Morbid - Episode 493: The Attempted Murder of Olga Rocco

Episode Date: September 11, 2023

On the morning of December 31, 1946, nineteen-year-old Pearl Lusk boarded a crowded subway train in Brooklyn. A few days earlier, she’d met a man named Allen in a bar who offered her a very strange, yet simple job: she was to follow a young woman named Olga and take a photo to determine whether she was wearing any stolen jewelry. That morning, as Pearl and Olga exited the crowded subway train, Pearl raised the camera in Olga’s direction and pulled the wire to take a photo, but what happened next would put into motion a series of events that rivals fiction.Thank you to the wonderful Dave White for Research assistance!ReferencesAdams, Toni. 1947. "Troopers hunt and kill Alphonse Rocco." Kingston Daily Freeman, January 7: 1.Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 1947. "Camera-gun suspect flees in stolen car." Brooklyn Daily Eagle, January 6: 2.Buffalo Evening News. 1947. "'Camera' shooting victim asks N.Y. City to pay her $200,000." Buffalo Evening News, February 14: 1.—. 1953. "Court frees city of liability for not averting shooting." Buffalo Evening News, April 22: 25.—. 1947. "Police press quest for spouse of camera-gun victim." Buffalo Evening News, January 2: 9.—. 1946. "Times Square Station is scene of shooting." Buffalo Evening News, December 31: 10.International News Service. 1947. "Estranged wife and family glad Ruocco is dead." Buffalo Evening News, Janaury 7: 1.Kingston Daily Freeman. 1947. "Victim of camera shooting guarded." Kingston Daily Freeman, January 2: 18.McKelway, St. Clair. 1953. The Perils of Pearl and Olga. August 8. Accessed August 10, 2023. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1953/08/08/the-perils-of-pearl-and-olga.New York Times. 1947. "Camera-gun victim files for $200,000." New York Times, February 15: 17.—. 1947. "'Camera-gun' victim loses a leg." New York Times, Janaury 3: 1.—. 1947. "Girl, dupe in plot, shoots woman with 'camera' gun." New York Times, January 1: 1.—. 1947. "Lusk girl freed; will leave city." New York Times, Janaury 11: 20.—. 1947. "Rocco killed by the police in Catskills." New York Times, January 7: 1.Smith, Delos. 1947. "Gullible girl hoaxed into plot on life of estranged wife." Daily Boston Globe, January 1: 13.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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where you can listen to even the royals exclusively and add free right now. Hey, weirdo, Sinehash! And I'm Elena! And this is more bad! This is Mourad. This is Mourad. This is Mourad. Oh my god, we're in a silly goofy mood today. We are. It's Monday. It's Monday, it's Monday.

Wait, what day is it though? It's Monday. Monday, Monday. Yeah, and usually Mondays we're feeling a little like, we're, we're, we're, because it's the start of the week, you know, that always sucks for everybody. But today I'm feeling goofy. You are I feel you are Don't make me laugh

And I will start like I will start like mucusing everywhere. I won't do that. I'll be very serious This is a wild case though that I that I'm going to tell you today. Oh. It's, what else is new? It's wild. It's got twisties. It's got turnies. It's got, um, not serotonies, but we love serotonies.

We love serotonies. I don't bum that in our podcast. You should listen to your podcast. Voices for justice. And also disappeared. Is there a new podcast? You should go listen to it disappeared is a really good. Yeah I mean, they're both fantastic shout out to Sarah turnie was up there. So raw so raw, but there is some twisties and turnies in this one. It's

Like a lifetime movie. It is like this look this is a movie like this entire thing is a bit it's from the 40s like this entire thing is a bit, it's from the 40s. Oh, so yeah, we're just so swanky. Exactly, where you know me. I do, I know me. I know me. I know me. I'm like anything past 1950, I don't know her. I do.

I know her since the 1970s and above. And above mostly. Yeah, which is good. But I truly, we cover all things. I have a couple old ones coming up on the roster. You know, it's spooky season. It feels like old time you make sense. Correct.

But yeah, this is from the 40s, it's very 40s. It's got some really inept detectives in it. Yeah, that's very 40s. Which is always fun and very 40s of us. And it's in New York. Oh, oh my God, I'm working on a New York one right now too. Look at that East Coast. What's up? What's up? So again, this is a story about lies, some stalking and attempted murder. Oh, and there's tons of twists. Oh, but

attempted. So does nobody, nobody die? Someone dies. Oh, you said that interestingly. I did. You said that with a little twist in your eye. I tried to. All right, I'll let you just go, girl. Go, go, go, go. I was literally hoping you would do that. I'm gonna let you go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go. The girls that get it, get it.

Yeah, I was gonna say, I don't even know if I should explain that one. You should. It's all you need to know is VPR. Ick, yick. Ick, yick. Okay, I just lost my tab. Okay, so we're gonna talk first of all about the person

that's kind of, there's two people at the center of this story. Okay. There's a woman named Olga and a woman named Pearl. I love the name Pearl. And they were both put into situations that are unthinkable, to be quite honest. So let's start by talking about Pearl,

because we're gonna kind of follow her story first, and then we're gonna talk about how Olga plays into this. Okay. So in the fall of 1946, 19-year-old recent high school graduate, Pearl Lusk, left her father's home in Quaker Town, Pennsylvania for New York City, the big apple, where she was just determined. She was going to start this whole new life. She was going to be a big city gal. She was

ready for it. Go, girl. And of course, and think about like 1940s, New York. Oh, fuck it. That was a bit of wild scene. Everyone was looking all fabulous. That's the thing, no matter what, even though like old-timey stuff, you're like, yeah, like the shit that was going down in the day, we don't want to be around for it. It was not like a time to be alive,

but this fashion, a time to be alive. Like why don't we dress like that? Yeah, like men wearing three-piece suits. Ah, you know, women wearing like these really cool, just like hats and the layers. I love a layering moment. I feel like it was a lot of cool layers. There was and the jackets that women used to wear.

The jacket. I immediately thought of the jacket. The jacket of it all. Yeah, in the hairstyles. Yeah, it gives me, I mean, I reference this all the time, but it gives me, I think, a piggy blinders, and how everyone looks fucking amazing and piggy blinders, and I'm like,

I wanna look like that. I want to go to that. I want to go to there. But yeah, so 1946, she's off to New York City to start any life, and of course, she didn't really have a ton of tour name at this point. She's 19 years old. I was gonna say, yeah.

