Upper East Side

Wife, Son of Prominent Former Manhattan Judge Dead in Murder-Suicide: Police Official

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The wife and son of a prominent former Manhattan judge were found dead inside their luxury building on the Upper East Side in an apparent murder-suicide, according to a police official.

Doug Solomon and his mother, 65-year-old Diane Gallagher, were in the family's home on East 79th Street on Tuesday when things turned ugly. Solomon bludgeoned his own mother to death with a piece of furniture, according to a senior police official.

After striking his mother in the head, the 26-year-old then jumped — reportedly while naked — to his death from the 16th-floor apartment.

Gallagher was the wife of Charles Solomon, who former served on the Manhattan Supreme Court. The prominent judge retired in 2018 after serving three decades on the bench, during which time he oversaw headline-making cases such as Sean "P-Diddy" Combs' 2001 nightclub shooting trial, as well as a case involving former New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer and one of his mistresses.

Law enforcement sources said there were no domestic violence records from the Solomons' co-op home prior to Tuesday's tragic and shocking events. He could not immediately be reached for comment, and police have not said if he was at the home at the time of the incident.

Solomon also has a daughter, who is reportedly set to get married soon.

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