'Dangerous' Wife On the Run After Killing Cop Husband: Police

A Massachusetts wife and mom is now the subject of a frantic manhunt. Police say she may be armed and dangerous. New video just in of the final moment she was seen. This episode is brought to you by TXU Energy. For the first time ever, Texans have an energy plan that combines free nights all year with daytime summer savings. It's called Free Nights in Cool Summer. You get free nights every night, all year long, plus a 25% bonus toward your daytime use all summer. It's a first-of-its-kind plan created for how Texans actually use energy. Discover how much more you could save with Free Nights in Cool Summer. TXU Energy. Energy for everything. Visit TXU.com for more information. Rep number 10004. What makes this case so shocking is not just that this woman is wanted for questioning in connection to the death of her husband and a Massachusetts police officer, but it's shocking considering who she is. She is an author and longtime advocate for police officer mental health, but now law enforcement, they're after her. I'll also share with you some mysterious dispatch recordings that we found from when this manhunt first began. We're on the case presented, by law and crime. I'm Chris Stewart. It's an understatement to say that people in Worcester, Massachusetts are shocked with this story that is unfolding right now. We actually found a quote from someone in response to this story who said that Karen Solomon is, quote, the kindest, sweetest woman on earth. But now she's being described by law enforcement as a victim of a crime. She's being described as a victim of a potentially armed and dangerous. So this is Karen Solomon. She's 58 years old. And this is the picture that police in Worcester, Massachusetts put out yesterday after they made a shocking discovery in her backyard around 530 in the morning. This is video that was just released of Solomon of the last time she was seen. It's like she's caught on some sort of ring doorbell or garage surveillance video walking north from her house. And she seems calm. She's not frantic. She's not calm. She's not frantic. Which is shocking considering the case police want to speak with her about. So that's the first call that came in to Worcester Dispatch. A man was found unresponsive in the backyard of the home. Online records show that is where Karen Solomon lives, as well as her husband, Kurt Solomon, who we'll talk about here in just a moment. But I want to break down what we have learned. And I want to break down what we have learned. And I want to break down what we have learned about Karen Solomon and who she is. When you're actively listening and when you're paying attention and you're not interrupting, you're open to more of what people are trying to tell you. Solomon is the co-founder of a nonprofit called First Help. It's a group that works to raise awareness about police officers and suicide. Solomon is also an author. She wrote multiple books on the subject of law enforcement, mental health. And we found several pictures of her speaking at big time events across the country about what she's learned. And I want to break down police, suicide, and the need for resources to make sure they're taken care of. It's very admirable work. And it makes what we are talking about right now very difficult to comprehend. Now, as far as the victim in this story, and there's still a lot of questions about what happened, but the Worcester Police Union has identified that man found unresponsive in the backyard of the home as Karen Solomon's husband. His name was Kurt Solomon, and he was a 31-year veteran of the Worcester Police Department. And according to WCVB, he was a veteran of the WCVB. He was also a dad. He leaves behind two adult sons. Now, we don't know what happened between Karen and Kurt, what her role potentially is in all of this. But the truth is, Kurt winds up dead in the backyard of their home. And as soon as police arrive at their house, based off what we can gather from dispatch recordings, they find a bloody trail of evidence. Looks like from the way that we can see that there's much blood happening inside of the house. We're standing back here on the bed. Yeah, one of you guys need to stay with the victim. And then if one of you guys want to wash the door, just for evidence preservation. There's visible blood inside the building, inside the bathroom, in the back. Then a few minutes later, as we're listening to the dispatch audio recording, police start talking about a phone number. And that phone number comes back to Karen Solomon. Listen to this. Thank you. 15, can you just keep trying that number? See if they answer. We just want to know if it's or if it's somebody from a different, like a neighbor or something. I'll keep trying it. They can say that they work for a resident here. We see there's no car in the trouble. I have it. I'll keep trying the number. Is it a caller, a male or a female? It was a female. Her voicemail on her phone says it's Karen Solomon. Now, it's unclear what the circumstances are surrounding this phone number, how police got it. But this is where it appears they start to eye Karen Solomon as someone who they really need to talk to because she's not there at the home. Now, according to Worcester police. It's called Free Nights and Cool Summer. You get free nights every night all year long, plus a 25% bonus toward your daytime use all summer. It's a first of its kind plan created for how Texans actually use energy. Discover how much more you could save with Free Nights and Cool Summer. TXU Energy. Rep number 10004. Tammy regularly hauls stuff to her kids at college. That's why she shops at BJ's Wholesale Club, saving up to 25% off grocery store prices. Beef jerky, microwave meals, laundry pods, even they can't screw up. Have you met my kids? And with BJ's gas, she gets there for less. They call me the road warrior. This is your home, road warrior mom. Home of the save. Join for just $20 at BJ's dot com slash mesquite and save 10 cents per gallon for six months. Open soon. Limited time offer. New members only. BJ's home of the save. The last time she was seen, and it's unclear which hour, but they say that she was seen walking towards Westcott Street in