9 min readOct 27, 2022

As October rolls around, and the days shorten and the air cools, there comes one night a year where ghosts and monsters roam our streets, visiting each of our houses in turn. October 31st, Halloween! Behind the masks of most of the ghouls swarming the streets are the bright eyes and ruddy cheeks of candy-motivated children, but every now and then there is a trick or treater with less sweet objectives. One masked individual with murder on their agenda rang the doorbell of 13236 Community St. in Sun Valley, CA. The year was 1957, and this crime would become known as the Trick or Treat Murder.

Content Warning: This is the retelling of true events. This story makes references to violence, blood, domestic abuse, murder, and homophobia. It will not be suitable for all.

Illustration from A.S. Packer, Published in the White Plain Times

How Betty Met Peter

Peter Fabiano was born in Lansing, Michigan and attended Saint Mary’s High. He was an ex-marine when he met Betty Solomon (born Rothenburg), a pretty divorcée who sometimes went by Bessie. Betty was the daughter of Russian immigrants, and had a son, Richard, and a daughter, Judy, with her first husband. When she met Peter, they were likely in their late twenties. Peter, who had served during WWII, was quick to marry beautiful Betty, and they moved their small family to Kingston, NY. During that time Peter worked- some sources say as a bartender, others as a truck driver. Betty was a beautician and focused on raising Richard and Judy. During their relationship, Betty convinced Peter to try his hand at cutting and styling hair, and he had a knack for it. The two moved to the Los Angeles area together, and opened up a couple of salons. Peter acted as Betty’s personal stylist. They didn’t have any children together, but they raised Betty’s two children as they grew into teenagers.

Not so Straight Forward…

Every relationship has issues, and so naturally Peter and Betty faced trials of their own. Before meeting Peter, Betty had already married and divorced. This was less common than it is now, although not so unusual as the end of WWII had given rise to an increase in divorce. By around 1956 the Fabianos were experiencing their own period of separation. Betty had moved out of the Fabiano home, and in with a friend, Joan Rabel. Joan was a strong woman in her early 40’s, also a divorcée and worked as a freelance photographer. She met Peter and Betty when she was hired to take photos and do some reception work in one of their beauty parlors. During their time living together, Betty and Joan became very close. Their relationship was described as “abnormal” by the papers at the time, which most will agree is a 1950’s euphemism for homosexual. After a period of time, Betty resolved to give married life another shot. She returned to Peter, upon his insistence that she cease all contact with Joan. Joan, for her part, would state that the relationship between Betty and Peter was much worse than she led others to believe. Peter was abusive and mistreated Betty, as well as put her in danger by dealing narcotics out of their shared home.

Joan and Goldyne

And that’s what Joan told her friend Goldyne Pizer, again and again, month after month. Joan and Goldyne had been friends for several years now. Goldyne was also in her forties, worked as a medical secretary, and was a widow. And when I say she was friends with Joan, I mean that in the same 1950’s way that Betty was friends with Joan. It seems at the very least that Goldyne was infatuated with Joan, and it is very possible they were in a relationship. Joan told Goldyne that Peter was vile and evil. He was horrible to Betty, and he was destroying her life. They needed to save Betty from her husband, and since Joan was no longer allowed contact with Betty, the only way would be to get rid of Peter. Joan and Goldyne started talking about how they could kill Peter. They considered stabbing, poison, and shooting. Goldyne had never even met Betty or Peter, but Joan was so instant that Peter was a monster, that Goldyne found herself developing a deep hatred for him. About a month before the killing, she went out to a gun shop and purchased a .38 caliber gun that came with two bullets. Joan paid for the gun, and Goldyne held onto it.

Goldyne Pizer, left, and Joan Rabel, right.

Halloween Night

Halloween was chosen as the best night for the murder. The two women could wear disguises, and could get away unseen. Joan picked out an outfit for Goldyne- blue jeans, red gloves, a khaki jacket, makeup, and a mask that covered her eyes. They placed the gun in a paper bag, like a trick-or-treater might use. Joan borrowed a car from another friend, and the two drove outside the Fabiano home and parked. They waited until the bedroom light flickered off, ensuring Betty would be in bed. Then Goldyne rang the doorbell.

Peter roused himself at the sound of the bell. Grumbling about the late hour, he nevertheless grabbed his bowl of candy and headed to the door. He uttered his last words- “It’s a little late for this, isn’t it?” before noticing the person on his doorstep was too tall to be a child. Betty heard someone answer from the other room- she later said it sounded like a man who was trying to sound like a woman.

