SAVANNAH, Tenn. (Court TV) — The man serving a life sentence for kidnapping, raping and murdering Holly Bobo appeared in court for a four-day hearing in a bid to overturn his conviction and get a new trial.
Bobo was kidnapped from her West Tennessee home in 2011, though her body wasn’t found until three years later. Zach Adams, his brother Dylan Adams and Jason Autry were all charged in her murder, but only Zach went to trial. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole plus 50 years. Dylan and Autry both accepted plea agreements.
Zachary Adams has filed for post-conviction relief after Jason Autry said he lied about Holly Bobo’s murder. (TBI/TN Dept. of Corrections)
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Zach’s appeal centers largely on Autry’s testimony at his trial, which he now claims was fiction and has recanted. “He admitted to concocting the entire story in his cell at jail while reviewing the discovery and in discussions with his attorney about the best way to avoid spending the rest of his life in prison,” Zach’s attorneys said in their petition requesting relief. “He said he just recreated his day and ‘added Holly to it.’ He acknowledged it was all to get him out of jail at the express guidance from his attorney.”
Autry was released from prison in 2020 after serving the eight years he negotiated in his plea deal, but was arrested two months later on federal weapons violations. He remains behind bars serving a 19-year sentence in that case.
While Autry was subpoenaed to testify at the hearing for post-conviction relief, he did not testify. His attorney, appointed by the court, filed a notice of intent to invoke his Fifth Amendment right to silence. Judge J. Brent Bradberry would not allow video of Autry recanting his testimony to be admitted as evidence, because the statements were not made under oath.
In addition to Autry’s recanted testimony, Zach’s attorneys argued that there is new evidence in the case: video from an ATM drive-thru that allegedly shows Zach, Dylan and a third man withdrawing $120 at the time investigators say Bobo was kidnapped. Retired Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Brent Booth testified that while he had seen some ATM video, another detective had collected it and demurred as to what it showed.
Dylan was among the witnesses to testify at the hearing, telling the judge that any statements he made about killing Bobo were false and that neither he nor his brother had anything to do with her murder. Dylan said that he accepted a plea in the case after watching Zach get convicted and sentenced to 101 years. “I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life in prison,” Dylan said. “Really, I wasn’t looking at the crime or looking at that. I was looking to get out.”
Zach’s former attorney, Jim Simmons, was grilled by his appellate counsel, who admitted that once Dylan became a cooperating witness with the prosecution, his focus was largely on mitigation because he believed the evidence against his client was too strong to overcome. While he denied encouraging Zach to plead guilty, he said he devoted his time to mitigation rather than countering evidence at trial.
The hearing ended abruptly on Thursday, but it is unclear when it will resume. Zach’s attorneys have filed an appeal of Judge Bradberry’s decision to exclude the video of Autry recanting his statement; the hearing will be rescheduled upon that decision.
