So Supernatural - MYSTICAL: The Bosco Murders

Episode Date: February 24, 2021

Toni Bosco dreamed something terrible would happen to her son. In August 1993, it came true — John and his wife Nancy were murdered. But the most unsettling part wasn’t the premonitory dream she had. It was the nightmares the culprit was having.  

What if you had a dream that someone you know and love would be brutally killed? It sounds too horrible to even think about, but what if that dream actually came true? For Toni Bosco, a nightmare literally became reality when her son and daughter-in-law were murdered in cold blood. Even worse, the police didn't have a single lead. But for Toni, the story didn't end there. She contacted a psychic to track down her son's killer. And as soon as they were captured, things only got more disturbing. This is Supernatural. I'm your host, Ashley Flowers.

This week's episode is about the murder of John and Nancy Bosco. In 1993, someone broke into the couple's home and murdered them, fulfilling a dream that John's mother, Toni, had experienced. A famous psychic helped pinpoint the killer, but their capture only unraveled more questions, especially when the culprit revealed that they had experienced nightmares of their own. We'll have more on the Bosco murders coming up. Stay with us. The story begins in Colorado around 1990

with a 29-year-old computer telemarketer named Nancy Peterson. Nancy is outgoing and vibrant, so it's no surprise she's a wizard at telemarketing. She is great at smiling, dialing, and closing deals. And for trickier customers, she has this special move. If she's ever on a call and the client seems reluctant, Nancy offers to go over to their home to demonstrate the product in person. It almost always works, and eventually it's how she meets a 38-year-old furniture maker named John Bosco. Nancy goes over to John's house to give an in-person presentation on computer products, but the only presentation John is interested in is Nancy. It's basically love at first sight for both of them. Now, John is just coming off a

brutal divorce, and he and his wife are locked in a really ugly custody battle over their two young kids. But Nancy isn't intimidated. She and John begin dating and in December 1990, they tie the knot. And two years later, they're talking about moving to Montana. The deciding factor is this great deal John finds on their future home. As a furniture maker, he's excited to learn that the house he's looking at already has a woodworking studio attached. Supposedly, the land is zoned for commercial purposes, meaning John will be able to run his furniture business right at home. On learning that, the move is a no-brainer. So in early 1993, John and Nancy pack up and move to Big Fork, Montana. When they arrive, they couldn't be happier. Their home looks exactly the way they

pictured it, and there's plenty of space for the two of them, plus John's kids when they visit. But as John's setting up his woodworking shop, he learns something upsetting. Turns out the house isn't zoned for commercial purposes, so if John tries to work from home, he'd be breaking the law. John is furious about this, and he confronts the previous owner, this guy named Joe Clark. But if Clark did lie just to close the deal, he won't admit it. He claims that he has been perfectly honest about the zoning specifications from day one. Now, while John is dealing with all of this drama in Montana, his mother, Toni Bosco, is having a stressful time too. Toni is at her home in Connecticut when she has this terrifying nightmare. In her dream, she sees John standing like really far away. And for some reason, he's dressed like a caveman, like big

club and all. But that's not the most jarring part because as Tony watches, she sees this huge destructive machine like creeping up behind her son. I'm not sure exactly what this machine looks like, but the sight of it fills Tony with horror. She starts weeping and screaming at John to watch out, but John is just facing forward, completely oblivious. And finally, the machine devours him, at which point Tony wakes up drenched in sweat. And okay, it is a bizarre enough dream that you'd think Tony could put it out of her mind, but she for some reason just can't. It just keeps eating at her until eventually she starts to wonder if maybe it means something. Like maybe it's some sort of prophetic sign that

something horrible is going to happen to John. But what that thing is, Tony has no idea. I'm not sure if she even mentions the dream to anyone. At any rate, John is pretty preoccupied. By mid-August 93, not only is he trying to figure out the whole zoning thing at his house, but he and Nancy are planning a trip back to Colorado to deal with the custody battle over his kids. Toni knows about the trip and how busy John is, so she tries not to bother him. Then, on August 19th, she receives a phone call. Toni picks up immediately. She's eager to catch up with John after not hearing from him for so long.

But the voice on the other end of the line isn't her son. It's the Montana police. Tony listens as a sheriff tells her that John and Nancy never made it to Colorado. Both of them are still in Montana, or at least their bodies are, because John and Nancy Bosco have been brutally murdered. According to the sheriff, a neighbor noticed John and Nancy's car parked in their driveway. It was like all packed and ready for their trip, but it was just sitting there for days on end. It wasn't until they spied one of the bathroom windows hanging open that they finally walked over to investigate. And as they reached the window, they got this horrible stench that just hit them.

