Peter Holzberger saved things -- lots of things.
He held on to videotapes, magazines, newspapers and books. He kept garden hoses, bicycles, tiki torches, video recorders and electronic items. He scavenged them from Dumpsters, trash bins and roadsides and stored them on his property in Glendale.
Described by friends as an eccentric but passionate environmentalist -- and widely known for his clashes with city officials over his junk-laden, half-acre property and "naturescaped" yard -- Holzberger once tried to save a troubled teen from a dangerous path. He made space for the youth in his home, where space was at a premium.
That troubled teen is now a man, accused with an accomplice of brutally killing Holzberger, then hiding his body.
According to a criminal complaint, Nicholas Retzlaff, 25, and Robert Michael Christophel, 28, tied up and strangled Holzberger, 65, at his home on Nov. 5, then hid his body in the basement, concealing it with debris and salvaged items. In the following days the men returned to Holzberger's home several times, hauling away more of his acquisitions and making numerous purchases with the dead man's debit card.
So cluttered was Holzberger's home that police did not find him when they searched the house Nov. 10. It wasn't until Retzlaff allegedly confessed to the killing three days later and told investigators exactly where to find him that police discovered the body.
Now, friends are left to contemplate a character who immersed himself in causes, survived mostly on ramen noodles, and rode around on his bicycle to mine treasures from other people's trash.
"He lived one of the most simplistic lives of anyone I've ever known," said a friend, Jim Carpenter.
Clashing with city officials
Peter Marc Holzberger graduated from Riverside High School in 1966, then studied heating, ventilation and air conditioning at Milwaukee Area Technical College. During the 1970s, he worked part time as an audio visual technician at MATC and later at several local sound studios, while developing a passion for physics, science, the environment and social justice, friends said.
A bespectacled man with a full beard, Holzberger plunged into organizations such as Peace Action Wisconsin, the United Nations Association, the Sierra Club, and the Green and Socialist parties. At meetings he was the one who ran the projectors and made sure the microphones didn't squeal.
He became a gadfly to Glendale police and city officials, clashing with them over his property -- where he had lived since high school -- and fighting attempts to force him to mow the grass and remove clutter.
He inundated City Hall with telephone calls, Carpenter recalled, and the city filed a restraining order against him in 2008, according to court records.
He was taken in handcuffs from his home earlier this year to the Milwaukee County Mental Health Complex, according to friends and a medical examiner's report.
At least four times Holzberger ran unsuccessfully for the Glendale Common Council. Holzberger "has campaigned more against city government in general than against his opponent," according to a 1997 newspaper story.
But Holzberger was also a gentle, sensitive man, said a friend, Sally Stern. If he saw a spider in his house he'd pick it up and place it outside.
Others said Holzberger was brilliant, a master at photography, computer software, and repairing air conditioning and heating systems.
"He was a Rube Goldberg-type engineer," said David Schall, who met Holzberger at a demonstration in support of the homeless almost 20 years ago.
When the Internet was still relatively new to the public, Holzberger set up chat rooms and websites for social justice organizations, Schall recalled. He'd bring his sound system to Socialist Party picnics, along with an eco-friendly cooler that kept beverages cold with a minimum amount of ice.
"I don't know where he obtained the sound system, but knowing Peter, he scrounged it from a scrap heap," Schall said.
Helping people in need
Holzberger met Retzlaff in late 2004. At the time, Holzberger was with Helen Moore -- now deceased -- of Bayside. Moore used a wheelchair, and Holzberger chauffeured her in her Ford Explorer, keeping it parked at his house.
They enjoyed going to the North Shore Library. During one visit, they met Retzlaff, who told them of his troubles at home and his desire to leave for good.
"Peter was naive," Stern said. "But one of his principles was to help people in need."
Retzlaff moved in with Holzberger about a month later. In March 2005, Retzlaff stole Moore's SUV, purse, cash, checks and credit cards before driving to Michigan, according to a criminal complaint.
After the vehicle broke down, he called Holzberger, who convinced the teen to take a bus back to Milwaukee.
Soon after, Retzlaff stole Holzberger's Dodge Grand Caravan and used Holzberger's credit card to make purchases over the Internet, according to another criminal complaint.
Despite the transgressions, Holzberger posted Retzlaff's $500 bail, according to that complaint.
"Peter kept giving him chances," Stern said.
The following October, Retzlaff stole Moore's SUV again, with a copy of a key to the vehicle he had made months before, according to yet another criminal complaint.
"Peter finally decided no more," Stern said.
Retzlaff spent time in and out of prison.
Earlier this year, he was out.
'A peace-loving person'
Based on the account attributed to Retzlaff and Christophel in the criminal complaint, in the moments before they killed Holzberger they would have crept past stacks of items salvaged by their victim. Past the kiddie pool fashioned like a turtle, the banana crates packed with medical syringes, the pink bicycle with whitewall tires, the 30-foot television antenna Holzberger erected himself. Past ladders and storm windows, barbecue grills and propane tanks. Past sinks, toilets and air conditioners.
Christophel reached Holzberger first, choking him into unconsciousness. Retzlaff and Christophel then took their victim into the house and wrapped a bungee cord around his neck, according to the complaint.
"This is when Mr. Retzlaff stated he knew for sure Mr. Holzberger was dead," the complaint said.
Through narrow paths carved through stacks of crates, boxes and other items they dragged Holzberger to the basement, where they placed his hands and feet behind his back and tied them together with rope.
They buried him under six feet of clothing, boxes and debris, according to a medical examiner's report.
"Peter was such a peace-loving person," Carpenter said. "It's difficult to understand why he was killed so violently."
Retzlaff and Christophel have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial in the Milwaukee County Jail.
Behind the house where Holzberger lived is an early stage forest that used to be a lawn. During the past 20 years, the ground has yielded young ash, cottonwood and silver maple trees, naturally seeded by birds and squirrels. Anyone standing in its midst could easily imagine a world without motor vehicle traffic, skyscrapers, strip malls and factory smokestacks.
Friends admit Holzberger could be stubborn and could irritate people. But they also were encouraged by the quiet, quirky man who thought he could make the world better.
"Peter was often a dreamer," Schall said. "Peter was a good soul."
Copyright 2013 - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
