Halloween Horrors | The Trick or Treat Murder | 1

It's Halloween night 1957, and in Sun Valley, California, Community Street is quiet and still.

On the corner, a dark green sedan is parked outside number 13236.

43-year-old Goldeen Peyser is in the passenger seat, staring out the window.

She's been sitting here for hours.

When she first arrived, there were a few late trick-or-treaters still wandering around the neighborhood.

But now, it's empty.

And still, Goldeen waits, her eyes trained on the house across the wide lawn.

Her reddish curls are swept neatly back from her face, her carefully manicured nails drumming against her thighs.

It's right around 11 p.m.

when it happens.

The windows in the house all go dark.

Goldeen feels her heartbeat pick up.

This is it, it's her time.

She reaches down to open the paper bag at her feet, pulling out a pair of red gloves and a black domino mask.

She fits the mask onto her face, covering the area around her eyes.

With the bright gloves, she almost looks like a comic book superhero.

But Goldeen Peyser isn't here to save anyone.

Properly disguised, she grabs the paper bag, gets out of the car, and takes a deep breath.

She scans the street to make sure no one's around.

Then walks across the lawn and up the path to the front door of 13236.

She brings the doorbell.

After a few seconds, she brings it again.

She hears footsteps approach the door, and then it swings open.

35-year-old Peter Fabiano stands there, his eyebrows knit together in confusion.

Goldeen's never met Peter before.

She's surprised by how handsome he is.

She sees his eyes sweep up and down, taking in her gloves or paper bag, her mask.

Then he says something.

Goldeen isn't sure what.

All she can hear is a rushing noise in her ears, like the ocean, as she watches Peter reach for a large bowl on a table just inside the door.

By the time Peter turns back towards her, holding out the nearly empty dish of Halloween candy, Goldeen's pulled a revolver from her paper bag and is aiming it at Peter's chest with shaking hands.

For a split second, his eyes widen in shock.

Then Goldeen squeezes the trigger.

From Airship, I'm Jeremy Schwartz, and this is American Criminal's Halloween.

Welcome, American Criminal listeners.

I'm glad you are here for this special series.

At this time of year, everyone wants to hear stories about haunted houses and killer clowns and demonic possessions.

And those things are all incredibly fun, but you know what's even scarier?

Real life.

So starting today, we're bringing you a collection of terrifyingly true stories with real crimes at their dark centers.

There's a trick-or-treater who terrified Los Angeles in 1957, the candyman killer who changed Halloween forever, and the case of a house so infested with demons that it caused the murder of an entire family.

Or so the legend goes.

Today, we're kicking things off in sunny California, where Peter Fabiano was gunned down at his front door by a costumed assailant who fled into the night.

In the wake of the crime, Peter's family and investigators were asking all the usual questions.

Had Peter done something to attract that kind of violence?

And who could possibly have hated him so much that they wanted him dead?

But the people of Los Angeles were asking a different question.

Would Halloween ever be safe again?

This is episode one in our Halloween Horror Series, The Trick or Treat Murder.

It's the summer of 1953, four years before Goldeen Peyser shoots Peter Fabiano.

In a hair salon just south of the famous Los Angeles Farmers Market, 31-year-old Peter's having his hair cut.

But this isn't a regular appointment.

It's a date.

The woman cutting his hair is Betty Solomon.

They've been seeing each other for a couple of months, and today she's treating him to a cut at the salon she owns.

As they chat, Betty remarks that Peter would make a great stylist.

He's good with his hands, and after years of working as a bartender, he's sure got a knack for talking with strangers.

Before he tended bar, Peter was a Marine during World War II.

So he's always thought of himself as a pretty masculine guy.

Working in salons feels like women's work to him.

But then again, maybe he could make better money if he learned to trade.

He could even open his own business if he wanted, like Betty.

And thanks to the GI Bill, he could get a good chunk of the tuition covered by the government.

So not long after Betty makes the suggestion, Peter enrolls at beauty school, and he finds that he actually enjoys cutting hair.