Goldyne stood at the door, facing Peter Fabiano. She answered his question simply with the word “No”, raised the gun out of the paper bag and, hands shaking, shot. Peter had no time to respond. He fell to the ground, bleeding from a wound right below his heart. Goldyne fled to Joan waiting in the borrowed car.

Betty’s 15 year old daughter Judy ran a couple doors down to get a neighbor who worked for the Los Angeles Police Department. He came and called in reinforcements. Peter Fabiano never regained consciousness, and died at the hospital from massive blood loss as a result of the shooting.

Joan kissed Goldyne when she returned to the car and said, “Thank you”. They drove the car back to Hollywood. Before they departed, Joan told Goldyne, “Forget you ever knew me”.

The Trial

Police were initially confused at the murder. It seemed to have the hallmarks of a mob hit, but Mr. Fabiano didn’t seem the type to have mob associations. His only charge was of bookmaking (acting as a bookie) almost a decade earlier. Hardly the criminal mastermind that would typically have a hit placed on him. When he asked Betty, she could only think of one person that might have killed her husband- Joan Rabel. Joan was arrested by police, but she claimed to have been home all evening. Neighbors confirmed that her car had been parked on the street all of Halloween night, so without more evidence police released her.

In the meantime, Goldyne Pizer had a murder weapon in her procession and no idea what to do with it. She decided to rent a deposit box at a department store, and placed the gun inside. Somehow or other, police received an anonymous tip to check the locker, where they found the gun used in Peter’s murder, registered to Goldyne.

When they brought her in for questioning, Goldyne didn’t hold back. She told the police that she was relieved, as the truth had been weighing on her. She immediately implicated Joan Rabel as her co-conspirator. The police took Joan into custody as well, and while Rabel stood silent and stony, Pizer shared what she knew of the events. She admitted that she herself had no motive to kill Peter. Her only reason was to please Joan, who she described as having a spell over her.

Initially both women pled innocent to first degree murder. Joan pled not guilty of the killing, while Goldyne pled not guilty by reason of insanity. They would later both change their pleas to guilty of second-degree murder and were sentenced to imprisonment for 5 years to life.

The Case Quietly Ends

For such a dramatic case, the end is sparse and lackluster. Halloween murders are relatively rare, and this one includes costumes, lesbian relationships, the 1950’s Hollywood area, and female killers. The fact that this story isn’t told more, and hasn’t been made into shows, books, or movies is frankly a little surprising to me. After Peter Fabiano’s death, it doesn’t seem Betty remarried. A scant obituary of the woman I believe to have been this Betty was published in 1999, saying she died in Riverside County, CA at the age of 81. Goldyne Pizer was released at some point, I believe in the 1970’s, and continued to live in the LA area before passing away in 1998. I was unable to find any information on what happened to Joan Rabel. Many think she was released from prison around the same time as Goldyne, but there are no records showing that. I also wasn’t able to find a death record that seemed like the right Joan, although were she alive today she would be 105.

What I find even more interesting is that it doesn’t seem that anyone ever went back to learn more about what exactly happened that night, and who Peter, Betty, Joan, and Goldyne were. The only information that seems to exist is what was published at the time of the killing and trial. At this point the major players are all (likely) dead. Most of their former classmates and friends are also probably gone. Who they were before October 31, 1957, and who they became after may be lost. Almost every story I’ve found since the murder has been a simple retelling of the facts as they happened in the day. The only real additions I found to the story were in the early 1970’s, when it was used as an example of how women’s lib is harmful to men. One article from the Hartford Courant titled “Life’s Greatest Danger? Possibly it’s Being Male” used the story of Goldyne to conclude that “In almost any woman you can unearth an incredible fury”. The author ends his piece with the reassurance- “By the way, for the record, some of my best friends are females”.

While this case is long since solved, and the books closed, there must be so much more to this story, that would create a deeper, fuller picture of their lives and motives. When researching, I always try to find small pieces of information- hobbies, things they liked, their personalities. It helps turn individuals from characters into people. There must be some people living that knew Betty, Joan and Goldyne, perhaps even knew Peter, and can tell us more.

Peter Fabiano, from the Lansing State Journal

An Aside

Content Warning: Violence and death against children.

Although as far as I could tell these cases are completely unrelated, in my research I did find a record of another Peter Fabiano who was killed. Strangely it was of a young boy living in Kingston NY, where our Peter Fabiano and his wife, Betty would live decades later. Just for clarity I’ll call the boy Pete Fabiano. It was 1910, and Pete Fabiano was bordering with the Crause family. The Crause’s son, about Pete’s own age, witnessed his father and another man using an ax to attack the young boy. His body was later found in their outhouse.