Meet David Solet

An Innovative, Forward-Thinking Prosecutor

A prosecutor for twenty-four years, David Solet served as Chief of the Middlesex County Cold Case Homicide Unit from 2019-2025. In that role, he was responsible for investigating hundreds of unsolved homicides and dozens of unsolved sex assaults. Over the course of his career he has received numerous accolades for his work, including the Civilian Distinguished Service Award from the Framingham Police Department, and the Major John F. Regan award for his work investigating organized crime conspiracies. He was honored as the Middlesex County Prosecutor of the Year in 2025.

Crime Has Changed. Prosecutors Need To Change Too.

David has deep roots in Middlesex County. He grew up in Cambridge, eating his pizza at Pinocchio’s, living and dying with the Red Sox, and reading all of Robert Parker’s detective novels. With a group of close friends, he was part of the team that captured the 1994 ISL wrestling championship in the final meet of his senior season. He graduated from Princeton University summa cum laude in 1998, and from Harvard Law School cum laude in 2001.

Straight out of law school he joined the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, where he served as a Juvenile Court prosecutor in Cambridge and a domestic violence prosecutor in Somerville. Over the next fifteen years he served as a member of the Special Investigations Unit, as an organized crime prosecutor; as the first Chief of the Cyber Protection Unit; and as the office’s General Counsel, a role in which he was responsible for providing policy and ethical advice to the District Attorney. He prosecuted offenders in cases involving murder, child exploitation, narcotics trafficking, and public corruption, and trained hundreds of police officers and young prosecutors in a wide variety of topics, including search warrants, digital evidence, and the law of weapons.

From 2015-2019 David served as the Chief Legal Counsel to the Massachusetts Secretary of Public Safety. In that capacity he advised the Secretary on legal and legislative affairs, and chaired the Massachusetts Witness Protection Board. He is a two-time co-chair of the Boston Bar Association’s (BBA) Criminal Law Steering Committee (2014-2016 and 2019-2020). He also served on the BBA’s Death Penalty Working Group, which strongly recommended against the restoration of the death penalty in Massachusetts. David currently sits on the BBA Council (its Board of Directors), and the BBA Executive Committee, working with other leaders in the Massachusetts legal profession to protect the rule of law and guarantee access to justice. He is the proud father of two daughters, both graduates of Newton North High School, and now lives in Cambridge.

Cold Case Prosecutor

For the last six years, David Solet served as Chief of the Middlesex County Cold Case Homicide Unit. During that period he was responsible for the investigation and closure of numerous murders and sex assaults. Many of these cases were decades old; one was more than fifty years old, the oldest cold case homicide ever successfully prosecuted in Massachusetts.

Despite the vast number of unsolved cases – including more than 300 unsolved murders, many with viable paths to justice - the current administration chose to place this burden on only a single prosecutor, David. As District Attorney, David Solet would create a properly-staffed team of attorneys devoted to obtaining justice for the victims of these unsolved cases.

Military Service

David Solet is a Major in the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps of the United States Army Reserve. He completed his initial training at Ft. Benning, GA and in Charlottesville, VA. Upon graduation he was awarded the Sharpshooter badge for marksmanship, and was named to the Commandant’s List for academic performance.

In his capacity as a Judge Advocate officer, he has served as a defense attorney for military service members, as a member of a Trial Defense Services (TDS) Unit; as a Special Victims Counsel (SVC), representing victims of sexual assault; and as a legal advisor to military commanders on Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) issues, such as natural disasters, biological or chemical attacks, or pandemics. In 2021 he was the legal advisor to US Navy forces deployed to support the COVID-19 Community Vaccine Center in Boston. That joint FEMA/military effort successfully vaccinated 330,000 Massachusetts residents. In 2024 he successfully prosecuted a military sexual assault case before a Board of Officers in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was named one of five Honor Graduates in the U.S. Army’s Judge Advocate Officer Advanced Course in 2024. He is currently assigned to the 3d Legal Operations Detachment in Brockton, Massachusetts.

Major David Solet in United States Army Reserve uniform