
Daniel LaPlante was 17 years old when he raped and killed 33-year-old Priscilla Gustafson, and killed her two children: Abigail, seven, and William, five.
He himself suffered a traumatic childhood, which included sexual and psychological abuse, most prominently from his own father. By the time he was an adolescent, LaPlante led a violent life, with the 1987 murders serving as a vicious end to his series of unimaginable crimes.
Now, LaPlante has been in jail for over 30 years, after receiving three consecutive life sentences for the first degree murder of three people.
Before he committed those murders, though, LaPlante developed an obsession for two sisters.
As a teenager, LaPlante regularly broke into peoples' home and left a trail of destruction in his wake. In 1986, the teenager began stalking and tormenting a family of three: a single father and his two daughters, Annie and Jessica Andrews.
Daniel LaPlante in 1987. Image: Getty.
The girls began receiving phone calls from a boy who claimed to be a teenager in their neighbourhood. He charmed the young women and eventually convinced Annie Andrews to go on a date with him. Upon first meeting each other in person, Annie was taken aback by how he looked - but not in a good way.
On the phone, Daniel LaPlante had described physical features far from his real self. It was akin to a catfish. Still, Annie agreed to go for ice cream. When the date ended, Annie had no interest in pursuing the relationship further. After all, she was going through a tough time - her mother had passed away from cancer only a few months prior.
It's widely reported that one night, the sisters performed a séance - an attempt to contact the dead. What they weren't aware of was that Daniel LaPlante had broken into their home and was knocking on the walls, making sounds that the sisters initially thought was their late mother responding to them.
For weeks, the knocking continued, eventually leading them to think their house was haunted.