NY Lawyer Lived Happily Ever After (Sort Of), After Acid Attack on Girlfriend
Once a New York trial lawyer, Burton Pugach today is an improbable white-mink-clad movie star. Convicted in an infamous case of putting out a contract to have his girlfriend blinded with lye, after she left him for another man, the 80-year-old has made headlines ever since as the bizarre case progressed into a lasting marriage, once he was released from prison.
Now he and his wife, Linda, 70 – a self-described “poor girl from the Bronx” who was also wearing white mink at a recent premiere – are the stars of a documentary film about their lives that may be made into a feature film, reports the Washington Post. It chronicles how Pugach, who lost his law license but got work as a paralegal after serving a 14-year stint in prison for the June 15, 1959 attack, stayed true to his wife, in his fashion, despite blinding her and engaging in a lifelong series of affairs.
“There’s more to Burt Pugach than what happened 50 years ago,” he says. “I don’t want to be defined by that one crazy and malicious event.”
From his wife’s standpoint, “Marrying him has been the best revenge. I’m a ball-breaker,” Linda Pugach tells the Post. As the documentary ended at a recent premiere and she heard herself say, “It’s me and Burt against the world,” she reached for her husband’s hand, the article says, but it was too dark to see if she dug her nails into his palm.
