William Martin Brewer III, found shot to death early on May 4th, 1988. | JSO
Published on October 3, 2024 at 4:42 pm
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The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office is reviving a 36-year-old cold case killing in Murray Hill.
William Martin Brewer was found dead about 6:45 a.m. May 4, 1988, at Murray Hill Park on Kingsbury Avenue.
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Friends had last seen the 26-year-old man at a bar the night before, Cold Case Detective Travis Oliver says in a video on the Sheriff’s Office’s cold case website. Around 4 the next morning, someone called 911 to report hearing a single gunshot in the park.
“There’s no indication that the victim was robbed or anything like that,” Oliver said. “One of the things that was very unusual to investigators was the fact that at the time that he was found, one of his shoes was off. That shoe was of course found in the park within close proximity to his body.”
There was also no indication that Willliams had been in a fight, Oliver said. New ways to test any DNA evidence on his clothing will be done, he said.
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Williams’ family is happy the case has been reopened and hopeful that it leads to it being solved, the detective said.
Anyone with information about Williams’ murder can contact the Sheriff’s Office at 904-630-0500, or leave an anonymous tip with First Coast Crime Stoppers at 866-845-TIPS.
