Beloved Nebraska Pastor Killed by Adopted Son, 36, Who Dismembered Body Then Put Knives in Dishwasher, Prosecutors Say

The adopted son of a Nebraska minister has been charged with the brutal murder and dismembering of his father.

Martin Zak, 36, has been accused of stabbing and dismembering John Zak, 69, on Wednesday, then taking his father’s wallet and fleeing in his car.

John, a deacon at St. Peter Catholic Church in Omaha, was reported missing by his wife, Mary, after she came home from work that night and found her husband nowhere to be found, WOWT reported.

‘She had returned home from work and noticed that something wasn’t right, and that’s when she initially called and reported him missing,’ said Omaha Police Department Lt. Nick Andrews.

Mary told police that when she went to work that day, she dropped Martin off at a ‘mental health program.’

When she returned home, she found the back door damaged, and when she tried to call her husband, his phone rang in her son’s pocket, prosecutors said.

Police arrived and found a trail of blood on the back door and in an area leading to Martin’s room in the basement.

‘Officers searched the house and found a tote under the porch with a lid. The tote contained a dismembered torso of the victim. Other body parts were located in and outside of the home,’ prosecutors said.

Court records show that John had been stabbed in the chest, back and head, and investigators found knives located in the dishwasher.

Martin was arrested the next day following a police chase when investigators found him driving his father’s car and with John’s wallet in his possession.

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