In the fall of 2017, the life of 28-year-old Michael Bruce Johns, a Caucasian male from Grundy Center, Iowa, was tragically cut short. On October 26, 2017, he was reported missing, initiating a search that would end in heartbreak over a month later. His body was discovered in a rural area of Floyd County on December 1, 2017. An autopsy later confirmed that Johns had died from a shotgun wound to the head, and his death was officially ruled a homicide.
The investigation into Johns's
disappearance and murder pointed to a man named Armando Adame III. According to investigators, Johns was last seen with Adame and another individual on October 25, 2017. Cell phone records and witness statements tracked their movements through several counties, including Black Hawk, Grundy, Tama, Butler, Marshall, Buchanan, and Floyd. The last known activity from Johns's cell phone was recorded in the early morning hours of that day. Authorities believe an argument erupted between Johns and Adame as they drove through Floyd County. They stopped on a gravel road, where Adame pulled Johns from the vehicle and shot him.
A key witness, Adame's former girlfriend, testified that Adame admitted to her that Johns "wasn't coming back." She told the court that Adame confessed to getting into an argument with Johns, taking him out to a gravel road, and shooting him twice. During a search of Adame's residence, police found an illegal sawed-off 12-gauge shotgun. Forensic analysis revealed that the ammunition found with the shotgun was consistent with the wound that caused Johns's death.
Armando Adame III was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in connection with Michael Bruce Johns's death. In February 2020, a Floyd County jury found Adame guilty of first-degree murder and a weapons charge. He was subsequently sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Adame later appealed his conviction, but the Iowa Court of Appeals upheld the jury's decision in September 2021.