And just like Betty said, he's got an act for it.

It's the start of a new life for it, and it ushers in a new chapter in his relationship too.

He starts working at Betty's salon on Fairfax, impressing customers with his skill, and earning plenty of fans with his good looks and charm.

At the beginning of 1955, Peter and Betty get married and move into a house in Sun Valley, about 11 miles north of Hollywood.

They are joined by Richard and Judy, Betty's two teenage children from her previous marriage, and everything appears to be going well for the newlyweds.

Peter convinces Betty that it's time for her to open a second salon, and they buy a place about four miles from their home.

Peter takes the lead at this location, and he's well liked by his employees and customers.

From the outside, anyone would think it's a perfect life.

But it's not.

Like in a lot of marriages, there's friction.

And in 1956, things start to get worse, all thanks to Betty's friend, Joan Robble.

Betty's known Joan since before she met Peter, so the two of them have a pretty solid friendship.

Born in Lithuania, Joan's a freelance photographer who also works part time selling cosmetics at Betty's salon in Hollywood.

And she's never liked Peter.

She bad-mouths him around the salon and she doesn't even try to hide it from Betty.

She's always trying to convince her friend that Peter doesn't deserve her, that he doesn't respect her as a successful businesswoman.

Part of this might be Joan projecting.

She's going through a divorce around this time, which can't be easy for her, but that's no excuse for her to try and instigate fights between Peter and Betty.

Apart from anything else, they're her employer, so it's not a great financial decision.

Peter's no dummy either.

He knows that Joan hates him, even if he doesn't understand why.

And after a while, he's sick of this woman trying to mess with his marriage.

So late in the spring of 1957, he tells Betty that she's got to cut Joan out of their lives completely.

They're gonna get rid of her from the salon, and then Betty's gonna stop seeing her.

It'll be a clean break.

Of course, Peter says all of this, expecting that his wife's gonna do exactly as he tells her.

That's what he thinks a marriage is.

But Betty's got different ideas.

She's not Peter's to command.

Joan's her friend, and she won't be told who she can or cannot spend time with.

The argument over Joan gets bigger and bigger with neither of them willing to back down.

And eventually, Betty's had enough.

She tells Peter that she's leaving.

She packs a suitcase and heads to stay with Joan in West Hollywood.

Obviously, Peter's annoyed about all of this.

He doesn't understand why Betty doesn't see how toxic Joan is.

Their separation makes things awkward around both of their salons for a few weeks.

The staff have always enjoyed gossiping about their bosses, but this is a new level of drama altogether.

The tension ends abruptly though.

After about a month, Betty moves back home and says she was wrong to take Joan's side over his.

Peter's so gratified to hear her say that, he doesn't even ask what made her change her mind.

He just smiles when Betty says she'll cut off all contact with Joan and tells her whatever you think is best.

Now reconciled, the couple are as happy as they ever were.

They spend a sweltering summer together and are relieved when the heat finally breaks at the end of September.

With the beginning of fall, Betty starts making plans for their holidays.

They're coming up on their three-year anniversary, and she decides they should celebrate with a Christmas party in December.

While Betty's making arrangements for the event, Peter's hitting new heights in his career.

In early October, he wins a hairstyling competition held at the upscale Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles.

So, as fall brings a cool change across the city, it seems that the Fabianos are in a good place again.

Business at the salons is strong, and it's almost Halloween, which is Peter's favorite holiday.

Betty's son, 18-year-old Richard, comes home on leave from the Navy, which makes the house feel full again.

They're one big, happy family, but they won't be for long.

On October 31, Betty comes home from work early to make sure she's ready for trick-or-treaters.

Peter is going to be working late tonight, but always likes to make sure there's someone around to give out candy.

So Betty and Richard spend the early evening handing out treats to the neighborhood kids.

15-year-old Judy's at a park nearby for a party, and Peter picks her up after he's finally done at work.

When everyone's home, the four of them have dinner together, making the most of their time with Richard.

