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Thread: Zachary Rye Adams Sentenced to Life Plus 50 Years in the 2011 TN Murder of Holly Bobo

  1. #121
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    Prosecutor: Holly Bobo deserves justice

    By WMCActionNews5.com Staff

    DECATUR COUNTY, TN (WMC) - After 10 days of testimony and debate, the fate of Zach Adams is now in the hands of the jury.

    Adams is on trial for the kidnapping, rape, and murder of 20-year-old nursing student Holly Bobo in 2011.

    Court started Thursday with the judge reading over each of Adams' charges, including rape, kidnapping, and murder.

    The jury then listened closing arguments from the prosecution.

    Prosecutor Paul Hagerman kicked off closing statements by talking about Holly's mother being in the same room as her daughter's killer.

    He then described how the murder was carried out, under the I-40 bridge.

    "The secret began with a gunshot under the bridge that echoed. These two men bonded together because of the terrible, hands-on work that they put together," Hagerman said.

    Hagerman mentioned that the secret had not been kept well; he said within two days, Holly's papers were found by Shayne Austin's trailer and his grandmother's house.

    He mentioned how Zach Adams was seen running frantically within days, and seen vacuuming mattresses and cars.

    "The fear is that Holly's DNA was on him," Hagerman said. "...He had to get rid of any trace of her."

    Hagerman said Adams' alibi is suspect, because it is only verified by people who were also involved in Holly Bobo's murder.

    He also blamed investigators for only following leads that pointed to Terry Britt as the killer. He said if they had looked into Adams and his friends first, this case would've been over years ago.

    "If somebody had just been listening, the very day of the abduction, the night after the abduction, 911 has to come to his house," Hagerman said.

    Hagerman said if lead investigator Terry Dicus had been listening, he would have heard what Zach was saying. Instead, he came up with a theory about sexual predators.

    He said finally, the people around Dylan Adams came forward, and investigators listened.

    "The same names we'd been hearing since the second day of the investigation: Zach Adams, Shayne Austin, Dylan Adams, Jason Autry."

    He said all four were just as responsible as the other for Bobo's death.

    "She was never going to come out of that blanket alive; not a chance."

    Hagerman said the story was finally told in 2016 when Jason Autry came forward.

    He noted the corroboration to the stories, such as a cable guy coming to Austin's home and hearing a neighbor cutting grass.

    He discussed Dicus' "tunnel vision" in attempt to charge Terry Britt with the crime, which ended with, as Dicus admitted, no evidence.

    He questioned how investigator Walker was "messed with" by Terry Britt, who Hagerman said is, "not a brain surgeon."

    "Tell me about the facts and the evidence in this case. We spent way too much time on speculation that had already been shot down, on suspects that had already been shot down."

    Hagerman said everyone agrees Holly was taken, kidnapped, raped, and killed--so the only question is if they have the right people.

    "They've got no body, and they've got no gun," Hagerman said that's what two witnesses recalled Adams saying in March 2014 about the Holly Bobo investigation.

    "Who on Earth, on this planet, knew in March of 2014 that she had been shot?" Hagerman questioned. "Her body hadn't been found."

    He said this statement tells you everything you need to know.

    "It's time to do what is right. It's time to listen to the evidence, to make decisions on the evidence, what matters. The time is now."

    The state then closed their final argument and opened the courtroom up for the defense.

    Defense attorney Jennifer Thompson then offered her closing argument.

    "The thing for you to think of today is that non-evidence is not evidence," Thompson led with.

    Thompson went step-by-step pointing out discrepancies and mistakes in the prosecution's description of what happened.

    She brought up a pair of pink underwear found near Austin's home. That pair of underwear was provided as evidence, despite not belonging to Holly Bobo.

    Thompson said the government added in the underwear to "add to the creep factor."

    She said Adams' white pickup truck was seen driving in a different direction than the killer would've been driving. She said a neighbor mowing his lawn at the time of the kidnapping never heard anything suspicious, and a footprint found in the woods where Holly vanished belonged to her brother Clint Bobo.