She just graduated high school. So she spent the first month there so living with her mother and stepfather in their apartment in Brooklyn. Cool. She was just kinda staying there to get herself on her feet, find a job. And it wasn't long until she did find a job

as a sales girl at the Oppenheim Collins department store in Manhattan. Oh, sounds cool. And luckily this was what gave her the ability to get her own furnished room in a building on the upper, the, the city's upper west side. Okay. So now she has a job, she's got some income, she's got a cool place to live.

She's feeling like the move was worth it. Like, she's, she's on her way. She's like, let's go big city. She's like, life is just beginning. Let's go. But now with some cash money flowing in, she's also able to decorate her apartment to her liking, make it like her personality, but she's also able to like kind of upgrade her own look. Like she ended up trading and she had like a very girlish aesthetic, like yeah,

girlish aesthetic at first. She was a high school student after all. Makes sense. But now she's, you know, 19, she's moving into her 20s. She's like, I wanna be like a little more mature in my style. She got a new hairdo. Oh, of course. She's ready to go. A woman that changes her hair is about to change her life.

There you go. I chopped my hair recently. I hope you don't change your life too much. Hopefully it's like a, like a, just add a dish into my life. Yeah. New book. Yeah, there you go. New book, new hair. New hair, new book. Let's go. Now also Pearl's job at the department store gave her a lot of social opportunities because she's now, she's around people her age, she's meeting all these people.

And soon she's taking lunches with friends and coworkers. And she's having dinner dates at the cafeteria with men she met working at the store. She's like, it's like sex in the city. I mean, just gonna say she is sex in the city and like, let's go. I wonder who she is. She's thriving.

I wonder which one. Thrive. It sounds like she is and I'm so worried for her because I hate when everything starts off so happy. She's not gonna keep that way. She was doing the damn thing. She was on a path that everyone hopes to be on when they move to the big city. To be honest, you had somewhere to stay, to get on your feet, you got on your feet. Things are going well, you're meeting new people,

you're going on dates, everything's great. And on Thanksgiving day that year, she was approached by a stranger while riding the subway on the way to visit her mother for Thanksgiving day. We're out row. She was a little busy. She's got stuff, her social calendar is full. She's fucking thinking she's busy.

She's got shit to do, she's on her way to see her mom. So she was not really in the space to like appreciate that somebody was like, you know, hitting on her essentially. Okay. And like good for her. She was like, I'm just not, I don't have time. Well, you don't have to appreciate every man

or woman that hits on you. No, of course you don't. And that's the thing. And she also just was like, you know what? Because here's the thing. She was a little interested. She said, the man who introduced himself as Alan LaRue was polite, he was charming, and she said he was among the most handsome men

she had ever seen. So it wasn't that she wasn't interested. She just was like, you know what, I got a lot going on. I don't have the spate, the bandwidth to like accept this right now. Okay. So she just couldn't, I was like,

you know, I got a lot of stuff going anyways. I'm going on a lot of dates. I'm hanging out with a lot of people. I got a life, I'm working. And she was like, I got a lot of stuff going anyways. I'm going on a lot of dates. I'm hanging out with a lot of people. I got a life, I'm working. And she was like, you know what, I'm not really desperate to experience. I'm not gonna accept a date from a stranger when I don't have to.

I mean, that was her feeling about the whole thing. Good for her. She was like, I already got some lined up, but like whatever. So she didn't even, she wouldn't give her a dress and she wouldn't give her name when she was asked. She was like, oh yeah. So Pearl was just, let's play a long game.

Yeah, she said whatever, but she was like, oh, you were good to look at. So thank you for that. Yeah, thanks for the, you know. So she leaves, she has a great time at Thanksgiving, you know, I imagine. And then, uh-oh, because just one month later, Pearl's entire confidence and happiness was shaken a little bit because after just three happy months working at the department store She and a ton of other sales girls were laid off when the holiday season ended So now she has no job no income

Those social opportunities they're kind of dwindling down because she's not around these people anymore So she's very much in a more vulnerable state at this point. And that's when she ran into Alan LaRue again. Oh, she ran into a house strange in the big city. She meets them on the subway by happenstance. And then she meets them a month later on the train back from Brooklyn the day after Christmas. So oh, and weird, but it was like holiday. Yeah, exactly. Now she's feeling down at this point. She's had to run a bad luck.

Like this isn't a good time. Like I said, she's feeling vulnerable. She's feeling like she's desperate to get some income. Mm-hmm. And so, she, you know, at this point, she's like, my social calendar is not full anymore. I'm not working. You're still hot.

You're still good looking. So, she's like, you know what? Sure. She greased to join them for a drink at a bar in Times Square. Because he approached her again. Yeah, he approached her again. And she was like, I'll go out with you. Times Square, it's busy. Yeah.

Lots of people. Now, during their mini date, he was very sympathetic to what you were saying. He listened to everything. And he was like, oh my god, that sucks. Like, I know how that feels. And later, she told the assistant district attorney, he seemed interested in me like any other man at first.

But the more I talked, the more I felt like he had some different kind of interest in me. Huh. So it turned out the pearl her intuition was right on. I think you're gut baby. Alan did think she was beautiful. He did like her, find her charming. But he also had something else in mind for her

because after they talked some more, he said, you know what, it's kind of like, you know, it's serendipitous that we would run into each other now again because he said, you're down on your luck, you're looking for income and he's like, as it turns out, I have a job that needs to be done and it's yours if you want it. And she was like, wow, this is very fortuitous. As it turns out, I have a job that needs to be done and it's yours if you want it. Mmm.

And she was like, wow, this is very fortuitous. You don't even know my fucking credentials, buddy. That's right. But, you know, they've talked on the state. So he's like, you seem, you seem chill. I'm going to take a chance on you. Wow. When it comes to doing things around the house these days, we can be slackers.

