CRACY

The Crazy Love story of Linda Riss and Burt
Pugach
In 1959, one of the most notoriously bizarre
stories of love and betrayal began. Linda
Riss was 20 years old, living in East
Bronx. She was beautiful by anyone’s
standard. Riss met an older man named
Burt Pugach, a lawyer and somewhat shady
character. Pugach became enamored with
Riss, and pursued her relentlessly. Riss fell
for his charms, and they began dating
exclusively.
Within a year of their courtship, Burt
proposed and Riss accepted. Then, things
took a dramatically twisted turn. Linda
discovered to her horror that the man she
had agreed to marry was already married
and had a child. When she confronted him,
he admitted to the deception, and swore
he’d get a speedy divorce. Linda told him
she’d consider taking him back as soon as
he could produce the divorce papers. He
did. But wary after already having been
fooled, Linda did a little investigating, and
found the divorce papers to be phony.
As it turned out, Pugach’s wife Francine
refused to grant him a divorce. Their
daughter Caryn had severe learning
difficulties, and Francine was not about to
be left without a husband to provide for
them. Allowing all of this to sink in, Linda
called off the wedding, and started dating
other men. Burt obsessively pursued her,
even stalked her, saying “If I can’t have
you, no one else will.”
Finally, the whole thing came to a head
when Pugach hired 3 men to carry out a
horrific plot. On June 15, 1959, Linda’s
mother answered the door at their
apartment in the East Bronx, and was told
there was a delivery for Linda. As soon as
Linda appeared at the door, the man threw
chemical Lye in her face causing her to
lose her hair and the vision in one of her
eyes. As time went on, Linda went
completely blind. And although Pugach
wasn’t the person at the door, it was clear
that he was behind the attacks. His goal?
To maim Linda to the point where no one
else would want her. Pugach was
sentenced to 30 years in prison, 14 with
good behavior.
Linda traveled Europe with some friends,
always hiding behind very dark glasses.
Although her skin was restored and her
appearance was mostly as lovely as before,
her eyes were left horribly disfigured. At
one point she fell for a man who she
thought might be the one. One night, she
let him see her eyes. She never heard from
him again. Her self esteem was terribly
damaged.
In 1974, Burt was nearing the end of his
sentence, and he once again began
sending love letters to Linda. They
proclaimed that “No one will love you the
way I do”. He asked his lawyer to visit
Linda, and ask if there was anything she
needed. “Tell him I need some money” is
what she said. She was broke having been
so limited in the work she was able to do,
and Burt commenced sending her $50 a
week. When he was released, Linda was
put under police protection. Even with all
that had happened, Linda’s friends started
encouraging her to meet up with Burt.
They believed that she needed a husband.
Considering herself to be damaged goods,
she decided that Burt really did love her,
and soon…. they were engaged to be
married. The headlines in the paper read,
“Blinded bride-to-be weds her attacker.”
Linda and Burt have been married ever
since, and by all accounts have a normal
and happy marriage. Linda says she’s
forgiven Burt. He says he loves her still
after 30+ years together. Although he
stalked her, harassed her, and eventually
had her blinded and disfigured for life with
acid… she says that the moment she
agreed to marry him 1974, she never made
him explain why he did it. She thinks that
would be unfair. Burt claims he was
temporarily insane, and that the action he
took against Linda all those years ago was
not the real him.
It is interesting to note that in 1997, Burt
Pugach was arrested for stalking and
harassing his Filipino secretary, with whom
he’d been having an affair. When it came
time for him to go on trial, the star witness
who got Pugach acquitted was his wife,
Linda, who testified, “Burt is a wonderful,
devoted husband.”
The twisted tale of Burt and Linda Pugach
was made into an award winning
documentary Crazy Love , which explores
the relationship in detail. This doc was
what first brought this insane story to my
attention. And of course, the Pugach’s
were at the premiere.