    She pointed to a palm print that was proven to not belong to the Adams brothers, Austin, or Autry, but did not exclude Terry Britt.

    She said the government knew the mattress investigators saw outside Adams' home was unrelated to the crime, but brought in to try to paint a picture that Adams was cleaning out evidence.

    "There is absolutely multiple reasonable doubts in this case," Thompson said.

    She then described the government's story as laid out in testimonies.

    Thompson then argued that there was more to the story and the government's story is "full of holes."

    She also argued that none of the four men accused fit the description that Clint Bobo gave to authorities. She noted that if Clint thought someone was there that day, he would not have waited 10 minutes to call 911, which means the person that came to abduct Holly was not wearing a disguise.

    "Let's talk about Jason Autry. Jason Autry has sold his death penalty to the government," Thompson said.

    Thompson said Autry made up a tall-tale in January to free himself of a potential death penalty. She said his two death penalty lawyers made sure that the death penalty was taken off the table before he testified.

    "The death penalty changes everything," she said. She said Autry spent three years sitting in jail and coming up with his story.

    She said Autry's story was so believable because he included so many bits of truth in it, and left in a lot of details to make Zach Adams look like a bad person.

    She then talked about Shayne Austin. "The government wants you to believe Shayne killed himself out of guilt in the case," Thompson said.

    She argued that Austin was a long-time drug user (as testified by his mother), and that this led to his suicide.

    She said after the abduction, many people in the county make light of Holly's situation, using her name as a verb and faking to claim responsibility. Terry Dicus said as many as 20 people were brought to investigators' attention for this.

    Thompson argued that Autry knew Bobo was related to him and fabricated that part of the story, along with others, because the state wouldn't sell a death penalty for a lesser story than the one they received.

    Thompson argued that Terry Britt fit the bill as Bobo's killer: he was accused of being a stalker, he fit the description, and his alibi was suspicious.

    "Terry Britt is most likely the real abductor and killer in this case," Thompson said.

    She also mentioned cell phone records, which she said does not match up with Autry's story.

    Thompson tried to discredit Dylan Adams' confessions by noting that he was in special education classes in school and could not comprehend complex things.

    "In this country, we do not convict on suspicion and rumor," Thompson said in her final summary for the jury.

    The judge sent the court into a lunch recess.

    Prosecuting attorney Jennifer Nichols was the last to deliver closing arguments before the jury was sent back to deliberate.

    Nichols asked the jury to consider what Bobo’s last two hours were like before she was killed.

    She also spoke about Bobo’s hopes and dreams, which were cut short.

    “She was just trying to be the best student nurse she could be,” Nichols said.

    Nichols went on to summarize the testimonies heard throughout out the trial.

    She pointed out that an expert for the defense team said the phone data was consistent with the location of Holly Bobo’s abduction and eventual murder.

    She disputed Thompson’s argument that Terry Britt was most likely Bobo’s killer, and said investigators found Britt to be a dead end. When they searched his computer, the most incriminating thing they found was four searches for porn websites.

    Nichols said Bobo’s family has been waiting six years for justice for their daughter. It’s hard to turn it over, she said, but it’s time.

    “If you believe the defense theory, then ladies and gentlemen, then let them go, which is what you’re supposed to do,” Nichols said.

    However, Nichols added, if the jury sees Zach Adams as the one behind Holly’s kidnapping, rape, and murder, then return with the right verdict.

    Nichols said if she not been kidnapped and murdered, Holly Bobo probably never would have been famous. She would have eventually become a nurse, and no one outside of her community would have known her name. But since she was, Nichols said, Holly and her family deserve justice.

    “She’s entitled to this,” Nichols said.

    Nichols finished by urging the jury to go back and deliberate with clear minds. She also encouraged them to take as long as they need to reach the right verdict.

