Holly Bobo found deceased, discussion thread *Arrests* #8

[geevee]

Yikes - I better get notes together - my sound is out - could you do a "report" after it happens - this is about his appeal, right? And THANKS!!

The judge's mic seems to be off but everything else is audible. I just began watching when I posted the link above.

 

[geevee]

ADA Beth Boswell is the first witness, testifying about investigating the case.

 

[Niner]

ADA Beth Boswell is the first witness, testifying about investigating the case.

You don't have to give a running commentary - if you don't want to - just the gist of the hearing - like you mentioned which witness' etc. attorneys. And Thanks!

 

[geevee]

ZA's lawyer wants to question the ADA about info contained in a document that was sealed by a federal judge, so the judge in this hearing is sealing the portion of the hearing discussing the info in the doc. After all this time, why is anything in this case still sealed??

 

[geevee]

Next up on the stand is Arthur G. Viveros, former FBI agent.

 

[Niner]

Friday, August 15th:
*Appeal Hearing (Day 2) (@ am CT) - TN - Holly Lynn Bobo (20) (missing April 13, 2011; found Sept. 7, 2014) – *Zacharry Rye Adams (27 @ time of crime/30/now 40) arrested & charged (3/11/14) & arraigned (6/4/14) with 1st degree murder, aggravated kidnapping & aggravated rape. Plead not guilty. DA will seek DP. Hardin County
Found GUILTY (11/22/17) of 8 counts after 3 ½ hours of deliberations. Received 25 years for kidnapping, 25 years for rape & LWOP for murder one. 11/9/17: The first motion for a new trial has been filed citing the court erred in not granting Adams' motion for a change of venue & that the evidence was not sufficient for a verdict of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Appeal case [4/17/24]: Circuit Court Judge J. Brent Bradberry. Prosecutor DA General Jennifer Nichols. Defense attorney Douglas Bates. Appeal case was denied on 9/13/24. Received hearing on motion for new trial on 3/21/25. No decision as of 8/13/25.
Court info from 2/26/20 thru 3/21/25 reference post #680 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...ed-discussion-thread-arrests-8.297522/page-34
8/13/25 Update: Hearing set on 8/14/25 & 8/15/25 e appeal. 8/14/25 Update: Witnesses: ADA Beth Boswell [ZA's lawyer wants to question the ADA about info contained in a document that was sealed by a federal judge, so the judge in this hearing is sealing the portion of the hearing discussing the info in the doc]. Arthur G. Viveros, former FBI agent. Hearing continues on 8/15/25.
*Jason Autry (43/36 @ time of crime) charged with 1st degree murder, aggravated rape & aggravated kidnapping. Case will be heard after Dylan’s is thru about June. JA case will not be heard until after Dylan's case in about June of 2018; but DA Hagerman said (on 1/23/18) the state will handle Zach Adams’ motion for a new trial before moving forward with Autry. Sentenced to 19 years in prison. Lost appeal.
*John Dylan Adams – Adams plead guilty (1/22/18) to facilitation of first-degree murder for 15 yrs, especially aggravated kidnapping at 35 years to run concurrent. Adams sentenced to 35 years total.

 

[geevee]

Last witness (in yesterday's hearing) is Alejandro 'Jerry' (couldn't hear his last name clearly (Ensalas, maybe), an attorney who joined the case shortly before trial.

 

[geevee]

I don't know what happened in today's Part 2, the video is only 24 minutes long and it's mostly black screen and no audio. Anyone who invested time in the original trial should listen to the last witness of yesterday, he spilled quite a bit of tea about things that went on during the trial.

 

[Niner]

@geevee - any updates yet on what is going on? Any more court dates for Adams? TIA!

 

[geevee]

@geevee - any updates yet on what is going on? Any more court dates for Adams? TIA!

Nothing I'm aware of, I'll post if I come across anything.

 

[Niner]

Nothing I'm aware of, I'll post if I come across anything.

Okay thanks! I searched & found nothing - that is why I asked as I do not get many articles over here that I can access - you know, EU rules & all....

 

[Niner]

@geevee - going thru some oldies - any thing going on with this case? TIA!

 

[geevee]

@geevee - going thru some oldies - any thing going on with this case? TIA!

Nothing new that I can find, Niner.

 

[Niner]

Nothing new that I can find, Niner.

Thanks for checking!

 

[Niner]

Searched for any news - and found this old article - after his hearing on 8/15/25.

