Daniel LaPlante — Talk Murder With Me

We all know somebody that doesn’t take rejection well. Many people behave irrationally as a result of being turned down. These behaviors might manifest themselves as obsessively checking social media, making unwanted phone calls, sending gifts. They can range from being a mild annoyance to being downright frightening and dangerous.

However, I’m willing to go out on a limb here and say that there are few people in this world, if anybody, that have taken rejection quite like Daniel LaPlante did.

Please note: I’m pretty sure that some accounts of this case exaggerate certain details for dramatic effect. So I’d just say take the more outlandish details in this story with a grain of salt.

A Miserable Childhood

Daniel LaPlante was born on May 16, 1970 in Townsend, Massachusetts. There is not a whole lot of information available about his childhood. During his early teen years, which will be the focus of this article, he lived with his mother and stepfather, Elaine and David Moore, and two brothers, Steven and Matthew, in Townsend.

It’s well documented that Daniel had a miserable, traumatic childhood, during which he was abused physically, psychologically and sexually by his father and stepfather. At school, he struggled academically as a result of dyslexia which he received no support for. On top of this, Daniel’s social life was almost non-existent; other children found him “creepy” and “weird”. He consistently came to school smelling bad and wearing dirty clothes. As a result, his classmates did their best to avoid him.

During his early teens, Daniel began seeing a psychiatrist at the recommendation of school officials, and was diagnosed with hyperactivity disorder. Instead of treating Daniel, however, the psychiatrist began sexually abusing him. The abuse went on for over a year. Unsurprisingly, Daniel ended the sessions in an even worse condition mentally than when he began.

Messing With Their Heads

It was around the same time that Daniel’s criminal career began. Instead of spending his time as most teens did - hanging out with friends, playing sports, doing homework - Daniel began breaking into people's homes.

It was clear that Daniel’s motivation for breaking and entering was not just about stealing valuables. Of course, he would take things, but the thrill of being in someone else’s home without them knowing was what really gave Daniel a rush. He rooted around in people’s belongings and moved objects and furniture. He also left items sitting around, like half drunk beverages. He derived pleasure from the knowledge that he was scaring people, even making them think they were losing their minds.

The Andrews Family, 1986

Brian Andrews lived in the nearby town of Pepperell, MA, with his two daughters, 15-year-old Annie and 8-year-old Jessica. The family were going through a rough period after the loss of Brian’s wife (and the girls’ beloved mother) to cancer.

Thrust into single parenthood, Brian had to work more to support his family, meaning he was not at home with the girls as much as he would have liked to be. Despite the age gap, Annie and Jessica got along well. Losing their mother brought them closer together.

Annie, being 15, had begun thinking about boys. She and her friends would chat about dating, who had a crush on who - conversations typical of teenage girls. So when Annie began receiving phone calls at home from a boy, she was intrigued. The boy told her his name was Danny and that he had gotten her phone number from a mutual friend who attended her high school.

This was of course a lie; it is believed that he had previously broken into the Andrews home and done some creeping around inside, as I mentioned he liked to do. He found out that Annie lived there - he likely saw her in family photos - and became obsessed with her. He did some digging and managed to get the family’s phone number.

On the phone, he described himself as tall, blonde, athletic and smart (I’m not sure if he took it as far as saying, “I’m very good looking”, but I would not be surprised). Annie was a little skeptical, but she went along with it.

The two spoke regularly on the phone over the next week. Annie enjoyed talking to Danny, so when he asked her out on a date, she agreed. He would pick her up at her house and they would go to the local fair.

When the day arrived, Annie was excited. The doorbell rang and she rushed to answer. She was taken aback, however, when the boy who stood on the doorstep did not look anything like she expected. On the phone, he had told her that he was tall, blonde and athletic, but he was none of those things. This boy was about 5 foot 8 and thin, with greasy dark hair and heavy, untamed eyebrows. His skin was riddled with acne. He introduced himself as Danny.

Annie, trying to hide her dismay, still went on the date. But she got bad vibes from the moment she set eyes on the boy. As they walked through the fair, Annie told Danny about her family, mentioning the recent death of her mother from cancer. It was as though the mention of death flicked a switch in Danny; his eyes suddenly lit up and he became extremely animated. He began bombarding Annie with questions about the death. Understandably, the quizzing from Danny about her dead mother, which included questions about how badly she suffered from the illness, made Annie extremely uncomfortable.

