​“Isn't it a little late for this sort of thing?”

​It’s 11:30 PM on October 31, 1957. In the quiet, pristine suburb of Sun Valley, Los Angeles, the trick-or-treaters have long since gone to bed.

When the doorbell rings at 13236 Community Street, 35-year-old beauty salon owner Peter Fabiano grabs the leftover candy bowl and heads downstairs.

Standing on his porch is a small figure wearing blue jeans, red gloves, and a cheap plastic superhero mask, holding up a brown paper sack.

​Seconds later, a single .38 caliber gunshot shatters the quiet of the hallway.

​What initially looks to the LAPD like a cold, calculated mob hit quickly spirals into one of the most bizarre psychological cases of the 1950s.

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​Sources & Archival Research:

​Los Angeles Times Archival Coverage (November 1957 – March 1958): "Beauty Shop Owner Slain in Halloween Mask Shooting," "Two Women Held in

Halloween Slaying," and "Two Women Plead Guilty in Trick-or-Treat Murder."
​Los Angeles Mirror-News & Herald-Express (1957–1958 Crime Beat Archives).
​

Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Valley Division Homicide Files — Case Year 1957 (Victim: Peter Fabiano).

​Superior Court of Los Angeles County Official Plea and Sentencing Records (March 11, 1958; Defendants: Joan Rabel, Goldyne Pizer; Defense Counsel: Jerry Giesler).

​Deranged LA Crimes by Joan Renner — Historical analysis of 1950s Los Angeles crime and the Fabiano homicide.

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