    “Do what needs to be done,” Nichols said. “We’ll be waiting right here, as long as it takes.”

    http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/...p-murder-trial
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  2. #122
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    Zach Adams after learning the verdict


    Zach Adams Found Guilty On All Counts In Murder Of Holly Bobo


    By Chris Conte
    News Channel 5 Network

    SAVANNAH, Tenn. - Six years of anguish, heartbreak and uncertainty all came to a dramatic conclusion inside the Hardin County Friday afternoon, as 12 jurors convicted Zachary Rye Adams of first degree murder.

    He now faces the death penalty for his role in the killing and kidnapping of nursing student Holly Bobo.

    For years it was unclear if this trial, would ever occur much less be sent to a jury. Legal fumbles and delays often left those in Holly's family wondering when they would be able to close the most painful chapter in their lives.

    Holly was kidnapped from her home on April 13, 2011, the last person to see her alive was her brother Clint who told investigators a man wearing camouflage had lead his sister into the wood. Investigators would later find Holly's blood in the garage next to her black Ford Mustang, exhaustive searches of the wooded areas surrounding her home turned up Holly's phone and lunch box but the 20-year-old's body wouldn't be found until years later.

    A motive for the crime, which shattered the sense of security in the small town of Parsons, still remains a mystery. But state prosecutors were able to convict Zach Adams based largely on the testimony of other criminals and co-defendant Jason Autry.

    It was through Autry's testimony that jurors heard the gruesome details of the final moments of Holly's life. Autry, who is currently in prison, said that after Zach kidnapped Holly, the pair took her body to the banks of the Tennessee River beneath the I40 bridge in Decatur County. Wrapped in a farm blanket, Holly's body was unloaded from the back of a pickup truck, the plan, Autry says, was to gut her body so she wouldn't float. Suddenly though her foot moved, a murmur indicated that Holly was still alive.

    "With one shot that echoed under that bridge, those two men did what the chose to do and the secret of what happened to Holly Bobo started. It bonded together these two men who had just done this terrible, terrible work," prosecutor Paul Hagerman said during his closing arguments.

    It took six men and six women 11 days to convict Zach Adams. The 33-year-old had little reaction has the jury foreman announced his fate to a courtroom packed with people, including Holly's parents. Thousands more were watching at home, as this trial and case have garnered national publicity since the moment Holly vanished.

    "It's doubtful Holly would've been famous, it's more likely she would've finished nursing school, she would've married Drew (her boyfriend) and lived close to her parents the remainder of her life," prosecutor Jennifer Nichols said as she addressed jurors one final time.

    "You wouldn't have known her. But she's entitled to this. Justice for her requires you be here," she implored of them.

    Adams was found guilty on all counts.

    COUNT 1 - GUILTY
    First Degree Murder - During Perpetration of Kidnapping

    COUNT 2 - GUILTY
    Especially Aggravated Kidnapping - Using a Deadly Weapon

    COUNT 3 - GUILTY
    Especially Aggravated Kidnapping - Resulting in Serious Bodily Injury

    COUNT 4 - GUILTY
    First Degree Murder - During Perpetration of Rape

    COUNT 5 - GUILTY
    Aggravated Rape - Use of Force While Armed with a Weapon

    COUNT 6 - GUILTY
    Aggravated Rape - Resulting in Bodily Injury

    COUNT 7 - GUILTY
    Aggravated Rape - Use of Force While Aided or Abetted by Others

    COUNT 8 - GUILTY
    First Degree Murder - Premeditated

    The jury which decided his fate will now also decide if he should face the death penalty or life in prison for killing Holly Bobo.

    "The death penalty changes everything," his attorney Jennifer Thompson told jurors as she tried one final time to convince jurors Zach didn't commit the crime.

    "Zachary Rye Adams is 100 percent innocent of the charges he's facing," she added.

    Jurors didn't agree.

    The most expensive and most exhaustive case in state history also appeared to be one of the most mismanaged. Even prosecutors said that TBI agents failed to investigate the most obvious of leads in the case early on, not checking out the alibis of Zach Adams, Dylan Adams, Jason Autry or Shayne Austin. Three of the men were later charged with murder. Shayne Austin committed suicide after the state withdrew an immunity agreement.

