MURDERED: Solomon Robinson

A young soldier, home on leave, should have been safe in his own neighborhood. Instead, 19-year-old Solomon Robinson was murdered in a park full of people — but no one has ever come forward to say what really happened. Decades later, his family is still searching for justice, and detectives are hoping someone will finally break the silence.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Ashley Flowers?

  When you're out in nature, you learn to trust your instincts. You pay attention to the trail, your surroundings, and you stay alert to protect yourself from harm. But what if the biggest threat isn't the environment at all? On Park Predators, host Delia Diambra explores true crime cases that happen in national parks and remote wildernesses, the places we usually think of as safe and peaceful. Each episode reveals what happened and how much more there is beneath the surface. Listen to Park Predators now, wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, crime junkies. I'm Ashley Flowers.

• 0:33Speaker 01

  And I'm Britt.

• 0:34Ashley Flowers?

  And the story I have for you today is one that shouldn't even be a story that we're telling all these years later, because the murder of a young soldier, home on leave, was potentially witnessed by 100 or so people. So this should be solved, put away. The problem is, no one is willing to tell police what happened. But maybe that changes today. This is the story of Solomon Robinson.

• 1:35Ashley Flowers?

  It's Friday, April 3rd, 1998. And even though it's kind of chilly at night, there is a party going on in St. Mary's Park in the South Bronx, New York. There's a big crowd of people hanging out. Everyone's having a good time. When suddenly, just before 10:00 PM, a gunshot rings out. Someone calls police, telling them that a man has been shot. And within minutes, EMTs and officers from the NYPD are on the scene. But it is absolute chaos. I mean, people are fleeing in every direction, trying to get away from whatever just happened. And a couple of guys on a green motorbike are speeding down a nearby sidewalk. True, pandemonium happening here. But this particular area of the park is pretty well lit,

• 2:18Ashley Flowers?

  and responders are able to find the victim easily. It's a young man laying face down on the grass near a pathway that runs past some basketball courts. Blood is soaking through his black and yellow striped jacket. And when EMTs turn him over, they realize that there is nothing they can do. They see that in addition to the gunshot wound on the left side of his chest, he has also been stabbed multiple times and his face and neck are slashed too. The victim is declared dead at 9:50 and police secure the scene and start gathering evidence. They collect dozens of bottles and cans, remnants of the party that had been going on. And they also recover a black Nike skull cap and a wristwatch near the young man's body.

• 3:03Ashley Flowers?

  What they don't find is a weapon or any shell casings left behind from the gun that was used, or any identification for their victim. I mean, if he had a wallet on him, that's gone. But if robbery was the motive, his killer left behind an expensive starter jacket that the victim was still wearing. And NYPD detective Robert Klein told our reporter Nina that this particular type of jacket was often the target of robberies in the 90s. So right off the bat, they're thinking this is something else. And I'm not sure how, but even without a wallet or a license on this person, police managed to identify the victim pretty quickly as 19-year-old Solomon Robinson, affectionately

• 3:45Ashley Flowers?

  known as Solo or Junie to his parents, who police learned live in an apartment building just outside of the park. But word travels fast here and by the time police make it to the front door of the apartment that Solomon grew up in, his mom, Edna, has already been told the awful news. Now investigators know this isn't the safest area. In fact, according to the New York Daily News, it is one of the most violent police precincts in the city. But Solomon's murder doesn't match the circumstances that they so often encounter. He's not in a gang, he doesn't sell drugs, and he had never been in any trouble. Actually, he had worked hard to carve out a different life for himself. Like, he joined the Army last year, the year before, in August of 97, right after graduating high school.

• 4:30Ashley Flowers?

  And Edna tells detectives that Solomon is a private stationed at Fort Benning in Georgia.

• 4:36Speaker 01

  Oh, so he doesn't even live in that area?

• 4:38Ashley Flowers?

  No, no, he's just home on leave for the week. So he was actually scheduled to head back to his base in like a couple of days. It would have been Monday, April 6th when he went back. And this time coming home, this was his first trip home since Thanksgiving and his parents had been so happy to see him, especially his dad, who had been dealing with some serious health issues. I mean, he was having seizures and stuff like this. The rest of his family was so happy as well. I mean, one of his brothers, Russell, who lives in Connecticut, was actually planning to come visit him the very next day. But now, instead of coming to hang out with his little brother and, you know, do whatever it is they used to do when they were younger, like he's coming home to support his family and to try and find out what happened. And it's so heartbreaking.

• 5:20Ashley Flowers?