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So, he explained to her, he said, I'm a private detective and I work for an insurance company. And this insurance company specializes in ensuring jewelry, which is all, it seems pretty valid of something to, this isn't too far-fetched at this point. And he said, he, his job was the guy, basically, they relied on him to investigate and find any stolen jewelry. And he's like, so when somebody steals jewelry, I have to do the whole investigation,

I have to find a way to get it back. So the insurance company does a lose out. Our checks. So according to Alan, he said that there's this young woman named Olga. Here we go. She worked as a secretary for the Croiton Hat Company. And she had stolen some jewelry from a client

of their insurance company. And he had reason to believe that Olga still had the jewelry and was holding it like carrying it on her person. Like, it was wearing the jewelry. Sure. Now, here's the rub, though. Olga had figured out who Alan was and that he was following her.

So she would immediately recognize him if she saw him again and she would just take off with the loot. So he said, the other issue here is I can't go right to the police with this because I haven't technically proven her guilt. This is what I'm supposed to do is investigate this stuff. And he's like, so I can't go to the police yet with this. I have to like prove the guilt first.

So this is why he needed a random, very unassuming person like Pearl, who could go close enough to Olga to obtain irrefutable evidence of her sticky finger guilt. Ugh. Now, as a lover of detective stories and dime store novels at the time, Pearl thought this sounded great.

She's like, in her hair, in the spine. She gets to be, she's like, I get to be part of like, an investigation, like, a detective thing, a private eye. Exciting. This is exciting. Like, this is what I moved to New York City for. Like, this kind of fun stuff. And it's not something that, where it's like,

they're investigating like, this heavy case of crazyness. It's a jewelry thief. It literally sounds like a detective story or dime this heavy. Yeah, it's like crazy. It's a jewelry thief. It literally sounds like a detective story or a dumb story novel. Yeah, like a popular novel. Also detective Leroux, LOL. There you go. So, not to mention this was also gonna help

with her loss of income at this point. Right. She was like, I'll pay you. Like, absolutely. You'll be on the payroll. Okay. So she was like, hell yeah. I will absolutely help with this.

So he was like, this is great. You're going to be great. She's not going to suspect a thing. You know, she's like, he's like, you're a woman. She's not going to be scared of a woman or like, feel like you're following her for some nefarious reason. Sure. So the next morning, Pearl met Alan outside a building on West 39th Street. And it was there that he explained, okay, this is the first phase of the plan. He said, you're going to go into the offices of the Croydon Hat Company where Olga works as the, as like one of the secretaries. And what she was going to do was she was going to go up to the secretary and hope it's, hopefully it was Pearl or Olga or excuse me, Olga, you thank you. Yep. And ask to speak with

another secretary who goes by the name of Sadie White. Okay. And he said, there actually isn't anyone working there named Sadie White. But you're gonna go up there and you're gonna get a good look at Olga because you're gonna talk to her. You're gonna be right there in front of her face.

And he said while you're talking to the receptionist, you'll get that chance, because that's gonna be Olga. Right. So he said, I need you to know her when you see her. You need to be very clear of what she looks like. So he gave Pearl a photo of Olga.

And he said, make sure you find her, that secretary. And he's like, go study her, make sure you're able to recognize her. And he was adamant that she recognized her, even in a crowd, like in a subway crowd. Hmm. Like, I want you to be able to point her out, because I don't want you to be obvious

about you trying to see if she has the jewelry. So Pearl did it. She went in, she talked to Olga, and she returned back to Alan, and she said, oh, I've memorized her. Like I memorized her face, I know her clothing, I could pick her out. And Alan told Pearl to take the rest of the morning off,

and then to meet him at his apartment on East 17th Street later that afternoon and they would go into phase two of the plan. Okay. And he's like, take this time, keep looking at that photo, get to know her. This is so bizarre, I have no idea where we're headed. That's the thing, you cannot have any idea where this is headed.

You really can't. Now Pearl just kinda spent the time, like she looked at the photo, she knew who it was, like she was like, I was standing right in front of her on the needle, a little bit of spent the time, like she looked at the photo. She knew who it was. Like she was like, I'll stand right in front of her. I'm going to need a little bit of that. So she went to see a movie and she talked on the phone with some friends before meeting Alan at his apartment at around 3.30 pm.

When she went in the apartment, he was holding what he said was an X-ray camera. And this was the key to catching Olga in retrieving those jewels. Okay. According to Pearl, the camera looked like just an ordinary shoe box wrapped in brown paper, like you would carry out of a department store. But he said, she said on one end, there was a hole in what looked like a camera aperture. And on the other end, there was a short piece of wire loop that hung out at the bottom of the box. Okay. So you would like pull that, it would take the photo. Remember we're in the 40s, so it's not like.

Of course. And so this is what didn't seem like totally out of the ordinary here. And he explained to her, all you do is point this at her and pull the wire. And he said the X-ray photo would capture if she was wearing the jewelry hidden somewhere. Okay.

And he was very serious when saying, he said, this is what we need in order to go to the police and say, look, she has the jewelry. Sure. And he was very serious one said, and he said, this is what we need in order to go to the police and say, look, she has the jewelry. Sure. And he was very serious saying, but don't snap the picture where she can see you do it. Take it when she gets off the train in Brooklyn. That's where she lives. You want to be right behind her when you follow her out of the train so you can take it at

close range. You want to be only two or three feet away from her when you snap the photo. Okay. And he was like, all right. Now Pearl left Allen's apartment. She went back to the Croydon Hat Company building and she waited for Olga to come out. She finally saw Olga come out of the building after work and began her commute home. So Olga came out a little after five and she made her way towards the Times Square station and caught a train to Brooklyn. Pearl followed her onto the train, not too close, but she did sit across from Olga on the train.

Okay. And again, she looks like she's just holding a package. Right. It's like wrapped in a camera, a brown paper. Pearl then aimed the camera at Olga and pulled the wire. And she was like, I think I got a good photo. Like, that's it. So she got off the train. She went to the bar and Times Square where she met Alan again. And she was like, everything went awesome. to the bar and time square where she met Alan again. And she was like, everything went awesome. Like, Alan was like, shit, like how close were you to her? Like, you know, had she noticed you were following her, like, did anything go wrong? Did she seem suspicious? And Pearl explained that Olga had only been a few feet away from her and she took the picture.

She didn't seem to notice her. Everything seemed like it went great. So Alan was like, that's amazing. I'm gonna get the picture developed tonight, and I'll meet you next tomorrow morning, and I'll let you know how it turned out. Yeah. Now, when they met the following day, he was like, bad news, the picture wasn't good. Why did I suspect that?

