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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.
Holly Bobo, 20, disappeared from her rural home in 2011, sparking an extensive search that ended with her body being found more than three years later.
Zachary Adams and two other men were charged in Bobo’s kidnapping, rape and murder, with Adams being the only defendant choosing to go to trial. He was subsequently convicted on all charges in 2017 and sentenced to life in prison plus an additional 50 years.
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During Adams’ trial, key witness Jason Autry spoke in graphic detail about how Bobo was kidnapped and raped before being wrapped in a blanket, thrown in the back of a pickup truck and killed under a bridge near a local river.
“It sounded like, boom, boom, boom, underneath that bridge,” Autry told the jury. “It was just one shot but it echoed. Birds went everywhere, all up under that bridge. Then just dead silence for just a second.”
Since investigators never found DNA evidence linking Adams to Bobo, the prosecution relied primarily on testimony from witnesses and Adams’ fellow inmates, who claimed he talked about hurting Bobo after the murder.
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The dramatic trial included emotional testimony, with Bobo’s mother Karen collapsing on the witness stand.
Autry subsequently pleaded guilty to lesser charges after being praised by the judge for his testimony, and was sentenced to eight years in prison. He was released in 2020.
Adams’ brother, John Dylan Adams, also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
However, in a 2024 court filing known as a coram nobis petition, Zachary Adams revealed Autry was recanting his testimony and asked for a new trial. Adams claimed Autry fabricated his story in an effort to keep himself out of prison.
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Months earlier, Autry met with Dr. Katie Spirko, a forensic and clinical neuropsychologist, and admitted to making the story up after his lawyer warned him that he was “95% sure of a conviction,” before the 2017 trial, according to the petition.
“[Autry] had to make it all up,” Dana McLendon III, Spirko’s attorney, told Fox News Digital. “Because he knew that the chances that any of them were not going to be convicted were very low, and he wanted to save his own skin.”
McLendon said Autry previously expressed regret after his testimony.
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“He told Dr. Spirko when he left the trial having essentially buried Zach, he felt terrible because he knew that he just put an innocent man in prison,” McLendon said.
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.”
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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.
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“Mr. Autry’s new statements do not leave this Court without serious or substantial doubt that Mr. Adams is actually innocent,” the judge wrote in his ruling.
Autry’s attorney declined Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
Earlier this year, Adams returned to court for a post-conviction relief 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.
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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.
Adams’ attorney and the Hardin County District Attorney’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
In light of Adams’ pursuit of a new trial, McLendon hopes his conviction will be overturned and authorities will focus on finding Bobo’s actual killer.
“This community was boiling with the need for closure and justice,” McLendon told Fox News Digital. “So when you pick a jury from among a pool of people who’ve been waiting to get this case wrapped up for six years, and then they are given perjured testimony and the defense is essentially denied the opportunity to present all of the evidence, including exculpatory evidence, it’s not surprising to me that they got the verdict they got.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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