The neighbor immediately called the police, and shortly after arriving, the cops find John and Nancy upstairs in the master bedroom. They're laying face up on their mattress, covered in flies and maggots. At this point, they've been dead for a full week, but it is definitely clear how it happened. John has been shot once in the head and Nancy twice, but for some reason, she has a pillow covering her head. And from the lack of bullet holes in it, it's clear that the pillow was placed over Nancy's face after she died. Now, Tony's listening to this information, and of course, she is stunned with grief. The sheriff goes on to tell her a couple sparse details about how the actual murder went down. Apparently, the killer broke into the

Bosco home, probably through the bathroom window. Then they shut off the power and cut the phone line inside the house before climbing upstairs. Both John and Nancy were fast asleep when the murderer shot John in the head, killing him instantly. Then they fired three more shots, two of which fatally struck Nancy. And afterwards, they placed the pillow over Nancy's head. But amazingly, the murderer didn't leave behind a single fingerprint. Even stranger, nothing was stolen from the house. So to police, this means the motive couldn't have been financial. It had to be personal. Naturally, the first suspect is John's ex-wife.

After the murders, the police find out about John's ugly divorce and the fact that he and Nancy were planning their trip to Colorado to deal with the custody battle. So obviously it's suspicious that they were murdered on the night before they were set to leave. It's just, to them, all too coincidental. Still, no matter how seamlessly this idea works in theory, in reality there isn't any concrete evidence tying John's ex-wife to the murders. This leaves the cops at a dead end, but not for long, because pretty soon they discover all the drama between John and the former homeowner, Joe Clark.

By the time John was murdered, their disagreement had escalated, like to the point that John was planning to sue Clark in civil court. But then both he and Nancy were murdered. When the cops find out about this, they get excited. If the killer was Joe Clark, there would be both a personal and financial motive. What they don't have is anything tying Clark to the crime scene. And so the police are forced to conclude that it's just another dead end. As all of these investigations are going on, Tony is over in Connecticut dealing not only with grief, but with the terrible feeling that she somehow knew about all of this before it even happened. Like maybe if she had told John about her nightmare, he and Nancy would have sold their new house and left Big Fork, Montana for good.

And maybe none of this would have happened, which of course is untrue. There's no way Tony could have known that John would actually die, much less how it would happen. And I know if I got a call from my mom saying she had a bad dream, I'm not just going to sell my house and up and move. Still, she needs closure. So three weeks after the murder, this is September of 1993, Toni decides that she's going to fly to Montana herself. She wants to see the house that John and Nancy died in. And here's where things get really creepy.

Because the minute Tony enters the home, she senses that she's in the presence of pure evil. Coming up, Tony gets a bird's eye view into her son and daughter-in-law's murder. Now back to the story. When Tony sets foot in the house, she is filled with a sense of overwhelming horror. Like something about the air just feels sinister and it chills her to the bone. And this feeling, it only gets worse when she enters the bedroom where John and Nancy were murdered. The walls are still spattered with blood and Tony can make out the holes

where the bullets pierced through. It's definitely every mother's worst nightmare and the sight causes Tony to literally fall to her knees. She prays, begging God to bring justice. But in the days following, she decides to take matters into her own hands. She's done with waiting for the police to figure out who the culprit is. And if there's one thing Tony knows, it's that she has a sixth sense about this entire murder. So she hires a psychic. And not just any psychic. His name is Daniel Brinkley. He's actually super famous because of his own experience with the great beyond.

Supposedly, in 1975, Brinkley was talking on the phone when he was struck by lightning. The hit was so extreme, it lifted him off his feet, causing him to levitate for a few seconds before crashing back to the ground. In the aftermath, Brinkley was rushed to the hospital where he died. According to Brinkley, his soul floated out of his body and drifted towards an otherworldly light-infused realm. 28 minutes later, he miraculously woke from the dead and discovered he had psychic powers that gave him the ability to predict the future. Now, these powers are so exceptional that allegedly, Brinkley's made 117 accurate predictions, including Ronald Reagan's election, the fall of the Soviet Union, and the Gulf War. And even though his claim to fame is telling the future, Tony figures if anyone is

going to help her find out who killed her son, it's this guy. So in the weeks following her visit to Montana in October 1993, Brinkley and Tony meet in a hotel room. Now, Tony's a practicing Christian, so I'm guessing that her feelings about psychics are pretty complicated. Like, the Bible isn't too wild about people trying to contact the great beyond. It's seen as sort of like a brush with the dark side, kind of like an invitation for evil, not to mention the lack of faith in God. But at this point, Tony is desperate. And just in case Brinkley's a total nut job, she convinces her sister to come with her. And this turns out to be a great decision because Tony's sister agrees to take notes. She's scribbling away as Tony focuses on Brinkley, who is sitting in front of her.

