Chapter 1: The Tragic Story of Teresita Basa

Teresita Basa's story begins in Dumaguete City, Philippines, where she was born in 1929. After completing her studies at Assumption College in Manila, she migrated to the United States in the mid-1960s. In Chicago, Illinois, she worked diligently as a respiratory therapist at Edgewater Hospital, earning a reputation as a dedicated and respectable professional. She led a solitary life in her apartment.

On February 21, 1977, firefighters answered an emergency call concerning a fire on the 15th floor, which turned out to be Teresita’s residence. The firefighters quickly extinguished the flames, but when they entered the apartment, they discovered a gruesome scene. A burnt mattress lay over Teresita's lifeless body, revealing her naked form with a butcher knife embedded deeply in her chest. The apartment appeared ransacked, yet investigators struggled to ascertain whether anything was missing, as no inventory of Teresita’s belongings existed.

Investigators suspec