To date, Joe Goldberg has killed a known number of five persons (not including his father). The astonishing thing about Goldberg is not the number of persons he has killed but his ability to “perfect” the life of a serial killer.
Joe was somehow able to pull the wool over the eyes of everyone around him by committing these murders while still living a normal life and maintaining his nice-guy persona.
The normalisation he was able to project was probably due to his belief that he was always justified in his actions.
Joe Goldberg’s childhood
Joe Goldberg had a harder than average childhood. He was born on April 8, his exact date of birth is currently unknown. He had an abusive father who abused him and his mother. It was this abuse that led Goldberg to commit his first murder. One day, Goldberg took a gun and killed his father in an attempt to protect his mother from his father’s abuse.
After the incident, Goldberg was sent to New York State’s Irving Group Home For Boys. It was in this group home that he met Mr. Mooney who in turn adopted Joe. Mr. Mooney was the owner of a bookstore and he eventually allowed Goldberg to work at the bookstore with him.
Unfortunately, Goldberg suffered abuse from both of the paternal figures in his life as his relationship with Mr. Mooney was also riddled in abuse although more intense than that with his biological father. Despite the abuse, the relationship with Mr. Mooney led to Goldberg’s love of books but it also led to something far more sinister.
Goldberg's violence was primarily aimed at the women he got into relationships with. Joe was a possessive stalker who turned to violence when he felt like his position in these women's lives was threatened.
Candace Stone
As with many serial killers, Goldberg was damaged way before his first kill and it was this damaged Joe that met Candace Stone. Candace Stone was a musician. At some point in their relationship, Goldberg discovered that Candace was seeing Elijah Thornton who was also a member of the music industry. Elijah became Joe’s first intentional kill, this murder stemmed from a fit of jealous rage.
Candace was then on Joe’s radar as he ended up kidnapping her and taking her to the nearby woods. Joe still claims to this day that his only intention was to take her there to talk. While they were in the forest a struggle ensued and Candace was knocked unconscious. Thinking she had died Joe panicked and buried her. He then fled the scene ready to start his life over as if nothing had happened.
Miraculously Candace survived, however, the police officers did not believe her story as there was no evidence. Not much information is known about Candace Stone as she has stated repeatedly she does not wish to be associated with Goldberg.
After Goldberg's attack on Stone with no consequences, he was then able to move on to his next victim, Guinevere Beck.
Guinevere Beck “Beck”
Beck was born on December 3rd on Nantucket Island. She was a former student at Brown University where she majored in Literature. She then went on to pursue her Masters in Fine Arts.
Beck was also a writer and she met Joe at the bookstore he managed after Mr. Mooney's death.
Guinevere, unfortunately, was not as lucky as Candace and lost her life at the hands of Goldberg. Goldberg developed an obsession with Beck which lead to his possessiveness of her. Even before they started dating Goldberg began stalking Beck. Through this stalking, Goldberg discovered Beck was in a relationship at the time. In an effort to "get him out of the way" Goldberg murdered Beck's boyfriend, Benjamin "Benji" Ashby Jr. III.
Beck, unaware her boyfriend had been murdered by this new handsome stranger that appeared in her life, began a relationship with Joe. It was during this relationship that Beck's best friend, Peach Salinger became another one of Goldberg's victims.
Due to Joe's possessive behaviour, he viewed Peach as a threat to his and Beck's relationship. Joe claims that Peach was secretly in love with Beck.
Beck was blissfully unaware of the evil that lived in Goldberg until it was too late. According to reports Beck found some form of evidence in Goldberg's apartment that sparked her suspicions of Joe. However, it was after she confronted him that Goldberg murdered her.
Goldberg’s relationship with Paco
Goldberg stated that his need to protect Paco stemmed from his feelings of neglect as a child. Paco was Goldberg’s neighbour who lived with an abusive stepfather. Goldberg’s drive to protect him went too far when he ended up killing Paco’s stepfather, Ron. The circumstances were similar to the murder of his father as he felt it was his duty to protect the ones that couldn't protect themselves.
Goldberg’s first contact with the plexiglass cage was as a captive himself. Mr. Mooney often used it as a form of punishment for Joe. After Mr. Mooney’s death, Joe began using the cage to house his own captives, the first being Beck’s boyfriend, before he eventually murdered him. Beck herself also became a prisoner before her death.
Joe stated that he often used the cage to house his victims while they were alive until he made a decision about what he wanted to do with them.
Comments (0)
See all