The Attempted Murder of Olga Rocco | Morbid | Podcast | Forensic Files

hey weirdos I'm Ash and I'm Elena and this is morbid [Music] this is more bed 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 were world because it's the
start of the week you know that always sucks for everybody yeah but today I'm feeling I'm feeling fee you
what don't make me laugh I'm just sick 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'm gonna tell you today oh it's what else is new it's wild it's got
twisties it's got tourneys it's got um not their attorneys but we love Sarah tourney they love Sarah tourney podcast
you should listen to your 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 tourney we love her Sarah Sarah
but there is some twisties and tourneys in this one it's uh like a lifetime it's
a whirlwind it is like this look this is a movie like this entire thing is it's from the 40s
exactly where you know me I do I know you my whole life I'm like anything past 1950 I don't know her I don't know her
so yeah 1970 and and above and above mostly which is good but actually we cover all all things I have a couple old
ones coming up on the roster you know it's spooky season it feels like old-timey makes sense correct but yeah
this is from the 40s it's very 40s um it's got some really um inept detectives in it yeah which is
always fun and very 40s of us um 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 an attempted murder oh and
there's tons of twists oh but attempted so there's no did nobody die someone dies
oh you said that interestingly I did you said that with a little twist and you're
trying to all right I'll let you just go girl I was literally hoping you would do that
I'm gonna let you cook a go go go 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 I should explain that it's all you need to know is VPR Eck uh ick Yik 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 going to kind of follow her story first and then we're going to 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 Quakertown 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 [ __ ] yeah that must have been a 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 [ __ ]
that was going down in the day we don't you don't want to be around for it it was not like a time to be alive but the
fashion a time to be alive like why don't we dress like that yeah like men wearing
three-piece suits you know women wearing like these really cool just like hats and that was the first thing the layers
I love a layering moment I feel like it was a lot of cool layers there was and the jackets that women the jacket I
immediately thought of the jacket the jacket of it all yeah it only hairstyles yeah it gives me I mean I reference this
all the time but it gives me I think of peaky blinders and how everyone looks [ __ ] amazing in peaky blinders and
I'm like I want to look like that I want to go to that I want to go to there uh but yeah so 1946 she's off to New York
City to start a new life and of course she didn't really have a ton of to her name at this point she's 19 years old
yeah she just graduated high school so she spent the first month or so living with her mother and stepfather in their
apartment in Brooklyn cool she was just kind of staying there to get 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 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 yeah she ended up trading in she had like a very girlish aesthetic like young 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 want to be like a little more mature in my style she got a new hairdo she of course 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 in a like a just addition to my life yeah a book yeah there you go you 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 now she's around people her age she's meeting all these people and soon she's taking
lunches with friends and co-workers 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 this house I was just gonna say she is sexing the city at like let's go I
wonder who she is she was thriving I wonder which one thriving it sounds like she is and I'm so worried for her
because I hate when everything starts off yeah he'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 moved to the big city to be honest
you got 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
yeah 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 it's
[ __ ] she's working she's busy and [ __ ] to do she's on her way to your mom so she was not really in the space to
like appreciate that somebody was like you know hitting on her essentially okay um 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 she and she also just was like you know what because here's the thing she 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 I don't have the Spade the bandwidth to like accept this right
now okay so she just kind of 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 you know what I'm not really
desperate to express I'm not gonna accept a date from a stranger when I don't have to oh that wasn't that was
her feeling about the whole thing good for her she was like I already got some lined up but like whatever yeah so she
didn't even she wouldn't give her a dress and she wouldn't give her name when she was asked
she's like oh yeah so Pearl she said 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 uh Buzz 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 no 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 him how 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 huh so oh and weird that it was like holidays yeah exactly now she's feeling down at
this point she's she's trying to run a bad luck like this isn't this isn't a good time like I said she's feeling
vulnerable she's feeling like she's desperate to get some income 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 agrees to join him 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 she was 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 that Pearl her intuition was right on listen to your gut baby Alan did 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 have 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