  He said that when his mom called to tell him the news, that he couldn't even understand her at first. And he thought that she was trying to tell him that his father had died, right? Like he was the one having all the health issues. And it took him a minute to realize that she was talking about Solomon because it just seemed so incomprehensible. So Russell travels back to the Bronx with a cousin, Melody, who lives near him in Connecticut. And by the time they get there, which is the same night, Solomon's body is still in the park. And no matter how hard they try, they can hardly process what's going on. Like again, sure, the area had a reputation, but this was Solomon's home turf. Like he and his family knew most everyone in the area and he'd spent countless hours playing basketball on the very courts he was killed by.

• 6:05Ashley Flowers?

  I mean, he was even playing earlier that day. So they can't think of anyone who would want to do this to Solomon.

• 6:10Speaker 01

  So had he like still been in the park after playing basketball? Or was he at that party that was going on?

• 6:16Ashley Flowers?

  So, well, right, that's what police want to find out. His mom tells them that she knew that he was playing basketball that afternoon, but then he came home at some point that evening. And then a friend stopped by at around 8:00 PM. And just an FYI, Detective Klein asked us to use pseudonyms for any witnesses and suspects that we discuss. You'll kind of see why later. But we're going to call this friend that came by, Gail. Gail and Solomon left the apartment at around 8:30. And at the time, Edna thinks that he was gonna walk Gail somewhere, but like, that's really all she knows. And police learned that Gail is local. She lives in an apartment about a mile away. And she's actually home when they go looking for her. And she tells investigators that she and Solomon are romantically involved.

• 6:57Ashley Flowers?

  But she doesn't know everything about his movements that night, because yes, she did meet up with him, but after they left his parents' place, they just hung outside his building with some other people for a while. And then, at some point, he, he being Solomon, left with someone. But Gail didn't know who. She just knew that they were gonna go to the corner store. Now, she says she stayed back, and when they all got back, not too long after, Solomon hurried upstairs. She doesn't know where, or like, to what apartment, or even why he seemed to be in a hurry. But when he came back down, he was wearing a jacket, which he had actually borrowed from a friend who lived in the building. And presumably, this is the one that he was wearing when he was killed.

• 7:39Ashley Flowers?

  Now, Gail says that Solomon told her he loved her and he would be back, and then he walked off in the direction of the park.

• 7:45Speaker 01

  So she didn't go with him?

• 7:47Ashley Flowers?

  That's what she's saying, yeah. And she says she was still hanging around with friends when she heard he'd been shot. And she said she tried to go over to the park, but with all of the cops and activity, like, she couldn't even get close enough to see anything. So she just went back, hung around his building for a while, maybe hoping this was all a mistake, or waiting to hear more information. But eventually, she went home. A lot of details in this case are kind of fuzzy. Like, there is no information about the identities of the people that she and Solomon were supposedly hanging out with that night in front of the building, or why she went home instead of sticking around. But whatever investigators were able to glean, that maybe isn't written down in black and white for me, like, decades later,

• 8:29Ashley Flowers?

  they seem to determine that Solomon wasn't going to that party, or hanging out in the park at all. He was just passing through it.

• 8:37Speaker 01

  I would assume that's because he said he'd be back?

• 8:41Ashley Flowers?

  That might be why. Truly, I don't know. But if he wasn't going to the party, then where was he going?

• 8:47Speaker 01

  Right.

• 8:47Ashley Flowers?

  And why would this well-liked guy with no enemies to speak of, who's just home for a few days, be the target of such a brutal attack? And if no one could tell them why, then surely someone could tell them who, right? Because there were so many people around when he was killed. So the lead detective on this case really hits the streets hard to canvas. And just a quick aside, because I can't not tell you this. And it kind of has nothing to do with the case, except like, I mean, it kind of does. Like, the lead detective's name is Loser Lane.

• 9:22Speaker 01

  That, no, that can't be his real name.

• 9:25Ashley Flowers?

  Dude, not only is it his real name, like, we, I mean, I obviously have like 45 follow-up questions. We found out Loser has an older brother. Do you even want to guess what his older brother's name is?

• 9:36Speaker 01

  I don't even know what kind of person names their child Loser. I can't even begin to guess.

• 9:41Ashley Flowers?

  His brother's name is Winner.

• 9:43Speaker 01

  No.

• 9:44Ashley Flowers?

  I don't know if this was like a social experiment or what, but according to an article in the Chicago Tribune, their dad let their sister pick Loser's name, and that's what she shows. And then they actually like went with it. And what I think is so ironic, and why I like say this is this a social experiment, is that Loser was this great student, he was this athlete who went on to become a respected NYPD investigator.

• 10:06Speaker 01

  Despite his name?

• 10:07Ashley Flowers?

  While Winner became this small-time crook and was arrested dozens of times. And I could literally talk about this all day long.

