I finally got around to finishing season 2, and saw the Teresita Basa segment again for the first time in a long time. I usually would just skip through it back when they were still on Lifetime, because it seemed like that was one that was shown often. Anyway, after watching it, I got to thinking about a possible logical explanation for the woman who claimed to have received messages from Teresita beyond the grave. Here's what is known:

-The woman, Remy Chua, worked with Teresita at the hospital. The segment says that they barely knew each other. It should be noted that both women were respiratory therapists at the hospital.
-Teresita's killer, Allan Showery, also worked at the hospital as an orderly.
-The police found a note at Teresita's apartment noting someone with the initials "A.S."
-Showery murdered Teresita for her jewelry and made it seem like a sexual assault gone wrong.
-Remy Chua began to receive "visions" of Teresita months after the fact. I've also found an article, here (http://www.historicmysteries.com/ghost-of-terisita-basa/), which states that Remy said she would be "okay with Basa's spirit visiting her to tell her what had happened". Apparently, in the Filipino culture, they believe that ghosts remain with the living because there is something unfinished before they could move on.

Assuming that the notation with the initials "A.S." was made public in an effort to find out who this person was, I think that Remy Chua simply put 2 and 2 together. Her "visions" may have been nothing more than dreams. Perhaps she was creeped out by Showery after the murder, or noticed a change in his demeanor, or simply just suspected him because his initials matched the note found in Teresita's apartment. I found another article, here (http://www.chicagonow.com/chicago-history-cop/2015/02/teresita-basa-killed-today-in-1977-did-she-solve-her-own-murder/), which says that Showery and Remy did not get along prior to Teresita's murder. Showery often complained about Remy's work, and Remy was frightened by Showery. Remy also admitted to visiting Teresita's apartment for a party prior to her murder. I ultimately think that Remy simply had a hunch about Showery, which turned out to be true, and made up the visions as a way to, just in case they were wrong, be blamed on something supernatural. Oddly enough, I think Showery actually bought into the supernatural explanation, because his first trial for Teresita's murder ended in a hung jury. When they went back to retry him, he changed his plea from not guilty to guilty against the advice from his lawyers. What do you guys think? Supernatural, or just a hunch by a coworker who had compiled enough information to act as if she was receiving messages from beyond the grave?

Yeah. Not to steal your thunder, but I actually found those exact same articles awhile back after I saw the case again for the first time in years and that was basically my impression as well. Didn't one of them mention that she possibly feared redemption from Showery so the visions became a way to sort of pass the blame to a supernatural force?

The articles also showed pictures of the real Terasita Basa and Alan Showery which I thought was cool because the UM segment didn't show any as the whole segment was basically a reenactment with detective Stachula as the sole interviewee. I also found it interesting that the segment gave the doctor and his wife who had the visions pseudonyms whereas it appears that their names must have been publicly known, though the case had likely faded from the public memory by 1990 when the segment first aired.

Didn't one of them mention that she possibly feared redemption from Showery so the visions became a way to sort of pass the blame to a supernatural force?

That was mentioned in one of the articles I found. The implication was that if Showery was in fact innocent, she could absolve herself from possible reprisal from Showery, as well as not be implicated in hindering an investigation.

There's a bunch of other interesting tidbits here, which contains links to some original articles from the Chicago Tribune:
https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20160913/edgewater/did-teresita-basa-solve-her-own-murder-true-life-ghost-story-still-haunts

I think the most interesting tidbit is that the Chuas were actually called to testify as witnesses for the defense because Showery's lawyers probably figured their possession story would sink the credibility of the whole case. Remy also admitted on the stand that she believed Showery made a crank call to her just one day before her first "possession".

If Showery hadn't confessed and decided to plead guilty before his second trial, who knows if they would have been able to secure a conviction on him as I'm sure it must have been a challenge to dance around the supernatural stuff with a jury. In the end, he still got off way too easy since he was paroled in 1983.

There's a bunch of other interesting tidbits here, which contains links to some original articles from the Chicago Tribune:
https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20160913/edgewater/did-teresita-basa-solve-her-own-murder-true-life-ghost-story-still-haunts

I think the most interesting tidbit is that the Chuas were actually called to testify as witnesses for the defense because Showery's lawyers probably figured their possession story would sink the credibility of the whole case. Remy also admitted on the stand that she believed Showery made a crank call to her just one day before her first "possession".

If Showery hadn't confessed and decided to plead guilty before his second trial, who knows if they would have been able to secure a conviction on him as I'm sure it must have been a challenge to dance around the supernatural stuff with a jury. In the end, he still got off way too easy since he was paroled in 1983.

Interesting. Didn't know that about the crank call. Even after you discount the supernatural overtures in this case, it's still fascinating. A woman's hunch turned out to be true, and the supernatural aspect freaked the killer out into changing his plea and going to jail.