    Holly was missing for more than three years until her remains were accidentally discovered off County Corner Road in Decatur County by a ginseng hunter out searching the woods in September of 2014. That discovery broke the case wide open.

    Only two men in the world knew that, the two men who did it," Paul Hagerman said.

    For Holly's family, the verdict offered some semblance of closure. Although they recognized that no verdict will ever bring their daughter home.

    http://www.newschannel5.com/news/bob...-of-holly-bobo
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  3. #123
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    Penalty phase in the Holly Bobo trial starts Saturday

    By WATE 6 on your side Staff

    SAVANNAH (WATE) – Zach Adams will begin the penalty phase of his trial at 10 am Saturday morning.

    Adams was convicted three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated kidnapping and three counts of rape on Friday. He is eligible for the death penalty with convictions of first-degree murder.

    The jury could sentence him to life without parole or give him the death penalty. Character witnesses are expected to testify as the defense and prosecution fight over his punishment.

    http://wate.com/2017/09/23/penalty-p...arts-saturday/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  4. #124
    Administrator Moh's Avatar
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    Well, in my opinion, he certainly deserves a death sentence, but all it takes is one juror who lied about their true feelings on the death penalty during voir dire to spare this murderer's life.

  5. #125
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    He got life plus 50 years. Sucks but I'm not surprised.
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  6. #126
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    HOLLY BOBO TRIAL: Court accepts agreement of life plus 50 years for Zach Adams

    By Bridget Chapman and Shay Arthur
    WREG News

    SAVANNAH, Tenn. — Both sides have reached an agreement that Zach Adams will be sentenced to life in prison without parole plus 50 years.

    This means jurors did not have to decide Adams’ fate in regards to the death penalty after all.

    Karen Bobo addressed the court.

    “She was the sweetest person I have ever known in my life,” she said about her daughter Holly.

    She told jurors they had done the right thing.

    “Last night I saw my husband smile for the first time in six and a half years.”

    She asked Zach Adams to look at her as she told him: “I know that my daughter fought and fought hard … and I know that she begged for her life because my daughter loved life. But you chose to take it from her — look at me, please — but you have shown absolutely no remorse for anything you’ve done.”

    Adams’ defense attorney Jennifer Thompson said afterwards that she had instructed him to not show emotion, so he remained stoic. She thanked the Bobo family for going along with attorneys’ agreement.

    She plans to file for a mistrial and then appeal in the next 30 days. She said she has to look at what the grounds are for why she would file for a mistrial.

    Prosecutors said the Bobo family had reluctantly agreed on the deal for Adams’ prison sentence.

    “The Bobo family chose to end this thing with grace,” Paul Hagerman said.

    A jury Friday evening returned a verdict of guilty on all charges against Adams in the kidnapping, rape and fatal shooting of Tennessee nursing student Holly Bobo.

    Co-defendants Dylan Adams and Jason Autry will be in court for status hearings on their cases at 2 p.m. on Nov. 14.

    http://wreg.com/2017/09/23/holly-bob...ch-adams-fate/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  7. #127
    Moderator Ryan's Avatar
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    Adams was a primary candidate for death row. However he'll die in prison without having to see the gurney.

  8. #128
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Man spared death penalty for 2011 murder of Tennessee nursing student

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Reuters) - Zachary Adams will spend the rest of his life in prison for the 2011 kidnapping, rape and murder of Tennessee nursing student Holly Bobo after a plea deal on Saturday spared him from the death penalty.

    Adams, 33, the first of three men to face trial in the high-profile case, was found guilty of all counts on Friday in Savannah, Tennessee. He was convicted of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape in a case that drew so much media attention that a judge had moved the trial from Decatur County to neighboring Hardin County to secure an unbiased jury.

    As part of a plea agreement worked out before the scheduled sentencing hearing on Saturday morning, Judge C. Creed McGinley ordered Adams to serve a life sentence plus 50 years, without the possibility of parole but also no possibility of execution.

