BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — A Savage man is now charged with murder, in the alleged stabbing and beating of a 74-year-old man who was the former mayor of a community in southern Minnesota.
Prosecutors lay out the charges against 44-year-old Adam Garrett Roring in a criminal complaint filed Monday in Hennepin County. Besides the fatal stabbing, Roring is charged with attempted murder for severely injuring the victim's wife.
Bloomington police were called to a multi-unit building in the 1000 block of 105th Street around 4:40 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 24, after dispatchers received a call from someone saying a person was inside their residence. Squads arrived to find a woman lying on the floor of the home and soon spotted a man fleeing through a basement window. Officers chased him down on foot and took the suspect, identified as Adam Garrett Roring, into custody.
Police say Roring was carrying a metal bar and nunchucks that both appeared to have blood on them. The defendant was found to have marks and injuries on his chest, back and knees.
A search of the home located the victim, identified by a GoFundMe account as 74-year-old Mark Novak, former mayor of the community of Janesville. Novak had suffered a severe laceration to his throat and other injuries on his head, face, and hands, including defense wounds.
Novak was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced deceased.
His wife Pam Novak, age 72, had also suffered severe injuries to her head and face but was able to tell officers what had happened. She reportedly told police that she and Mark Novak had been sleeping in their bedroom when they were awakened by an individual who repeatedly beat them with an unknown object. Officers say Pam Novak said she escaped the bedroom while her husband was being attacked, but the assailant caught up to her and pushed her down the stairs. She located her cell phone and called 911.
Court documents say Pam Novak identified her attacker as Adam Roring, who she described as a relative. She had suffered two finger fractures, with the middle finger on her right hand nearly severed. An examination also revealed lacerations to both sides of her face and above her eyes, a left orbital fracture, two nasal fractures, a small cut or puncture to the neck, lacerations or trauma to the back of her head, and a possible broken wrist. Novak remains hospitalized in stable but critical condition.
Prosecutors say a search of the home revealed a large kitchen knife in the bloody kitchen sink, and metal chain links that may have been part of the nunchuck found on Roring.
When questioned by police, Roring allegedly claimed he went to the home intending to return a house key, but discovered an intruder already in the home. He said he struggled with the intruder and took the metal bar and nunchucks from that person before they escaped out the front door.
The criminal complaint does not specify a specific motive for the attacks.
A GoFundMe has been set up to remember Mark Novak, and help his wife Pam rebuild her life. You can donate here.
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