The Murder of Kenneth Zernicke (Maine)

“My dad didn’t deserve his death and he doesn’t deserve for his case to go unsolved. He was a good person. Help us put him to rest. That’s all I really want. I just want some justice for him, and I want him to be able to be at peace.”

Jessica Zernicke Holmes left work on the night of September 24, 2015 to find her phone flooded with missed calls and messages. When she was finally able to call her family member back, they delivered shocking news about her father. 

58-year old Kenneth Zernicke was found dead inside his burning home in Caribou, Maine. Two days later, his death was ruled a homicide. 

Jess reached out to me because after nearly 7 years her father’s case remains unsolved with little public information available, even to family members. She wrote in her email, “I understand it makes it hard to cover a case with little to no information, but I am hoping to get this out there as much, and as often as possible. I miss my dad.”

That is why I started this show. No matter the amount of public information on a case, these stories need and deserve attention.

Jess Zernicke Holmes is on Dark Downeast to tell the story of her father, Kenneth Zernicke. Press play to hear the full story, told in Jessica’s words.