Trial underway for man accused of kidnapping and killing Columbus imam in failed robbery

Almost two years after a local Somali imam was found fatally shot in an overgrown lot on Columbus' North Side, the man charged with his murder is on trial this week in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

John W. Wooden is on trial for charges of kidnapping, aggravated robbery, murder and aggravated murder in connection with the death of Imam Mohamed Hassan Adam between Dec. 22, 2021, when Adam was last seen, and Dec. 24, 2021, when Adam's body was found.

Wooden, 47, of Franklinton, has a lengthy criminal history and was released from federal prison less than a year before he was accused of killing Adam, 48, who was an imam at Masjid Abu Hurairah mosque on the Northeast Side. He was described as a pillar of the Columbus Somali and Muslim communities.

Assistant Franklin County Prosecutor Jack Wong told the jury Tuesday during opening arguments that the theme to keep in mind during the trial is "concealment."

Wong said Wooden and his co-defendant, 24-year-old Isaiah Brown-Miller, used a burner cellphone the night they kidnapped Adam, but contends that evidence — including cellphone records, failed money transfers and the murder weapon — will prove Wooden’s guilt.

Columbus police found shell casings at the murder scene that matched a gun found during a search at Wooden’s home with Wooden’s DNA on it, Wong said. And county records show the lot where Adam’s body was found belonged to Wooden and his family.

One of Wooden’s defense attorneys, Paul Scarsella, told the jury during opening arugments Tuesday that prosecutors plan to present a lot of evidence — but none of it proves Wooden was there with the burner cellphone the night Adam was kidnapped.

“Assumptions, presumptions and inferences. Those are three words that I want you to think about for the next week-and-a-half,” Scarsella said. "The connections on all of this evidence ... is not John Wooden. The connection to all of this is Isaiah Brown-Miller."

This is the third jury trial in this case. Brown-Miller, of the Northeast Side, has already gone on trial twice for kidnapping and aggravated robbery, but has not been charged with murder. In both of Brown-Miller's trials, the jury could not reach a unanimous decision and the judge declared a mistrial.

Related: Second hung jury in trial of man charged with kidnapping imam

In the two previous trials, prosecutors said Brown-Miller and Wooden were attempting to get money from Adam and possibly from the mosque’s funds to which the imam had access.

What won’t come up at trial: Wooden’s past, other alleged crimes

This jury will hear only part of the prosecution’s case against Wooden and will not be told about his criminal history or other crimes for which he has been accused.

Wooden has previously been convicted of multiple felonies in county and federal courts. He spent a decade in federal prison and was released in March 2021.

Thus, Wooden is also charged in this case with unlawful use of a weapon by a violent career criminal and possessing a gun illegally. Most of the charges he faces in this case have added specifications for being a repeat violent offender and a violent career criminal.

But Wooden has waived his right to a jury trial on those charges and specifications and asked the judge to rule on them. This is a standard move by defense attorneys to avoid prejudicing a jury.

Wooden has also waived his right to a jury trial in this case on charges of aggravated robbery and felonious assault for an alleged crime on Nov. 4, 2021.

Rulings on all those charges will be decided at a later date.

In a separate pending case, Wooden is facing robbery charges for alleged crimes that took place on Dec. 18, 2021 and Jan. 4, 2022.

What evidence will come up at trial

Wooden and Adam knew each other, prosecutors have said, since Wooden sold a box truck to Adam in October 2021.

During Brown-Miller's previous two trials, prosecutors spent significant time poring over cellphone records, attempting to link a burner cellphone to Brown-Miller and the crime. Prosecutors said the burner cellphone connected to the same cell towers as Adam’s cellphone multiple times on Dec. 22, 2021, the night Adam went missing, which they say indicates the phones were together.

Wong said Tuesday the cellphone records will link Brown-Miller, Wooden and Adam, but Scarsella disagreed that the records will show that.

Prosecutors intend to present surveillance video in Wooden's trial that they played at the previous Brown-Miller trials from the evening of Dec. 22, 2021, of Adam and a man wearing a white mask and white gloves at an ATM at a PNC Bank branch on Olentangy River Road.

Adam was unsuccessful at withdrawing the cash the kidnappers wanted, Wong said.

There were also numerous failed transactions on Cash App, a money-transferring app, from Adam’s cellphone to a woman on the night he went missing, according to prosecutors. Some transactions were for thousands of dollars.

Prosecutors have declined to comment to The Dispatch on whether others they accused during trials of being involved in the robbery will be brought before a grand jury for possible indictment.

The disappearance of Imam Adam

Adam was last seen alive on Dec. 22, 2021, when he left home to pick up his children from a day care center on Oakland Park Avenue and never arrived. Adam's family reported him missing to police when they did not hear from him on Dec. 23, 2021.

Along with his family, more than a hundred members of the Muslim and Somalian communities formed search parties. They put out fliers with Adam's photo and a picture of the yellow van he was last seen driving.

The van was discovered on Dec. 24, 2021 in an overgrown lot on Windsor Avenue. Adam's body was found near the van.

jlaird@dispatch.com

@LairdWrites

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Trial underway for man accused of kidnapping, murder of Columbus imam