So he told Pearl that he believed it was the camera to blame. He was like, it's not you. You did great. Like, good job. But he was like, you know what? I'm gonna get us a better one. Like, that was kind of like was like, you know what? I'm going to get us a better one. Like, that was kind of like not great anyways. Like, I'm going to make sure we get a better one. Like, give me a few days and I'll be able to get a better one.

OK. So she's like, all right. So a few days later on December 31, 1946, New Year's Eve. New Year's Eve. They were all the days. They really do. You're right.

Pearl called Alan at his apartment and he said he was able to get a new X-ray camera. And he said, meet me at the laundry mat near Union Square, which she did a little after 8 a.m. Now Pearl said when he handed this camera to her, it was much different. It was bigger, it was heavier, and it wasn't wrapped in brown paper now. It was wrapped in a Christmas paper to make it look like a Christmas present. Yeah. And it's inspicuous.

And Alan explained, Pearl, is to take the camera, go to the train station in Brooklyn, follow Ogre from there. Once they were on the train, get close to Olga, not too close, take that picture just like you did before. Same old things. Keep the same chill way you did it. And he said, but he added, remember to aim it low at her waist. Okay. And he's, she was like, why? And he was like, I think that's where she's probably carrying the jewels pinned inside her dress on her waist.

That's what we've gotten information that that's what she does. Why would anyone keep jewels pinned to their waist? Not real. Not real. But Pearl did exactly what Alan told her to do. She caught the seat opposite Olga and the train. And they began deporting the train. She decided to wait until they were getting off the train because he had told her to do that initially

and she didn't do it the first time. Oh, okay. So they began getting off the train and Pearl was standing a few feet behind Olga. She aimed the camera at Olga's lower body, pulled the wire to take the picture, and she said the camera jerked in her hands and made a loud explosion happen.

Oh, this caused immediate confusion and panic and chaos everywhere. Yeah. And when Pearl looked up, because she was just stunned at what the fuck just happened, like she just did this camera just blow up, what the hell happened? Pearl looked up, Olga was laying on her back

on the platform, holding her leg. And her leg looked as though it was nearly blown off. Oh my God. Just shattered, completely ruined. Seconds later, a security guard rushed over to Pearl because Pearl was splattered and Olga's blood and holding that box. And the security guard was like, what the fuck? Yeah. And they were, you, and I guess Pearl answered, I just took a woman's picture and somebody shot her.

And Pearl told the security guard before she was grabbed by police, she was like, I, I just took her picture. She was like, I don't, I don't, who shot her? Like she had no idea, like, what happened? What the fuck? So police officers took her. They ripped open the parcel that she was holding. That's not a camera baby. And inside was a sawdoth shotgun, 12 gauge shotgun, mounted between two cream cheese boxes. What? Yes.

And if you look at us, it is the most wild picture when you see what it actually looked like. Let me see. Like, oh my God. I'll just look up Pearl Lusk guys. Like, we'll post some of these photos so you can see. But the actual photo of the Saudaf 12-gauge shotgun. What the fuck?

I met a loss. No, like truly at a loss. I met a true loss for like that, that must have been a heavy package. So this motherfucker like just made like in the cream cheese boxes are wouldn't by the way. They're not like Philadelphia cream cheese box. Immediately what I pictured, you are not alone.

I'm here with you because I also thought of the Philadelphia cream cheese cardboard. I was like, wow, why would they be between that? But that must have been really heavy. And she said that it was heavier than it was much heavier and much bigger. So I wonder what he had done in that first box. Yeah, I know. Because it was smaller. She said it done in that first box. Yeah, I know, like, because it was smaller, she said it was like a shoe box.

I'm like, did you just put a handgun in there and it just didn't work? Or was he just trying to like, was there nothing in there? Like, really? Yeah, I don't know. And he was just trying to see if like, she followed protocol.

That's what I wondered initially was, is he testing her to see if there was actually but then I'm like I don't know But it makes sense though like that he was testing her because when she came back to meet him He was like how to go to chief suspect you right close to her He wanted to see like did you do it right? Can I trust you to actually do it this time? Yeah, kind of thing I could see that being the case. We will never know. We got it. All right.

Pearl looked down at Olga and then looked at the gun in her hands at this point. And she was like, holy shit, I'm the one who shot her. Like she had no idea. Oh. And as she was being pulled away by the police officer, she looked down at Olga and was starting to cry her eyes out. And she said, I'm awfully sorry I shot you. There was a new job you see. And I thought I was taking

your picture with an X-ray camera. Like she started just trying to explain it to this woman whose leg is blown off. I know, like bad timing, Pearl. But like I get your try. I did not mean to shoot you. Oh my god. I guess guess Olga looked at Pearl and then looked away and said, this time he got me. He can have me now if he wants me. I'm a cripple. What happened to the police? I called them, but he was too smart for them.

Oh no. So she knew exactly what had happened here. What the fuck is happening right now? I'm about to tell you. So Pearl was immediately taken into custody where she explained her side of the story and said she was an avid reader of detective and confession stories, quote unquote. Right. And that was one of her the reasons that she was helping this man, Alan LaRue.

She had so undetected showed Pearl a photo of Olga and her husband, Alfonz, Al, Rocco, taken several months earlier in a New York City nightclub, she said, that man's Alan LaRue. Oh my God. So this was Olga's ex-husband? Yes. What? And she said, that's the man who hired me to shoot Olga.

What? And she said, he even has the same clothes on. Oh my God. My god. That was him. That's creepy. So detectives questioned Pearl and a separate set of investigators were at the hospital taking a statement from Olga and she explained that the male Pearl thought, man Pearl thought

to be Alan LaRue was in all likelihood her ex-husband Al Rocco. And she said they had been married in May 1945 and divorced a year later. Oh, wow. So that was a bad marriage. So let's talk about them. So Olga Tripani met Al Rocco in the spring of 1944. And after one year of dating, they married in May 1945. Okay. Now, despite their daughter having dated him for a year before getting married, Olga's parents told reporters that they really didn't know Al. Like even though they like were

around him, they met him, they spent time with him. They were like, he was a mystery. Like, we still don't really know him. Oh, that must have creeped them out. Yeah, and by the winter of 1947, the most they knew about him was that he was of Italian ancestry and of average height and weight. That's what they could say about him. They didn't even know like what he did for work,