• 10:13Speaker 01

  Yeah, I'm now obsessed with this.

• 10:15Ashley Flowers?

  We have to get back to this case, but you're going to hear me say, potentially Loser. I'm just going to call him Detective Lane.

• 10:19Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 10:20Ashley Flowers?

  Detective Lane, or Lou, as the guys call him, he's out canvassing with other investigators. But they're just hitting like wall after wall after wall, trying to get anyone to talk is like pulling teeth. Like, no one wants to be labeled a snitch. And the statements they do get are kind of all over the place. Like, they hear Solomon was attacked by three or four people. Some describe the perpetrators as light-skinned Hispanic men, but like, the details even there are like shaky at best. Like, maybe one had a limp, maybe one was wearing a tan jacket, maybe it was the guys that were on the green dirt bike thing, whatever, driving near the park after the gunshots. Maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe. But like, all of these maybes go nowhere.

• 11:03Ashley Flowers?

  Police do get excited for a minute when they catch wind of a rumor that someone actually videotaped the party, but no one can say who might have taken the video. And it seems like almost every time they identify someone who was supposed to have been at this party, that person has a suspiciously perfect alibi and was definitely not at the park when the shots rang out. If you go by the statements that detectives were getting, I mean, it seems like no one was at the park when Solomon was actually killed, which we know isn't true. And speaking of the party, they hear it was held to celebrate a woman's birthday, but when they track her down, she completely denies that it was her party at all.

• 11:43Speaker 01

  So they're basically like chasing smoke at every turn.

• 11:45Ashley Flowers?

  Exactly. I mean, this is true even of some of the people that Solomon was like closest with. Like when they go interview Gail a second time, all of a sudden, she has a new story for them.

• 11:59Ashley Flowers?

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• 12:42Ashley Flowers?

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• 14:02Ashley Flowers?

  Now Gail says that she met up with her good friend, Solomon, and then he went to the corner store to get a drink, and that's the last time she saw him.

• 14:10Speaker 01

  I'm sorry, good friend?

• 14:12Ashley Flowers?

  Just friends now. Although she adds that he was maybe hoping for something more, but like that wasn't gonna happen because she tells them she's actually dating another service member, someone that Solomon maybe knows.

• 14:23Speaker 01

  I'm sorry, who?

• 14:24Ashley Flowers?

  Like, no one that was around. Like, the guy that she is supposedly dating is stationed at a base in Colorado at the time. And if anyone was wondering, Gail assures police, like, nope, there's no tension between the two men.

• 14:37Speaker 01

  So, all that stuff about him, like, rushing upstairs, getting the jacket, going back out, like, all of that in her story is just gone?

• 14:44Ashley Flowers?

  From how the police report reads, yes. And listen, investigators had already kind of been doubting the truthfulness of her account before she changed the details around. Because her story, like, the sequence of events, like, it just didn't make much sense to them. But now they're really wondering what her deal is. And this kind of throws the whole narrative into question. Let's say that Solomon was actually walking to the store that Gail mentioned the last time she saw him. He wouldn't have needed to go into the park at all to get there, like, it was right down the street from him. And police don't seem to think that a wallet was taken off Solomon. They don't think that he had one on him that night. So, no wallet, no money.

• 15:28Speaker 01

  How could he buy some?

• 15:29Ashley Flowers?

  Exactly. Like, if he was gonna go to the store, like, he didn't go prepared. Solomon's brother, Russell, and their cousin, Melody, they think that the whole corner store story is bogus. And they actually have a completely different theory about where Solomon was maybe going. They think that he was walking Gail somewhere that night. Somewhere that to get there would have taken them through the park.

• 15:54Speaker 01

  Which is what his mom, Edna, originally thought, right?

• 15:57Ashley Flowers?

  Right, right.

• 15:58Speaker 01

  And if Gail's lying, and she actually was with Solomon when he was killed, I mean, that's not just an eyewitness, it's like an essential eyewitness.

• 16:06Ashley Flowers?

  Right, maybe, right. Detectives think probably, but for whatever reason, she's not admitting to that. So was he going to the store? Had he already gone to the store and then went into the park? Like, who was he with? I don't know. But this shows just how many lies and half-truths detectives were getting, even from the people who claimed to care about Solomon. Now, meanwhile, while they're doing all of this canvassing, the autopsy is done. And that reveals just how vicious this attack truly was. The medical examiner finds four stab wounds in his back, each one at least three inches deep. They find another on his hip.

• 16:47Ashley Flowers?

  But those actually weren't what killed him. It was the single gunshot that proved fatal. It tore through his heart, through his left lung, and his stomach. When they recover the bullet, they find it's aluminum jacketed, so it's either a 9mm or a 38 caliber. It's actually another one of his injuries that really catches their attention. He has, I mentioned, a slash across his face. So this slash starts at one corner of his mouth and stretches all the way past the other side. Picture something like the markings of like Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight.