He's got to catch a bus back to his base in San Diego tonight.

By the time he finally sets off for the bus station downtown, it's getting late.

The rest of them, Judy, Betty and Peter, get ready for bed.

It's just after 11 when they finally turn out the lights.

Peter's exhausted when he climbs into bed beside Betty.

It's been a long day.

So when he hears the doorbell chime a minute later, he thinks he must be imagining it.

He better be imagining it.

But then it rings again.

With a sigh, Peter pushes back the covers and stands up.

He fumbles around for his robe and slippers, grumbling to Betty about how late it is.

What could someone possibly want with them now?

He shuffles down the hall to the front entrance and turns on the porch light.

When he opens the door, there's a person there wearing a mask and heavy makeup.

So he guesses she must be a teenager.

She's got a paper bag clutched in her hand too.

Okay, one last trick or treat.

Peter rolls his eyes and turns to grab the candy bowl that's still sitting on the table by the door.

A bit late for this, isn't it?

He asks, holding out the dish so she can grab a handful and be on her way.

That's when the masked figure pulls out a revolver.

Peter has just enough time to notice that her hands are shaking.

Then she squeezes the trigger and Peter Fabiano falls to the ground.

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It's about 1115 on Halloween night 1957.

36-year-old Betty Fabiano lies in bed, listening to her husband Peter answering the front door.

From what she can hear, it sounds like some trick-or-treaters are out late.

She's just closed her eyes when she hears the unmistakable sound of a gunshot.

Betty screams Peter's name as she jolts upright and yanks the covers away.

She stumbles into the hallway and towards the living room, where she can see the front door wide open.

The porch light's on, which makes the night beyond look that much darker.

But Betty's eyes are only on Peter, who's lying on his back, a dark red stain rapidly spreading across his chest.

Betty falls to her knees and puts both her hands over his chest to put pressure on the wound.

Behind her, Judy runs into the room to ask what's happened.

Betty doesn't have any answers, but she knows exactly what to do.

Keeping her eyes on Peter's face, she tells Judy to run and get butt.

Betty hears Judy dash through the front door and across the lawn.

After that, she's alone in the house with Peter.

He's not conscious though, and she can tell that he's already struggling to breathe.

The second stretch on is Betty kneels there on the carpet.

It feels like hours.

Eventually, she hears footsteps outside and looks over her shoulder as their neighbor, Bud Alper, runs through the door.

Bud's a member of the LAPD's Valley Division, and he and Peter are good friends.

He's dressed in his pajamas, but he's got his firearm drawn.

Feeling utterly helpless, Betty explains that Peter's been shot.

But Bud's already got the phone in one hand and is dialing with the other.

Betty listens to him request an ambulance and immediate backup.

And out of breath Judy arrives as he's hanging up.

Bud tells her to lock the front door behind him then goes outside to do a sweep of the yard.

He wants to make sure the shooter's not lying in wait somewhere nearby.

By the time he's back, an ambulance is pulling up outside.

A couple of paramedics load Peter onto a gurney and are wheeling him out the front door when several police cars speed onto the scene.

Two of the cops climb into the back of the ambulance with Peter, hoping they'll be able to ask who shot him.

But they'll never get the chance.

Peter Fabiano will be dead before he can make it to the hospital.

At the house, the rest of the cops are already searching for clues that might tell them what happened.

But they're getting nothing.

As far as anyone can tell, the shooter didn't steal anything from the house, and they didn't helpfully drop the murder weapon as they made their escape either.

One quick thinking officer tapes a small cardboard box over the doorbell, hoping they'll be able to pull fingerprints from it later.

Besides that, the cops are left scratching their heads.

Betty tells them that it sounded like whoever shot Peter was dressed in some kind of Halloween costume, but that she didn't hear anything else.

As the investigation spreads out through the neighborhood, it seems like no one saw or heard anything.

A 15-year-old kid reports that he noticed a car speeding away from Community Street just after 11 p.m., but he didn't get a good look at it.