or anything about him. A reporter for the New York Times wrote that they knew nothing of his work. Sometimes he disappeared for months. Occasionally, he returned with lots of money and just as often with none. Why? Yeah. Okay, he's a sketchy fucking character. Yeah, and others who knew Rocco seemed to know just as little about him,

like his landlord. He was like, he was a quiet guy. Like, that's all I know. Like, I don't know. I guess he was Italian is all I could say, like, um know. I don't know. I guess he was Italian is all I could say. Like, um, that I don't know. And although they didn't know a lot of details about him, Olga's family did not like him. Well, yeah, I'm sure that probably like not knowing anything about the guy that your daughter is going to marry, you're not going to like that. Yeah,

they all got a vibe that he was a bad person. Like, all of them were like, something's off here. And after their divorce a few months before over the shot, they saw him get even worse. of vibe that he was a bad person. They did all of them were like, something's off here. And after their divorce a few months before Ovo was shot, they saw him get even worse. They saw a very bad side of him. So according to Olga's mother, once the marriage was annulled in early November 1946, so the only months before, Al became very verbally abusive. And she said, quote, had constantly annoyed her daughter, threatening to kill her ever since their separation.

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but this was not the first time that Al had tried to kill Olga. What? On one occasion, this is where the detectives and police in this case failed bucking miserably. Like, shame. On this one, shame. Well, that's, that makes sense because she said like he finally got me. He finally got me. And he was like too smart for the police. And it's true. Yeah. He got away with so much. When you hear all the shit he did that everyone just ignored.

Oh, the forties. On one occasion in mid-October, after the couple had separated already, like they were separated, not divorced. Al confronted Olga at the train station in Times Square. He took out a switchblade knife, forced her into his car and drove her to a motel in Pekipsi.

What? Once they were there, he forced Olga to undress, hid her clothes, threatened to kill her and said, if you don't come back to me, I'm gonna murder you. Um, what? So she spent two days in that motel room being terrorized by him? Oh my God. Well, he was trying to force her

at knife point to come back to him. Somehow she managed to convince Al to bring her back to New York. And once there, she fled, she ran away from him back to her parents, Homan Brooklyn. And a few weeks later on November 1st, just before the couple's marriage was an old Al then shot at Olga through an open window in her mother's kitchen. Jesus Christ. Two lit a bowl. It struck her in the right thigh

and left her with a 45 caliber slug in her thigh and a permanent limp. Oh my God. Now, you would think after those two incidences of attempted murder, assault, and attempted murder? You had just those few things. Maybe you should be arrested or talked to, perhaps, scolded.

They were both reported to the police, both those incidents, and Olga made thorough statements, but from the looks of things, nothing was done to follow up or arrest Rocco. What? Yes. He just terrorized her with no consequences. And like the way that he terrorized

or he literally kidnapped her and held her hostage. Yeah. And then shot her in the leg. And they're like, yeah. And actually a few weeks later, Olga went back to work and she got a threatening call from Elle, immediately. She told detectives, he said he was watching me.

He knew everything. He knew when I went to work and that he did not aim the... He did not aim right the first time, but that when he would aim again, he would kill me. So he literally was like, I didn't aim for your leg, I just aimed wrong, I meant to kill you. Oh my God. So Olga reported it to the police who told her, don't worry.

Don't worry. Don't worry about it. I have a permanent limp and a slug in my leg. Yeah. Fuck right off with that. Now in this case, it's unclear whether they followed up on anything, but I couldn't find anything to say that they did or didn't. Sounds like they did not. In the days that followed that threatening phone call, Olga received daily threatening calls from Al Racco. And regularly saw him in the crowd at the train station and on city streets following her. Oh my God. In each time every day she reported the incident

to detectives at the 66 precincts precincts. And they didn't do shit all about it. Nothing. One day just after Christmas, she was going, this is even, this is the saddest one I think. She was entering the Times Square station and she saw Al following her very closely behind her. So she panicked and she paid for her train fare.

And then she went up to the subway guard on the stairway leading to the platform and she said, I'm being followed by my ex-husband. He's very dangerous. He's threatening me. I'm very scared. Can I just stand with you until he's gone? And the guard said, no. You can't.

What? He said she could not stay there because of the people that were going down the steps at that time. So he was like, tough. What a fucking asshole. Tough, lady. Like, like she's telling, can you imagine the panic in her voice when she's saying this piece of shit subway

guard was like, no, stand with me? No, you can't stand with me. Oh my God. Good luck out there, I guess. Poor Olga. Now, the last time that Olga had heard from Elle was three days before the shooting on the train. So three days before he shot her,

when he came to her family's home to confront her, and the family members were like, what the fuck? And they heard him shout, I'll kill you and kill myself. Jesus. And Olga reported the incident to the police like she had all the fucking others of them. And on the evening of December 30th, detectives did come to her house

to finally take a statement. And Olga told the detectives that after everything she'd been through without over the past few months, she was afraid she was like, he's going to kill me. Like, it's very clear. He's trying to kill me. He's trying to. She said they told me that I should not be frightened and that they were going to protect me and that they would guard me when I went to work. So it's like, okay. He's already shot her and she shouldn't be frightened. Well, and it's like, okay, like cool. They're saying they're going to protect you and like escort you to work.

Yeah, clearly they didn't. And she gave the statement from their hospital bed after being shot. When she left for work the next morning on the 31st, she said there was no detectives anywhere. And the only escort she had to the train station was her sister. So bravo detectives, bravo.

These people are fucked. And you know they're not making any like written reports of this, because at this point this guy would have had a stack like, yeah, three inches thick. Yeah. They're just the amount that they did is zilch zero. Gooseg zero. Now, when Olga and her sister got to the platform at the station in Brooklyn, she said she noticed the woman carrying what appeared to be a medium-sized Christmas present. Because she probably, I wonder if she saw her before. She might have.

And she said she was carrying a box, a rather large box, and it was wrapped. And it had something that protruded at one end of the box. And I'm assuming that is the handle of the sawdust shotgun, which I'm still a little confused by. Yeah. Because it was, but did Pearl like pull a string or did she pull the wire of some kind that trigger?

That pulled the trigger. That pulled the trigger. But I'm wondering how the part of, like, because it was a Sodaf shotgun's not shorter, but I'm like that handle, like, not the barrel, but the handle of the shotgun that's like on the other side. Was that wrapped too? Because you can't, it's hard to tell in the picture. It looks like it might have been, but it's hard because it's all unwrapped and like, it disassembled, you know?

