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Back in 1976, a man Charles “Zeke” Goldblum was sentenced to life in prison for murdering a man by stabbing him 26 times with a pair of scissors. Nearly 45 years later, the then Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, John Fetterman, voted to free the criminal and said he was “happy” about it since his sentence, in his opinion, was “excess.”
Fetterman is currently running for a seat in the U.S. Senate and has been losing ground to Mehmet Oz. In recent weeks, the Republican has surged in the polls as the GOP has turned its attention to crime.
In this case, and according to prosecutors, Goldblum and an accomplice, Clarence Miller, lured the victim, George Wilhelm, to a parking lot in Pittsburgh, where Goldblum proceeded to stab him. While out on bail, Goldblum attempted to hire an undercover police officer to kill Miller, who had fingered Goldblum for the crime.
After his conviction, he unsuccessfully sought a pardon seven times. One of these was in 2007, when a federal appeals court wrote that “there is just too much evidence here establishing Goldblum’s guilt.”
However, the man was eventually released thanks to the Pennsylvania Board of Pardons chaired by Fetterman, which voted unanimously to release Goldblum from prison in 2019.
At the time, the lieutenant governor assured that he was “happy that he’s going to be going home to his family” and that Goldblum was “not a threat to public safety.”
Sandra Horton, niece of the man killed by Goldblum, said of the release of her uncle’s killer, “His claims of innocence have no merit. We thought [his life sentence] would be just that—a life sentence without the possibility of parole, and that he would be made to accept his role in George’s brutal death,” she said in dialogue with Pennsylvania Capital-Star about Goldblum in 2019.
Joyce Miller, Goldblum’s sister-in-law, thanked Fetterman and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf for giving the man convicted of violently murdering George Wilhelm a chance.
“It’s Wolf and Fetterman,” she said. “That’s how we got here. … The eighth time’s the charm.”
Joaquín Núñez es licenciado en comunicación periodística por la Universidad Católica Argentina. Se especializa en el escenario internacional y en la política nacional norteamericana. Confeso hincha de Racing Club de Avellaneda. Contacto: [email protected] // Joaquín Núñez has a degree in journalistic communication from the Universidad Católica Argentina. He specializes in the international scene and national American politics. Confessed fan of Racing Club of Avellaneda. Contact: [email protected]