A couple of the cops go downtown to find Betty's son Richard before he gets on the bus to head back to his naval base.

Once the family are reunited and have had a couple of hours to deal with their shock, a detective sits them down to ask about Peter.

A murder like this smacks of mob hits.

But as far as any of his relatives know, Peter was squeaky clean.

He'd never crossed anyone.

But then, Betty remembers Joan, her former friend who always had it out for Peter.

If he had any enemies, Joan Robble would have been on the list.

The next morning, detectives find Joan at her West Hollywood apartment.

She seems shocked when she hears that Peter's been murdered and is happy to answer questions.

She freely admits that there was no love loss between her and Peter, but that it wasn't anything worth killing.

She says that she hasn't seen either of the Fabianos in months, which is exactly what Peter wanted.

And she was all alone at home on Halloween.

Joan might seem like a completely trustworthy person to the cops questioning her, except for the fact that she's got three prior arrests for charges of burglary and alcohol-related incidents.

That record certainly makes her seem like she's someone to keep in mind.

Still, there's no evidence that she's lying to the cops now, so they carry on with their investigation for a couple more days, chasing down the few other leads they have.

Angelino's are terrified by the thought of a trick-or-treater turned killer.

One theory investigators float to the press is that some kids were unhappy with whatever candy they got at the Fabianos earlier in the evening and came back for vengeance.

That really ratchets up the stakes.

If the police can't find the mask-wearing killer, will someone else become a victim next Halloween?

Will it be safer to just not be home on October 31st?

Avoid answering the door until the holiday is over.

When all the other leads turn out to be dead ends, the investigators come back to Joan.

They need to clear a few things up, they tell her, and hook her up to a polygraph.

Whatever her answers are, they don't make Joan look good, and the police arrest her on November 12th.

The detectives are clearly excited to have made progress on the case, and they make sure to summon plenty of press photographers to be waiting at the station when Joan's brought in.

The next day, all the local papers run stories about Joan Robble, the mysterious divorcee and suspected killer.

The cops aren't ready to say what exactly makes them suspect Joan, but they kinda hint that jealousy was at play.

And when word gets out that Peter and Betty were briefly separated earlier this year, people's imaginations run wild.

Were Joan and Betty fighting over Peter?

Or, much more scandalous for 1957, were the two women having an affair?

Just over a week later, investigators lay out their case at Joan's initial hearing.

Betty explains that she and Joan were very close during her separation, and about Peter's demand that they not see each other anymore.

One of their chief witnesses is Joan's friend Margaret Barrett.

She testifies that Joan asked to borrow her car on Halloween night.

It was an unusual request since Joan has her own car, but Margaret gave her the keys and told her to drive safe.

When Joan brought the car back the next day, she apparently asked Margaret not to tell anyone she'd borrowed it.

She even mentioned the news of Peter's murder as the reason for the secrecy.

She didn't want anyone to think it was her.

Margaret's story directly contradicts what Joan told the cops about being home alone all night on Halloween.

And although she told Margaret she only drove about four miles, Joan actually put 37 miles on the car.

And that just so happens to be how far it would be to drive from Joan's place in West Hollywood to the Fabiano's address in Sun Valley, and then back again.

Things don't look good for Joan.

Still, she's freed on $8,000 bail, which is a pretty low amount for a suspected murder.

People who understand how the criminal justice system works start to whisper that the state must not have a lot of confidence in their case.

Without any physical evidence to go on, there's only the borrowed car and Joan's dislike of Peter.

Convincing a jury to convict on just those circumstantial pieces doesn't seem likely.

But then, in early December, investigators get an anonymous tip.

This man says he's a private investigator and he knows the location of the gun used to kill Peter Fabiano.

It's in a storage locker inside a department store in downtown Los Angeles.

But that's not all.

He says that he knows exactly who the killer is and why they did it.

He's even got this person confessing on tape.

But it's not Joan Robble.