• 17:20Speaker 01

  Okay.

• 17:21Ashley Flowers?

  And that cut is what's known as a buck fifty, and the name comes from the 150 or 50 so stitches that it takes to actually close it up. And police recognize this immediately as a hallmark of gang violence.

• 17:34Speaker 01

  But that doesn't make any sense. Like, Solomon wasn't in a gang.

• 17:38Ashley Flowers?

  No, he wasn't, but detectives are thinking that his killer or killers might be. So over the next few months, they cast a wide net, looking into all sorts of criminal activity happening in the area. They investigate a local drug sales operation to see if maybe there's any connection there. And every time they make a nearby arrest and confiscate a weapon, they request ballistics testing to compare it to the bullet that killed Solomon. They even look into recent robberies around the park despite not believing that Solomon's murder was about theft.

• 18:08Speaker 01

  So they're basically hoping to catch these guys for something else and then connect it back to Solomon.

• 18:13Ashley Flowers?

  Yeah, that's their best bet because nothing else is moving this case forward. They process dozens of bottles and cans from the park. They're looking for fingerprints, but every time they come up empty. They even get the story featured on TV and they managed to get a $10,000 reward approved for information, but none of that helped either. So they're hoping that something else, some other crime, might be the thing that gives them a lead. And that is exactly what happens. But not until like eight months after his murder in January of 1999. That's when Detective Lane gets a promising lead from a Bronx narcotics officer who tells him that during a drug arrest a few days earlier,

• 18:58Ashley Flowers?

  they took someone into custody, I'm gonna call this guy Frank. And Frank indicates that he has some information about Solomon's homicide. So detectives go visit him in jail on a Tuesday, this is January 12th, and he gives them a detailed account of what he says happened that night. He tells them that he was outside of a building that overlooks the park and he saw Solomon Robinson walking through with a couple of young women. Now meanwhile, two men were walking in the opposite direction. And when their paths intersected, one of them called out to Solomon, telling him, "Come here." Solomon stepped back and Frank then heard gunshots.

• 19:39Ashley Flowers?

  And then a second man cut Solomon with a knife while the shooter just like stood by watching. And then after that, both of the attackers left on foot. And listen, this is better than just Frank telling them what happened. He is able to tell them who did it. A pair of cousins who we're gonna call John and William. Now, there's some confusion over who was the shooter, who was the stabber. Police reports refer to William by a specific nickname, but the nickname that they use was actually John's nickname, so it's not clear who allegedly did what during this attack. Now, of course, Frank isn't a perfect witness by any means. Like, not only is he in jail, but some of his information is, like, iffy, right? Like, he claims he heard four shots.

• 20:24Ashley Flowers?

  We only know Solomon was shot once, but...

• 20:27Speaker 01

  I mean, it could have been more. When people were calling 911, did they say one shot? Or, like, shots?

• 20:34Ashley Flowers?

  Well, no, so actually, I'm pretty sure the call that got called in was for shots fired, but I also know that's a general, like, dispatch code that they use. So it's like, not a description necessarily of what happened. And I don't know the words that the caller used. I haven't actually heard the call. So, all of that, TBD. There's another issue. Even though we got a lot of, like, maybe this, maybe that statements from people early on in the attack, like, pretty much every witness account did say that the men who killed Solomon were Hispanic. William and John are not Hispanic, they're black.

• 21:03Speaker 01

  Hmm, but it's not uncommon for witness accounts to be off, especially in what seems like a really chaotic situation like this was.

• 21:11Ashley Flowers?

  Right, yeah, yeah, yeah, with big crowds, stuff for sure. I mean, there were a ton of people running around that night after the attack. I mean, it's possible that someone was seeing Hispanic men, like, running off and, like, maybe that's what added to the mix-up. But, like, it doesn't matter to Frank. Frank's like, "Listen, I saw it, and I know the guys." Like, there is no confusion here. And, by the way, if you don't trust me, good news, I wasn't alone. He says there's another witness who can back him up. Let's face it, if student loans are slowing down your financial goals, it might be time for a smarter strategy. That's where today's sponsor, SoFi, comes in. SoFi is helping you tackle student debt by refinancing your loans with flexible monthly payments that fit your budget.

• 21:54Ashley Flowers?

