Zeke’s Statement from 1996: Personal Background
My name is Charles J. Goldblum. I was born in 1949. My nickname is “Zeke”. I have been in prison since the fall of 1976. I have maintained a good record as a prisoner and was recommended favorably by the Superintendent of my institution in my last three applications to the Board of Pardons.
In 1977, I was convicted of first degree murder, arson, solicitation to commit arson, and conspiracy to commit theft. I was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder, plus fifteen to thirty years on the other charges by Judge Donald Ziegler. Many years later, Judge Ziegler wrote several very strong letters on my behalf, recommending my immediate release.
I come from a large, loving, and supportive family. I am the second of five children. My father is a rabbi and served Congregation Beth Shalom in Pittsburgh, PA for more than twenty years before he retired. He went back to work a few years later at a small congregation in Dover, Delaware, where he served for more than ten years. He continued to work until he was eight years old, primarily because of the large legal bills incurred in my defense. My mother was involved to a great degree in my father’s career. Combined with raising five children, she was dept very busy. In later years, after most of the children were grown, she did some substitute teaching and went back to school for her master’s Degree. My older brother Simeon is a physician and professor of medicine at the University of Maryland. My younger brother David is a chemical/environmental engineer employed by the Federal Government. My sister Liba is a physician in private practice as a radiologist in Baltimore. My sister Orah is a teacher. She lives in Rehovot, Israel.
Throughout the many years of my ordeal, my entire family has always been totally supportive. Until my parents moved from Pittsburgh to Baltimore in 1986, they cam to visit me every week, driving 270 miles each time. When they moved to Dover, Delaware, they continued to visit me every month. In the past few years, as their health has declined, they have not been able to visit me as regularly. They still come as often as they can. They now spend most of the year in Israel with my sister Orah. My brothers and sisters, in spite of the busy lives, have also kept in close contact with me. They visit often and are always there for me.
My family moved to Pittsburgh in 1963, the year that I started high school. I earned my bachelor degree at Washington and Jefferson College in 1971, and graduated from Duquesne University law School in 1974. I then went to work for Arthur Young and Company, a major CPA firm now known as Ernst and Young. I was employed there until my arrest in February, 1976.
I was married 1971, soon after graduation from college. Several months after I was arrested, my wife left me and we divorced. Had I never been arrested I feel reasonably certain that I would still be happily married to her.
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