After being with Danny for an hour, Annie decided that she had spent long enough with this strange, morbid character. Telling him she had to go home, she turned and left. She made it very clear that she did not want to see or hear from him again.

Unsettling Happenings

Several days later, the Andrews sisters were hanging out at home when they got to talking about their mom. They began telling stories about her, reminiscing about the good times they had back when their family was whole. Then they had an idea: they would have a séance. They did not actually expect anything to happen, but they had little else to do, so thought they would give it a try.

They went down to the basement and went about what they thought you were supposed to do during a séance: they lit candles, held hands, sang some songs. They weren’t taking it very seriously, but it was a distraction, and they needed that. When Brian came home from work, they ended it; they did not want him to know what they were up to, fearing he would think they had gone crazy.

As Annie and Jessica were lying in their beds late that night, they began hearing a rhythmic tapping sound on the walls. Perhaps the séance really had conjured their mother’s spirit, they thought. The two girls sat together in Annie's room, listening to the tapping. They were giddy that their experiment had actually worked.

The excitement was short-lived, however. The tapping became pretty much constant, and only occurred when they were home alone, or in the dead of night when their father was asleep. It was becoming disruptive to the point that the girls were losing sleep.

It was not long before objects and furniture began moving around the house and disappearing. For example, one of the girls would put food on the kitchen counter, leave the room for 5 minutes, and when they came back, it would be gone. They told Brian about what was going on - that they believed there was a ghost in the house - but he told them this was nonsense. They were just grief-stricken over the loss of their mother, he reassured them.

One evening, the girls were home alone and the tapping began again. But this time, it sounded as though it was coming from below them. Annie grabbed a kitchen knife and together, the two crept down to the basement. To their horror, there on the wall of the basement was a message written in what looked like blood:

“I’m in your room. Come and find me.”

Stunned, Annie and Jessica turned and fled up the basement stairs and out of the house. They ran to a neighbor’s home, who let them stay until their father returned from work.

Brian did not know what his daughters were playing at. He was still convinced that all the strange occurrences, including the writing on the wall (which turned out to be ketchup), were Annie and Jessica’s doing. Perhaps it’s a cry for attention because I’m away so often, Brian thought to himself. Convinced their behavior was a result of grief, Brian decided the girls should start seeing a therapist.

The Terror Continues - January, 1987

Whoever (or whatever) was terrorizing the Andrews family was not done with them yet.

It had been about two weeks since the incident in the basement, and the knocking on the walls had actually stopped. However, the relief would not last. The girls were home alone when the knocking started again. This time, it was coming from Annie’s bedroom.

Annie once again picked up a kitchen knife, and together the two girls made their way up the stairs. When they reached the doorway to Annie’s bedroom, they saw another message written on the wall. It said:

“I’m back. Find me if you can.”

Screaming, the girls spun around, hurtling down the stairs as fast as they could. They bolted out the front door and ran to their neighbor's home. Shaking with fright, they told the neighbor that they had once again found writing on the wall in their house.

Sympathetic to the girls, who had just lost their mother and spent so much time home without their father, the neighbor told them they could come in and call their father.

On the phone, Annie and Jessica told Brian about how the tapping had begun again and more writing had appeared on the wall. Irritated, Brian told the girls he would come home. He still believed that they were making the whole thing up.

When Brian arrived, he marched straight into the house and up the stairs. Sure enough, there was the writing on the wall. This is where details get a bit fuzzy, as reports I read varied. I have a feeling some were exaggerated for dramatic effect.

As well as the writing on the wall, I read some reports that the television was turned on with the volume at maximum.

Brian turned to see another message on the wall, one the girls had not mentioned to him on the phone. It had appeared since they fled the house. It read:

“Marry Me!”

The Boy In The Walls

It was then that it hit Brian Andrews. The writing on the walls, the knocking, the mysterious moving objects were not just products of his daughters’ active imaginations. There was something far more sinister going on. Then, out of the corner of his eye, something moved. He spun around to see a short, scrawny boy standing in the hall.

The boy’s face was caked in makeup, he was wearing a blonde wig, and a dress that belonged to Brian’s deceased wife (some even report he was wearing her wedding dress, but I’m not sure). In his hand he held a hatchet.

It’s unclear exactly how events unfolded next. Brian struggled with the intruder, but he got away. I’m not sure if perhaps Brian fainted, or he was knocked out. Either way, the boy disappeared.

