Who killed Peter Zeihen and why? – “Snapped” oxygen Peter Zeihen’s murder serves as evidence that family feuds can turn contentious. 40-year-old electrical contractor Peter Zeihen was brutally murdered by his in-laws, as revealed in a new episode of Oxygen’s Snapped that follows the murder investigation.

The custody issue led to conflict as Zeihen’s in-laws objected to him having custody of their daughter, whom he adored. Zeihen’s in-laws tried to kill him when the debate heated up.

In the midst of his contentious divorce in 1991, Zeihen was murdered by his mother-in-law JoAnn Peterson.

Why was Peter Zeihen murdered? Who was he?

Peter Zeihen was born in 1951 and grew up in Chewelah, a small community in Washington state, north of Spokane. He came from a modest family. His mother served on the city council and his father owned his own farm. Zeihen met Orinne Goldberg, 30, at a marathon in Spokane when he was 35.

After a year of dating, the couple moved in together. Orinne became pregnant and gave birth to a girl four months later. After that, the couple got married in 1988.

Soon after, Orinne left Zeihen and her daughter behind as their marriage began to fall apart. Sixty miles away in Newport, Washington, she moved in with her parents. Zeihen’s marriage did not improve because she had to travel to Newport on weekends to visit her daughter.

They finally decided to divorce. Now that this would give Zeihen some custody of her daughter, her in-laws, particularly her mother-in-law JoAnn Peterson, did not take it well. That her granddaughter had to visit her father, who lived an hour away, was intolerable to her.

Zeihen was killed to end the inconvenience. He was parked in his car in front of his girlfriend’s Spokane Valley apartment when he was shot in the head in 1991 with a 12-gauge shotgun. He was clearly defending himself from an attack because he was wearing a bulletproof vest .

Who was Peter Zeihen’s killer?

Police found Peter Zeihen’s in-laws guilty of killing him. Three of his in-laws were found to be connected to the crime. While Zeihen’s father-in-law was driving the getaway car and the killer’s main assistant, his brother-in-law had provided the gun. The matriarch of the family, his mother-in-law, had fatally shot him.

Theil Goldberg, Zeihen’s brother-in-law, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. About the crime he spoke with the authorities. The homicidal plan was also revealed to the authorities by a known relative of the family.

Both Morris “Mel” Goldberg, the wife’s father-in-law, and JoAnn Peterson, the person who used the firearm and fired the shot, were charged with first-degree murder. According to rumors, JoAnn wanted Zeihen to look into her eyes before she killed him.

Family conspiracies, murder-for-hire scams, and perhaps arson soon came to light. They were all involved in the Goldberg family’s plan to keep Zeihen away from his daughter. For the murder of their son-in-law, Mel and JoAnn received sentences of 26 and 25 years in prison, respectively.

For more on the Zeihen case, see Snapped on Oxygen.