A faithful reader draws our attention to a horrifying Missouri murder with a local Minnesota angle. The Department of Justice press release adopts the locution “former Noel man” to describe the defendant who pleaded guilty in the case last week. “Noel” — that’s Noel, Missouri.
The “former Noel man” is one Mahamud Tooxoow Mahamed, who committed the crimes that gave rise to the case. News accounts such as this 2019 AP story identify the victim (“J.M.,” in the press release) as Jessica McCormack. The cousin Mahamed called after murdering Jessica McCormack was in Minnesota. Datelined Springfield, Missouri, this is the text of the press release:
A Somali national pleaded guilty in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge David P. Rush to one count of kidnapping resulting in death.
Mahamud Tooxoow Mahamed, 43, who was a permanent resident alien in the United States, residing in Noel, Mo., at the time of the kidnapping, admitted to kidnapping J.M., which resulted in her death.
J.M.’s body was discovered on July 29, 2019, near Missouri Highway 59 between Lanagan, Mo., and Noel, after an individual reported observing a pink suitcase in a roadside ditch with feet sticking out. Law enforcement located J.M.’s severely decomposed body lying next to the pink suitcase. A salesclerk from the African Grocery Store in Noel later reported that Mahamed had purchased a pink suitcase sometime before J.M.’s body was discovered.
J.M. was last seen alive on July 16, 2019, when law enforcement officers responded to a call at her home. J.M. reported to 911 that Mahamed had held her at knife point and tried to force her to have sexual intercourse with him. J.M. repeatedly told the 911 operator that she was worried Mahamed would harm her three young children who were in the apartment with him. The children were identified in court documents as Jane Doe 1 (four years old), Jane Doe 2 (two years old), and Jane Doe 3 (six months old).
J.M. and her children were reported missing on July 17, 2019, after attempts to contact J.M. on the phone and in-person failed.
On approximately July 28, 2019, or July 29, 2019, Mahamed called his cousin and told her he was bringing J.M.’s children to her in Minnesota. When she asked why he was bringing the children, Mahamed noted that something bad had happened and he could be in trouble.
J.M.’s children were located at a residence in Des Moines, Iowa, and taken into state custody on Aug. 8, 2019. The reporting party told law enforcement officers that Mahamed arrived at her Des Moines residence with the children on Aug. 5, 2019. She discovered Mahamed had left in the early morning hours on Aug. 8, 2019, without the children.
After abandoning the children in Iowa, Mahamed left the United States and was a fugitive from justice until he was located and expelled from Guatemala on July 27, 2021. He has been detained in federal custody since his return to the United States.
DNA analysis confirmed that the body was J.M.’s and her blood was discovered on multiple items recovered from a vehicle utilized by Mahamed.
The sentence has yet to be determined: “Under federal statutes, Mahamed is subject to a sentence of up to a life term in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.” In other words, the former Noel man won’t get what he deserves, but we can hope that he is put away for good.
