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Police Psychic, Bill Boshears

wardenclyffe

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wardenclyffe
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OK, so the other night I see a movie from the early 70s called Man on a Swing. It's the fictionalized account of a true crime book called The Girl on the Volkswagen Floor.

In the film, Joel Grey (fresh off his Oscar® win for Cabaret) plays a self-proclaimed clairvoyant named Franklin Wills who seems to be trying to help the police chief, played by Cliff Robertson, solve a murder.

The movie itself is a fun thriller (driven by the engine of Grey's performance) which does not ultimately reveal whether he's actually psychic or not---although I think it's pretty clear that the movie suggests that he's not, but I'm viewing it through the eyes of a skeptic and that probably skews my vision of it.

The movie also has a (nearly) double-blind test of the psychic that is the same type of test conducted by JREF or any other testing organization. It was fascinating to see that type of test depicted in a fictionalized film that early in the skeptical movement, if one can say that the movement even existed then.

Joel Grey was at the cinema in person and spoke after the movie and mentioned that the real clairvoyant was still alive, but he did not mention his real name.

That sent me on a mission once I got home to figure out who this person was. I thought I found it right away. In the original book the clairvoyant is named Norman Dodd. Mystery solved, I thought. Further reading revealed that Norman Dodd was a pseudonym. A little more digging led me to this newspaper article: http://news.google.com/newspapers?n...scyAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Bs0FAAAAIBAJ&pg=7030,2149331 which reveals that the clairvoyant's real name was Bill Boshears. And what has Mr. Boshears been up to lately? Enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wi176lYtNQk

I'm not expecting this to be much of a thread, but I thought my journey of discovery was interesting and Boshears' journey was equally fascinating. I'd never heard of him before and I think he should be the poster-child for what becomes of a psychic when they are not checked early and often.

Ward
 
Another "police psychic" shifts their trade

Many self-claimed psychics endured tough financial times by the late 1990's when the tracking of their visions (past, present, and future) became easier to accurately benchmark via the internet. Their foresight failures became easier to spot time and time again.

Taking on the roll of a local Art Bell kept many in the paranormal community satisfied as they still got some attention.

There isn't a single public law enforcement agency in the United States that directly pays for paranormal forensic personnel anymore as its not worth the legal liabilities, court rejections, negative publicity, and after years --- below chance results from the psychics themselves.

The tough times for mediums, psychics, and paranormal investigators are only getting tougher.
 
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As far as I can tell, Boshears did not help the police directly. In the movie, that's how it's portrayed. I have not read the book yet, but apparently the police told the author (who was a local reporter) about him and the reporter had contact with him and would report his findings to the police.

There's a scene in the movie in which the clairvoyant asks the police chief to convince the local paper to write a big story about him. The cop refuses, but if it reflects what actually happened, the clairvoyant was clearly seeking attention.

Sherlock, you imply that others have become the "local Art Bell." Do you know of other specific cases where that has happened?

Thanks,
Ward
 
Psychic Detectives turn to radio & TV

"Psychic detectives" Laurie McQuary and Bee Herz have created video and audio segments from private studios and have regularly provided "broadcasts" over the internet and "performed" on syndicated broadcasts. Noreen Renier had a regular radio show for years in Virginia and "newcomers" Lisa Williams, Cari Murphey, and Sunny Dawn Johnston regularly hit the airwaves via internet paranormal shows with call-in and/or paranormal community shows that are picked up for rebroadcast.

The audiences they obtain are certainly less than what Art Bell achieves --- but their targeted audiences are tailored to segments within the paranormal community.
 
Interesting. I've heard none of their shows. I've also heard very little of Boshears' show. In Boshears' case, it seems like his show was very much a copy of Art Bell's with an extra dose of right-wing politics to add flavor to the conspiracy theories. That's mostly what I've found. I have yet to find a show in which Boshears claims to have psychic powers or does readings over the phone (with himself doing the readings---not a guest).

It seems like he disavows, or at least de-emphasizes, his prior role as a clairvoyant and healer. I could be completely wrong. Like I said, I've heard very little of his show.

Is this how the others have operated? I can't tell from your post whether they were Art Bell-type hosts who presented paranormal stories and interviews or if they were just radio psychics who did readings over the phone for callers.

The difference is that it seems to me like Boshears, in his role as radio host, is attempting to recreate his persona. It's kind of like RSLancastr's Kaz (www.stopkaz.com) who went from claiming to be a doctor who survived the 2001 twin towers collapse (she's neither a doctor nor a survivor) to claiming to be a neurosurgeon with a different name in Australia.

Again, I'm very new to the Boshears case. I'm guessing others are as well because I found nothing about him in a forum-search other than a reference to his radio show. Perhaps he did psychic readings on a regular basis on his show and frequently spoke of his own paranormal powers. I just haven't heard it yet.