  We're talking about the potential to lower your interest rate, reduce your monthly payment, or even pay off your loan sooner, depending on the term you choose. You can also consolidate your student loans into one simple monthly payment, so you could save more each month and work towards achieving your long-term financial ambitions. SoFi offers competitive fixed and variable rates and no origination fees, prepayment fees, or late fees required. It takes just two minutes to check your rate with SoFi, and they have already helped over 500,000 members refinance more than $50 billion in student loans. Visit sofi.com/crimejunkie to see how much you can save. That's sofi.com/crimejunkie and start making smarter money moves with SoFi. SoFi's student loans are originated by SoFi Bank, N.A., member FDIC.

• 22:37Ashley Flowers?

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• 22:45Ashley Flowers?

  Frank says this other person saw the murder with him, and this was a 15-year-old girl that we'll call Brenda. Now Brenda actually lives in the building that Frank was at when the murder took place. And according to Frank, they witnessed it together while they were smoking on Brenda's fire escape or like roof or something. So as soon as they're done talking to Frank, police go right to Brenda's apartment to speak with her, and they get a little creative with their approach. They don't tell her that Frank gave them her name. They actually tell her they know she saw Solomon get killed because they have surveillance video of her on the fire escape. Now, the bluff works, and her account is very similar to Frank's. She tells investigators that her mom doesn't know she smokes cigarettes,

• 23:30Ashley Flowers?

  so she was sneaking one on their fire escape, which gave her a clear view of the park. She says she saw Solomon walking with two girls, and at the same time, she saw John and William. They're like leaving the handball courts, which are like right next to the basketball courts. Their paths cross, and somehow the situation escalated quickly, like into murder.

• 23:51Speaker 01

  Does Brenda mention Frank at all? Like, is he part of her narrative, her story?

• 23:56Ashley Flowers?

  She tells detectives that she and Frank were in the park earlier that day smoking weed, but I don't know if she says anything about like them being on the fire escape together when Solomon was killed. Like, it's not clear from her written statement.

• 24:07Speaker 01

  Okay, so what about the girls that Solomon was with? Did Frank or Brenda describe them? Like, was one of them Gail?

• 24:16Ashley Flowers?

  So there's no description in the report of her statement, so I can't say for sure. But, I mean, like, I know police were highly suspicious that one of them was Gail.

• 24:25Speaker 01

  Right.

• 24:26Ashley Flowers?

  But real quick, let me tell you more about John and William, because as investigators dig into their backgrounds, they realize that they have a lot of reasons to be suspicious of these two, more than just these statements. Now, they can't find any indication that either of them knew Solomon, although there's certainly a chance of that because John lived practically across the street from him. But both men have criminal records dating back to the early 90s, including drug charges. And more importantly, both men have rumored ties to the Nine Trey Gangsters, which is a set of the United Blood Nation, which is basically like an East Coast version of the Bloods. Trying to get most like mainstream as I can. And this is separate from the original gang on the West Coast.

• 25:08Speaker 01

  Got it.

• 25:09Ashley Flowers?

  So this really catches law enforcement's attention because getting initiated into a West Coast Bloodset typically involves targeting a rival gang. But the United Blood Nation, including its subset, Nine Trey Gangsters, were known for going after non-gang members. And their preferred method of attack was a buck fifty, that like facial slash that we know Solomon had.

• 25:33Speaker 01

  But if these guys were already in a gang, why would they need to do some kind of initiation?

• 25:39Ashley Flowers?

  Well, investigators believe that it might not have been about joining, but maybe about moving up the ranks.

• 25:45Speaker 01

  Oh.

• 25:46Ashley Flowers?

  And I, I had to get like a whole crash course on this from detectives, but basically, gang hierarchies can be complex and sometimes members have to prove themselves to gain more status or more responsibility within the organization. And this kind of attack, this is exactly the signature that these guys were known for. Obviously, this is all promising. But there is a big problem. Brenda refuses to cooperate further, like she just completely shuts down.

• 26:14Speaker 01

  I mean, she's probably scared.

• 26:16Ashley Flowers?

  Probably terrified. I mean, I would be too. But with their key witness unwilling to move forward, the investigation is at a standstill. And just like that, the momentum that they had built up just disappears and the case goes cold for years.

• 26:33Speaker 01

  Wait, don't they still have Frank? Why can't they use him?

• 26:37Ashley Flowers?

  I think it comes down to credibility issues, like Brenda's not in jail, right? Like she doesn't have any charges looming. With the two of them together, there could be a strong narrative to build, but like, if you just have Frank.

• 26:50Speaker 01

  Without her, it's kind of like.

• 26:52Ashley Flowers?