Witness in Holly Bobo murder trial admits lying, raising questions about nursing student's true killer

Key witness in 2017 Holly Bobo murder trial admits to lying about Zachary Adams' involvement, prompting defense to request new trial for convicted killer, court records show.

www.foxnews.com

August 24, 2025
Nearly a decade after a man was convicted of killing a Tennessee nursing student, the defense is asking a judge for a new trial, citing a key witness’ admission over fabricating testimony.
[.....]
According to the petition, Autry admitted to formulating the story in his jail cell while looking over discovery evidence, while relying on cellphone data to nail down details.

"This is a man who told a jury that he started out attempting to hide what he believes to be the body of Holly Bobo, and ended up being present when she was actually murdered," McLendon said. "So you can ask yourself, how does a man go from a death penalty co-defendant to serving no time extra for that role at all? How does that happen? And the answer is, the prosecution would later say that without Jason Autry's testimony, they wouldn't have been able to convict that guy – and that's just the tip of the iceberg."

However, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Nichols insisted Adams’ petition needed to be supported by sworn affidavits, writing that the since-recanted testimony – which was presented to the court in a video interview – is "looked upon with distrust."

Nichols also previously said Adams would have been convicted without Autry’s testimony, while pointing to Adams’ "incriminating admissions" surrounding Bobo’s death.

Last year, a judge sided with the prosecution by granting the state’s motion to dismiss Adams’ petition for a new trial, ultimately determining Autry failed to prove an alibi for Adams or point to another person's evidence of guilt.
[.....]
Earlier this year, Adams returned to court for a post-conviction relief hearing [I believe this is the 8/15/25 hearing], with the judge ultimately ruling a video of Autry recanting his testimony was not admissible in court, according to Court TV. The hearing was temporarily suspended while Adams appealed the decision.

However, the Tennessee Court of Appeals declined to hear the appeal and the case is scheduled to resume in November, with hearings restarting earlier this month.


@geevee - can you find anything for a November hearing for this? TIA!

 

[geevee]

Searched for any news - and found this old article - after his hearing on 8/15/25.

Witness in Holly Bobo murder trial admits lying, raising questions about nursing student's true killer

Key witness in 2017 Holly Bobo murder trial admits to lying about Zachary Adams' involvement, prompting defense to request new trial for convicted killer, court records show.

www.foxnews.com

August 24, 2025
Nearly a decade after a man was convicted of killing a Tennessee nursing student, the defense is asking a judge for a new trial, citing a key witness’ admission over fabricating testimony.
[.....]
According to the petition, Autry admitted to formulating the story in his jail cell while looking over discovery evidence, while relying on cellphone data to nail down details.

"This is a man who told a jury that he started out attempting to hide what he believes to be the body of Holly Bobo, and ended up being present when she was actually murdered," McLendon said. "So you can ask yourself, how does a man go from a death penalty co-defendant to serving no time extra for that role at all? How does that happen? And the answer is, the prosecution would later say that without Jason Autry's testimony, they wouldn't have been able to convict that guy – and that's just the tip of the iceberg."

However, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Nichols insisted Adams’ petition needed to be supported by sworn affidavits, writing that the since-recanted testimony – which was presented to the court in a video interview – is "looked upon with distrust."

Nichols also previously said Adams would have been convicted without Autry’s testimony, while pointing to Adams’ "incriminating admissions" surrounding Bobo’s death.

Last year, a judge sided with the prosecution by granting the state’s motion to dismiss Adams’ petition for a new trial, ultimately determining Autry failed to prove an alibi for Adams or point to another person's evidence of guilt.
[.....]
Earlier this year, Adams returned to court for a post-conviction relief hearing [I believe this is the 8/15/25 hearing], with the judge ultimately ruling a video of Autry recanting his testimony was not admissible in court, according to Court TV. The hearing was temporarily suspended while Adams appealed the decision.

However, the Tennessee Court of Appeals declined to hear the appeal and the case is scheduled to resume in November, with hearings restarting earlier this month.


@geevee - can you find anything for a November hearing for this? TIA!

A commenter on a YT channel says it'll resume Nov. 19, 20 and 21st and Court TV will be filming it. Can't find anything else with dates so will keep an eye on it.

 

[geevee]

Don't know if it's been posted before but also found the Tennessee court document page (nothing new since 7/1/25):

State v. Zachary Adams | Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts

www.tncourts.gov

 

[Niner]

Don't know if it's been posted before but also found the Tennessee court document page (nothing new since 7/1/25):

State v. Zachary Adams | Tennessee Administrative Office of the Courts

www.tncourts.gov

Dang - I can't access this. It just circles, circles & then comes up with "Time out for connection". So I will have to rely on you! And thanks for the new dates!

