A bodybuilder, a Broward gym, a former cop: Answers could be nearby in a 1986 killing

For almost 40 years, Lori Halpern has yearned for answers in her brother’s murder. The Broward woman wants to know who’s responsible for his grisly slaying.

“Closure won’t bring Billy back,” she said. “But to be without your brother for that long is terrible.”

On Oct. 21, 1986, William Halpern, a 28-year-old known by loved ones as Billy, was found dead in his Miramar townhouse. The former Hallandale firefighter-paramedic turned art and coin dealer was bound and beaten. His neck was slashed.

Advancements in DNA technology pushed Miramar Police Detective Danny Smith to review Halpern’s case file a year-and-half ago. He determined it to be solvable. At a Wednesday news conference, Smith said police are closer to uncovering who killed Halpern.

“We have a 99% completed puzzle,” Smith said. “We need that one puzzle piece.”

Apollo Gym connects slew of cases

Halpern’s murder wasn’t an isolated incident, investigators believe. It’s tied to anywhere between 12 to 30 killings in the 1980s across Miami-Dade and Broward, Smith said. The Apollo Gym & Fitness Center in Hollywood, a front for sketchy dealings like loan sharking, drugs and murder for hire, linked many of those cases.

The gym was owned by Gilbert Fernandez Jr., a former Miami-Dade police officer who was convicted in 1991, alongside associate Hubert Christie, of a 1983 execution-style triple murder. Fernandez and Christie, who was a manager at the gym, are suspected of also being involved in several killings of gym members.

Fernandez was a police officer at the time of the 1983 murder.

Smith believes Halpern may have seen or heard something about the illicit activities — and ended up being killed so he wouldn’t talk. The detective, however, doesn’t believe that Halpern, an avid bodybuilder, was involved with the gym’s criminal elements.

When investigators arrived at Halpern’s townhouse, they didn’t find any signs of forced entry. For Smith, that indicates that Halpern likely knew one or more of the people who knocked on his door that day.

Smith suspects that multiple people are responsible for Halpern’s death, as it would’ve likely required more than one man to subdue him during a struggle. With more people involved in the killing, more witnesses may have crucial details, the detective emphasized.

Theories in the case have changed over the years.

According to the Miami Herald archives, investigators back in the 1980s believed Halpern may have been involved in dealing drugs. Halpern’s father told a Herald reporter at the time that his son was a trusting person. He had even advertised his business in several local newspapers, including his address in the promotions.

Since investigating, Smith said he has interviewed “countless individuals” who were unwilling to come forward in the ‘80s out of fear of Fernandez’s retribution. He also located and tested dozens of pieces of evidence, through which investigators obtained multiple DNA profiles of unknown suspects.

It’s currently unclear if the DNA was a match to Fernandez or anyone suspected in the slaying.

Smith urged the public to come forward with any details that could help solve Halpern’s killing.

“No matter how inconsequential, let us vet that out,” Smith said. “It could be that important piece that maybe they don’t realize is as important.”

Inching closer to possible leads?

Smith believes that the people responsible for Halpern’s murder are probably dead or in prison. But the detective said he hasn’t ruled Fernandez out as a suspect, though the former cop, who is serving a life sentence, has been cooperative when interviewed.

Christie died in prison in 2000 while serving a life sentence.

Smith also said anyone connected to the gym who was killed after Halpern could be a suspect in the murder. He believes identifying the killer could help close other cases across South Florida.

“My working theory is that people were killed systematically to keep them quiet,” Smith said. “That’s what we believe. That’s what law enforcement believed years ago.”

Connecting the final ‘puzzle piece’

At the time of the murder, Halpern’s father, Saul Halpern, told the Miami Herald: “What greed and crime will do. Someone who didn’t give a damn killed my son and is also killing me and he’s out there without a care in the world.”

Miramar Police Chief Delrish Moss on Wednesday pleaded with the community to share any details that could shed more light in the case — for Halpern’s family. Anyone with information can call Detective Danny Smith at 954-602-4113.

“Living a life with unanswered questions, especially with regards to a loved one, is probably one of the most painful things you have to do,” Moss said. “Our hope is that there’s information out there that will help us solve this.”

This report was supplemented by stories from the Miami Herald archives.