcisms. At first, Alan tries to say, you know, he bought the ring from some guy on the street, but pretty soon, Yanka's in hysterical tears. And Alan is confessing to Thereseetha's murder. Turns out it really was just a robbery. Alan tells officials that he often used to run errands for Thereseetha, take her places, fix things, he always did it for the money, and she always tipped. So he suspected she kept a lot of cash in her home. His paychecks as an orderly weren't cutting it. He was behind on his bills, hurting, and he had a child on the way. He decided he was going to kill Thereseetha before he got to her apartment that night on the walkover to help her with her TV. But Thereseetha only had $30 in cash lying around. He didn't find that out though, until she was already dead. So he took her jewelry. Alan says Thereseetha was unconscious when he put the knife through her sternum. So she didn't feel anything when she died. As if that is any sort of consolation. And detectives were right. He did stage her body to throw them off. He wanted it to appear sexually motivated. But Alan doesn't just confess to police. He also confesses to his wife and soon to be child. He tells Yonka they've had a great seven years together, but it's over. He did it. He's responsible. Later, he'll try to walk back those words, claiming his confession was given under duress. And Yonka will actually stand by his side. She'll testify that her husband only admitted to murdering Thereseetha because detectives threatened to put her in jail as an accessory if he didn't. But ultimately, it doesn't matter. At trial, Alan pleads guilty to all three charges against him, robbery, arson, and murder. And a judge sentences him to 14 years in prison. Did the vengeful spirit of Thereseetha Basa solve her own murder? Officials certainly try to downplay the elements of the story, like the means don't matter. Only the end. But the role Jose and Remy Chua play in this investigation is really the reason we're still talking about it today. Because it seems to defy everything we know about life, death, and the afterlife. But not everyone is a believer. Some suspect Remy knew Thereseetha better than she let on. New Alan as well and didn't trust him, so she faked the whole thing so that Alan would be on the detectives radar. And that could be true. I mean, really, I mean it. But also, that seems like a lot of trouble to go through when she could have just picked up the phone and said, "Hey, have you looked into Alan's showery?" In the old folk tale, once the singing bone tells its story and the truth is out, the music stops. The spirit finds its rest and the bone falls silent. In Chicago, after the trial, the episodes stop too. Remy Chua never spoke in that Spanish accented Tagala again, that Isita's family finally took her home to the Philippines for a proper burial. We like to think we live in a world governed by hard science and cold facts, fingerprints, and wrap sheets, but the case of Isita Bassa reminds us that justice doesn't always follow a straight line. Sometimes it has to travel through the dreams of strangers or the voices of the living. Whether he believed Remy Chua was a vessel for ghost or simply a woman whose subconscious couldn't let a killer walk free, the result is the same. The bone sang, the name was spoken, and the truth quite literally rose from the grave. Thanks for tuning in to Killer Stories, a Spotify podcast. New episodes release on Mondays. If you liked today's story and want to learn more, we'd drop some of our favorite sources in the episode. description. Until next time, I'm Harvege and stay safe out there.