It’s a brutal crime with a terrible twist that’s all but forgotten today.
But, in the 1950’s, it made national headlines, and rocked Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. A pregnant nurse is kidnapped from her Santa Barbara apartment, and murdered. Her mother in law is arrested, and she and the two men she hired to commit the crime are convicted, and executed.
Now, a new book tells the story. Debby Holt Larkin is the author of “A Lovely Girl."
The story started in 1958, when Frank Duncan and his mother, Elizabeth got into an argument. They were living together in a Santa Barbara apartment. He told her she needed to move, but she took an overdose of sleeping pills, and had to be taken to Cottage Hospital.
She survived, and among her nurses helping her was Olga Kupczyk. She had moved from Canada to work at the hospital. Frank met Olga at the hospital, and after his mother was released they began dating.
Larkin says Frank and Olga got married in June of 1958. Olga was pregnant. But, Elizabeth Duncan didn’t like her new daughter-in-law. She didn’t think Olga was good enough for her son, who was a defense attorney with a promising career.
"They're living in Santa Barbara... Elizabeth Duncan would call Olga, and tell her she was no good... and that she wasn't right for Frank," said Larkin.
They had to move three times because Elizabeth was harassing the couple.
Finally, Frank Duncan moved back in with his mother, who kept threatening to kill herself. He hoped that he could keep her calm until after the baby was born, and maybe she would have a change of heart.
Then, on November 18th, 1958, the young woman disappeared.
The author says police initially thought Olga was a runaway bride, but when they learned about Elizabeth Duncan’s hostility towards her daughter-in-law, they took the disappearance more seriously. Weeks went by, and there was no sign of the young nurse. Then, detectives broke open the case.
"Elizabeth Duncan had a sidekick... an 80-year-old woman named Emma Short," said Larkin. "Emma went everywhere with Mrs. Duncan... she kind of spilled the beans. Mrs. Duncan had been shopping all over Santa Barbara, looking for someone to get rid of her daughter-in-law."
But, it was Elizabeth Duncan who helped convict herself. Prosecutors say she promised the two hit men $6000. They committed the murder for a less than $200 first payment. It gets complicated. She tried to use some of her son’s money to make a second payment. But, when she couldn’t produce a receipt for her son, she came up with a story about two men extorting her. He forced her to go to police, and they arrested the hit men. One of them started talking, and led detectives to Olga's body.
The men had taken Olga Duncan into Ventura County. They beat and strangled her, burying her just off of Casitas Pass Road.
Because the murder occurred in Ventura County, the trial was in Ventura.
"It was huge...it got interest from reporters all over the country," said Larkin.
Frank Duncan took the stand as a defense witness for his mother, and helped coach the attorney he hired to represent her. But, Elizabeth Duncan and the two hit men were convicted. All three were executed. She was the last woman to be executed in California.
Larkin says the reason she wrote the book is that she grew up with the case. Her father was a newspaper reporter who covered the trial, so she heard all the details. But, he died before writing the book he planned to write about it.
The retired teacher spent the last decade on the project. She had to rely on court records and newspaper stories for information, because almost everyone involved in the six decade old crime has died.
There’s one key person left: The man at the heart of the case, Frank Duncan.
"He is 94 years old. He became a pretty successful defense attorney in Los Angeles after all of this was over," said Larkin.
But, he isn't talking.
"His response to anyone who tries to contact him (about the case) is I don't talk about this anymore... it's all in the past," said Larkin.
“A Lovely Girl: The Tragedy of Olga Duncan, and the Trial of One of California’s Most Notorious Serial Killers” arrived in book stores, and went on sale online this week.
