A jury on Wednesday convicted a man of murder in the brutal stabbing of a housemate at a mental-health group home in West St. Paul more than four years ago.
Dakota County jurors deliberated for less than an hour before finding John C. Adams, 43, guilty of second-degree intentional murder in the Feb. 17, 2020, death of 68-year-old David Eugene Rahn, who was found with stab wounds to his face, neck, back and upper extremities.
The guilty verdict followed a four-day trial before Dakota County District Court Judge Michael Mayer. He scheduled Adams’ sentencing for Dec. 20.
Adams’ attorney, Alex Rogosheske, declined to comment on the verdict.
Court records show that Adams was first committed as mentally ill and dangerous out of Hennepin County in October 2000. At the time of the murder, he was on a provisional discharge from the Minnesota Security Hospital in St. Peter since November 2018, when he moved into the group home.
Court proceedings on the murder charge were suspended in May 2000, when a medical evaluation found Adams was incompetent to stand trial. Proceedings resumed last October when he was deemed competent following years of treatment at the state hospital.
According to the criminal complaint, a staff member heard a disturbance in Rahn’s bedroom and then Rahn screaming for help. The staff member tried to get inside, but Adams blocked the door and said it was “okay.”
While on the phone with a 911 dispatcher, the staff member said that it had become quiet in Rahn’s room and that “something isn’t right.”
When the first responding officer arrived at the state-run group home at 1546 Christensen Ave. shortly after 4 a.m., he saw a shirtless man — later identified as Adams — running from the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses building across the street and into the home.
The parking lot of the Jehovah’s Witnesses Kingdom Hall across the street from 1546 Christensen Ave. in West St. Paul, where a man was fatally stabbed early Monday, Feb. 17, 2020. (Scott Takushi / Pioneer Press)
Officers and medics gave CPR to Rahn, but he was pronounced dead. His injuries also included at least 20 knife wounds to one of his hands, which were consistent with defensive wounds, and blunt force trauma to his head.
Adams, who was in his bedroom, told officers that Rahn had “busted into his room” and attacked him. They wrestled, Adams said, before he ran and grabbed a knife to defend himself.
Adams said he threw the knife into a garbage can near the Jehovah’s Witnesses building. Officers found a bloody, badly bent serrated knife in a white plastic bag that had electrical tape around the top of it. Bloody gloves were also found.
John C. Adams II (Courtesy of the Dakota County Sheriff’s Office)
During an interview at police headquarters, Adams’ story changed. He said he had gone to bed sometime between 11:30 p.m. and midnight. Around 1:30 a.m., when he got up to use the bathroom, Adams said, he saw Rahn standing in Rahn’s doorway holding a knife.
According to Adams, Rahn told him to come inside, which he did. Adams told investigators that Rahn said he had nothing to live for and began stabbing himself. Adams said he tried to get the knife from Rahn but could not and that he believed Rahn was going to attack him.
Adams said he waited in a corner of the bedroom while Rahn kept stabbing himself before running out of strength. Adams said he then grabbed the knife, went across the street and cried before returning back to the group home.
Prior calls to the home
West St. Paul police records showed that officers responded to seven previous calls to the group home beginning in early 2014, when it first became licensed by the Department of Human Services. Calls included disturbing the peace, damage to a vehicle and two missing person reports.
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Adams was reported missing on June 23, 2019. That led to DHS filing a request that day in Hennepin County mental health court to revoke Adams’ provisional discharge. The request, however, was rescinded the next day by DHS after Adams was located and returned to the group home.
In the court filing, Soniya Hirachan, who at the time was the DHS medical director of forensic services, direct care and treatment, wrote that her team would follow up with Adams.
“It is my expectation that (Forensic Community Support Services) and additional supports will ensure Mr. Adams returns to compliance with his provisional discharge plan so he can continue to be successful in his community reintegration,” she wrote.
