The last woman executed in California was the mother-in-law from hell

The lady in the healthcare facility bed didn’t look like a risk to nurse Olga Kupczyk.

She ‘d been confessed in November 1957 for an overdose of sleeping tablets, an evident suicide effort after her adult child stated he was vacating their Santa Barbara home. The 53-year-old homemaker was catatonic over the circumstance, however if Olga believed it was weird, it didn’t moisten a growing crush on her client’s child. As Olga took care of the lady, her eyes kept falling on Frank Duncan. After his mom was released, Frank asked Olga on a date.

It wasn’t till later on that Olga might have questioned how Elizabeth Ann Duncan saw those early interactions — and when precisely it was that Elizabeth chose Olga needed to pass away.

‘Your mom attempted to get me to abduct your partner’

Couple of moms in the record of history have actually been as compulsively, disturbingly consumed with their boys as Elizabeth Duncan. Born Hazel Nigh, her aliases are difficult to stay up to date with due to the reality she wed a minimum of 10, and perhaps as much as 20, times. Those marital relationships produced a minimum of 4 kids, consisting of Frank, born in 1929 in Southern California. Regardless of the truth Elizabeth had a teenager child who passed away unfortunately of a cerebral hemorrhage, Elizabeth had no issue informing individuals that Frank, constantly, was her preferred kid.

Wherever Frank went, his mom followed. When he began law school at Hastings in San Francisco, Elizabeth relocated with him. She wasn’t single: In an eight-year period, she wed and separated 5 various guys. The majority of were close to Frank’s age: a 24-year-old guy who declared divorce when she declined to leave her kid and deal with him, a typewriter salesperson who was 15 years Elizabeth’s junior and, many unsettlingly, a law school schoolmate of Frank’s. That marital relationship was annulled when Elizabeth declined to make love till Frank finished. History has actually not taped her reasoning for that specific need.

In spite of Elizabeth’s full-time work as a bride-slash-divorcee, she had another part-time gig. In 1953, an undercover San Francisco law enforcement officer got in a massage parlor run by Elizabeth at 1008 Sutter St. He was asked, rather unsubtly, if he desired “a massage or a woman.” Elizabeth, then in her 40s, was charged with running a whorehouse.

The next year, Frank finished law school and returned to Southern California to start his profession. His mom– surprise– chose him. Fractures were beginning to reveal in their co-habitation. Frank was now a mature grownup, and he was going on routine dates. This, no doubt, presented stress into the relationship, and he started threatening to leave their shared home.

In reaction to one such risk in November 1957, Elizabeth took a lot of sleeping tablets, landing her in the Santa Barbara health center where 29-year-old nurse Olga Kupczyk worked. Olga had actually just recently moved from Canada looking for bright weather condition and much better task chances. And when she fulfilled a young lawyer called Frank Duncan, it appeared she had actually discovered love, too.

Frank had actually never ever been this severe with a lady previously, and it sent out Elizabeth into a tizzy. When Frank informed her that he prepared to wed Olga, Elizabeth– who had no leg to base on when it pertained to quickie wedding events– purchased him to inform her before they got wed.

“But I saw Olga the next day and we simply chose to proceed, “Frank would later on affirm in court. There was a factor for their spontaneous choice: After simply a couple of months of dating, Olga was pregnant. Understanding that Mommie Dearest was going to lose her proverbial marbles, Frank asked the county clerk to conceal their marital relationship certificate. At the time, all marital relationship certificates were reported in the regional paper, so concealing it would provide Frank a minimum of a couple of days to break the news to his mom.

The county clerk played ball, it didn’t matter. That night, Frank didn’t get home. Elizabeth instantly called the healthcare facility where Olga worked and asked if the nurse remained in. A joyful colleague informed the lady that Olga was off on her honeymoon. Elizabeth saw red. And she began preparing.

Elizabeth attempted being a holy horror. She called Frank’s workplace and healthcare facility continuously. She appeared at the couple’s home and pounded on the door up until they purchased her to leave. She purchased a weapon and informed Frank she meant to eliminate herself with it.

2 months after the couple got wed, Olga provided a male$ 100 to come with her to the county court house to annul a marital relationship. She stated he would enact her kid Frank Duncan and she ‘d stand in for Olga Duncan. The male, not surprisingly, asked why the couple could not come themselves. Olga stated her essential attorney boy was too hectic. When it comes to Olga,” To hell with that bitch,” Elizabeth supposedly stated.

The ploy worked, and the separation was given. This, nevertheless, just served to piss off Frank even further. He seemed like a” human yo-yo, “he stated, continuously” going back and forth, attempting to keep both pleased.” There was no making Elizabeth pleased. With the now noticeably pregnant Olga still quite in the image, she intensified.

Her strategy was not an advanced one. Frank was then working as a criminal defense lawyer, and Elizabeth saw his customers as a stream of possible scoundrels. She started approaching a few of them, asking if they would eliminate a young nurse for money. A minimum of among individuals she approached tattled to Frank. The female, working as a carhop at a regional dining establishment called heaven Onion, required to understand if his mom was” insane.”

” Your mom attempted to get me to abduct your other half!” the annoyed carhop informed him. If Frank believed it was a major risk, he didn’t reveal it.

The carhop had actually turned her down, Elizabeth discovered 2 guys who didn’t: 25-year-old Augustine Baldonado and 20-year-old Luis Moya. She used them $ 6,000 to eliminate Olga, and they had no scruples about accepting the offer.