The alternate version of this part of the story is that the boy jumped out of a closet wearing makeup, Native American dress and holding a hatchet. Some say the girls were in the house with Brian when this happened, and the boy chased them, but they were able to barricade themselves in a room. They escaped through a window and called the police.

The police were called (by the neighbor, I would assume) and when they arrived, they conducted a thorough search of the Andrews home.

Behind a chest of drawers or closet in Annie’s bedroom, the police found a small door. On opening it, they discovered a crawlspace. Inside was a small, dark-haired boy; the boy who had attacked Brian Andrews.

It was none other than Daniel LaPlante, whom Annie Andrews had gone on the terrible date with about 2 months before. Reports vary on how long he had been hiding in the house; some state several days, while others say it was as long as 2 months. They found a range of items in the crawlspace, mostly garbage, including a sleeping bag, beer cans and food wrappers, and some articles of clothing (including some that belonged to the Andrews family that had disappeared).

The crawlspace was connected to a passageway, which Daniel would have been able to crawl through and knock on the walls in different parts of the house. Personally, I know very little about crawlspaces having never seen one before (other than online), but I am sort of surprised that you would live in a house with a crawlspace and a passageway in the walls and not know it was there. Maybe that’s normal in old houses? I don’t know.

The other very creepy part of the story that some articles report is that there were peepholes in the walls of the passageway which Daniel used to spy on members of the Andrews family.

Daniel Is Arrested

Daniel LaPlante was removed from the Andrews family home and arrested. Being 16 at the time, he was placed in a juvenile detention facility, where he spent 10 months (from January to October 1987). He turned 17 on May 16, 1987.

In October 1987, Daniel’s case was transferred from juvenile court to adult court. The fact that he was being charged as an adult meant he could post bail, which his mother helped him with. He was then free to leave the juvenile detention facility.

Daniel was charged with four counts of kidnapping, four counts of armed assault in a dwelling, breaking and entering a dwelling, larceny of more than $100, and malicious destruction of property. On Dec. 11, 1987, he was due to appear at the Middlesex Superior Court, but this would not come to be. Daniel had other plans.

His stay at the juvenile detention facility did nothing to curb his nefarious ways. In November, he broke into a neighbor’s home. This time, Daniel was not messing around, playing mind games with his burglary victims by rearranging their furniture. Instead, he entered the home and stole two handguns.

The Gustafson Murders

On the afternoon of Dec. 1, 1987, Daniel LaPlante, armed with one of the stolen handguns, walked the half mile from his home to that of the Gustafson family.

The Gustafson family included 33-year-old Priscilla, her husband 34-year-old Andrew, and their two children, 7-year-old Abigail and 5-year-old William. Priscilla was pregnant with the couple’s third child. A church nursery school teacher, Priscilla was extremely sweet and caring. She sang in her church choir and was dedicated to her Christian faith.

From left: William, Abigail and Priscilla Gustafson (source: National Organization of Victims of Juvenile Murderers)

Andrew Gustafson (source: Youtube - WCVB Channel 5 Boston)

Daniel entered the Gustafson home, which had recently been decorated for Christmas, to find Priscilla and William. Abigail took the bus back from school each day and walked the short distance home. Andrew, an attorney, was at work.

It’s not totally clear how the horrifying events unfolded. Daniel got Priscilla into her bedroom, where he beat and raped her. He put a pillow over her head and shot through it twice to muffle the sound.

He then drowned William in the bathtub upstairs. When Abigail returned home from school, he drowned her in the bathtub downstairs.

When Andrew arrived home from work that day around 5pm, the house was eerily quiet. He made his way up the stairs. When he entered the bedroom he shared with his wife, he was greeted by a horrifying sight. There was blood everywhere. Priscilla lay face down on the bed with a pillow over head. She was clearly dead. Afraid of what he would find if he kept looking, Andrew ran from the house and called police. He couldn’t face the thought of finding his children on his own.

When the police arrived, they discovered the bodies of William and Abigail in the separate bathrooms. In the master bedroom, they found two .22 caliber bullet casings, an open, untouched can of beer and semen stains on the bed. They also discovered shoe prints in a flower bed outside the home.

The Manhunt

Townsend was reeling from the murders of the Gustafson family. Nobody could fathom who would do something so evil.

Detectives came up with a list of possible suspects. Unsurprisingly, given his previous crimes against the Andrews family and the fact he had just been released from the juvenile detention facility, Daniel LaPlante made the list. There were also some items which had been taken from the Gustafson home, including a cable television box and a cordless phone - Daniel was known for robberies in the area. He was living with his mother and stepfather at the time, less than a mile from the Gustafsons.