Worcester, which is north of where she lives. Here's that video once again that was released by police in Worcester. And as we look at it, you can kind of zoom in and we don't see anything in Solomon's hands. But again, it doesn't appear that she's in much of a rush. We are currently searching for female which presumes we are. We are actively searching for this person now. We have numerous agencies assisting us. Now, we don't know what the circumstances are surrounding Kurt Solomon's death. We don't know if there's some sort of confrontation. We do know that police say they just want to talk to Karen Solomon. She's wanted for questioning in connection to the death of her husband. Now, she runs this major nonprofit called First Help that raises awareness about suicide and police officers. And that group, as this story started to grab headlines, not just in New England, but across the country, they released a statement. It says this in part, quote, First Help is aware of the ongoing investigation in Worcester, Massachusetts, involving the death of a Worcester Police Department officer in the search for First Help co-founder Karen Solomon. Our first concern is for the officer who lost his life, his family, his colleagues in the Worcester law enforcement community. We extend our deepest condolences to all those affected by this tragedy. We also recognize the many law enforcement and first responder families who have been touched and supported through First Help's work over the years. We understand that the current circumstances may be deeply affecting members of this community, particularly those who have placed their trust in First Help during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. We remain committed to supporting those families and honoring the trust they have placed in our organization. Join us now to talk more about this is retired NYPD detective Tom Smith, also the co-host of the Gold Shield show. Always great to have you here on Law and Crime. You know, you have the DA and then you have the local Worcester police chief in a news conference yesterday saying that Karen Solomon's potentially armed and dangerous. And on one hand, you want to make sure the public is, you know, aware of what's going on. At the same time, you know, if she is following this and we don't know the circumstances surrounding her husband's death, that still feels like some really strong words to use. What do you make of just kind of that language in a news conference and announcing what this investigation is about? Well, it goes to just, you know, being ahead of something, you know, with the crime scene, we don't have too many details about the crime scene, but depending on the cause of death is going to lead to armed and dangerous. You could be armed and dangerous with a knife. You could be armed and dangerous with a gun. You know, was his service revolver, service weapon, not in the home? So that may prompt them to say, maybe, you know, maybe she has it. Or was the injury a gunshot and the gun isn't there? You know, so there's a number of factors that go into labeling a armed and dangerous individual. And a lot of it comes from the crime scene. Yeah. It's unclear, just kind of listening to the dispatch, which you can only, you know, gather so much from, but it's like how many, you know, of these Worcester police officers arrive at this house and they realize that Kurt Solomon, who was a 31 year veteran of that they were looking at, but from what we can gather, he was found in the backyard. They say that residents found him them don't know if there's some sort of commotion that led to that but then you have it sounds like a trail of blood leading inside the home like as you know on one part of it you have the search for karen solomon on the other side you're trying to figure out what happened like what does that tell you um just with what we know at that point yeah that's gonna that's where crime scene investigators come into play you know the whole area is going to be cordoned off no one's going to be allowed in there and they're going to retrace probably the blood because that's going to lead to or end up you know where the body is and then you walk backwards you know so if there is a pool of blood or the blood starts in one particular area of the house that's going to be pretty much where it happened and then you know you can gather you know investigative knowledge of him trying to get out of the house or to a neighbor and then maybe collapsed in the middle of doing that so that's what they'll deduct as they go through the crime scene and you know gather other evidence that's at the crime scene you know is there other evidence that's at the crime scene you know is there other evidence that's at the crime scene you know is there other evidence that's at the crime scene you know is there other evidence that's at the house somewhere in the bathroom in and around his body you know there'd be grid searches what's called grid searches on the property of just going step by step in the entire area uh you know to see if there's any other evidence around there as far as the search for karen solomon the call came in around 5 30 yesterday morning she hasn't been seen since uh the area where they say she was last seen walking is like one block north so it wasn't like there was a massive radius where they found her you know oh she was last seen on the other side of worcester like no she was this episode is brought to you by txu energy for the first time ever texans have an energy plan that combines free nights all year with daytime summer savings it's called free nights and cool summer you get free nights every night all year long plus a 25 bonus toward your daytime use all summer it's a first of its kind plan created for how texans actually use energy discover how much more you could save with free nights and cool summer txu energy energy for everything visit txu.com for more information rep number one zero zero zero four tammy regularly hauls stuff to her kids at college that's why she shops at bj's wholesale club saving up to 25 off grocery store prices beef jerky microwave meals laundry pods even they can't screw up have you met my kids and with bj's gas she gets there for less they call me the road warrior