Now, despite the bizarre details of what Pearl was saying happened that day, like, you know, that does sound insane. Like, that sounds wild. Detectives said they weren't inclined to accept as truth a story too fantastic to be fiction, which like, I guess, like someone making that up is pretty wild. And Olga's statement like on the scene,

I'm sure it really helps. Yeah. Now, after taking statements from Olga Pearl and Olga's family members, investigators said that it was very clear that once his wife was not going to come back to him, Al Rocco had concocted an elaborate scheme to kill her because if he couldn't have her,

no one else was going to have her either. Now while Oga is laying in Roosevelt hospital in critical condition with a literal quote, mangled left thigh, detective started finally searching for Al Rocco. Now in January 1st, the day after the shooting, investigators learned that quote, an unidentified man had called twice at Pearl's rooming house, asking to speak with her. So they were hoping they could intercept him because they were assuming he would call for another time when he couldn't get a hold of her. So they brought Pearl back to the rooming house and had her sit there with them a little after 5 p.m. They waited for several hours,

but he didn't call back. Damn it. So detectives continued their interview with Pearl Lusk and other investigators began looking for Al Racco like through his background basically. What they learned, they learned a lot about him, but they learned that the 28 year olds, by the way. He's 20 years old.

He was old. He had served a year in the Bronx County Jail a few years earlier for auto theft, and he had a bunch of arrests for disorderly conduct, car theft, all kinds of stuff like that. Things they should have known when he was doing this to Olga. Exactly, but the thing is, when they were looking at his criminal record, they were like,

none of it detectives were calling him a diabolical genius. And they were like, when you look at his record, you're like, nothing really lends itself to that. He's just a car thief. Yeah, I don't know. You know, like that's it, and like disorderly conduct, you know. But, and in fact, an evaluation conducted at Bellevue Hospital in 1938 of Rocco labeled him as a man of average intelligence.

They say, you know, he's not normal to you. Not below, not above. But they had opened up to tips from the public at this point. And the first tip came in around 11 a.m. on the morning of January 1st. That's when a Brooklyn resident saw a man on Brighton Beach who disrobed completely and just entered the water. Okay. beach who disrobed completely and just entered the water. Okay. According to the witness, they said the man,

quote, shed a gray tweet overcoat, a brown suit, a blue tie, and a white shirt. Then, wearing gloves, underwear, shoes, and socks, he plunged into the icy surf, headed out to sea and disappeared. I swear, and gloves. Oh, like, is he the Loch Ness monster? Like, what's going on here? You just headed out to see.

Like, just, you know what do you mean? I'm off. I'm off. Police searched the water for hours, and they couldn't find anybody in there, and they showed the clothing that they did find. They showed it to Olga for identification, and she said, no, like, that's not his.

So it was just a random unrelated incident? And this just goes away away and I'm like, where's that man that just went out to see? And they don't know. Like we all just forgetting that that happened. Or did that even happen or did the guy say, like what, that's such a strange story to tell. Very strange.

But, and I mean, it did happen because there was clothing found. Yeah. They found the guy's clothing, like the same clothing that this man had described. Weird. Now on January 3rd, like the same clothing that this man had described. Weird. Now, on January 3rd, Olga's condition took a turn for the worst. Oh, no. She actually had to have her like, amputated. And it left her and what doctors said was a fight for her life. Oh, no. That same morning, Pearl Lusk appeared in General Sessions Court, which was a court mostly for misdemeanors at the time.

She was sobbing, like, beside herself. Because she's like, how the fuck did I find myself in this situation? Yeah, and she was explaining to them, I was just upon an al-Raco's plan. And she's like, I genuinely believed his story about being a private investigator in pursuit of a dual thief. Yeah. I literally did. And the assistant district attorney, Jacob Grimett, noted that investigators did believe Pearl was telling the truth. None of them believed she was lying.

But they said they wanted her held as a material witness because when they captured Rocco, hopefully, who he referred to as an archfiend. An archfiend? Yeah, they wanted her to be there as a material witness. So the judge agreed. Okay. It's like, yeah. And set Pearl's be there as a material witness. So the judge agreed. Okay. And set Pearl's bail at $10,000 and then remanded her into the custody of the Florence

Crittenden, Crittenden home, which was a home for Unwed mothers. Interesting. But I think that's just where they were like, because they were like, we got to keep track of you. We'll keep you there. Because I could see why they would want to keep her because she would want to get as far away from this shit as possible. And you wanna hear exactly what this guy told you. Right. Tell me more, tell me more. Yeah.

Did you get very far? Like what happened here? And so detectives finally figured out what their job title was at this point and they started working to find Al Racco. So imagine that. Good job. Fantastic.

Because now that, you know, he actually almost killed Olga, now's the time to do their job, I think. Yeah, once somebody is almost dead. Yeah, they questioned several people and they all said, like acquaintances, people they thought might have seen him and they all said they had not seen or heard from Al Rocco in weeks. I bet. Now, the big break came on January 6th.

When a neighbor, and this is, this story is a little hard to follow. Okay. So I'll do my best. Al is a little hard to follow, I guess. Truly. So a neighbor of Al Rocco's first cousins. So his cousins' neighbor? Yes.

Reported, his car had been stolen by a man who introduced himself as Alan Lamonte. Okay. According to the neighbor, Dominic Rizzo, the man introduced himself as a friend of Mrs. Rizzo's brother, James Kapazoli, I think it is. Kapazoli. So, he's saying he knows this guy Dominic's wife's brother, got it, and her sister's cousin's best friend's brother twice removed.

Exactly. Now, Alan Lamonte explained he had recently come into possession of a large number of tools with instructions to give them to James Kapazoli. Both the tools were in Cairo, which is a small town in the Catskills. I know, I thought Egypt is like, he's going all the way to Egypt now. I also thought that. Right.

Your face, I was like, he's not the same thing I could. I sure did. I was like, this motherfucker's borrowing your card on going down. This is just a small town in the Catskills. So, and he said,

his car had broken down, so he had no way of getting there. So, I need your help. So Mrs. Rizzo, Dominic's wife, called her brother James, who said, quote, he'd be delighted to have the tools, although he did not remember Le Mante.

