SAVANNAH, Tenn. (Court TV) — A Tennessee judge has denied Zach Adams’ request for a new trial, upholding his conviction for the murder of nursing student Holly Bobo.
FILE – Holly Bobo (Tennessee Bureau of Investigation)
Bobo was 20 when she was kidnapped from her West Tennessee home in 2011; she disappeared in April after her brother reported seeing a man in camouflage leading her toward the woods. Her body was found more than three years later in a wooded area off Interstate 40.
Three men were charged in Bobo’s kidnapping, rape and murder, but only Zach Adams went to trial. A jury found him guilty of all charges; he was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole, plus 50 years.
Zach Adams’ brother, Dylan Adams, accepted a plea agreement in the case. The third man charged, Jason Autry, also pleaded guilty and testified at Zach Adams’ trial. Years later, Autry recanted his testimony, claiming he invented his entire story after reviewing the discovery and having discussions with his attorney “about the best way to avoid spending the rest of his life in prison,” Zach Adams’ defense claimed.
After asserting his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, Autry did not testify at the post-conviction relief hearing, which spanned months. While Zach Adams did not speak at his own trial, he took the stand at his post-conviction relief hearing, where he described himself as a heavy drug user with a bad reputation, but said that he had no involvement in Bobo’s kidnapping, rape or murder. He maintained that he was at an ATM when Bobo was attacked, but that investigators failed to fully document his claims.
Zachary Adams testifies during his post-conviction relief hearing. (Court TV)
Zach Adams also claimed in his motion for a new trial that his attorney at the time, Jennifer Thompson, had been ineffective. Thompson testified at the 2025 hearing on Zach Adams’ request for a new trial, saying that she was overwhelmed in her attempts to prepare. “I was the only one doing the trial,” she said. “I was barely able to cross-examine witnesses. And it’s not because I wasn’t trying or wasn’t a good attorney; it was because of the situation that I was plopped down into and with the judge being so rough on me and the state being so ugly to me, it just made it impossible for me to be my normal, zealous self.”
In his ruling denying Zach Adams’ request for a new trial, Judge J. Brent Bradberry said that he found inadequate support for the defendant’s claims of an alternative suspect and that the defense failed to cite specific deficiencies or transcripts, as required by statute, WBBJ reported.
“We are pleased with the Court’s decision in this matter,” Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch said in a statement. “Over the years, our team devoted countless hours to investigate this case in the pursuit of justice for Holly and those who loved her, and this ruling affirms the jury’s verdict was just and fair under the rule of law. We continue to stand with Holly’s family and friends and hope this newest development brings a further measure of closure.”
