Holly Bobo Trial Reveals Crime Scene Photos
With the second day of the Holly Bobo murder trial underway Tuesday, jurors were shown photographs taken from the crime scene on the day the 20-year-old disappeared in 2011. Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Lawrence James put forth pictures taken inside the Bobo’s home in Darden, Tennessee, that day.
The photos showed Bobo’s Ford Mustang inside the family garage and blood inside the garage that DNA testing determined to be Bobo's. James said the photos and bloodstains indicated that Bobo struggled with someone inside the garage.
Then a nursing student at the University of Tennessee, Bobo went missing in the woods behind her family’s home in 2011. Her brother saw her entering the woods with a man dressed in camouflage but initially thought the man was her boyfriend. He quickly released something was amiss when he found bloodstains and notified 911. An extensive search for Bobo yielded nothing for more than three years – until her remains were located in the Decatur County woods near Nashville in 2014.
Standing trial Tuesday, 33-year-old Zach Adams was accused of drugging, raping and killing Bobo. The state called multiple witnesses to testify Tuesday, including Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper Warren Rainey, who said he visited Adams a week and a half after Bobo’s disappearance and that Adams appeared visibly scared and was shaking. Another witness testified about walking near Bobo’s house and seeing a white truck drive by slowly around the time of her disappearance.
Another photograph shown at the trial Tuesday revealed scars on Adams’ arm after Bobo went missing, according to WSMV-TV, an NBC affiliate in Nashville. An FBI agent testified that he saw the scratches when visiting Adams after the disappearance. Adams, however, said he was scratched when trying to escape from police on a different charge.
The trial’s second day followed an emotional first day in court Monday when Bobo’s mother collapsed after being shown her daughter’s purse and other belongings. The defense subsequently called for a mistrial, a request ultimately denied by the judge.
In the trial’s opening statement’s Monday, prosecutors alleged that Adams' kidnapped Bobo from her home and raped her. Believing he had killed her, he called his friend Jason Autry to help dispose of her body. While she was wrapped in a sheet in his car, he realized she was not yet dead and shot her in the head, prosecutors said.
“[Adams] took her,” said Shelby County Assistant District Attorney Paul Hagerman. “He raped her. He killed her. He discarded her. He covered it up. He bragged about it. And he almost got away with it.”
Adams pleaded not guilty to kidnapping, rape and murder charges. His defense team has cited a lack of forensic evidence linking Adams and Bobo. The trial was set to continue in the coming days. Should Adams be convicted, he could face the death penalty.
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