um and she was like wow this is I'd say very fortuitous you don't even know my [ __ ] 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
gonna take a chance on you wow 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 insuring jewelry okay which is all it seems pretty valid of
something to you know 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 loose out got checks so according to Alan he said that this there's this young woman named Olga
she worked as a secretary for the Croydon 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 how it was wearing the jewelry 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 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 she gets to be she's like I get to be part of like an investigation like a detective thing a
private eyes like this is exciting like this is when I moved to New York City for right like this kind of fun stuff
and it's not something that where it's like they're investigating like this yeah it's like just crazy it's a jewelry
Thief it literally sounds like a detective story or dinosaurs also detective LaRue LOL there you go so
so she not to mention this was also going to help with her loss of income at this point because he was like I'll pay
you like absolutely like 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 gonna be great she's not gonna suspect a thing you know she's like you're he's like
you're a woman she's not gonna be scared of a woman or like feel like you're following her for some nefarious reason
sure so the next morning Pearl met Allen 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 gonna go into the offices and the Croydon Hat Company where Olga
works as the as like one of the secretaries and what she was gonna do was she was going to go up to the
secretary and hope it hopefully it was Pearl or Olga or excuse me Olga thank you and asked 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
going to be right there in front of her face and he said while you're talking to
the receptionist you'll get that chance you'll because that's going to 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 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 like you cannot have any idea where this is
headed you really can no now Pearl just kind of 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 underneath 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 P.M 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 and 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
of the bottom of the Box okay so you would like pull that it would take the photo remember we're in the 40s of
course not like um 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 once saying he said this is what this is
what we need in order to go to the police and say look she has the 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 she 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 begin 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 camera 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 in Times Square
where she met Alan again and she was like everything went awesome like Alan was like [ __ ] 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 I'm gonna get us a better one like that was kind of like not not great anyways like I'm gonna
make sure we get a better one like give me a few days and I'll be able to get a better one okay um so she's like all
right so a few days later on December 31st uh 1946 New Year's Eve holidays they really do
you're right pearl called Allen at his apartment and he said he was able to get a new X-ray camera and she he said meet
me at the laundromat 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 it was different it was bigger it was heavier and it wasn't wrapped in brown paper now it was
wrapped in a in Christmas paper okay to make it look like a Christmas present yeah and conspicuous yeah and Alan
explained Pearl was to take the camera go to the train station in Brooklyn follow go 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 but he added remember to aim it low at her waist okay
and 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 Jules pin to
their waist I'm not real sure but Pearl did exactly what Alan told her to do she caught the seat opposite Olga
on the train and they began deepboarding 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 and 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 like what the [ __ ] just happened like she's like 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 in Olga's blood and holding
that box uh-huh and she the kid the security guy was like what the [ __ ] yeah and they were you and 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 I
don't who shot her like she had no idea like what happened what the [ __ ] so police officers took her they ripped
open the parcel that she was holding that's not a camera but inside was a sawed-off shotgun 12 gauge shotgun
mounted between two cream cheese boxes what yes and if you look it up 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 uh Pearl
Lusk guys like and we'll we'll post some of these photos so you can see but the actual photo
of the sawed off 12 gauge shotgun the [ __ ] I'm at 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 [ __ ] like just me like in the cream cheese boxes
are wooden by the way they're not like Philadelphia Cream Cheese immediately what I pictured you are not alone I am
here with you because I also thought of the Philadelphia Cream Cheese cardboard I was like wow that why would they be
between that but that must have been really heavy and she said that it was heavier than she said it was much
heavier and much bigger um so I wonder what he had 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 and he
was just trying to see if like she followed protocol that's what I wondered initially was is he does it like a test
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'd it go did she suspect you did you right close to her yeah he
wanted to see like did you do it right can I trust you to actually do it this time like yeah that kind of thing I
