Who killed Peter Zeihen and why? – Oxygen’s “Snapped”
The murder of Peter Zeihen serves as proof that family disputes can develop into contentious. The 40-year-old electrical contractor Peter Zeihen was brutally murdered by his in-laws, as revealed in a model new episode of Oxygen’s Snapped that follows the murder investigation.
The custody drawback led to the battle since Zeihen’s in-laws opposed him having any custody of his daughter, whom he adored. Zeihen’s in-laws tried to kill him when the controversy acquired heated.
In the midst of his contentious divorce in 1991, Zeihen was murdered by his mother-in-law JoAnn Peterson.
Why was Peter Zeihen killed? Who was he?
Peter Zeihen was born in 1951 and raised in Chewelah, a tiny group in Washington state, which is north of Spokane. He obtained right here from a modest family. His mother served in town council, and his father owned his private farm. Zeihen met Orinne Goldberg, 30, at a marathon in Spokane when he was 35 years earlier.
After one yr of relationship, the couple moved in collectively. Orinne grew to develop into pregnant and gave begin to a daughter 4 months later. After that, the couple was hitched in 1988.
Soon later, Orinne left Zeihen and their daughter behind as their marriage started to crumble. 60 miles away in Newport, Washington, she moved in collectively together with her mom and father. Zeihen’s marriage didn’t get any increased on account of he wanted to journey to Newport on the weekends to go to his daughter.
They lastly decided to divorce. Now that this might grant Zeihen some custody of his daughter, his in-laws, notably his mother-in-law JoAnn Peterson, didn’t take successfully to this. That her granddaughter should go to her father, who lived an hour away, was one factor she found intolerable.
Zeihen was murdered with a goal to complete the inconvenience. He was parked in his vehicle outside his girlfriend’s Spokane Valley condominium when he was shot inside the head in 1991 with a 12-gauge shotgun. He was clearly defending himself in opposition to an assault on account of he was sporting a bulletproof vest.
Who was Peter Zeihen’s murderer?
The police found Peter Zeihen’s in-laws accountable of killing him. Three of his in-laws had been discovered to be linked to the crime. While Zeihen’s father-in-law drove the getaway vehicle and served as a result of the murderer’s foremost helper, his brother-in-law had supplied the weapon. The matriarch of the family, his mother-in-law, had fatally shot him.
Theil Goldberg, Zeihen’s brother-in-law, entered a accountable plea to second-degree murder. Regarding the crime, he spoke with the authorities. The murderous scheme was moreover revealed to the authorities by a female family acquaintance of the family.
Both Morris “Mel” Goldberg, the partner’s father-in-law, and JoAnn Peterson, the one which used the firearm and fired the shot, had been accused of first-degree murder. According to rumors, JoAnn wanted Zeihen to stare into her eyes sooner than she killed him.
Family conspiracies, murder-for-hire scams, and perhaps an arson assault shortly obtained right here to light. They had been all involved inside the Goldberg family’s scheme to take care of Zeihen away from his daughter. For the murder of their son-in-law, Mel and JoAnn obtained sentences of 26 and 25 years in jail, respectively.
For further further regarding the Zeihen case, watch Snapped on Oxygen.