He's completely still and his eyes are closed and after a few seconds he lifts his hands to his forehead and that's when his journey begins. According to Brinkley, he is transported back to the actual night of the murder. He can see directly through the killer's eyes in one minute snippets, almost like he's watching a home movie that keeps glitching. By describing what he's seeing, Brinkley's able to walk Tony through the events of that awful night. He describes the entire murder from the killer's point of view, beginning with climbing through the bathroom window all the way to firing the fatal shots. It doesn't sound like he gives any new information about how the murder happened. I mean, besides, all the details had been

in the newspaper. So the part about firing the gun four times and putting the pillow over Nancy's head, I mean, Brinkley could have just picked that up from papers at the time. But then he says something shocking. He tells Tony that he can actually see the killer. He's reflected in a mirror inside John and Nancy's house. It's a teenage boy, he says, of medium build with inset eyes. And he's wearing jeans and cowboy boots. He says the boy looks like a college student, maybe about 18 or 19 years old. And for some reason, Brinkley guesses that he attends college out west. Then his brow wrinkles a little bit. He tells Tony that the house feels really familiar, like this isn't the first time

the killer has been inside the home. Brinkley asks if maybe John had an apprentice, like some kid that he hired to help with his woodworking business. And Tony says, no, but Brinkley is certain the murderer is a college student who has been in this house in the past. Then he leaves Tony with a prediction.

John and Nancy's killer will be caught in just two months. Now this sounds comforting, right? If Brinkley's prophecy comes true, Tony should have some answers in December before the new year starts. But honestly, she doesn't know what to make of this information. I mean, college student in cowboy boots isn't exactly a police sketch. There are tons of people who fall into that category. And it's not like the scene he was describing was that far off from what police guessed had happened. On the other hand, the detail that the boy had been inside the house in the past does narrow things down, except Tony is positive that John didn't have an apprentice. Regardless, she hands Brinkley's description of the killer to the cops, and surprisingly,

they're not impressed. It's not like they can use a psychic's testimony in court. And as the weeks pass without a new break in the case, Tony feels more and more certain that contacting Brinkley was just a big waste of time. But then on December 7th, she gets a call from a Montana sheriff. He tells her that they've got him. And the more he describes the culprit, the more Toni Campbell leave her ears. Because Brinkley's description was spot on. The suspect is an 18-year-old college student of medium build with inset eyes. And his name is Shadow Clark. If that last name sounds familiar, it's because Shadow is the son of Joe Clark,

the man who sold John his house and supposedly misled him about the zoning restrictions, which means yet another of Brinkley's predictions is accurate. The killer had been inside the house in the past because he used to live there. And I mean, this is totally wild, right? Like, not only was Brinkley able to see into the past and literally tell Tony what Shadow looked like, but he also predicted the future by saying the exact month Shadow would be captured. Obviously, this is far from the first time a psychic has tapped into the future. The internet is literally filled with thousands of anecdotes from normal people claiming a psychic accurately predicted their future. But in many of these cases, there's a cause for skepticism. And Brinkley is no exception. Remember how he allegedly predicted huge events like Ronald Reagan's election, the fall of the

Soviet Union, Gulf War, all of that, well, that's something psychics do a lot. They claim to have predicted events that already happened, and anyone can do that. But in the case of the Bosco murders, none of that applies. There's no way he could have known such specific details about Shadow Clark or the month of his capture unless Brinkley had some dark insider info, which as far as anyone knows, he didn't. And to me, this story is about so much more than whether or not psychics can interpret the past or predict the future. It's whether humans can. Take Toni for one. I mean, call it prophecy or premonition, but her nightmare definitely tapped into something. Still, the wildest part isn't even the dream she had. It's the ones Shadow Clark was having. You see, months

before John's murder, Shadow was plagued by a recurring nightmare, one that told him exactly what he was going to do. Coming up, Shadow wrestles with a disturbing prophecy. Now back to the story. When police arrested Shadow Clark, everyone who knew him was shocked. By all accounts, Shadow was your so-called good Christian kid, an honor roll grad and a freshman at George Fox University in Oregon. Which raises the obvious question, why would a small town Montana boy murder two strangers right before he went off to college? I mean, sure, his dad had a fight with John Bosco, but I'm not even sure Shadow knew about the argument before the murder. It doesn't seem to be