He was like, sounds awesome. I don't know this guy, but like I'll take the tools. Oh my God. And despite her brother having no memory of the man claiming to be, Ellen Le Mante, the Rizzo's Dominic and his wife invited him to dinner. And then the next morning, they drove him out to Cairo. So they all got there a little after 12.30 pm

and they stopped for lunch at a local diner. And Alan Lamonte finished first. So he told the couple, the tools were just a few blocks away and he's like, why don't you finish your coffee and I'll just take the car to go get the tools. Come on. And they were like, absolutely. Well, Alan Lamont take. I imagine it.

Being that, yeah, just take my vehicle. Imagine that, pure. Take my whole last vehicle. Let's go right ahead. When two hours passed and there was still no sign of Alan Lamont take. They waited two hours. Or their car.

Or their car. Dominic Rizzo called the state police and reported the car stolen. I can't believe it took them two hours. And their callers. Dominic Rizzo called the state police and reported the car stolen. I can't believe it took them two hours. And this is when they figured out that the driver was not Alan Lamonte. It was in fact Al Rocco. Whoa.

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Now, more than 50 state troopers in two New York City detectives were pursuing Rocco that evening. And eventually, they ran him into the woods near Gilboa. Okay. It was there that he abandoned Rizzo's car along the side of the road. And they also found out that earlier that evening he had actually forced his way into a home, a home of Mr. and Mrs. Lee Roy Lewis. And he held the couple at gunpoint. She says.

And demanded they feed him. And they told him, and apparently he told them he planned to quote, remain there indefinitely. Oh, sure. Which is not something you want to hear from someone holding you at gunpoint. You want to be like, no, I'd like you to leave as quickly as possible. Yeah, like leave yesterday. Thank you. And he told the couple, I've got to stay. I was framed.

I'd be like, you've got to go now, despite saying he was going to stay there indefinitely and that he had to stay. After just a few hours, he just changed his mind and fled into the woods. That's good. Godspeed. He were like, I'm gonna call someone. I'm gonna call someone.

So state troopers reached their farmhouse this couple about a half hour after he had left and the couple said he went that away. He went that away. Following his trail into the woods, they did eventually find Al Rocco. He was sleeping. He was hiding in a sleeping bag near a large tree

pretty near the farmhouse, and they ordered him to surrender. Okay. When he immediately refused, immediately fought back. So he refuses to surrender, and a trooper fires a warning shot, and then demanded him come out and they shouted come on out, yes, skunk.

That's what they yelled at him. Incredible. And instead of being the skunk that he was in coming out, he drew his gun and he fired four times in the direction of the troopers. This ballsy moment of thought is not going to go over well. So the troopers have turned fire and what the New the New York Times described as a heavy barrage. So I don't think Al's coming out of this one spoiler alert. It's gonna say bye bye Al.

So the shooting lasted nearly two minutes and when it finally came to an end, Al Rocco was dead. One bullet had passed through his head and another through his chest. You can even make it around. Yeah, I'm play stupid games. So Rocco hadn't even made it around. Play stupid games. So Rocco hadn't even made it completely

out of his sleeping bag. And when Detective searched his body, they found $62.93 on him and cash and change. It's a good amount of money for me though. And they found two photographs, one of his ex-wife Olga. And the other of a girl that state police inspector Charles LaForge refused to identify because quote, he did not wish to hurt this girl. What? I have so many questions. Here are my questions. One, who didn't wish to hurt this girl? The state trooper didn't

want to hurt her by releasing her identity or two, you are somehow implying or inferring that Al didn't wanna hurt this girl. How the fuck do you know that? He tried to kill his ex-wife on 65 different occasions. The way I take that is that the state Trouper didn't wanna hurt her, like, didn't wanna upset her. Yeah, but who the fuck is that? Like, I need what?

Two photographs on him, and you're not gonna tell me who that other photograph is. Also, she should probably know. Do you think it was Pearl? I hope she knows. I don't think so. I need to, what? Two photographs on him, and you're not gonna tell me who that other photograph is. Also, she should probably know. Do you think it was Pearl? I hope she knows. I don't think so. He probably wouldn't have a photo of her.

I mean, he's a stalker, he might. But like, cameras were like, Oh, I know. For not easy. Wow. So like, who's this other girl? And what was the plan there? That's freaky-dee-queen.

I got no. But we'll never know. But later that day, detectives informed Olga of Al Raka's death in the Catskills. And then she said, R-I-D, she began to laugh. Hardly laugh. Good for Olga, honestly. After everything she'd fucking been through.

Oh, yeah, she deserved to laugh. She did. And then she began to sob. And she said, at last, I'll be able to get a good night's rest. Yeah. Which I don't blame her. And when Olga's family heard the news, they were also pretty pleased with the outcome. Olga's brother, Salvatore, said, I heard the wonderful news just as I was leaving the hospital. I never felt better than I do now because my family and I, as well as Olga, have been worried sick about her safety as long as he was walking around. Yeah. And it's true.

He terrorized that family. Yeah. Terrorized that family. And the police did fucking nothing. Because that's the thing. He also shot into their home. He could have hurt anyone. He could have killed anybody

that you don't know if this kid's in that home or what? Like, he could have killed anybody. Truly. He was so far beyond. Like, and then to, and then to involve this poor young girl to kill someone, to try to kill someone. He's sick.

He's a sick fuck by Al. Rest and distress. Now, days after the shooting, Al's body was claimed from the Bundy funeral home in upstate New York by his uncle, Philip Rocco, who returned the body to Brooklyn. And after his death, Judge James Wallace ordered that pearl be released from custody

after Grand Jury declined to charge her in relation to the shooting. Good, good. As she left the criminal court's building, Pearl told reporters, I want to forget it all. I know, Blamer. Now, according to Pearl's mother Stella, they were going to retrieve some of Pearl's belongings from her room at the boarding house,

and then she was going to leave the city. She was like, I'm taking her home. Now, after several weeks of recovery, following having her leg amputated on her way home from work, Olga was discharged from Roosevelt Hospital, and in February she filed a claim against the neat city of New York,

to men with $200,000. It alleged that New York police failed to protect her, quote, at a time when the police knew she was an imminent danger of death at the hands of her criminal husband. Yep. In a statement to the press, her lawyer, Samuel Douglas, said, the city having accepted her as a passenger on its transit facilities owed her a duty to transport her safely to her destination