The last couple of weeks of Olga’s life should have been scary. She was nearly 7 months pregnant and being bugged non-stop by her mother-in-law. Her spouse was around just sporadically, and appeared more on his mom’s side than hers. At a snapping point, Olga was considering divorce.

The last night of Olga’s life, Nov. 17, 1958, she had a couple of nurse good friends over at her apartment or condo on 1114 Garden St. in Santa Barbara. They left around 11 p.m., and the apartment building went peaceful. Not long after, Moya knocked on Olga’s door. He discussed to her that her hubby was downstairs intoxicated in a vehicle, and he required her assistance to get him within. Olga chose Moya to the vehicle, where Baldonado was concealing in the rear seat. Baldonado struck her on the head with a handgun and Moya sped off into the night, ultimately pulling over on the side of Highway 150 near the Casitas Dam.

The males had actually prepared to shoot the pregnant lady dead, however in the battle, the weapon was harmed. They came up with a dreadful backup strategy: They took turns strangling her, one male putting her in a headlock while the other dug a shallow tomb with his hands. As soon as Olga stopped breathing, they rolled her into the tomb, obscured from the roadway by a gorge and heavy brush.

The next early morning, Olga’s colleagues were alarmed when she didn’t stand for work. They went to her house and discovered the door large open. Her passport, travel luggage and bag were all within.

A search started, and it was apparent to investigators that something extremely, extremely unusual was happening with Olga’s mother-in-law. Witnesses emerged who had actually either been approached straight by Elizabeth or were privy to her deals to abduct, damage or eliminate Olga. Authorities detained Moya and Baldonado, and the set implicated Elizabeth Duncan. As soon as in custody, Baldonado accepted lead cops to the area where they ‘d buried the body. Olga was still in the quilted bathrobe she had actually left her home in. “Her knees were prepared, the method a kid sleeps on a cold night,” a Santa Barbara News-Press press reporter composed.

When the case went to trial, the defense made the error of enabling Elizabeth to affirm. Her temperament was offputting, swinging in between anger and improper cheeriness. She” usually seemed enjoying her opportunity to inform her own story,” the News-Press reported. She confessed she had actually been” in hysterics” over the marital relationship, however insisted she never ever threatened to hurt her daughter-in-law. She did, nevertheless, state that she combated with Olga over the reality she had premarital sex with Frank– rather the ethical high ground from a female who when ran a whorehouse. In front of cops, Elizabeth sighed that her preferred child didn’t “understand much about ladies, which might be my fault.”

The jury took less than 5 hours to return a guilty decision. A couple of days later on, Duncan, Moya and Baldonado were all sentenced to death in San Quentin’s gas chamber. Frank, who had actually waited his mom’s side the whole time, was annoyed.” It was terribly unreasonable,” he informed press reporters.” There is no concern that political aspiration is associated with this. “He implicated the lead district attorney of attempting to” reach a greater position over the body of my mom

. “

The body of his departed partner and coming kid went unmentioned. Regardless of guarantees to a funeral home that he would declare Olga’s ashes and pay for the costs, Frank apparently never ever did. Months after Olga passed away, her bro lastly pertained to Ventura to schedule her ashes to be taken home to Canada.

‘The finest mom a kid might have ‘

Whereas now appeals can take years, in the 1960s, the wheels of justice turned much quicker. By August 1962, the trio of killers had actually tired their last appeals. Duncan asked for steak for her last meal– although she was completely encouraged it was not, in reality, her last supper. San Quentin’s warden discovered her calm, persuaded that Frank would conserve her. The hours ticked by and no call for clemency came through on the jail phone line. On the early morning of Aug. 8, 1962, the warden accompanied Elizabeth Ann Duncan to San Quentin’s gas chamber. Before she entered into the green metal hull, she calmly turned to him and stated, “I am innocent. Where is Frank?”

She was strapped into a chair; listed below her was a barrel of acid. At 10:04 a.m., cyanide pellets were dropped into the acid, releasing a deadly cloud of fumes. 8 minutes later on, she was dead. Frank, who was still at a San Francisco court house, defending a last-second appeal, was next to himself. He called her “the very best mom a kid might have.”

Remarkably, the work of the San Quentin executioners wasn’t ended up.A couple of hours later on, Moya, then 23, and Baldonado, 28, were required to the gas chamber.

A secret stays relating to the location of Elizabeth’s body. According to paper reports at the time, Frank declared his mom’s remains, however some genealogy sites have her last resting location as the San Quentin cemetery. San Quentin’s own recordsnevertheless, do not note her amongst its irreversible homeowners. Wherever she lies, Frank Duncan is most likely the only individual who understands for sure.

Frank went on to wed once again; when he was defending his mom’s life, he was on his 2nd marital relationship, this time to a fellow lawyer. Their marital relationship ended in 1966; she mentioned his hostility towards home visitors as one of the factors for their divorce. She did still maintain him as her attorney in an individual injury fit. Frank continued to practice law till 2023, when he was disbarred in his 90s.

Elizabeth Ann Duncan was a home name for a time, Olga Kupczyk and her coming child have actually mostly been forgotten. From paper accounts after her death, it’s clear that in her 30 brief years, she made many pals amongst the nursing neighborhood. Her household, far in Canada, liked and missed her deeply. And, regardless of her troubled marital relationship, she was still anticipating what her future held.

“Life is brief,” she composed to a buddy soon before her murder, “and I wish to take pleasure in the rest of it.”

Oct 12, 2026