why he killed the Boscos. Even Toni can't wrap her head around it. Then she discovers that she and Shadow have one bizarre thing in common. According to Shadow, in the months preceding John and Nancy Bosco's murders, he was plagued by a recurring nightmare. It started in mid-1993, a few months after his high school graduation, and it was always the same. The 18-year-old would find himself standing outside his old childhood home, a gun clutched in his hand. Then he'd open the front door, climb the stairs to the master bedroom where a couple was sleeping. Shadow would step through the door and open fire, murdering the husband and wife in their sleep. At that point, he always woke up confused and upset.

He had no idea why he was dreaming about killing two people he'd never even spoken to before. It all seemed completely impossible, except for one thing. Earlier that summer, Shadow had purchased a gun. So he might not have understood why he kept dreaming about murdering the Boscos, but he did have the means to do so. And on August 12th, Shadow Clark's nightmares became John and Nancy Bosco's reality. It's unclear whether Shadow began the night by trying to go to sleep, but at some point, he picks up his gun, walks out of his parents' new home, and steps into his car. Then, he drives over to the Bosco house. Instead of opening the front door, Shadow shoves open a bathroom window and crawls inside.

He shuts off the house's power and cuts its only phone line to the outside world before climbing the stairs to John and Nancy's bedroom. Shadow pushes the door open, and just like in his dream, he opens fire. The first shot pierces John Bosco's skull, and the sound wakes up Nancy. Realizing her life is in danger, she lurches towards her bedside table and reaches for her glasses. But just as she puts them on, Shadow fires three more shots, two of them striking

and killing Nancy. Shadow is terrified, but instead of leaving, he walks over to Nancy and gently places a pillow over her head. And I'm not sure why he does this. Maybe something about seeing her crumpled body is just too disturbing. Like for the first time, he can actually see his victim's face, and he wants to cover it up. Then he drives back home, climbs into bed, and falls asleep. The next day, Shadow isn't sure if the murder actually took place or if it was just another one of his reoccurring dreams. He just sort of hopes it's not real. At least,

that's what he tells a court later on. Shadow claims none of it was premeditated. It felt just like any of his other dreams that he'd done before. It's not until one week later, on August 19th, when police find John and Nancy's bodies, that he realizes the murders actually happened. And he knows without a doubt that he did it. Of course, he's too scared to say anything. He just goes off to college out west. But it seems to eat at him because a few months after the murder, in December, Shadow reportedly tells his college roommate, quote, I've done something worse than anybody's ever done before, and I'm afraid I'm going to get in trouble for it, end quote. After some prodding, Shadow explains that he had several dreams about killing people and that

one day it just was no longer a dream. Horrified, his roommate reports it to school authorities, who then call the cops. In short order, investigators interrogate Shadow, locate the murder weapon, and place him under arrest. But when they ask him why he committed the crime, it's clear that Shadow is in the dark. He tells investigators that he didn't know the Boscos at all and that it's, quote, really weird as far as why I did that, end quote. And when Shadow's lawyer is helping him prepare for trial, he actually encourages him to come up with some sort of explanation so he can

get a lower sentence. Like if the judge knows Shadow is settling some sort of grievance, maybe it'll be easier to give him a lower sentence and possibly let him go back into society. Otherwise, Shadow seems like the kind of guy who's just going to kill more strangers at whim. But even that incentive doesn't work. Shadow says he has no idea why he killed John and Nancy, and he makes that clear over and over again in court. So on July 27th, 1994, almost a year after he murdered the Boscos, Shadow is sentenced to 220 years in the Montana State Prison.

Justice is served, case closed. Except almost 30 years later, something about this is still deeply unsettling. Like why were Shadow and Tony having dreams about essentially the same terrible event at the same time? It just doesn't make sense. I guess they could have been exaggerating for their own reasons, but when it comes to Brinkley, we know those predictions were real because there are those notes taken by Tony's sister that clearly describe Shadow Clark as the killer. So is it possible that three very different people all tapped into the same event? And if so, what does that say about reality? Is it really so random or is it set in stone? Obviously that's a heavy question to wrestle with.

But if there's anything psychics and dreams have taught us, it's that something's out there. And if we access it, we might find out what happened or what's going to happen. We just might not be able to change it. Thanks for listening. I'll be back next week with another episode. To hear more stories hosted by me, check out Crime Junkie and all AudioChuck originals.