Thanks Sherlock,
Ward
 
In the photo in the previous post, he's listed as Bill Boshers and not Bill Boshears, but it certainly seems to be the same guy. I've found a number of other articles from the 70s in which his name is Boshers. I wonder when, where and why the A was added to his name.

Ward

P.S. I have yet to read the original book that the movie's based on. It's hard (and expensive) to get ahold of. I'll be getting it through inter-library loan shortly and then there might be more information.
 
I just noticed that tags have appeared for this thread. Who is Aleksandr Zharov?

Ward
 
OK, I finally got the book, The Girl on the Volkswagen Floor, the true crime novel upon which the movie was based. I'll report my findings after I read it, but I have found some interesting info.

Bill Boshers (later Boshears) claimed to not want any kind of publicity for his clairvoyance, was raised by a publicity seeker. His mother was known as "Bouncin' Beulah" Boshers. She was a professional wrestling character on local Dayton television. Some sources suggest that she was actually a wrestler in the very early days, but she was best known as a super-fan. She, unlike the regular public, was allowed to approach the wrestling ring and yell at the wrestlers and pound on the mat. Here's one source:

http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/9240137/

This keeps getting weirder.

Ward
 
OK, I've read the book. I enjoyed it and I recommend it. Again, it is a rare and expensive book, so the library might be your best bet.

It's a well written account from the point of view of a reporter (the author William Arthur Clark) for the Dayton Daily News. It involves the mysterious murder of a young woman. It begins as you might expect from a reporter with a lot of who-what-when-where procedural stuff. The first half of the book lays out the case as clearly as possible which is no easy task. The case is full of suspects and much of the evidence does not make much sense. All of this stymies the police for over a month and the case seems to be going cold.

One of the cops in charge of the case publicly says that they "would cooperate in any possible way should persons with psychic powers offer their services to help solve this most baffling crime." This was 1968, and it seems like police in general might have been more receptive to such things.

Anyway, this same cop hooks the reporter up with an ESP enthusiast who, in turn, hooks him up with Bill Boshears, a 20-something self-proclaimed clairvoyant.

The clairvoyant offers all sorts of information about the murder and about the reporter's personal life. Most of it seems remarkably accurate. Some of the information he offers is known only to the police. The reporter seems very convinced. As accurate as the info seems, none of it is particularly useful to the police.

Eventually, the reporter contacts Joseph B. Rhine (of the Rhine Research Center) who was probably the most famous parapsychologist in the world. Rhine is also impressed by the hits that Boshears is getting. He suggests setting up a psychometry-type test involving matching envelopes containing important information to the criminal cases to which they pertain.

Boshears fails the test, doing no better than chance. This causes the reporter to cool it with Boshears. Then the reporter starts getting harassing knocks at his door and phone calls.

Eventually another murder occurs (this time it's a 12 year old girl) and the murderer is apprehended. This fellow had been a prime suspect in the first crime but had passed a lie detector test. It seems now that he's good for both crimes and he's serving a life sentence for only the second crime. The first crime remains officially unsolved.

SPOILER ALERT*****SPOILER ALERT*****SPOILER ALERT*****SPOILER ALERT*****SPOILER ALERT

It is discovered after the killer is caught that the psychic and the killer worked together at the same factory. When I say together, I mean side by side. Also, the reporter figures out that all the info about his personal life could have been revealed to the psychic by a family friend who had the unique knowledge that the psychic knew. She was also a recent widow and might have sought the help of the psychic to contact her dead husband. That is not overtly said by the author, nor is any confrontation between the author and this woman documented. He does, however, suggest that the friendship ended.

At the time he wrote the book, the killer was still held in a mental hospital and deemed insane. He was later declared sane and sentenced to life in prison. The reporter was not able to interview him, so his relationship to the psychic (beyond close co-worker) is unknown.

END SPOILER****END SPOILER****END SPOILER****END SPOILER****END SPOILER****END SPOILER

This was just a quick thumbnail sketch. I highly recommend the book. It is probably the best documented case of a "police psychic's" actual dealings with a crime. It's not an easy book to get, but it's worth it if you can. It was nominated for an Edgar Award for best true crime book.

Ward

P.S. The movie is also quite good, and follows the book fairly closely, reproducing much of the dialogue from the book (which was recorded and transcribed). The big difference is that the reporter is replaced by a police chief. In the book, the police have no dealings with the psychic directly, except that they help set up the envelope test. The movie is also far less definite about whether Boshears is psychic or not.
 
OK, I finally found footage of Boshears' mother in the wrestling ring. It's not really her in action, but she's receiving an award for being a superfan. It's here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0QWj0uQhaY

It's a few seconds past the 40 minute mark. I'm still looking for footage of her in action as a superfan or even better, from her days in the early 50s as a wrestler.

Ward
 
Yes, I did - it was the third entry on the first item (that is, the first listing last night had three items last night and now only has two). The second listing has not changed - I hope someone else did not see your post and go off to Amazon to grab it due to mine.
 
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