could see that being the case we will never know my God Pearl looked down at Olga and then
looked at the gun in her hands at this point and she was like holy [ __ ] 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 I get it like I get you're trying to be like I did not mean to shoot you oh my God I 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 [ __ ] what
happened to the police I called them but he was too smart for them oh no so she knew like exactly what had happened here
what the what the [ __ ] 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 um and that was one of her the reasons that she was helping this man
Alan LaRue she and so when detective showed Pearl a photo of Olga and her husband
Alphonse Al Rocco taken several months earlier in a New York City nightclub she said Batman's Alan LaRue
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 that was him that's creepy so detectives questioned Pearl in 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 Trapani uh 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 well like even though they like were around him they met him they'd
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 9 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 they didn't know 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 okay he's a sketchy [ __ ] character yeah and others who knew Rocco
seemed to know just as little about him like his landlord he was like he was just 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 other than 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 really like not 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 Olga 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 that 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 oh my God so it didn't take Longs for to long for detectives to learn not only had the
couple had an abusive relationship and a very very aggressive and hostile separation 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 [ __ ] 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 [ __ ] he did that everyone just ignored oh the 40s 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 Poughkeepsie 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 um what so she spent two days in that
motel room being terrorized by him while 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 home in Brooklyn and a few weeks later on November 1st just before the couple's marriage was
annulled Al then shot at Olga through an open window in her mother's kitchen Jesus Christ two of the bullets struck
her in the right thigh and left her with a 45 caliber slug in her thigh and a permanent limp
my God now you would think after those two incidences of um attempted murder assault and attempted murder yeah just
those few things maybe he 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 yes he just terrorized her with no consequences and like the way that he terrorized her
he literally kidnapped her and held her hostage 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 for Mal
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 referral 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 and 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 [ __ ] 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 don't worry Olga received daily threatening calls from Al Rocco
and regularly saw him in the crowd at the train station and on city streets following her oh my God and each time
every day she reported the incident to detectives at the 66th Precinct Precinct and they didn't do [ __ ] 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 terrifying 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 [ __ ]
toughness like like she's and can you imagine the panic in her voice when she said this piece of
[ __ ] Subway garage 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 Al 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 [ __ ] and they heard him shout I'll kill you and kill myself reported the incident to the police like
she had all the [ __ ] 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 with Al over the past
few months she was afraid she was like he's gonna kill me like it's very clear 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 if they're saying they're gonna protect you and like escort you to work and yeah
clearly they didn't and she gave the statement from their hospital bed after being shot
um 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 [ __ ] 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 just the the amount that
they did is zilch zero goose egg 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 protruded at
one end of the box and I'm assuming that is the handle of the sawed-off shotgun which I'm still a
little confused by yeah but did Pearl like pull a string or did she pull the wire of some kind that that
trigger okay but I'm wondering how the the part of like because it was a sawed-off shotgun because it was 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 right but it's hard
because it's all unwrapped and like disassembled you know yeah um now despite the bizarre details of what
Pearl was saying happened that day like you know that does sound insane like that sounds wild
um detectives said they were 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 El Rocco had concocted an elaborate
scheme to kill her because if he couldn't have her no one else was gonna have her either
now while Olga is laying in Roosevelt Hospital in critical condition with a literal quote mangled left thigh
detective started finally searching for Al Rocco now on 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 what 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 in a little after 5 PM 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 Rocco like through his background yeah
um 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
yeah 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 the solga
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 and enough 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 okay you know he's not a normal dude 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 um that's when a Brooklyn resident saw a man on Brighton Beach who disrobed
