Linda Pugach who gained fame after being blinded by her lover at the time, Burton Pugach, in 1959 and then later marrying him, passed away Tuesday at the age of 75.
Linda died at Long Island Jewish Hospital in Queens due to heart failure, reported The Associated Press. Her husband Burton Pugach spent 14 years in prison for hiring men to attack his Linda, whose maiden name was Riss, after she left him. The men threw lye in her face, blinding her for the rest of her life. Ever since the blinding Linda could always be seen with iconic dark glasses.
At the time of the attack Burton was married having an affair with Linda. The attack became the center of a media sensation and the marriage years later, equally so.
The couple were featured in a documentary about themselves in 1997 called "Crazy Love."
Burton said about their love that "This was a very fairy tale romance," to the AP.
During an interview with the AP on Thursday he denied ever having been involved in the attack. "I don't know how I'm going to go on without her," he said.
When the New York Times also spoke with him on Wednesday, Mr. Pugach, 85, admitted for hiring the men but insisted that he didn't ask them to use the lye.
"I asked one guy to find someone who would beat her up, to try and get her back," he said. "I didn't ask anybody to throw lye at her."
Decades after they married the Pugaches regained fame when Burton went on trial for sexually abusing and threatening to kill a woman in 1997, who was his alleged mistress of five years.
The New York Times reported that Linda went on trial on behalf of her husband and said, "You're a wonderful, caring husband."
Burton was only convicted of a single count harassment in the second degree and was sentenced to 15 days in jail.
He told the AP during an interview at the time, : "Haven't you ever threatened to kill your husband? Did you mean it? Of course not. ... This has been blown out of proportion like I've never seen."
Filmmaker of "Crazy Love Dan Klores said about Linda to The New York Times on Wednesday, "She was a sheltered, naive young girl. Her identity was centered around her physical beauty. When she had this romance with this older man - this obsessive relationship - he worshiped her for that physical beauty. And when that was taken from her, the scars weren't merely on the outside."
Linda Pugach, born as Linda Eleanor Riss was born on Feb. 2, 1937 in the Bronx. When she met Burton she was working as a secretary in an air-conditioner dealership and Burton was working as a lawyer.
Linda was laid to rest in Paramus, New Jersey on Thursday. "There's a place for me there. We'll be together," Burton said to the AP.
Burton continues to speak of his undying"storybook" love for Linda. "We loved each other more than any other couple could have," Burton said to The New York Times, "Ours was a storybook romance."
See the trailer for "Crazy Love" below:
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