The Gustafson family home (source: Youtube - WCVB Channel 5 Boston)

The following day, Dec. 2, police questioned Daniel, finding him at the Townsend Public Library. He denied any involvement in the murders, telling the police he had been at home watching TV most of the day and then attended his 6-year-old niece’s birthday party. Other than their suspicions, they did not have hard evidence linking Daniel to the murders yet.

Later the same day, police went to the LaPlante home to question him further. As they approached the home, Daniel, who was standing on the porch, turned and ran into the woods. It was obvious he had something to hide. When they searched the home, they found a number of incriminating pieces of evidence, which I will detail in the next section.

A search of the woods separating the Gustafson and LaPlante homes turned up a shirt belonging to Daniel and a wet pair of gloves, which detectives believed he had been wearing when he drowned Abigail and William.

An all-points-bulletin was issued by police and a manhunt for Daniel ensued, in which a state police helicopter was used, as well as police dogs and nearly 50 local and state officers. While on the run, Daniel was not particularly careful about staying under the radar. He abducted a woman at gunpoint, making her drive him around town in her Volkswagen van. Luckily, the woman managed to escape, fleeing on foot. She called the police to report what had happened to her, and that Daniel LaPlante was now driving around in her van.

By this point, several others had reported sightings of Daniel to police. Thanks to the public’s help, police found Daniel at around 6:30pm on Dec. 3, hiding in a dumpster at a lumberyard in Ayer, Massachusetts, about 11 miles southeast of Townsend.

Daniel was arrested without incident, but he was said to be laughing hysterically, which police officers found bewildering. While searching his person, police discovered that he had a gun stuffed in his underwear.

He was subsequently charged with the murders of Priscilla, Abigail and William Gustafson. He received a range of other charges related to crimes he had committed while on the run from police. These were on top of the charges for his crimes against the Andrews family.

The Evidence

The evidence linking Daniel to the Gustafson murders was overwhelming. Here is a list of what I found in my research:

A .22 caliber bullet casing was found at the LaPlante home, which matched the two found in the Gustafson home.
The gun used to shoot Priscilla was found by Daniel’s stepfather in the glove compartment of a junk Jeep Cherokee which sat in the yard of the LaPlante home. A ballistics expert would testify at trial that the bullet casings found at the Gustafson home were found to be a match to this gun.
A pair of Converse sneakers, which matched the prints in the flower bed at the Gustafson home, were found in Daniel’s closet.
A sock with saliva on it was found, which police believe had been used to gag Priscilla Gustafson.
A necktie, a sock, stockings, and pantyhose which had been fashioned into ligatures.
One of Danny’s socks was found to have fibres which matched fibres at the Gustafson home. I couldn’t find precisely what sort of fibres they were. I also read that they found a strand of hair belonging to Abigail on the sock.
They found the cordless phone that had been stolen from the Gustafsons. A thumbprint, which belonged to Daniel, was identified on the phone.

While DNA technology was still in its infancy at the time, lab analysis of Daniel’s blood revealed that he was a “Type A secretor”, the same status as the semen stain found on Priscilla’s bed.
At the trial, a canine officer testified that his scent dog picked up scent from an object in the Gustafson home (I read it was a pillow but I’m not sure how accurate that is). The dog followed the scent straight through the half mile of woods to the LaPlante home.

The Trial

Daniel pled not guilty to all three murder charges. His trial began in October of 1988, by which time he was 18. He was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, in which he was found to be fit to stand trial. Even though Daniel was a minor at the time the murders were committed, the judge had already ruled that he would be tried as an adult.

During the trial, the prosecution called as many as 50 witnesses, many of which were Daniel’s own family members. I’d almost go as far as to say that the prosecution’s case against Daniel was rock solid, given the evidence and powerful testimony. If not rock solid, then it was pretty close.

It did not help the defense’s case that Daniel came across as extremely unlikeable throughout the trial. He showed no remorse the entire time, and had a constant smirk on his face. The judge, the jury and lawyers (including Daniel’s own), got bad vibes from him.

Daniel LaPlante at his 1988 trial (source: Youtube - WCVB Channel 5 Boston)

The defense did not exactly have an easy time defending Daniel. His lawyer attempted to argue that the evidence found at the LaPlante home was circumstantial, and could be linked to another member of the family. However, Daniel’s brothers and stepfather all had alibis for the time of the murder.

