By HEATHER PYLES, Staff Writer
Somerset — A man who allegedly killed three different people over a span of more than 20 years is slated to appear in court this week.
Michael Andrew Abner, 46, of Bullock Lane, Eubank, is expected to appear in Pulaski Circuit Court Thursday for an arraignment. Abner allegedly confessed to killing two elderly women in their homes more than 20 years ago after he was arrested in January for the killing of Jack Roerink, 79.
Abner is facing murder, theft and arson charges in connection with Roerink’s slaying, along with the killings of Mae Frisbee Stringer and Mamie B. Mercer.
Abner was indicted on those charges by a Pulaski County grand jury in early March.
Abner’s alleged confession to killing Stringer and Mercer came to light earlier this year, after Abner’s Tuesday, Jan. 12 arrest for the murder of Roerink.
Authorities discovered Roerink’s body in his home in Eubank and Abner, who reportedly knew Roerink, was found a short while later after officers traced Roerink’s missing truck to Abner’s ex-wife’s home. Investigators said Abner stabbed Roerink multiple times with a kitchen knife during the incident before taking several items and fleeing with some of Roerink’s property, including his truck.
Abner is facing one charge of murder, one charge of first-degree robbery and one charge of first-degree burglary in connection with Roerink’s death.
It was soon after that arrest that Abner allegedly told authorities he’d killed two other people more than 20 years ago.
Mercer’s body was discovered in her South Hart Road home in the Saline community on Wednesday, Oct. 12, 1983 in her bed, a victim of strangulation, and Abner was questioned during an investigation by Kentucky State Police. He was never arrested, and the case remained open and unsolved throughout the years until Abner’s arrest this year.
Mercer was 80 years old at the time of her death, and Abner was 20 years old at the time of the incident.
Abner faces one count of murder and one count of first-degree robbery in connection with Mercer’s death.
Abner allegedly killed again only five years after he reportedly strangled Mercer to death in her home.
Stringer’s family and investigators believed she had perished in a house fire on Dec. 2, 1988, but investigators said Abner stated he strangled the 83-year-old woman to death in her home on Ringgold Road before setting the house on fire.
Stringer was 83 years old at the time of her death, and Abner was 25 years old.
Abner faces one count of murder, one count of first-degree robbery, one count of first-degree burglary and one count of first-degree arson in connection with Stringer’s death.
Abner was originally slated to appear in court in March for an arraignment, but Pulaski Circuit Judge Jeffrey T. Burdette postponed that hearing after Abner’s attorney Jim Cox asked that Abner’s mental competence to stand trial be determined.
