In-laws charged in death of man

SPOKANE - Peter Zeihen had in-law troubles, and that's what killed him, prosecutors say.

The electrical contractor, 40, was going through a bitter divorce when he died from a 12-gauge shotgun blast to the head Nov. 18, 1991, as he sat in his car outside his girlfriend's Spokane Valley apartment.

Zeihen was wearing a bulletproof vest and a holstered pistol after escaping from a masked gunman just three weeks before.

Investigators who wrestled with the case for nearly nine years finally came to a jarring conclusion: They contend Zeihen's brother-in-law supplied the weapon, his father-in-law drove the getaway car, and his mother-in-law shot him - she wanted him "looking directly into her eyes moments before he died," court papers say.

It all stayed secret until authorities were contacted last summer by the brother-in-law and a female friend of the mother-in-law who say they were told of the plot.

The brother-in-law, Theil Goldberg, 37, of Westminster, Colo., pleaded guilty to second-degree murder Thursday in a deal with Spokane County prosecutors. His father, Morris "Mel" Goldberg, 68, of Newport, Pend Oreille County, backed out of a plea agreement at the last minute. He was then jailed on an aggravated first-degree murder charge.

The same charge was simultaneously filed against Mel Goldberg's ex-wife, JoAnn Goldberg Peterson, 62, who now lives in Moyie Springs, Idaho. She is awaiting trial in Idaho on an unrelated federal charge of possessing a machine gun.

Prosecutors contend Peterson, who took her maiden name after she left Goldberg and their real-estate business to raise yaks in northern Idaho, fired the shotgun inches away from Zeihen's head and later boasted to friends that she left the weapon there to "insult" investigators.

Prosecutors also tell of family plots, murder-for-hire schemes and a possible arson, all linked to the Goldbergs' intense desire to keep Zeihen from gaining custody of his 3-year-old daughter.

His estranged wife, Orinne Goldberg, claimed during the custody dispute that her husband had sexually molested the girl. A police investigation determined the allegation was unfounded, and court documents claim Orinne Goldberg and her mother made it up.

Orinne Goldberg has not been charged in the case, but investigators say they are looking into anyinvolvement she may have had.

Zeihen was repeatedly harassed and threatened in the months before his slaying, which occurred 10 days before the couple's divorce trial was to begin.

Three weeks earlier, a disguised assailant fired several shots at him as he left his apartment, prosecutors say. Zeihen was not hurt, and the assailant got away.

The day he died, Zeihen had finished work and arrived at his girlfriend's apartment complex, where he was shot at close range. He died instantly.

His mother-in-law later told a friend she wanted Zeihen to recognize "who was going to kill him just before the fatal shot was fired," court papers say.

"JoAnn talked about Zeihen looking directly into her eyes moments before he died, realizing that it was her, which was exactly what she wanted to see happen," sheriff's Detective Mark Henderson said in the document.

Mel Goldberg drove the getaway car that had been stolen earlier that day, prosecutors say, while the gun was provided by the couple's son, who had taken it from neighbors.

After those neighbors, Robert Lamm and Marcie Harrington, told Mel Goldberg they planned to contact police, their home caught fire in the middle of the night. They escaped. The 1993 fire is thought to have been arson.

Two family friends also say Peterson had offered them money to kill Zeihen, but they turned her down, prosecutors say.

Deputy Prosecutor Steven Kinn said he will not seek the death penalty against Mel Goldberg and Peterson. Under Washington law, a conviction for aggravated first-degree murder carries either capital punishment or life in prison without parole.

Prosecutors may seek a shortened prison term for Theil Goldberg, who has cooperated with investigators and is expected to testify if his parents go to trial.