PLEASE join the effort in stopping the early release of murderer Matthew Solomon!!
I was deeply affected by Lisa's murder as my best friend Paul dated her for 5 years and loved her, as well as many of our friends. I myself was on my lunch hour everyday hanging up missing posters of Lisa, lighting candles every night, terrified. When we went to the wake we watched Matthew in disgust; in his leather coat drinking a case of beer! He has caused so much pain for Lisa's family, esp. her mom Diane Weaver, and Paul. It was the saddest funeral I have ever attended. Please, help Mrs. Weaver, and Lisa. That man doesn't deserve to see the light of day ever again.
This link is a current list of petitions. Simply click-on the link
"Petition - RE: Matthew Solomon - Hearing November 2005"
to print the petition. Obtain signatures, adding your own if only, and mail it to the Parole Board listed in the upper left hand corner of the petition. Petitions must be received by the date specified in the upper right corner of the petition. (which is November 20th, 2005)
http://www.pomc.com/petitions.cfmhttp://www.pomc.com/petitions.cfm
The story follows below:
Loved ones of woman slain by her husband 18 years ago hope to persuade parole board to keep killer in prison
BY ROBIN TOPPING
STAFF WRITER, October 14, 2005
Howard Klerk made a promise to himself when the body of his niece, Lisa Solomon, was found in a garbage bag in a Huntington field.
"I made a solemn vow ... that I would never relax until this thing was ended one way or another. Every chance I get to speak out for Lisa against Matthew Solomon, I am going to do it," said Klerk, referring to Lisa's husband, the man convicted of murdering her on Christmas Eve 1987.
Klerk has kept his promise. Today, he and other family members will meet with members of the state Parole Board in Albany to try to persuade them to keep Solomon in prison. Klerk's family will present the board with a 5,000-signature petition calling for the denial of Matthew Solomon's parole application.
Solomon was sentenced to 18 years to life by the now-deceased Suffolk County Court Judge Harvey Sherman, over the objections of the victim's family and the Suffolk district attorney's office. The trial prosecutor, Timothy Mazzei, had asked Sherman to impose the maximum of 25 years to life.
Matthew and Lisa Solomon were married just two months and living in Huntington Station when he choked her to death during an argument over her plans to go out alone that night.
He wrapped her body in garbage bags and placed it alongside bags of leaves in a field. Then he reported her missing and helped police search for her until her body was found by Klerk's son, Stephen, and a Huntington auxiliary police officer six days later.
Klerk and his wife, Ann, formerly of Medford and now living in Maine, began the petition drive last April.
"Our whole purpose is to renew his lease on his luxurious suite at Sing-Sing," Klerk said sarcastically, referring to the state prison in Ossining where Solomon is serving his time.
Klerk said he and his wife, retired and active in the Maine chapter of Parents of Murdered Children, "went all over trying to get signatures. We took them to local businesses, flea markets. We would post them on clipboards with Lisa's picture on it."
Diane Weaver, Lisa's mother, also has been getting signatures near her East Northport home. So have Klerk's three sons, who live in Rhode Island, New Jersey and Wading River. Weaver couldn't be reached for comment.
"The number one thing we want to say to the Parole Board is the effect this murder has had on the family and the depravity of what he did," Klerk said. "In our minds, he really is a sick individual."
"This never ends," said Klerk. "And if he does get out, he can have a normal life while Lisa rots in her grave."
Matthew Solomon's parents and his attorneys could not be reached for comment. He will speak to the board next month. He has claimed in appeals that his lawyers should have raised a psychological defense to explain his actions. In an affidavit, he said that after his wife died he panicked and "blocked everything out of my mind and to this day do not remember what happened."
In a letter to the state Parole Board, Suffolk prosecutor Kerriann Kelly wrote that Matthew Solomon "violated the love and trust of his wife, literally destroying her life and shattering the lives of her loved ones. ... The defendant is obviously a threat to the health, safety and welfare of civilized society and given his heinous acts, should not be released to parole."
The Parole Board is expected to make a decision within a few days after Solomon meets with it in November, said state Division of Parole spokeswoman Carol Weaver.
PBP Success
"Parole informed me they received approximately 100,000 signatures from all across the United States. Our deepest thanks to the Parole Block Program and all those who continue to make it successful." - Brooklyn, N.Y.
Since it began, the Parole Block Program has been extremely successful at preventing the early release/parole of those convicted of homicide. POMC has protested the early release/parole of more than 800 murderers since the inception of the program in 1990. More than one murderer a week is kept behind bars as a direct result of PBP.
*Please, the time is now!*
(he's the handsome guy on the far left;)
