Holly Bobo Murder Trial: Tentative Date Set For John Adams

SAVANNAH, TN — A tentative trial date was set in the abduction, raping and killing of Holly Bobo, a nursing student who vanished from her rural Parsons home more than six years ago. Judge C. Creed McGinley said he plans to hold the trial of John Dylan Adams during the last week of May 2018.

Bobo, 20, was reported missing April 13, 2011, about 100 miles southeast of Nashville. Her disappearance led to a massive search and her remains weren't found until three years later in a wooded area.

John Adams is the younger brother of Zachary Adams, who was convicted of Bobo's kidnapping, rape and murder Sept. 22.

In the elder Adams' trial, Bobo's mother passed out during her testimony and the former lead investigator on the case for the state Bureau of Investigation said Adams wasn't guilty. The jury ultimately sided with the prosecution's theory of the case though, which was bolstered by the testimony of Jason Autry.

Autry was also charged in the crime and reached an agreement with prosecutors for the possibility of a reduced sentence in exchange for his testimony. He said Zach Adams asked to help bury a body, which he originally believed to be that of a person named "Joe Joe" who owed Adams money in a drug deal. Once Autry arrived at the home of Adams' cousin Shayne Austin, he learned that the body was, in fact, that of Bobo, who had rapidly become one of the country's most famous missing people and subject of the largest investigation in Tennessee history.

Autry said he agreed to help but once he and Adams arrived at the Tennessee River, Bobo moved and spoke. It was then Adams grabbed a gun, reached under the blanket, felt for Bobo's head and fired a .32 pistol, killing her.

By ADRIAN SAINZ, Associated Press

Patch reporter J.R. Lind contributed to this report.

Photo credit: Adrian Sainz/Associated Press