PART TWO: The Killer Ghost- Daniel LaPlante

Welcome to SIC PART TWO

Just one year after terrorizing a family from inside their walls, Daniel LaPlante’s crimes escalated to something even more horrifying. In December 1987, in the small town of Townsend, Massachusetts, a husband returned home to find the most horrific scene. The investigation revealed a trail of stolen guns, matching bullets, and chilling evidence — all leading back to the boy once mistaken for a ghost. This half of the story unravels the brutal murders of the Gustafson family and the trial that finally put Daniel LaPlante behind bars.

Sources

• Commonwealth v. LaPlante, 416 Mass. 433 (1993) – Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court opinion (detailed trial evidence, forensic testing, ballistics, manhunt evidence).
• Commonwealth v. LaPlante, 482 Mass. 399 (2019) – resentencing appeal (juvenile life sentencing, parole eligibility after 45 years).
• Oxygen True Crime: “Daniel LaPlante Murdered Pregnant Woman And Kids” (2018).
• Archival news reports: Boston Globe, Lowell Sun, UPI (contemporaneous coverage of manhunt, capture, trial).