It's a woman in her early 40s named Goldene Peyser.

And until about three seconds before she shot him, she'd never even met Peter Fabiano.

While detectives go to the department store to pick up the gun, Joan appears in court once more.

It's a straightforward hearing, just long enough for Joan to plead not guilty and for the murder trial to be set for February of next year.

No one in the courtroom has any idea that things are about to get a lot more complicated.

Later that night, police knock on Goldene Peyser's door in West Hollywood.

Slight, mousy and kind of timid looking, Goldene doesn't waste investigators' time.

She confesses to being the one to pull the trigger.

But she says she didn't act alone.

After hearing what Goldene has to say, detectives head a mile south to Joan's place.

And they're not there to let her know she's off the hook.

When she comes to the door, they tell her that a judge has just revoked her bail.

She's placed in handcuffs once again and brought to the station.

The next morning is December 6th.

In a building downtown, reporters and photographers file into the office of Joan Robles' attorney.

They've been told that they won't want to miss what's about to go down.

A few minutes after the journalists arrive, Joan is led in by a couple of cops, followed by Goldene Peyser.

It's a staged confrontation between the two accused murderers who were in on the scheme together, the police explain.

Joan refuses to comment, but Goldene's eager to talk.

She has to get the story off her chest, she says.

People need to know the truth about that night, and about Joan Rebelle.

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It's December 6th, 1957, in a lawyer's office in downtown Los Angeles.

Goldeen Peyser is surrounded by a gaggle of reporters.

The people in the room are hanging off her every word as she explains what drove her to kill Peter Fabiano five weeks ago.

Or more accurately, who drove her to do it.

Pointing directly at Joan, Goldeen explains that they've been friends for about four years, that they met at a party and became coffee clash friends, meaning they got together to catch up over coffee.

They'd swap stories and gossip and everyday complaints, nothing out of the ordinary.

But starting earlier this year, Joan only wanted to talk about the husband of another one of her friends.

Goldeen would sit there quietly while Joan told her how this man, Peter Fabiano, mistreated his wife.

He was a drug dealer and had even threatened Joan.

Naturally, she was terrified of him, not just for herself, but for her dear friend, Betty.

Joan had gotten Betty away from Peter for a while, but she went back to him.

And now Joan didn't know what was going to happen.

Goldeen, faithful, trusting Goldeen, took Joan at her word.

This guy, Peter, sounded like a terrible husband who was a danger to everyone around him.

So in July, when Joan told her that Peter needed to die, Goldeen believed her.

And they started plotting his murder.

Goldeen stops her story for a minute to explain.

She needs people to understand she's not a violent person.

She hates the thought of hurting others so much that she quit her job as a lab technician because she couldn't stand having to prick people with needles.

I'd never hurt anyone, she says, but I do anything for a friend.

That's why all through the summer, she and Joan discussed their options, narrowing things down until they arrived at what they thought was the best plan.

It would have to be a gun given how easy and quick it would be.

And they settled on Halloween as the perfect time.

That way, they'd be able to show up at someone's door in disguise without anyone looking at them strangely.

They'd just be another pair of trick-or-treaters.

With that settled, Joan convinced Goldeen that she should buy the gun.

So in September, Joan drove her to a gun store in Pasadena, 10 miles northwest of downtown LA.

Joan handed Goldeen money, then sent her into the store to make the purchase.

She didn't want anything that could connect her to this later on.

As the day got closer, Joan started suggesting that Goldeen had better be the one to actually pull the trigger.

Even in a costume, someone might recognize Joan if they saw her at the front door.

As always, Goldeen believed her friend.

That argument just made sense to her.

So one evening, about a week before Halloween, Joan drove Goldeen out to Sun Valley.

They cruised up and down Community Street a couple of times, so Joan could point out the Fabiano's house on the corner and see Peter through the window.

In the lawyer's office, the journalists are all scribbling notes as fast as they can, trying to get down every detail of the story.

As they get closer to the night of the murder, the photographers even put down their cameras.

