Handyman Suspected in Six Slayings Is Charged

A 43-year-old handyman hung his head and closed his eyes while being arraigned Monday on charges that he murdered six young women, and police said they fear that another six missing females may have fallen victim.

Morris Solomon Jr. stood motionless behind a high railing just inside the courtroom, ringed by three bailiffs, as Municipal Judge John Stroud read the six counts of premeditated murder.

Solomon, accused of killing the women and hiding their bodies in the yards and homes where he worked, looked up briefly and made his only comment when asked if he could afford his own attorney.

“No,” he said.

Plea Delayed

Sacramento County Public Defender Kenneth Wells agreed to represent Solomon, obtaining a continuation until May 19. A plea to the charges will not be entered until then, Wells said.

Dist. Atty. John Dougherty has said his office will seek the death penalty for Solomon.

Solomon is accused of killing Yolanda Johnson, 22, whose body was found in a bedroom closet of a house June 18; Angela Polidore, whose body was found under debris at another house July 20; Marie Apadoca, 18, found in a grave March 19, and Cherie Washington, 26, found in a grave April 20.

He has also been charged with killing two unidentified women whose decomposed bodies were found last week in graves.

Police said they fear that they may find bodies of six other victims.

“We still have six missing persons reports that all fit the profile of the victims. For that reason, we’re expecting that we’re going to find more, but we don’t know,” said Sgt. Ronald Meadors, a homicide investigator.

Near Capitol

The six known murder victims were found in a low-income neighborhood, three miles southeast of the Capitol, near homes where Solomon lived or worked as a handyman.

The victims were mostly “of black origin, some with prostitution backgrounds, but most with a drug history involving cocaine,” according to Police Chief John Kearns.

Court and prison records reveal that Solomon has been arrested at least 10 times in the last 18 years for sexual assaults and other violent crimes and spent 2 1/2 years in San Quentin for sex crimes. In addition he spent two years in a state mental hospital as a mentally disordered sex offender.