Man Fatally Stabbed At West St. Paul Group Home: Police

WEST ST. PAUL, MN — A 38-year-old West St. Paul man has been charged with murder in connection with the fatal stabbing of a fellow resident at a group home.

Around 4 a.m. on Feb. 17, West St. Paul police were dispatched to a group home operated by the Minnesota Department of Human Services on a report of a disturbance between two clients of the group home.

The staff member at the group home reported that the disturbance was taking place in the bedroom of 68-year-old David Eugene Rahn. The staff member reported that she heard Rahn screaming for help and when she responded, someone was blocking the door and would not allow her entry.

The person blocking the door told the staff member "it was okay." While on the phone with the 911 dispatcher, the staff member reported that it had since gone quiet in Rahn’s room and that "something isn’t right."

It was later determined the second client was John C. Adams II. An officer arrived at the scene and observed a shirtless man run from a church located across the street from the group home and enter the group home. This man was identified as Adams, police said.

Officers found Rahn in his room unresponsive and not breathing. They also noticed several stab wounds to his neck and back. He was declared dead at the scene, according to a news release.

Police made contact with Adams in his bedroom. Adams told officers that Rahn had “busted into his room” and attacked him. He further reported that the two of them started wrestling, so Adams ran and got a knife to defend himself.

Adams went to Rahn’s room and claimed that Rahn "was still attacking" him so he defended himself.

When asked about the location of the knife, Adams stated that he threw it away. Officers located two garbage cans near the church across the street from the group home.

According to the criminal complaint, police found several garbage bags, one of which contained a serrated kitchen knife that was badly bent and appeared to have apparent blood on it. They also found a pair of gloves that appeared to be soaked in blood, authorities said.

When later interviewed, Adams told officers that Rahn told him to come to his room around 1:30 a.m. and Rahn then told Adams he had nothing to live for and started stabbing himself.

Adams stated that he attempted to grab the knife from Rahn but was unable to do so because Rahn is a "very strong man." Adams stated that he believed Rahn was going to attack him, so he balled up in the corner of the room while Rahn continued to stab himself. Adams stated that after Rahn ran out of strength, he grabbed the knife, exited the group home and went to the church across the street from the group home.

According to Adams, he went behind the church near some garbage cans and cried.

Adams stated that after he was done crying, he returned to the group home and saw that police officers were present. The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that Rahn sustained blunt force trauma to his head along with multiple sharp force injuries to his face, neck, upper body and arms.

Rahn suffered at least twenty sharp force injuries to one of his hands, which are consistent with defensive wounds, police said.