Family fought to keep killer involved in infamous wig shop murder behind bars. Now, he will have to wait 5 years for another hearing
Dror Goldberg was convicted of killing Wigs by Andre employee Manuela Silverio, 52, in 2000. Her daughters say he did it for the thrill and will kill again.
It's been nearly 25 years since the infamous wig shop murder happened near West U, but the pain is still raw for the victim's family.
On Black Friday in 1998, Dror Goldberg, a then-19-year-old from Bellaire, killed Manuela Silverio in a frenzied attack at Wigs by Andre. He also stabbed the shop's owner 14 times and attacked her husband who tried to stop him. They both survived.
Goldberg was up for parole earlier this week after serving about half of his 48-year sentence. Silverio's family was fighting to keep him locked up.
Now, the family can rest easy after it was announced Friday morning that Golberg will be staying behind bars. The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles announced that Goldberg was denied parole and will not be up for review until Oct. 27, 2028.
Goldberg didn't attend his parole hearing Wednesday morning but the victim's daughters were there.
“If Dror Goldberg is released, he will torture and kill another woman," Yvette Menendez told us.
She and her sister, Yvonne Palmer, say Goldberg slit their mother's throat to see what it felt like.
“It’s scary because he killed and will kill for the thrill," Menendez said.
They wrote a letter to the parole board pleading with them not to release Goldberg.
“And we tried to get them to understand who Dror Goldberg is and that he is a monster and that he will kill again," Palmer said. "So he should not have the privilege to be free."
'He's a cold-blooded killer' The chilling hint of what was to come
No clear motive for the "vicious" crime was ever established. A Houston police sergeant who described the murder scene as vicious testified at Goldberg's 2000 trial that he believed the killer did it "for the pure pleasure of killing somebody."
Homicide detectives assigned to the case learned about a chilling foreshadowing of what happened that day.
A former HISD police officer testified that she was convinced Goldberg was dangerous after discovering a disturbing story he wrote when he was a student at Bellaire High School.
"His title was 'How to kill a woman' and he took you there," Officer Griest told jurors. "It wasn’t a novel, it wasn’t a poem, it was him, it was his thoughts.
"Talked about using a knife to make several cuts so that when she bled, the body would be covered, I mean, in red. Talked about her begging for her life. You could feel it. I mean, it was disturbing. Talked about her begging for her life and then the joy when she looked into his eyes and he realized they were dead and that he had no use for the (expletive deleted)," Griest said.
He also described what he would tell the victim as he killed her, Griest testified.
"Goldberg planned to say things like, 'Do you like it? Want me to do it some more?'" Griest said. "Was very talkative to the victim while she was being stabbed. Very tormenting. (The notebook) described how she would sweat, how her eyes would look, just the terror."
The wig shop owners testified that Goldberg asked Silverio "Do you like it?" when he was stabbing her over and over again.
Jurors also heard about a letter Goldberg wrote to an Israeli friend.
"I am now dating a slut named Christina. I want to cut her throat. I am changing into a violent young man, and I like it," the letter said.
Painful memories 'Our mother gave us everything'
Silverio's daughters said their mom had worked at the wig shop since the 1970s -- mostly helping cancer patients dealing with hair loss.
Menendez spoke to her on the phone just minutes before Goldberg barged into the shop and ended her life.
"I was talking to my mother at 4 in the afternoon on Black Friday, and at 4:11 she was dead," Menendez said.
The combination of Goldberg's parole hearing and the upcoming anniversary of the murder are dredging up painful memories.
“Every year around November time, it’s hard," Palmer told us. “And re-living this all over again after 25 years – we’re still fighting for justice."
The sisters feel like they’re the ones serving a life sentence after losing their mother.
"Our mother gave us everything -- we don't have her anymore," Menendez said. "Why should he be going back to his mother when he took mine?"
The sisters are also fighting to make sure Goldberg is only up for parole every five years instead of possibly every year. But they plan to appear before the board as many times as necessary.
Goldberg has maintained his innocence. KHOU 11 News requested an inmate interview with him back in March but didn't hear back.
RELATED: 'Going to kill again' | 1998 Houston wig shop murder victim's family wants killer to stay locked up