JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – One Sunday afternoon in August 2016, police were called to investigate the death of a wealthy, 84-year-old man who drowned in the St. Johns River. Crews had recovered the body of Gerald Sohn after he rolled off the dock of a San Jose high-rise condominium building in his wheelchair.
Initially, homicide detectives with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office thought the man may have taken his own life. Then, over the past two years, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office determined his death was a murder and that his son, 46-year-old Gerry Sohn, was responsible.
Final documents from the investigation obtained by News4Jax this week show Gerry Sohn initially told police he brought his father out on the dock of the 6000 on the River building in his wheelchair before when the elder Sohn tried to take his own life. The son even told detectives he struggled with his father, attempting to save him, and ended up with a bloody cut on his forehead.
Investigators learned that shortly before his father’s death, Gerry Sohn had asked someone on the property if there were any surveillance cameras along the dock. The documents also show the millionaire had discovered his son was forging checks, having stolen about $16,000.
The son was already receiving $2,000 every month from a trust fund.
The victim’s wife told investigators that when Gerald Sohn confronted his son about the forged checks and stolen money, the 46-year-old threatened to kill him and himself. The JSO documents show how investigators determined Gerry Sohn pushed his father into the St. Johns River.
Once police considered the son a suspect, he stopped answering questions from detectives.
In February 2018, officers went to the Gerry Sohn's Baymeadows home and found him dead in his bathroom. His death was ruled a suicide.
After Gerry Sohn’s death, police closed the investigation.