    After the agreement was disclosed in court on Saturday, Bobo’s mother, Karen Bobo, thanked the jury and then asked to address Adams. She asked court officials to be sure Adams was looking at her.

    “I know that my daughter fought and fought hard for her life,” she said. “And I know that she begged for her life because my daughter loved and enjoyed her life. But you chose to take that from her, and you have shown absolutely no remorse for anything that you’ve done.”

    Trial dates have not been set for the other two defendants, Adams’ brother Dylan Adams and friend Jason Autry. Both pleaded not guilty to the charges.

    Autry, however, admitted in his own role in the murder in testimony that was key to the prosecution’s case against Zachary Adams.

    Bobo’s brother, the last person to see her, said she left the family property and walked into the woods with a man in camouflage whom he mistook for her boyfriend.

    In September 2014, two men searching for ginseng in the woods in Decatur County discovered a human skull, identified by dental records as Bobo‘s.

    https://www.reuters.com/article/us-t...-idUSKCN1BY0XS

  9. #129
    Senior Member CnCP Legend CharlesMartel's Avatar
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    Dylan Adams won’t face death penalty in Holly Bobo case; trial set for May

    BY BRIDGET CHAPMAN
    wreg.com

    HARDIN COUNTY, Tenn. — John Dylan Adams, one of the defendants accused of kidnapping, raping and murdering nursing student Holly Bobo, will not face the death penalty when he returns for his trial next year.

    Adams was in court for a status hearing Tuesday and Judge C. Creed McGinley tentatively set a trial date for May 29. His next hearing is set for 10 a.m. Dec. 14.

    "I have moved this case as quickly as I could considering the huge amounts of discovery," McGinley said. "Well over 100 agents worked on this and it's just mountains of discovery."

    The next jury could come from from Chattanooga, where there has been relatively little coverage of the case, the judge said.

    With the state taking the death penalty off the table, Adams faces a life sentence of 51 years if convicted.

    The judge said he’ll be setting a cut-off date soon for when both sides could reach a plea agreement instead of going to trial.

    Bobo’s loved ones didn’t want to talk about that today, but they were the ones who asked that Zach Adams be sentenced to life instead of death after his conviction.

    “We're here for the long haul, whatever it takes. However long it takes. We believe it's headed in the right direction," said pastor Don Franks, a friend of the Bobo family.

    Dylan Adams' brother Zach Adams was sentenced to life in prison without parole plus 50 years after both sides reached an agreement in September.

    Another man, Jason Autry, also faces charges in the death of Bobo, who was killed in 2011 in Decatur County, Tennessee.

    http://wreg.com/2017/11/14/dylan-ada...lly-bobo-case/

  10. #130
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    Plea Deal Not Yet Reached In Holly Bobo Trial

    By News Channel 5 Network

    SAVANNAH, Tenn. - A plea deal has yet to be reached for Dylan Adams in the Holly Bobo murder trial following several hours of discussion.

    A status hearing was held Thursday morning during which Judge C. Creed McGinley made it clear he wanted a plea deal in the case.

    “Everybody knows what they’re willing to do. There’s no sense in kicking the can down the road,” he told the crowded courtroom.

    McGinley called for a recess to give both parties time to negotiate terms of a possible plea deal.

    When court resumed around 2 p.m. Thursday, McGinley continued the hearing for 10 a.m. Monday, giving everyone more time for discussion.

    Dylan Adams’ brother, Zach, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in September. The State has already said it will not seek the death penalty in the second trial for Dylan.

    Dylan has been accused of kidnapping, raping, and murdering Holly Bobo. The nursing student disappeared from her home in Decatur County in 2011.

    On Thursday, Judge McGinley made it clear that getting to a resolution has dragged on way too long.

    "This has gone long enough," the judge said. "I'm talking to the agents, this has gone long enough. I'm talking to the family of the victim, this has gone long enough. I'm talking to the defendant, this has gone long enough, and I think the general public, for this case to be disposed of."

    Dylan's deal could vary from 15 to 20 years with parole or life without parole.

    https://www.newschannel5.com/news/ju...bo-murder-case
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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