  They don't feel like they can move forward. So they let some time go by, during which Frank gets out of jail, doesn't exactly stay out of trouble, a probation violation, gets an arrest warrant put out on him. So he's like MIA, trying to fly under the radar when detectives on Solomon's case decide like, hey, we should stir this up again. They go looking for him in 2005. Again, they don't find him, but on May 25th, 2006, police finally arrest him. And less than two weeks later, the homicide task force gets an unexpected call from Rikers Island. It's Frank, and he is ready to cooperate on Solomon's case, even if he doesn't get anything in return. And he says he's only been dodging them because he thought that they were just trying to like trick him

• 27:35Ashley Flowers?

  into getting arrested on the warrant he had. Like, that's why he was dodging the homicide guys. But now that he's locked up anyway, like, he's like, I might as well talk. Now, his story's the same, but this time he confirms what was only suspected before. According to Frank, John and William were both Bloods members, and he says that they sold crack in the neighborhood. But they still have the same problems they had years ago, like Frank's in jail, it doesn't feel super credible to put him out on his own. And though they tracked Brenda down and her story is the same, she is still too afraid to talk. She even thinks that someone might be watching her. Like, bottom line is, she's not gonna work with them. So without Brenda, they got nothing that's gonna stand up through a full

• 28:18Ashley Flowers?

  trial. And with no one else coming forward, nothing happens again on this case for years. And as you can imagine, I mean, NYPD has new cases coming in every single day.

• 28:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, I've watched Law and Order. They all come with that little like headline of where it is, what's happening, what time it is, and it's like constant.

• 28:38Ashley Flowers?

  They're like, they're one of the busiest precincts.

• 28:40Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 28:41Ashley Flowers?

  The more and more that come in, the deeper and deeper Solomon's case file falls to some old cabinet or drawer filled with other old files on other old cases. But in 2022, Detective Klein, who's with the Bronx homicide squad, stumbles across Solomon's case while going through some of those old files. And it catches his eye right away because Klein spent seven years in the Army, and he and Solomon were actually in bootcamp at the same time, although they never actually met. And he can't stand the thought of a fellow soldier's murder going unsolved. And as he flips through the file, he sees potential. The witnesses who ID'd the killers are still alive, as are the potential killers themselves.

• 29:26Ashley Flowers?

  And when he reaches out to a retired investigator who worked the case, that guy tells him he thinks it's solvable, too. Klein thinks if he can track down Frank again and somehow convince Brenda to finally cooperate, they might have enough to finally charge these guys. Maybe whatever fear was keeping people silent back then has faded away. Maybe now they can even develop some new witnesses who were too scared to come forward before. And Detective Klein knows exactly where he wants to start. Not with Brenda, not with Frank, but with Gail. All these years later, when Klein interviews her at her job in September of 2022, she sticks to the part of her story that basically has her not with Solomon when he's being killed.

• 30:11Ashley Flowers?

  But this time around, she admits that they were romantically involved, like she told police the very first time.

• 30:17Speaker 01

  Right, we're back to that.

• 30:18Ashley Flowers?

  Yes. And unfortunately, she can't or won't explain any of the contradictory statements that she's made in the past. Her story is, she wasn't with him, she knows nothing, so sorry, the end.

• 30:31Speaker 01

  This is like beyond frustrating to me. I feel like all the puzzle pieces are

• 30:36Ashley Flowers?

  Right there.

• 30:36Speaker 01

  Right here, and nobody wants to help put them together.

• 30:41Ashley Flowers?

  I know. It's got like, it's gonna take so much work. And Klein keeps sticking. He's willing to put in the work. He sees a way to break through the wall of silence, and he thinks the way to do that is with the help of the feds.

• 30:56Ashley Flowers?

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• 31:39Ashley Flowers?

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• 32:00Ashley Flowers?

  The NYPD and the FBI have this joint task force that targets violent crimes and gang activity. Basically, they take cases that meet certain criteria like potential gang involvement and they look to charge them federally. The task force had already successfully closed some other cold cases, so it wasn't difficult to get them on board for Solomon's around 2023. And this opens up a whole lot of new doors because suddenly the stakes are way higher for everyone involved. Lying to federal agents is a separate crime all on its own. And with the weight of federal charges and mandatory minimums looming, not to mention a high conviction rate, witnesses tend to get a lot more fearful and as a result, a

• 32:44Ashley Flowers?

  lot more cooperative. They can also use evidence that state prosecutors probably wouldn't touch, like certain hearsay statements or testimony from co-conspirators. So Klein is deputized as a federal agent, which gives him the same authority. And right away, he sees the difference when they go re-interview Frank. So they pull him into a car for questioning and once Frank realizes that the FBI is involved, his whole narrative changes. He confesses that he didn't actually see Solomon get killed.

• 33:14Speaker 01

  What?

• 33:15Ashley Flowers?

  Mm-hmm.

• 33:16Speaker 01

  Why on earth would he make that up?

