WEST ST PAUL, Minn. — A Dakota County group home resident is now charged with second degree murder in the death of one of his roommates Monday.
Prosecutors say 38-year-old John C. Adams stabbed the victim, 68-year-old David Eugene Rahn, in a bedroom of their home in West St. Paul.
According to a criminal complaint, a staff member of the group home called 911 shortly before 4 p.m. that day and told dispatchers that a disturbance was taking place between two clients. That staff member said she heard David Rahn screaming for help, and when she ran to the room someone was blocking the door and she couldn't enter.
That person, who turned out to be John Adams, told the staffer "it was OK." The staff member told dispatchers that the room went quiet, and she knew that "something isn't right."
Officers responding to the scene saw a shirtless black male later identified as Adams running from a church across the street back into the group home. First responders went into Rahn's room and found him not breathing and unresponsive. Several stab wounds were visible on his body. Despite lifesaving efforts, Rahn was declared dead on the scene.
While medics were attempting to save the victim, officers made contact with Adams in his room. According to the complaint, the defendant told them Rahn had "busted into his room" and attacked him. Adams said the two of them started wrestling so he ran to the kitchen to grab a knife and defend himself. He said he then went to Rahn's room and continued to defend himself.
When asked about the knife, Adams told police he threw it away. Officers remembered the defendant running home from the church across the street and went to investigate. Inside of a garbage can outside the church they recovered a plastic bag with a bloody knife in it.
Adams was brought to police headquarters for questioning, and at that point the complaint states he told a different story. He said he got up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom, and saw Rahn standing in the doorway of his own bedroom. According to Adams, Rahn invited him into his room, told him he had nothing to live for and began stabbing himself.
An autopsy by the Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office revealed sharp force injuries to Rahn's face, neck, upper body and arms. Examiners noted one of Rahn's hands had more than 20 stab wounds to one of his hands, consistent with someone who is trying to defend themselves. He also suffered blunt force trauma to his head.
If convicted of second degree murder, John C. Adams could face a prison sentence of up to 40 years.
More news