Ludicrous story. Why would a woman who barely knew another woman manifest into her body & keep insisting she go to the police? Why if you believe this is possible did she not appear to the police & insist instead? Somebody she knew better like a neighbour, or indeed one of her family members?

What happened is most likely that Showery who was known to be boastful shot his mouth off about what he had done or other things & quite possibly to Chua as several months after the murder she was actually working with him. It seems there was some kind of grudge between these two-she believed he had complained about her competence in her job. The day before this possession she believed that Showery had made a prank call to her. Her first 'vision' naming him as the killer came hours after she learned that she was being terminated from her job which she probably blamed him for losing-coincidence?

Far from being a help to the case this supernatural evidence was the exact opposite, cops could hardly arrest him on the grounds of a spirit voice & they bought him in because when they looked up his record they found he had raped two women in the same building as the murder took place in & that he lived only four blocks away.

He did not confess to anything because a ghost had talked, but simply because his lie about never having been in her apartment was exposed when his prints were matched from those taken from the murder scene & because he girlfriend told the police that he had given her various pieces of jewelry which belonged to the victim & were matched.

The trial collapsed because the jury were unable to reach a verdict on what was obviously an open & shut case because of the supernatural nonsense & the defence argued successfully that this kind of 'evidence' was not admissible. The case ended in a mistrial & Showery was convicted only because against the advice of his lawyer he decided to plead guilty rather than go to a second trial.

By the fall of 1979 the Chua's had told their story to a friend who then published a paperback book version & there was talk of it becoming a Hollywood movie, although it became a television movie in the end. One might suggest a financial motive here.

. In the end, he still got off way too easy since he was paroled in 1983.

Just seen this one today and shat myself, then after cleaning up the mess found he was released in 1983. Had my blood boiling :mad:

Another thing is the ghost or spirit goes thru all this trouble only for the killer to get a small sentence! I'd figure a spirit too be very very smart yet it does not realize the killer will be out on the streets Again!!?? Now if the killer got the death penalty or life wo parole I probably believe this story moreso!!

Sometimes we dream about stuff that happened to us recently. Maybe the lady who had the visions/possesions heard numerous times that Showery was the killer. (Heck, they all worked at the same place which I now find odd.) We've all had dreams where we wake up feeling like it's true only to realize seconds later it's a dream. She may have had a dream about her female co worker telling her who killed her. The lady thinks the dream is some kind of sign tho and exaggerates due to her religion or suspicions....

Ludicrous story. Why would a woman who barely knew another woman manifest into her body & keep insisting she go to the police? Why if you believe this is possible did she not appear to the police & insist instead? Somebody she knew better like a neighbour, or indeed one of her family members?

What happened is most likely that Showery who was known to be boastful shot his mouth off about what he had done or other things & quite possibly to Chua as several months after the murder she was actually working with him. It seems there was some kind of grudge between these two-she believed he had complained about her competence in her job. The day before this possession she believed that Showery had made a prank call to her. Her first 'vision' naming him as the killer came hours after she learned that she was being terminated from her job which she probably blamed him for losing-coincidence?

Far from being a help to the case this supernatural evidence was the exact opposite, cops could hardly arrest him on the grounds of a spirit voice & they bought him in because when they looked up his record they found he had raped two women in the same building as the murder took place in & that he lived only four blocks away.

He did not confess to anything because a ghost had talked, but simply because his lie about never having been in her apartment was exposed when his prints were matched from those taken from the murder scene & because he girlfriend told the police that he had given her various pieces of jewelry which belonged to the victim & were matched.

The trial collapsed because the jury were unable to reach a verdict on what was obviously an open & shut case because of the supernatural nonsense & the defence argued successfully that this kind of 'evidence' was not admissible. The case ended in a mistrial & Showery was convicted only because against the advice of his lawyer he decided to plead guilty rather than go to a second trial.

By the fall of 1979 the Chua's had told their story to a friend who then published a paperback book version & there was talk of it becoming a Hollywood movie, although it became a television movie in the end. One might suggest a financial motive here.

Sometimes we dream about stuff that happened to us recently. Maybe the lady who had the visions/possesions heard numerous times that Showery was the killer. (Heck, they all worked at the same place which I now find odd.) We've all had dreams where we wake up feeling like it's true only to realize seconds later it's a dream. She may have had a dream about her female co worker telling her who killed her. The lady thinks the dream is some kind of sign tho and exaggerates due to her religion or suspicions....

I think the timing is too much of a coincidence-she has this 'vision' just hours after she is told she is getting fired & she suspects this guy of being the reason for it. Likely he also gave off bad vibes to her/others & even though she probably didn't think he did it, she thought he could be capable & wanted to cause trouble for him.

Once again it seems the only reason it wasn't solved in those first five or six months was because the cops didn't bother to interview the co-workers properly, if they had then they would have known that Showery was going to her apartment that night to fix her television-which is what they told them when they finally bothered after this woman reported this vision.