Rockcastle dog attack. Melissa Wolke Kentucky woman charged w/ murder after setting aggressive pit bull on Donald Abner. Used dog as weapon.
A Kentucky woman has been charged with murder after setting an aggressive pit bull on a man according to reports.
Authorities said Donald W. Abner, 55, died after being mauled by the dog at his home on Pug Lane in Conway, Rockcastle County overnight Friday.
Melissa D. Wolke, 38, of Mount Vernon was accused of siccing the dog on Abner and refusing to command it to retreat, the Courier Journal reports.
According to an arrest citations, a neighbor said they witnessed Wolke punching the victim and giving commands to a large dog to get it to attack the man.
The victim and suspect were friends.
Police say they encountered a very aggressive dog near the victim. Kentucky State Trooper Scottie Pennington said the victim had dog bites on his face and head.
‘The way I look at it she used her animal, a pit bull, as a weapon to help her in this altercation,’ Pennington said, according to WKYT-TV.
He called the crime a first in his 24 years as a trooper.
‘There’s something new every day that happens,’ he said.
Wolke and Abner were friends, he said.
It’s unclear what the altercation was about.
Wolke was also charged with resisting arrest, menacing and public intoxication, online records show.
Fox 56 Lexington quoted the local coroner as saying Abner died as a result of the dog attack.
The pit bull was taken away in a body bag after troopers were forced to kill it with gunshots, according to the station.
An autopsy is being performed to confirm Abner’s cause of death. An autopsy will also be done on the dog to determine if it was infected with rabies.
Kentucky State Police are still investigating the situation.
