WORCESTER, Mass. — A week after Worcester police Officer Kurt Solomon was found dead inside his own home, the search for his wife ended Monday afternoon in woods off May Street, where two hospital employees found a body police believe is hers.
“We believe this case is a tragic murder-suicide that occurred, and we still have plenty of work to do,” Worcester Police Chief Paul Saucier said.
Solomon, 57, a 31-year veteran of the Worcester Police Department, was found dead at his Wildwood Avenue home just before 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday, August 18. A neighbor called 911 at about 5:28 a.m. to report a man lying in her backyard, according to dispatch audio. Officers who responded reported blood inside the residence, and a crime scene tent was later set up in the backyard.
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Saucier has said Solomon’s injuries “involved a sharp object.” Pressed for detail, he said, “That’s as much detail we can get into as far as any type of weapon.” No weapon in that death has been publicly recovered or identified. Saucier confirmed that Solomon’s service weapon was not missing from the residence.
Two employees of Fairlawn Rehabilitation Hospital found the body shortly before 1 p.m. Monday in the woods near 189 May St., about two blocks up a hillside from Coes Pond and roughly half a mile from the Solomons’ home, according to police and The Boston Globe.
A handgun was recovered in the area where the body was found. Saucier said it was not a police service weapon and that investigators were still determining ownership, though he said Kurt Solomon was probably the owner.
The identification is preliminary. The state medical examiner’s office will confirm the identity and determine the cause and manner of death. No cause of death has been released for either Kurt or Karen Solomon.
Karen Solomon, 58, was wanted on a warrant issued Saturday charging assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. She was never charged with murder or manslaughter. In a death investigation, an assault warrant of that kind functions as a hold charge, giving police lawful grounds to take a person into custody while the medical examiner’s findings and the district attorney’s review determine what the final charge will be. With her death, the case cannot proceed to prosecution.
Saucier said the family had no prior history with police on domestic violence. “At no time did the Solomon family have any history of domestic abuse,” he said.
The Worcester County District Attorney’s Office had been handling the case as a domestic violence incident and cited Massachusetts domestic violence disclosure rules in declining to release further detail. The office has not said whether the investigation will now be closed.
The search had centered on the Mill Street and Coes Pond area, where divers worked in water police described as having about two inches of visibility. Coes Pond Beach, Columbus Park and its boardwalk, Knights of Columbus Park, the Coes Park playground and Stearns Tavern were closed during the search. Police have not said when they will reopen.
Karen Solomon co-founded Blue H.E.L.P., now known as First H.E.L.P., an organization formed in 2016 to track law enforcement suicides, support the families of officers who died by suicide, and reduce the stigma around mental health in policing. The organization, now led by interim president Erin Smith, said in a statement over the weekend that the events “underscore the profound complexities of mental health crises and their far-reaching impact on individuals, families, organizations and communities.”
Kurt Solomon served in the U.S. Army in Germany before joining the Worcester Police Department. “Kurt was a hell of a guy,” Saucier said. “He was an awesome police officer and an awesome person, and he’s going to be truly missed.”
Calling hours are scheduled for Tuesday, August 25, from 4 to 7 p.m. A funeral Mass is set for Wednesday, August 26, at 11 a.m. at Our Lady of the Angels Church, 1222 Main Street, Worcester.
Police have not released a timeline for the medical examiner’s findings.
This is a developing story.
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