No one wants any distractions.

Goldeen leans against a desk, her hands trembling as she starts speaking about Halloween.

Joan picked her up about 8.30 that night, and they arrived on Community Street right around 9.

They'd already decided that they'd wait to ring the bell until the house was completely dark.

It was going to be much more likely that Peter would be the one to answer the door once the family were all in bed.

It took a couple of hours, but eventually all the lights went out at the Fabiano's.

That's when Joan told Goldeen to do it now.

Goldeen put on her mask, walked up to the front door, and rang the bell.

When Peter opened the door, her hands were shaking, but she held steady enough to shoot him in the chest.

She tells the reporters that her first thought had been to help her victim.

This man had fallen down, and she instinctively jolted forward to see if he was okay.

But a split second later, she remembered what she was doing and ran back to the car.

Less than a minute after Goldeen put on the mask, she and Joan were speeding away from Community Street and back towards West Hollywood.

Once they arrived, Joan thanked Goldeen and kissed her on the cheek.

Then she ordered her to forget they ever knew each other.

They can never meet again, she said.

That was the last time Goldeen saw her friend, she says, until today.

In the days following the murder, Goldeen had hidden the revolver in the department store locker.

Then, when the guilt began gnawing at her, and she started to fear she'd be found out, she went to see a private investigator.

She told him exactly where the gun was, asked him to retrieve it, then throw it in the ocean for her.

She didn't realize that he'd recorded their whole conversation, including when she told him exactly what she'd done.

But she's relieved.

She tells the room at large, it feels good to finally have it off her chest.

Goldeen's story is printed in all the papers the next morning.

Everyone fixates on Joan, calling her a Svengali figure who casts some kind of spell of control on Goldeen.

No one knows exactly why Joan wanted Peter dead, but motive doesn't matter to the authorities now that they have a confession.

And the people of Los Angeles are happy they don't need to fear trick-or-treaters come next Halloween.

A week after Goldeen confesses, a grand jury indicts both women on first-degree murder charges, and their trial is set for the following year.

The case never makes it to the courtroom, though.

In March 1958, prosecutors cut a deal with Joan and Goldeen to reduce the charges to second-degree murder.

The DA tells the judge that he just doesn't think he'll be able to get a conviction on first-degree, even with Goldeen's detailed confession and the murder weapon as evidence.

So with both Joan and Goldeen now pleading guilty, they're handed sentences of five years to life and are sent to Corona Women's Prison east of LA.

And it's there that the trail of the trick-or-treat killers goes cold.

I really wish I could tell you about how much time Joan and Goldeen spent locked up, but that's a mystery.

Thanks to their plea deal with the DA's office, there was no trial to drum up more interest in the case once the killers were arrested.

People just stopped paying attention, stopped talking about the night that murder came to a quiet street in Sun Valley.

Today, there are unverified reports floating around that Goldeen was released in 1971 and that she died in 1998.

That's about it.

As for the mastermind of the whole thing, well, Joan basically vanished off the face of the earth.

Maybe she spent the rest of her days behind bars.

Maybe she was released after a decade or two.

No one knows.

It's not difficult to believe that either of those things happen.

It seems that Joan was a woman who could easily manipulate the people in her life.

First Betty, then Goldeen.

Perhaps she used that talent to work on the parole board.

Or, maybe they saw right through her disguise and knew that no matter what she said, it was all a trick.

From Airship, this is our first episode in our special Halloween anthology.

On the next episode, the shocking story of the real life candyman killer who turned Halloween from a night of fun into one of terror.

This episode may contain reenactments or dramatized details.

And while in some cases, we can't know exactly what happened, all our dramatizations are based on historical research.

American Criminal is hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Jeremy Schwartz.

Audio editing by Mohammed Shazi.

Sound design by Matthew Filler.

Music by Throne.

This episode is written and researched by Joel Callan, managing producer Emily Burke.

Executive producers are Joel Callan, William Simpson, and Lindsey Graham.