In an attempt to get some leniency, Daniel’s lawyer spoke of his bad childhood, in which he was abused sexually and psychologically by different adults, including his father, stepfather and his therapist.

Daniel was found guilty on all counts after about 5 hours of deliberation by the jury. The judge sentenced him to three life sentences, to be served consecutively. He is currently incarcerated at MCI Norfolk Prison in Norfolk, Massachusetts.

Family members of the Gustafsons and the public were relieved by the sentence, being of the mindset that Daniel LaPlante should never be allowed to walk the streets again. Only a true monster, they believed, could murder a pregnant woman and her two small children and feel nothing. Not only did Daniel feel nothing, he appeared to find the whole thing amusing.

After His Conviction

In 1993, Daniel appealed his conviction on the grounds that the search warrants of his home should not have been granted. It was the evidence found there that evidently proved his guilt. His appeal was denied.

Daniel has not exactly been an easy prisoner to handle. In 2000, he requested that he be moved for his safety after receiving threats from other prisoners. His request was granted, and he was segregated from other inmates. However, he sued the Board of Prisons for not allowing him access to the library (he was no longer allowed access because he was segregated). He received $450 for his “rights being denied”.

He also kicked up a fuss when porn (which is contraband) that someone sent him in the mail was confiscated.

In 2013, Daniel made claims that he was not being allowed to “properly exercise his faith”. While in prison, he decided to become a Wiccan, and in order to worship, he demanded that he be brought various “ritual oils”. These included “dragon’s blood,” “black opium,” and honeysuckle. Apparently, he also required carrot cake.

Daniel LaPlante Now

In 2017, 46-year-old Daniel LaPlante appealed for a reduced sentence after the Supreme Court ruled that juveniles cannot be sentenced to life in prison without parole. He had been in prison for 30 years, and hoped that his sentence could be changed so that he could serve his life sentences concurrently, rather than consecutively.

This would have made him eligible for parole in 2017, rather than in 2032, after serving three life sentences (45 years in total).

Daniel LaPlante at his 2017 re-sentencing hearing (source: Youtube - WCVB Channel 5 Boston)

The family of Priscilla Gustafson, and the prosecution, were firmly against Daniel’s re-sentencing.

“It’s reliving the murders all over again. It’s life-changing again,” said Priscilla Gustafson’s sister Christine Morgan.

Daniel apologized to the Gustafson family at the re-sentencing hearing, saying:

“I do not have the words to fully express my profound sorrow. But I am truly sorry for the harm that I've caused. From The very essence of who I am, from the depths of my soul, I am sorry.”

According to those in attendance, however, the apology felt shallow and insincere. Daniel was obviously just going through the motions of what he thought he needed to do. While making his apology, he was stony-faced and did not make eye-contact. The Middlesex Superior Court Judge Hélène Kazanjian was unmoved, saying: “Mr. LaPlante has not been rehabilitated.”

She formally re-sentenced Daniel to his original sentence (three life sentences, to be served consecutively). He would have the opportunity for parole after 45 years, in 2032.

“This case does not involve a single act that resulted in three deaths. Mr. LaPlante committed three distinct and brutal murders. He killed a 33-year-old pregnant mother and her 5-and 7-year-old children. He left a family and community devastated. The court finds that the maximum penalty is warranted.”
- Middlesex Superior Court Judge Hélène Kazanjian

Priscilla’s brother, Rev. William Morgan Jr said outside of the court after the hearing:

“Is it justice? How can you say it’s justice? He executed Priscilla and her children. When he lifts that life sentence off them, we can lift the life sentence off him.”

A New Life

Andrew Gustafson remarried in 1989 to a woman named Carole Gustafson, who was also a widow. When Andrew and Carole married, they each wore two wedding rings, one to mark their marriage and the other to remember their deceased spouses.

The couple had two daughters, Holly and Laura. Andrew left his law practice, and began working for the state as a child advocate. He stayed in this position for 12 years, then went to work for the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ.

Speaking of LaPlante in a 2007 interview, Andrew said:

“(LaPlante) could take them but he couldn’t stop my hope, life, faith and building a new life.”

Andrew told the interviewer that he did not think about Daniel LaPlante often, and did not know if he could ever forgive him. “As far as I’ve come, I don’t think I’ve come far enough to deal with that. I’ve still got more miles to go in my journey,” Andrew acknowledged.

In May 2014, Andrew Gustafson died of cancer. He was 60 years old.