 

[Emerald1328]

I followed this case from reports of Holly’s abduction to the end of the trials but haven’t really visited the thread since then. I have to admit, this case has been the only one on Websleuths that I’ve followed where I was too embarrassed to admit to everyone that I wasn’t quite convinced that those convicted were guilty (don’t throw tomatoes!) And I am not sure why I can’t 100% get on board with it. Obviously my opinion matters not, but just had to throw that out there, now that I’m older and not much embarrasses me anymore

 

[SteveS]

I followed this case from reports of Holly’s abduction to the end of the trials but haven’t really visited the thread since then. I have to admit, this case has been the only one on Websleuths that I’ve followed where I was too embarrassed to admit to everyone that I wasn’t quite convinced that those convicted were guilty (don’t throw tomatoes!) And I am not sure why I can’t 100% get on board with it. Obviously my opinion matters not, but just had to throw that out there, now that I’m older and not much embarrasses me anymore

I know what you mean. It sure felt like the defense lawyering was fairly inept, and the state's case was weak and almost entirely based on JA's paid-for testimony that felt really suspect in real time. (The state claimed he got nothing for his testimony, which turned out to be BS.) But he fooled the jury, because it convenently matched up! Here's what I wrote before, which summarizes my feelings, which are like yours:

1 The claim JA has made, where he says he made up all his testimony and used discovery to tailor it to be a perfect fit (to convict the others using the limited evidence the state had) is the same thing many of us trial watchers thought at the time. It was too neat, offering perfect support for a really weak case otherwise.
2 My personal belief, however, was that JA was far from innocent re HB - in fact, I thought JA was the primary culprit (and perhaps the only one), using his story-telling as a way to point the finger elsewhere. And by doing so, he was never held liable at all (!) because his story lined up perfectly (of course, because he made it line up!), leading to convictions for others! (He's imprisoned now on different charges IIUC.)
3 BTW, JA has lots of incentive to be telling a NEW story here, because he's trying to get out of jail now by changing it. IIUC, they had him locked up for a few years while the HB trials and appeals played out, and then they apparently let him go when his testimony was no longer needed. But part of the deal for testimony iiuc (not really well reported, so ...) was a sentence of "time served only" for what he said he did, but probationary subject to he didn't get another conviction. However, the TBI paid close attention to his every move once he got out, got him in a weapons violation, and he got hit for that crime PLUS the prior one he admitted to. So now he wants to un-admit it all. Of course.
4 I would hope his recanting (whether believed or not!) would serve to promptly void out whatever sentence reduction (or free pass) he was given (which was presumably done so in exchange for the truth). I also would put him on trial to sentence him on the strongest perjury penalty they have, with the idea he would hopefully be hit with some sort of 3-strikes enhancement for a repeat felon. And how can he plead not guilty, when he is claiming he testified untruthfully?
5 Under no circumstances should he be released imo. He needs to be locked up for good, somehow. He's a really bad dude, doing evil at every turn, and this is one more example (whether he's now telling the truth or not).
6 Again, I really think HE personally killed HB.
7 Whether the other 2 (the Adams boys) were involved or not, I'm not sure, but if so I think their roles were quite exaggerated by him. As for what to do about them, it easy to ignore them as "already convicted" but I am not sure it's justice when it's based on bogus testimony (and the rest of the "evidence" against them was hmmm kinda sketchy and flimsy, imo). But if they didn't do it, who did? (Although, the idea that they have to provide that answer, or otherwise they stay locked up, that seems unjust as well. "We gotta convict somebody, so unless you can give us a better answer, you will do" - that's not right.)

How do you get to justice? Perhaps you get JA to confess to what he did do. The fact is, he told the story he told for SOME reason, and I don't buy that he would have told it if he had no connection at all to her death. So what was his connection, if the story he told about the Adams brothers was a lie? Maybe you start there. And no matter what else you do, you certainly try him and convict him for perjury, which he is eagerly insisting he did, and you give him the max sentence for EACH count of perjury you can create (perjury against ZA, perjury against DA, perjury re _____, whatever you can come up with, maybe one charge for each time he swore under oath, and whatever else, and all of them served consecutively with no parole possible).

I want justice for Holly. I'm not convinced we got it. It still is needed.

That's my 2c on where we are.