this is your home road warrior mom home of the save join for just twenty dollars at bjs.com and save 10 cents per gallon for six months open soon limited time offer new members only bj's home of the save you know just seen maybe like a block away rock she could get a long way in the 24 plus hours this has been going on like like where does this search start well it starts at that home and and then it's going to start with the first ring camera which we've done so many shows chris and that's how they're going to do this they're going to go to every neighbor in that area and try to piece together her route of travel you know to a point where it stops you know so that's what investigators are going to do they're going to knock on every single door in that area every store every light post that has a camera everything around there to try to piece together her movements uh like i said to a point where it might stop and that's where you know they're going to be right now that's probably how they got the description of what she's wearing from that first camera and first surveillance camera that picked her up uh and that again may lead to the armed and dangerous part with something in her hand you know to prompt them to say that on one of those videos so you know on top of that chris they're going to go to her family they're going to go to friends are there places that she goes to often if she's in trouble did she contact anybody uh you know so all of that is going to be part of this investigation slash search you know for her and i'm sure it's harder than it sounds where it's i mean how many cases have we talked about where someone's missing and they really only end up being about a mile away where she could get a long ways in in that period of time but also worcester is a decently large city you have to think that there's there's a lot of cameras like now more than 24 hours later like going from like the beginning where you're gathering kind of neighborhood ring cameras okay here's the description here's you know what she may or may not be carrying like how does the search evolve over a period of time where you know she could be you know in multiple states by this point if she had kept if she kept going yeah that's going to go back to the crime scene is anything missing is her wallet gone is her credit cards being tracked can they check them out and i think a big part of this where i would start is definitely her family because it's just a known thing when people are in trouble they're going to reach out to family or friends to explain what happened to try to get in front of you know a bad situation so uh and investigators are not going to give that information out you know as much as we'd like them to it is part of the investigation and is part of the search and it is very it's going to be held very tight to them and i understand that because you don't want any false information out there you don't want to lead the the person you're looking for into a certain investigative role if they're watching the news or they're getting information but i would certainly at this point if the videos come to a stop the the family and friends are going to be a big big part of this case we don't know the circumstances of how kurt solomon died um but at this point karen is only wanted for questioning in connection to his death we don't know if there's some sort of confrontation was this a self-defense situation i have no idea what the family history is um between this couple but when you're looking for someone who for you know could be charged with the most serious crimes we have could be something where she isn't charged at all and she was a victim in this we have no idea like how do you handle that messaging that's out there maybe to family members who she could contact maybe to the public and in trying to control that as opposed to just putting it out there and and making her seem like she is the suspect which i know she may be but at the same time trying to balance that where you want her alive and in custody to then figure out what happened yeah you know that's this slippery slope that police departments go through when they're getting information out there you don't want to put it into her head if she is getting information that you are the person wanted for this crime and you're going to go to jail forever and we're going to get you you know if that's not the case you want to strategically you know word it the right way of hey she's not a suspect we need to talk to her about what happened and the circumstances what happened but on the same token she might be on the danger so you get into not i don't want to say contradicting terms but it does become a little rough when you start wording you know it the right way but it does become a little rough when you start wording you know you get into not i don't want to say contradicting terms but it does become a little rough when you start wording you know it the right way but it does become a little rough when you start wording you know it the right way yeah and i'm sure i mean i got friends who live in worcester and it's like if you know someone would be capable of taking the life of somebody else and they're running around you know in the community you want to know about that um we'll talk a little bit more about who she is and like the work that she does but i also would assume considering you know she comes from a family of law enforcement she herself works with police officers often like and i would just guess that if like she would go to police like she knows that that's what you do and you should do in these situations the fact that she didn't do that like how does that hank joined bj's wholesale club the day he became a father of 30. i coach football now coach hank saves up to 25 off grocery store prices 30 pounds of pasta three cases of protein bars 75 sports drinks and that's just pre-game he knows teamwork and bj's knows savings this is your home coach home of the save join for just twenty dollars at bjs.com mesquite and save ten cents per gallon for six months open soon limited time offer new members only bj's home of the save this episode is brought to you by txu energy for the first time ever texans have an energy plan that combines free nights all