BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON THE ACTUAL CRIME

On November 27 , 1998 , ( the day after the Thanksgiving Holiday and the busiest shopping day of the year ), a man walked into the Wigs By Andre store in Southwest Houston. The man entered the store at exactly four in the afternoon and began a random attack on the employees. The unidentified assailant stabbed employee Manuela Silverio twice , killing her. He then stabbed storeowner Roberta Ingrando 14 times before he was tackled by her husband Roland Ingrando. The attacker then wrestled and stabbed Ingrando.

The attacker then ran out of the store. A man standing across the street witnessed the murderer run into an adjoining parking lot and drive away in a black SUV. Two other women, in different spots of the same shopping center, also saw the man run into the parking lot. The male witness wrote down what he believed to be the license plate of the black SUV, and gave it to the responding police officer. This officer then partially entered the license number into the police DMV computer.

Although seven different descriptions were given, the main description was of a white male , aged between 18 to 25 . When the officer entered the partial license plate number, a list of 20 license plates in sequential order appeared on the computer screen. One of the license plates showed an address where a car burglary was reported. The owner of the vehicle was an 18 year-old white male, Danny Goldberg-Dror's brother, whose alibi was later confirmed. The police immediately went to the listed address, which was Dror's father's house. At six in the evening, two hours after the crime was committed, Dror drove up to his father's house only to find the street blocked off by the police. Dror was handcuffed and told of the crime, and then questioned. Dror then consented to questioning of his whereabouts for the day, as well as a police search of his father's house, his apartment, his truck, and the confiscation of his father ' s Lincoln Navigator. Dror then agreed to be taken to the Houston Police station to be placed in two line-ups, to have his palm prints and fingerprints taken. He was then questioned by the police for another six hours.

When it became apparent that all of Dror's whereabouts for the day were accounted for, and that he had an alibi for the time of the crime, Dror was released from police custody. However, from that point on, the police made no other effort to investigate any other leads, similar crimes, or likely suspects. They had targeted Dror.

With growing media pressure to solve the case, the police asked for and received an indictment for Dror Goldberg in March of 1999.