and to protect her from any danger that was known by it to exist with respect to her. The city failed and refused to provide her with such protection and required her to use the city subway system at a time when she was likely to be killed by her husband. The city owes her a moral obligation to compensate her for the serious injury resulting directly

from its neglect to provide her with protection while she was on its subway system. Now the city refused to pay the claim. Because they're asking Olga file the suit against them, eventually taking the case to the state Supreme Court. Finally in April 1953, the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of the city. I did not see that one coming. I didn't think you would. They said it is most unfortunate

that some redress cannot be made, but ultimately they freed the city of any liability to the shooting. That's a bunch of bull shit. The court said they were sympathetic to what had happened. No, no. The justices defended their decision, though,

saying there's no basis for holding that the city should have anticipated that she would be shot. Other than the fact that he previously tried to shoot her in that city, he kidnapped her and tortured her in that city, there's also the fact that she literally walked up to one of your subway guards and asked for protection.

And they said, no, thank you, ma'am, good luck. Correct. So there's that like blatant city should have protected her. Did it. That subway guard literally said, get lost. There's a whole laundry list of ways that they didn't protect her.

Now, luckily in the years that followed, Pearl and Olga became friends. I wanted to hear that so bad. They would get together whenever they could. Oh. And after leaving the city, Pearl married and eventually had children. Olga stayed in the city. She made a nice living for herself, designing and selling costume jewelry.

Hell yeah. And Al Rocco is still dead. That's good. So, I'm glad that Pearl, he did not rise. But Pearl and Olga came together and Olga was like, girl, it's sad, so great. Like we both met this asshole. We both believed what he said. Holy shit.

And Olga, I'm like, what a bad bitch. Just kept on going. And that she was like, you know what, girl? I know that he's a dick. He's a manipulative dick, and I know he manipulated you into thinking that you weren't doing what you were doing. I also kind of love the irony that she became a jewelry maker.

That is kind of fun. That is fun. Also imagine if your mom was Pearl Lask and she just whips that one out at the dinner table like, she's like a shot a lady by accident carrying a Christmas package. One time I got tricked into becoming an assassin. You want to hear that one, kids?

You want to hear that story? I'd be like, yeah, I do. She's like, give her a remalteral. Who hear that story? I'd be like, yeah, I do. She's like, you ever have a turtle? Truths and a lot. Like, hell, yeah, I do. Till. It's, it's a wild, wild tail. That's a doozy. I'm so glad. I'm so glad Olga didn't die. Like, it's horrible that she had to have her leg amputated. Like, to have that take it away from you is awful. But could you imagine one she died would be tragic ending of itself?

Yeah. And then Pearl has to live with that for the rest of her life. Like, I'm so glad that didn't happen. Exactly. And Dave had noted when he was looking up stuff about this, that he found this photo of when Pearl was initially taken into custody, like right after the incident.

Yeah. There's this like kind of famous photo of her in the detective. And they're like right after the incident. There's this kind of famous photo of her in the detective. And they're like smiling at the camera, and it looks like a wedding photo. It's like the strangest thing. To have it? I don't have it up right now, but I've willed posted,

because it's just like a strange, very strange photo, very strange situation. What a time to be alive. Truly, it's this story I just cannot, I cannot fathom it. No, I never expected any of the things that came from this story. And it's so sad because Olga's like,

this beautiful gal, she had her whole life ahead of her and she still did, but it's like now she's got a deal with the aftermath of this because of some asshole that she went for a date of for a year. And because New York City did literally nothing to help her. Nothing. Wow. Absolutely nothing. Holy shit. There's also a really great photo of Olga being brought out

of the hospital. She's and she's cheesein' for the camera. Her hair is done. Her makeup is done. She looks like a 40s goddess. It's a great one. She's got flowers on her lap. It's just a cool picture. There's also one of her later where she's all dolled up and she's got fancy shoes and

stuff on. She looks great. Oh yeah. She's a bad bitch. Holy cover. Oh, go. I'm looking at this pearl lusk. Oh my God.

Why is she cheesing? Right? She looks like she's in fucking shock. Yeah. I think she just had no fucking clue. Wow. Yeah. It's literally like, yes, we'll post one of these because it's just, I don't even know

how to just, like they're both literally in the back of the car, the detective and Pearl, and they're both just looking at the camera, like they just got married. Like, if you told me this is a right after they got married photo, I'd be like, yes, what an adorable couple. Wow. It looks so happy together.

Wow. This is, I've never heard a story quite like this. It's a really wild one. That's wild, for sure. Truly wild. Oh my gosh, Olga is a fucking queen. She really is. Look at that. Hey, she truly is. Wow. She's gorgeous. Queen. Even the guy that's wheeling her out is just like, yeah. Everyone's happy. It's just happy to be here. Unreal. But that is the truly wild story of the attempted murder of Olga Rocco.

It sure was. So we hope that you keep listening. And we hope you keep it. We're not so weird that you carry anything for anyone, especially if it's a Christmas package, just say no. Never carry anything for anyone. That has always been my stance. It remains my stance.

It's sort of to it. Especially like when, don't, if some guy named Alan will move, Hey weirdos, I'm Alina. Oh my god, that was sick. Perquah. I literally, you do that there, but... I was waiting for, I was like, is there a queue? I didn't know we were doing a bit. I just want to be you. Hey, prime members, you can listen to morbid, early and ad-free on Amazon Music.

Download the Amazon Music app today. Or you can listen ad-free with Wondery Plus and Apple podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short survey at Wondery.com slash survey. I'm Carrie Mulligan, the host of I Hear Fear, a new anthology series of Terra. The stories in this podcast are things that people don't want to talk about when the sun's out and the world's supposed to make sense. But you and I know better, don't we?

We know that the best horror stories are the ones we tell each other in the dark, so turn off your lights and close your eyes. In each episode of Eye Hear Fear, you'll be treated to a new psychological thriller, a forest monster who lures teens into the woods and never lets them return. A line of beauty products that takes the search for youth to dark extremes. And an EDM party that turns deadly when the DJ takes over more than just the dance floor. Strap in, as these twisted stories and paranormal events take you on a suspenseful and thrilling ride. I hear fear, will introduce immersive horror, and lead you straight into the heart of darkness.

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