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The Trick-or-Treat Murder of Peter Fabiano
Goldyne Pizer would have done anything for Joan Rabel, even murder.
On Halloween night 1957, Los Angeles hairstylist Peter Fabiano walked down the stairs of his Valley home to greet a belated trick-or-treater. It was late, around 11 pm and Peter had already got into bed with his wife Betty, it was too late for children to be knocking.
Nevertheless, the 35-year-old grabbed the bowl of remaining sweet treats and answered the door. A second later, Betty heard a deep voice and a loud pop, that also woke up her daughter, Judy.
At the front door, she found her husband bleeding out in a pool of his own blood. Judy ran to her police officer neighbour’s home, who called in the Valley police department. Peter was taken to Sun Valley hospital, where he was pronounced dead from the gunshot to his chest.
The only witness to the shooting was a teenager, who saw a car speed away from the neighbourhood. There were no gun shells left at the scene and nothing had been taken from the house, despite the family owning two successful hair and beauty shops.
Peter’s shooting had the characteristics of a gang hit but the only record the hairstylist had was for a charge of bookmaking in 1948. He had no connection to any crime syndicate and that lead…
