

Instead, Goldman told friends that he wanted to open a bar or restaurant in the Brentwood area. Not long before his death, he had earned an Emergency Medical Technician's license, but he did not pursue that career.

He also occasionally worked as a model for Barry Zeldes, owner of Z90049 (the store next to the California Pizza Kitchen in Brentwood Gardens, where he had worked before Mezzaluna). Upon arriving in California, Goldman lived independently from his family and supported himself by working as an employment headhunter and tennis instructor. He learned to surf and enjoyed playing beach volleyball, rollerblading, and nightclubbing. While living in Los Angeles, Goldman took some classes at Pierce College. Prior to relocating with his family, Goldman worked as a camp counselor and had experience volunteering with children suffering from cerebral palsy. After his family relocated to Southern California when he was 18 years old, however, Goldman discontinued his studies and followed his family. He was a student at Illinois State University for one semester, where he planned to major in psychology, and he also had an interest in becoming a pledge in Sigma Nu fraternity.

Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Illinois. Goldman lived with his father and his younger sister. His parents divorced in 1974, however, when he was six years old, and after spending a brief time in the custody of his mother, Sharon Rufo ( née Fohrman), he was raised by his father, Frederic Goldman (born December 6, 1940). He grew up in the community of Buffalo Grove, Illinois, near Chicago.
