A jury of 12 found Lance Alan Solomon guilty of first degree murder in the death James Roland Fox and sentenced to life in prison. The verdict came late Tuesday afternoon.
Fox was found dead on December 14, 2014 under a bed in his trailer home on Holly Hill Dr. in southern Logan County. The Oklahoma State Medical Examiner’s Office ruled Fox, 65, died of blunt force trauma to the head.
The six day trial was the second jury trial in this case after a jury in 2017 could not reach an unanimous decision.
Following the verdict, a family member of the victim told Solomon’s attorney, Al Hoch, to let Solomon know that they had “forgiven him.”
Solomon showed no emotion throughout the trial and when the verdict was handed down.
The 12-member jury – consisting of six females and six males – needed two hours and 15 minutes to reach their final decision. In total, the jurors heard from 18 witnesses all called by the state.
Solomon wanted to testify in the case to explain his cell phone records. However, his attorney highly discouraged the idea by in part saying it was against his advice and would be a “substantial mistake.”
Solomon leaned on the advice of his attorney and declined to testify and said,” I will just keep the secrets.”
The Logan County District Attorney’s Office (Debra Vincent and Kevin Etherington) showed a timeline of events following the death of Fox that led to Solomon being in Oklahoma, Texas, Mississippi and eventually Michigan, where he was taken into custody in January 2015.
A medical examiner testified the death was intentional and not accidental. Fox was found covered up, including with a rain coat, underneath a bed in the bedroom.
With no murder weapon or witnesses, the state attorneys relied heavily on circumstantial evidence in their case against Solomon.
The state showed video surveillance of Solomon and Fox together on Dec. 2 inside a Wal-Mart, which is believed the last time Fox was seen alive. Fox was wearing the same clothes in the surveillance video when he was found underneath the bed by a concerned neighbor 12 days later.
Fox’s vehicle was stolen from the home and found 10 days later in Mississippi. Fox’s cell phone and credit card were also stolen during the crime. The telephone and credit card were tracked electronically from Oklahoma to Houston, TX then later to Mississippi and then to Detroit, Michigan.
Formal sentencing has been set for January 10 at 9 a.m.
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