The Hossack Case

The Ghost of John Hossack

After the violent and mysterious death of John Hossack, stories eventually emerged that his ghost haunted the scene of the crime. C. C. Taggart bought the farm from the Hossack estate at an auction in September 1901, and the property was owned by the Taggart family for the next half century. Visitors reported that they could still see Hossack's blood on the bedroom walls and floorboards many years after the crime.

LaVere and Marge Burchett bought the farm from the Taggarts in 1953. They tore down the old farmhouse in 1967 and built a more modern home on the same site. In the new house, LaVere began seeing what he described as the “ghost of John Hossack.” One of his sons claimed to have seen the ghost as well, and Marge Burchett said that she sensed the presence of a specter in unexplained occurrences—car keys and puzzle pieces that disappeared and then reappeared, or that moved from place to place.