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19-year-old man indicted in stabbing death of cabdriver: Victim stabbed 30 times with tool
Jan 16, 2010 (Pioneer Press - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
A grand jury indicted a 19-year-old Apple Valley man in the slaying and robbery of Michael Allan Palm Jr., a taxi driver who was found stabbed to death in his cab.
Abdirahman Abdiwahab Abdikarim was indicted Friday by a Dakota County grand jury on charges of first-degree murder, which is punishable by life in prison. He also faces alternate charges of unintentional second-degree murder and intentional second-degree murder.
Each of those charges is punishable by up to 40 years in prison.
A grand jury must review first-degree murder charges for prosecution.
"We believe this was a robbery gone bad," Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom said. "The weapon used to kill the victim in this case was a screwdriver."
According to the criminal complaint, police were called Aug. 1 to an office building on Apple Valley's Glazier Avenue. Employees who had noticed a Suburban Taxi minivan parked in a lot all day with its door open discovered Palm's body inside about 2 p.m.
Palm had suffered 30 stab wounds to his forehead, neck, the left side of his face, his arms and a hand, the complaint said. His cell phone and GPS unit were gone.
A bloody screwdriver was at the scene. An analysis conducted by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension later showed Abdikarim's DNA on the handle, the complaint said.
"The victim was stabbed by that screwdriver multiple times, including a stab wound to his head that ultimately caused his death," Backstrom said. "He fought
hard for his life. He had defensive wounds on him -- in addition to the stab wounds."
Palm, 41, was homeless at the time and slept in his minivan when he wasn't working, a friend told police during their investigation. He was known to give customers free rides home, said workers at an American Legion hall in Apple Valley after the incident.
He lived with his son until the two were evicted from an apartment they shared.
Apple Valley police obtained Palm's cell phone records after the stabbing and discovered that his phone had been used four times Aug. 1, after his death, the complaint said.
Police interviewed two teens who said they had met Abdikarim that day at a South Minneapolis shopping plaza, where he allegedly asked one of them to sell the phone for him, the complaint said.
Abdikarim told a 16-year-old that he had come into some money. When the teen asked him how he'd obtained it, Abdikarim allegedly said, "What I did, you do life for it, man, I can't tell you," according to the complaint. He also said, "I beat the guy up so bad, man, he fainted," and "I got some killer hands, man, my fist."
Abdikarim's left palm print was found on the minivan's exterior, the complaint said.
When the charges were filed, Backstrom said investigators learned Abdikarim and Palm were acquainted but that it's not clear to what extent.
Since turning 18, Abdikarim has racked up a criminal history. He has been in custody since Aug. 6 at the Dakota County Jail in Hastings on unrelated crimes. He is believed to have stolen a car within hours of the stabbing.
In 2009, he was convicted of felonies in Dakota County for criminal damage to property, robbery, motor vehicle theft and identity theft, Backstrom said.
Additional felony charges are pending against him in Hennepin County for allegedly receiving stolen property and in Wright County for allegedly committing a robbery.
Bail for Abdikarim has been set at $1 million, or $750,000 with additional conditions.
Maricella Miranda can be reached at 651-228-5421.
To see more of the Pioneer Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.twincities.com. Copyright (c) 2010, Pioneer Press, St. Paul, Minn.
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