CARIBOU, Maine — As the investigation continues into the homicide of a local man found dead in his burning Caribou home in September 2015, the Maine State Police on Tuesday issued a plea to the public for help in solving the case.
The body of Kenneth Zernicke, 58, was found inside the 5 Lower Lyndon St. residence just before 10 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24, after Caribou firefighters went to deal with a fire call. The death was declared a homicide the next day after an autopsy at the state medical examiner’s office in Augusta, though the cause has yet to be released.
That same Friday, police also conducted an informational roadblock in the area in an effort to find passers-by who might have seen someone entering or leaving the residence about the time of the fire.
Police have few leads in the case, but “we continue to collect evidence in this case, and we are talking to people in the community,” state police Lt. Troy Gardiner said Tuesday. “Mr. Zernicke lived at a house near a busy four-way intersection, so we think that there may have been people driving by that saw something. We know that people may be initially hesitant to come forward, but we are asking anyone with information to contact us.”
Gardiner said that police have received information about several vehicles that were in the area at the time of the homicide, but he would not comment further.
The lieutenant also said that tests on evidence from the scene by the state police crime lab in Augusta may also produce results that will help the case.
Anyone who saw any activity at or around Zernicke’s house between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. Sept. 24 should call state police in Houlton at 532-5400.