completely and just entered the water okay according to the witness he said they said the man quote shed a gray
Tweed 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 was wearing gloves oh like
oh is he the Loch Ness monster like what's going on here are you just headed out to see like just what do you mean
police police searched the water for hours and they couldn't find anybody in there and they showed the clothing that
they did fine they showed it to Olga for identification and she said no like that's not his so that was just a random
unrelated incident and this just goes away and I'm like where's that man that just went out to sea and they don't
underwear like are we all just forgetting that that happened or like did that even happen or did the guys
yeah 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 Olga's condition took a turn for the worst oh no she had actually had
to have her leg amputated and it left her in what doctor said was a fight for her life oh no
um that same morning per Lusk appeared in General Sessions Court which was a court mostly for misdemeanors at the
time um she was sobbing like beside herself because she's like how the [ __ ] did I
find myself in this situation yeah and she was explaining to them I was just a pawn in Al Rocco's plan and she's like I
genuinely believed his story about being a private investigator in pursuit of a jewel thief yeah I literally did and the
assistant district attorney Jacob grumette noted that investigators did believe Pearl was telling the truth that
none of them believed she was lying um but they said they wanted her held as a material witness because when they
captured Rocco hopefully who he referred to as an arch fiend an arch field they wanted her to be there as a material
Witness so the judge agreed okay I was like yeah and set Pearl's bail at ten thousand
dollars and then remanded her into the custody of the Florence Crittenden Crittenton home which was a home for
unwed mothers interesting but I think that's just where they were like because they were like we gotta keep track of
them because I could see why they want would want to keep her because she would want to get as far away from this [ __ ]
as possible and you want to 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 El Rocco so imagine that good job fantastic because
now they 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 is a little hard to follow I guess truly so a neighbor of Al Rocco's first cousin
so his cousin's neighbor yes reported his car had been stolen by a man who introduced himself as Alan Lamonte okay
according to the neighbor Dominic Rizzo uh the man introduced her himself as a friend of Mrs Rizzo's brother James
cupozoli I think it is capozzoli 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 capozzoli okay
um but the tools were in Cairo which is a small town in the Catskills I know I thought Egypt I was like she's going all
the way to Egypt now about that right your face I was like you thought this sure did I was like
this motherfucker's borrowing your car don't go to YouTube 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 Lamonte he was like sounds awesome I don't know this guy but like I'll take
the tools and despite her brother having no memory of the man claiming to me before Ellen Lamonte the rizzos Dominic
and his wife invited him to dinner and then the next morning they drove him out to Cairo
um so they all got there a little after 12 30 p.m 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 they were like absolutely yeah
Ellen Lamonte I imagine being that yeah just take my medicine that pure take my whole ass vehicle let's go right ahead
when two hours passed and there was still no sign of Alan Lamont they waited too
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 and it was because Mrs Rizzo
identified him from a smug shot no wow a short time later State Police picked up
Rocco's Trail as he passed through prattsville and they began to chase him leading in the direction of a town
called Oneonta yes correct I did it right now more than 50 state troopers and two New York City detectives were
pursuing Rocco that evening and eventually they ran him into the woods near gilboa okay um 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 Leroy Lewis and he held the couple at gunpoints 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 so they were like God speed they were like I'm
gonna contact 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 to that away uh 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 you skunk and instead of being the skunk that he was and coming out he drew his gun and
he fired four times in the direction of the Troopers this ballsy no that's not gonna go over well so the Troopers
returned fire and what the New York New York Times described as a heavy barrage so
I don't think Al's coming out of this one spoiler alert 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
another through his chest um play stupid games so Rocco hadn't even made it completely out of his sleeping
bag wow and when detective searched his body they found 62.93 on him and cash in in change it's
a good amount of money and they found two photographs one of his ex-wife Olga yeah 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 that Al didn't want to
hurt this girl how the [ __ ] do you know that he tried to kill his ex-wife on 65
different occasions the way I take that is that the state trooper didn't want to
hurt her like didn't want to upset her yeah but who the [ __ ] is that like I need what
two photographs on him and you're not gonna tell me who that other photograph 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 the cameras were like okay I know not easy
so like who's this other girl and what was the plan there that's freaky no but we'll never know uh but later that
day detectives informed Olga of Al Rocco's death and the Catskills and she said rid she began to laugh
