By Charlotte Aguilar
The Bellaire man convicted in the brutal 1998 Weslayan Plaza “wig shop murder” is in the middle of his first formal review for a possible parole this August, after serving half his sentence — and family members of his victims are bracing to fight his release, Essentials News has learned.
Dror Haim Goldberg is now 44 and serving a 45-year term in a state prison in Brazoria County. In 2000, a Harris County jury convicted him of murdering Manuela Silverio, 54, on Nov. 27, 1998 at the Wigs by Andre shop where she had worked for 23 years, largely helping cancer patients suffering from hair loss.
The single mother and grandmother reportedly died instantly after having her throat slashed in the sudden daytime attack at the strip center adjacent to West University.
Her daughter, Yvonne Palmer — now a grandmother multiple times herself with a new granddaughter named for Manuela — told Essentials she is “not looking forward to have to deal with this monster again, but I already live what he did every day, and I am determined that he will serve every last minute of his sentence.”
She and her sister, along with other family members, plan to record statements for submission to the Texas Board of Pardons & Parole, which is reviewing the case in a process and timetable that is mandated by state statute. Parole in Texas does not involve a public hearing but the gathering of statements and other supporting evidence on both sides of the question of release. An individual board member is assigned to the case to investigate and review and make a recommendation to the full board to consider.
Two others survived the wig shop attack and identified Goldberg, a 19-year-old Bellaire HS graduate and University of Houston student at the time, as their assailant. Shop owner Roberta Ingrando, then 55, was stabbed 14 times after Silverio was killed and underwent surgery for massive internal injuries, and her co-owner husband, Roland, then 67, was slashed but not seriously injured when he came to his wife’s aid.
It is not known whether the Ingrandos will take part in the parole review — with Roberta now in her late 70s and Roland in his 90s — but a family member is reportedly aware of the effort to challenge Goldberg’s possible release.
Goldberg was also IDed as he fled the scene by a young doctor in the parking lot who took down the license plate and make/model of a vehicle that turned out to be a borrowed SUV to which Goldberg had access. He gave police that information and a description that matched Goldberg.
The son of a divorced doctor father and attorney mother, Goldberg was located and taken in for questioning the night of the crime but immediately lawyered up with celebrated criminal defense attorney Dick Deguerin. By the time police and the District Attorney’s Office were ready to charge him, he had traveled to Israel, and it wasn’t until 2000, after what was described as “globetrotting,” that he was arrested in Germany on an international warrant. He was incarcerated there for six months and extradited only when the death penalty was taken off the table as a sentencing option if he was tried and convicted.
Family, friends and some members of the Jewish community steadfastly maintained that Goldberg was incapable of the crime, claiming an overzealous media and anti-Semitism contributed to the manhunt and prosecution — also demonizing the murder victim’s daughters for openly clamoring to see him captured and tried.
But authorities in Bellaire and HISD described a different young man, in trouble with the law at school and in the community. Although inadmissible at his trial, an HISD police officer who encountered Goldberg at Bellaire HS described the contents of his notebooks that she had warned signaled his potential for violence.
In the years since his conviction, Goldberg has remained visible through a website proclaiming his innocence and detailing his activities — completing college, training to become a legal assistant and to do leather work, assisting Jewish prisoners in spiritual pursuits.
Andy Kahan is Houston’s best-known victims’ rights advocate, having served officially for the city of Houston and now working for Crime Stoppers of Houston. He was involved with the case 24 years ago and is leading the effort now to make sure Goldberg stays incarcerated.
“This is going to be a battle,” he says.
Kahan said the board historically does not grant parole on the first review in murder cases, “but you can’t assume anything.” Based on board practice, Kahan says, “His only hope for release now or in the future is to admit to his crimes and express remorse — and there has never been any indication he would do that.”
Kahan pointed to unsuccessful appeals claiming his innocence and an attempt by Goldberg last year to get Gov. Greg Abbott to allow his extradition to Israel to serve the rest of his sentence. Essentials was unable last year to get details from the Governor’s Office or parole board about such a request.
The “wig shop murder” jolted the West U-Bellaire area and all of Houston — and Kahan emphasizes that the public can weigh in on Goldberg’s possible release. Anyone can register for notifications on his review at https://ivss.tdcj.texas.gov, where the process is described for submitting statements as a “concerned citizen,” either for or opposed to the offender’s release.
Information is also available through the Texas Department of Criminal Justice victim services office at 800-848-4284 or by e-mail at victim.svc@tdcj.texas.gov.
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