• 33:19Ashley Flowers?

  So he was hoping for a deal. You see, he says the real truth. What he's telling them now is that just Brenda saw. He and Brenda had spent the earlier part of the day together. He had sold her some weed, but by the time Solomon was killed, he, being Frank, had already left. Brenda filled him in on what she saw that night, and when he got arrested on drug charges back in early 99.

• 33:45Speaker 01

  He needed a story to use as like leverage.

• 33:48Ashley Flowers?

  Right, so he passed the story off as his own.

• 33:51Speaker 01

  So, wait, did no one ask Brenda if he was there, like about Frank's like witnessing of it?

• 33:58Ashley Flowers?

  This is the bonkers part, not that I can tell. Remember, they like told her because they wanted to get her.

• 34:03Speaker 01

  They left him out of the story completely, and so did she.

• 34:07Ashley Flowers?

  Right, so she like, they were like completely leaving out how they got her name in the first place. So they just came at her like, we know you know, which, which ended up working, but like, I don't think anyone ever circled back and like brought up Frank again.

• 34:18Speaker 01

  Or brought up that Frank wasn't in her story.

• 34:21Ashley Flowers?

  But it sure comes up now when they interview her again. This time at FBI headquarters in Florida, where she had moved at some point. She tells them she was with Frank earlier that day, but she doesn't remember him being with her when Solomon was killed. And unlike Frank, she sticks to her account of what happened that night. She even IDs William as the shooter from a photo array. Although, again, she calls him by John's nickname, so no help clearing that up for me. But she's still not willing to cooperate further. So of the two key witnesses they had, one never actually saw anything.

• 35:00Speaker 01

  Isn't a witness.

• 35:00Ashley Flowers?

  The other won't budge when it comes to working with police.

• 35:04Speaker 01

  Has anyone attempted to talk to John and William yet?

• 35:08Ashley Flowers?

  No, and not because they don't want to, they just want to be strategic about it.

• 35:13Speaker 01

  They want to know exactly how they want to go in before they go in.

• 35:16Ashley Flowers?

  Yeah, and they like, they don't have enough probable cause to make an arrest, so I don't think they want to tip their hand. But Detective Klein has this idea, and it involves this other unsolved murder that he's been working. It's the murder of a young woman named Shawna Brown. You see, a couple of months after Solomon was killed, Shawna's body was found in the lobby of a project building just outside of St. Mary's Park. There was duct tape wrapped around her neck, and she was naked and like in the fetal position. Although, according to the New York Daily News, there was no sign of sexual assault. What is odd is that Shawna was from East Harlem, and she had zero connection to the building that she was found in. Police theorize that she was killed somewhere else

• 36:00Ashley Flowers?

  and then left there afterward. Now, long story short, there was this note in Solomon's file that Klein had come across, basically suggesting that William had something to do with Shawna's murder. Now Detective Klein doesn't believe that. He already has a strong suspect in mind for her case. But he sees this as an opportunity. Like, if he can get William talking about Shawna's case, like as a potential witness, maybe he can steer the conversation toward Solomon. Like, it's a long shot, but like, but what else have they got at this point? Anything is worth trying. So when he goes to talk to him, William is talkative at first. He even identifies a suspect for them in Shawna's case. It's actually the same guy who is already the prime suspect for Klein.

• 36:44Ashley Flowers?

  But then William goes further and says that same person, by the way, is responsible for other murders, including that guy that was killed in the park next to a bench, which seems like he's referring to Solomon. And Detective Klein can hardly believe it, because nobody, and I mean nobody, had ever connected that particular suspect to Solomon's murder before. So to Klein, it seems like William is, like deliberately trying to divert attention away from himself by throwing someone else's name out there.

• 37:16Speaker 01

  While you're talking to me, let me tell you that this other person is also connected to this other case you haven't even talked about yet.

• 37:23Ashley Flowers?

  Yeah, and the thing, like, when I say no one, like, brought up him in the other case, no one actually brought up Solomon at all. Like, when he's talking to William, it's not like he, he didn't even get to the part yet where he was gonna like try and weasel in.

• 37:34Speaker 01

  He wasn't even like in his plan.

• 37:35Ashley Flowers?

  Completely unprompted. So Detective Klein tries to persuade William to come in and like give an official statement. But even though he agrees to, he never actually does. And they like keep trying to reach him by phone to urge him to come in, but he ignores all of their calls. And when investigators go knocking on his door, things get strange. William has this whole like surveillance system set up and he texts Klein a picture of Klein standing outside of William's door.

• 38:09Speaker 01

  That's creepy.

• 38:11Ashley Flowers?