heartily laugh good for Olga honestly after everything she'd [ __ ] 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 terrorize that family and the police did [ __ ] nothing because that's the thing
he also shot into their home he could have heard anything he could have killed anybody that you don't know if there's
kids in that home or what like nobody killed anybody truly he's that 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 like he's a
sick [ __ ] yeah bye Al rest in 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 pale that Pearl be released from custody after a grand jury declined
to charge her in relation to the shooting good as she left the Criminal Courts Building Pearl told reporters I
want to forget it all I don't blame her 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 the claim against the neat city of New York to mention two hundred thousand dollars
it alleged that New York police failed to protect her quote at a time when the police knew she was in 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 play the pay the claim because they're asking and Olga filed a
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 banjo [ __ ] the court said they were sympathetic to what had happened no
you're not 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 um he previously tried to shoot her in that
City he kidnapped her and tortured her in that City uh 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
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 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 that's good so didn't rise I'm glad that Pearl
he did not rise but Pearl and Olga came together and Olga was like girl it's it's okay like we both met this [ __ ]
we both believed what he said holy [ __ ] you know like like an olga I'm like what
a bad [ __ ] just kept on going and I [ __ ] was like you know what girl I know that like 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 loved the irony that she became a jewelry maker that is kind of fun that's fun that is fun also imagine if
your mom was Pearl Lusk and she just whips that one out at the dinner table like it was like I shot a lady by
accident carrying a Christmas package one time I got tricked into becoming an assassin you want to hear that one kid
you want to hear that story I'd be like yeah I do she's like you have her grandma Pearl no truths and a lot like
hell yeah I do too it's it's a wild wild tale that's a doozy I'm so glad twists and turns I'm so glad
Olga didn't die like it's horrible that she had to have her leg amputated like to have that taken away from you is
awful but could you imagine one she died would be tragic in and 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 uh 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 and the detective and they're like smiling at the camera and
it looks almost like a wedding photo it's like the strangest you have it I don't have it up right now but I will
post it because it's just like a strange oh my God 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 I never expected
any of the things that came from the story and it's so sad because Olga's like this beautiful gal yeah she had her
whole life ahead of her and she still did but it's like now she's got to deal with the aftermath of this because of
some [ __ ] that she met for and data for a year and because in New York City it had literally nothing to help nothing
wow absolutely nothing holy [ __ ] there's also a really great photo of um Olga being brought out of the hospital and
she's cheesing for the camera her hair is done her makeup done she looks like a 40s goddess like it is it's a great one
and she's got like flowers on her lap it's just a cool picture there's also one of her later where she's like all
dolled up um and she's got like fancy like shoes and stuff on she looks great oh yeah
she's she's a bad [ __ ] whatever I'm looking at this Pearl Lusk oh my God why is she cheesing right she looks like
she's in [ __ ] shock yeah I think she just had no [ __ ] 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 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 they look 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 [ __ ] Queen she really is look at that hair she truly is wow she's gorgeous Queen even the guy that's
Wheeling her out is just like yeah everyone's happy I know everyone'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 weird but not so weird that
you carry anything uh 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 just don't do it especially like when they don't if some
guy named Alan LaRue please [Music] hey weirdos I'm Alina oh my God thank you sat there but
I was waiting for I was like is there a cue like I didn't know we were doing a [ __ ] I just want to be you

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!

References

Adams, 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, January 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, January 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.

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Brief Summary

A young woman is manipulated into aiding an attempted murder, resulting in a shocking shooting and police negligence in 1946 New York City.

Key points

Pearl's Big City Dreams. 19-year-old Pearl moves to New York City, ready to embrace her new life.
A Chance Encounter. Pearl meets charming Alan LaRue on the subway, but she's not interested.
A Job Offer with a Twist. Alan offers Pearl a job as a private detective's assistant to catch a thief.
The X-Ray Camera Plan. Pearl is given an unusual X-ray camera to help catch a jewelry thief.
The Shocking Discovery. Police find a shotgun hidden in a box, revealing a sinister plot.
A Dangerous Ex-Husband. Olga's abusive past with Al Rocco unfolds, revealing a history of threats and violence.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

A woman that changes her hair is about to change her life.

Commenting on Pearl's new hairstyle and its significance.

6:10WatchSep 12, 2023

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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