year with daytime summer savings it's called free nights and cool summer you get free nights every night all year long plus a 25 bonus toward your daytime use all summer it's a first of its kind plan created for how texans actually use energy discover how much more you could save with free nights and cool summer txu energy energy for everything visit txu.com for more information rep number one zero zero zero four play in the detective room right now and figuring out what may have played out yeah you know what here's the other part of this course we don't know we know her role in the organization that she's involved in and her her linkage to to law enforcement but do we really have a whole background of who she is you know any problems she's going through any mental health issues she has and that's where the family's going to come in and that's where the family's going to come in and you know this may be a whole another you know uh ball game when it comes to her mental health that no one knows about yet you know so that's going to be part of the questioning of her family in what state of mind was she in any medications anything like that so it's going to be uh an interesting ride with going from the root of just a violent crime to maybe a mental health issue and then those two things kind of intertwining into this investigation and i think it's going to be really interesting to see what happens but i think it's going to be really interesting to see what happens but if she has family members you know that are in law enforcement they're probably going to assist in a way in this in maybe trying to find a way to contact her does she still have her cell phone with her you know a whole bunch of things so that's why i said getting to the family and friends is going to be so vital with this uh because just again past history past experience she's going to try to reach out to somebody now you know she doesn't seem like a career criminal that this is a person who's regularly running from police I remember we covered the case of the inmates who escaped the prison in New Orleans, and they had this network of people who were helping them out. She doesn't come across as the type of person that would have those types of contacts. What are the mistakes that people make when they are trying to get away from law enforcement? And we don't know if this is some sort of mental health issue. That also plays into this, of course, as well. But when you have someone who is not seasoned at running from the police, how does that impact the investigation? Yeah, it does, because you get desperate. Hours, you can be out on the run for an hour, and it's going to feel like a day. So you start to get desperate. You start to get hungry and tired. And that's where career criminals, maybe not her, but in the past, other crimes start to be committed. She starts stealing clothes. She'll steal food. Other criminals carjack individuals to get out of the area. So there's a whole host of desperate mistakes. There's a whole host of desperate measures that can be taken. Again, we don't know how she is and how resourceful she is when it comes to stuff like that or how desperate she is. Desperate people can do very interesting things when they're on the run. So all of that, I guarantee you, when it comes to this investigation, is on the table, and everyone's keeping an open mind about where this could go. What do you make of it? And I know you do a lot of work as well, like advocacy work when it comes to members of law enforcement and mental health, and she did very admirable work. Yeah. I have a question about that, her organization there in Massachusetts. But it makes this story so shocking and surprising because it just, like, I remember yesterday, and we had her picture from Worcester Police, and it's like you're searching, and then it's like I came across her organization. I was like, this cannot be the same person who we're talking about. And domestic violence, you know, it's not for one particular group of people. It happens in a lot of different ways. Just like, what was your reaction just kind of seeing who she is, the work she does, and yet, here's the situation she appears to be in? Yeah, it's sad. You know, she's dedicating a part of her life into taking care of law enforcement and their mental health issues, and then something like this happens. But it just shows you how volatile domestic violence is. It can happen to anybody, no matter what you're doing, no matter what role you're in, your organizations or whatever. We've seen celebrities deal with it. We've seen politicians deal with it. We've seen, you know, other law enforcement community members deal with it. So it's just sad. You know, you never want to see someone who's such an advocate for law enforcement, especially on the mental health issue, because that is a tremendous situation that's going on in law enforcement these days. And to have someone that is, like I said, dedicating part of their life to helping that involved in something like this. I'm sure there are people searching for his wife right now. I'm sure there are people searching for his wife right now who know her and the work that she did. When it comes to any sort of, like, as far as the investigation part of it, we don't know where this is going to go. But, like, a conflict of interest because of personal relationships and all of that. Because this happened in Worcester. Like, this is a Worcester Police Department case, typically. Like, how could the personal relationships that everybody involved in it potentially play into how the investigation works out? Yeah, that's, you know what that comes down to, Chris? Leadership. Leadership needs. Leadership needs. Leadership needs. Leadership needs. Leadership needs. To get everyone in one area and just say, hey, listen, we understand the emotional part of this, but we have to stay professional for a couple of reasons. One, you just have to be professional when you're doing this. Two, at some point down the road, there is going to be a trial. So I've said this on your show so many times, Chris, that the preparation for a trial begins the second those law enforcement officers get to the scene. So you have to be and keep this investigation going. Thank you.