Russ Columbo died after an antique pistol belonging to his friend accidentally discharged and struck him in the eye. The 26-year-old singer died under circumstances that his friends and family concealed from his ill mother because they feared the news would shock her to death. Through a carefully devised system of fake letters and old recordings made to simulate live broadcasts, they created the impression that Columbo was still alive and merely busy. The deception continued until her death ten years later.