  I know. All in all, his cooperation was short-lived. But police will not give up. They have been doing what they can to keep Solomon's story in the public eye. They've papered St. Mary's Park with posters about the case. They've been pushing for more media coverage. And recently, behind the scenes, they've begun to pursue new forensic testing, taking advantage of technological advances that weren't there when Solomon was originally killed. All of these efforts are crucial. Because even though investigators are pretty confident that they have the right people in their crosshairs, like, you know, if the detective's theories are correct, like both William and John could be charged with Solomon's murder.

• 38:54Ashley Flowers?

  But there are still key details they need to piece together before they can even try to move ahead with any charges.

• 39:01Speaker 01

  Would they both get charged with murder? Or just one of them, since it was technically like the bullet, like the gunshot that killed him? And the one who shot him like could be charged with murder versus the one who stabbed him?

• 39:13Ashley Flowers?

  No, legally, they share responsibility for what happened. So even though the bullet is what technically killed Solomon, the law considers even the stabber just as culpable since that person was there participating in the assault.

• 39:24Speaker 01

  Got it.

• 39:25Ashley Flowers?

  If there's ever evidence that they planned it beforehand, they could be also facing conspiracy charges. This all applies at the federal level, too. And if gang activity was involved, racketeering charges might come into play. What it boils down to is that if investigators can show that these two acted together, they could both be held accountable for Solomon's murder, regardless of who did what. But of course, one of them could flip on the other. And I have to imagine if it gets to that point, it'll be like a whoever talks first gets the better deal sort of thing. But Solomon's family has been waiting for answers for more than 27 years. And the uncertainty has taken its toll.

• 40:10Ashley Flowers?

  I mean, just a year after he was killed, Solomon's parents packed up. They left New York for South Carolina, his mom Edna's home state. They couldn't bear to stay in the area any longer. Like every street corner, every familiar place was just a reminder of their loss. Both of Solomon's parents have since passed away without ever seeing anyone held accountable for their son's death. And one of Solomon's brothers, Stephen, passed away too. But his other brother, Russell, and his cousin Melody are still the ones out there fighting for justice today. And they miss Solomon, his fun-loving personality and his kind heart. They wish they could have seen what he would have made of himself because they are sure he would have gone really far. Like he had such big dreams and he wanted to continue his education.

• 40:55Ashley Flowers?

  He wanted to buy a house for his folks, but instead, his loved ones are left with just 19 years' worth of memories and so many questions. Now, despite his dedication to Solomon's case, the detective, who's been living and breathing it for the past few years, won't be the one to see it through to the end. Klein actually retired right as we were finishing up our reporting on this story. The investigation has transferred to one of Klein's partners, but he knows how important it is to Klein, so I don't think that he's going to be putting it on the back burner anytime soon. But saying that, like, what I also want to say is, like, police need help to solve this. Solomon Robinson served his country only to be betrayed by someone in his own community.

• 41:41Ashley Flowers?

  And there are people out there, probably a lot of people, who know something. Maybe you're one of them. Maybe you've been holding on to a piece of the puzzle all these years, thinking it doesn't matter, or that coming forward now won't make a difference. But it very well might. And the FBI is offering up to a $25,000 reward for information leading to the identity, arrest, and conviction of whoever is responsible for Solomon's murder. So if you know anything about what happened in St. Mary's Park in the Bronx on the night of Friday, April 3rd, 1998, please contact the NYPD Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS. You can also reach out to your local FBI office

• 42:25Ashley Flowers?

  or submit a tip online completely anonymous. We'll have all of this information on our website and in the show notes.

• 42:46Ashley Flowers?

  You can find all the source material for this episode on our website, crimejunkiepodcast.com.

• 42:51Speaker 01

  You can also follow us on Instagram, at Crime Junkie Podcast.

• 42:54Ashley Flowers?

  We'll be back next week with a brand new episode.

• 43:32Ashley Flowers?

  Crime Junkie is an AudioChuck production. So what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve?

• 43:42Speaker 02

  When the nights grow longer, the shadows start to stir, and that can only mean one thing: Full Body Chills is back. This season, step inside original tales where every doorway leads somewhere darker, every stranger carries a secret, and nothing is ever quite what it seems. Each story takes you somewhere new, but be careful. You never know what might follow you home. So gather round, listen close, and stream Full Body Chills wherever you get your podcasts.

• 44:13Speaker 01

  Growing up in a small town, I know how deeply a crime can shake a local community. And I know that what makes the headlines is rarely the full story. That's what Kylie Lowe explores on her show Dark Down East. She digs into cases from Maine and New England using original reporting, archival records, and conversations with the people who knew them best. Each episode takes you inside the communities these stories shaped and the families who never stop searching for answers. Listen to Dark Down East wherever you get your podcasts.