Abimelech was a son of Gideon--one of roughly 70 such sons Gideon fathered. His mother was a concubine, and by many of his brothers, was not worthy to carry the family name.
He went to the town of Shechem, where he asked everyone if they wanted to be ruled by his 70 brothers or just him. They wanted just him, so he had all of his brothers killed.
All except Jotham, Gideon's youngest son.
It's a bit of a complicated story--and a long chapter at best, with close to 60 verses. As punishment for killing his 70 brothers, God had Abimelech rule for three years before his people started turning on him. Then, as his people attacked the city of Thebez, he set the temple on fire when a women threw a stone down and fractured his head. He ordered one of his male people to kill him, for he wanted to die by a man's hand instead of a woman's. The man did as he was told and they all went home.
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