A 44-year-old Minnesota man has been formally indicted for allegedly killing his uncle, a former city mayor beaten and stabbed to death with a “large chef knife” and nunchucks in a home invasion that also seriously injured his aunt.
A grand jury in Hennepin County returned a true bill indicting Adam Garrett Roring on one count of first-degree premeditated murder in the slaying of 74-year-old Mark Novak, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
In addition to murder, Roring faces charges of attempted first-degree murder for allegedly attacking Novak’s wife, second-degree murder, second-degree attempted murder, and second-degree assault with a dangerous weapon.
Prosecutors also filed documents notifying the court they seek an upward departure in Roring’s potential sentencing, asserting the crime took place “within the victim’s zone of privacy,” the victims were treated with “particular cruelty,” and were “vulnerable” due to their age.
Adam Garrett Roring (Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office)
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, officers with the Bloomington Police Department responded at 4:41 a.m. on Aug. 24 to a call for help at a residence in the 1000 block of 105th Street W. in Bloomington, about 12 miles south of Minneapolis.
Once there, first responders found Novak lying on the floor inside the home.
Police then saw a window screen being pushed out and Roring leaving the home through the window. Roring tried to run but was quickly apprehended.
Police said he had what appeared to be blood on his jacket, pants, and gloves. He had “a metal bar and a partial nunchuck,” allegedly covered in blood, and he had noticeable injuries and marks to his chest, back, and knees.
In the upstairs bedroom, police found Mark Novak, who had suffered a “severe laceration to his throat” and “other injuries to his head, face, and hands, including defense wounds and injuries. Mark Novak died at a hospital.
Pamela Novak told police she and her husband woke up that morning to a male “beating them with an unknown object.” She said the suspected assailant, whom she identified as Roring, attacked her husband in the bedroom, allowing her to briefly escape before Roring allegedly pushed her down the stairs.
Mark and Pamela Novak (GoFundMe)
She suffered two right finger fractures, with her right middle finger almost severed at the top knuckle, multiple facial fractures, 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, laceration or trauma to the back of her head, and a broken wrist, the affidavit said.
In the home, police found what is believed to be part of a nunchuck and a large chef knife in the kitchen sink. It appeared to be covered in a “blood-like substance.”
Roring allegedly admitted he’d gone to the home to return a house key that belonged to the victims but said he had nothing to do with the attack. He allegedly said when he arrived, he discovered an intruder already in the home, the affidavit states.
“Defendant claimed the unknown intruder had nunchucks and chain, and that he struggled with the unknown intruder and got the weapons before the unknown intruder escaped out the front door. Defendant claimed he checked on [Pamela Novak], then fled out the window.”
Roring is being held on $2 million bond. He is scheduled to appear in court for an evidentiary hearing on Jan. 17.
A GoFundMe page was set up to help with the Novak family’s hospital, funeral and mental health expenses, which had raised over $32,000 as of Tuesday afternoon.
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