Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - NURSING STUDENT HOLLY BOBO GOES INTO THE WOODS AND VANISHES: KILLER WANTS NEW TRIAL

Episode Date: December 20, 2025

Holly Bobo, a beautiful young nursing student, disappears from her family home in Darden, Tennessee. She is last seen by her brother, Clint, walking into the woods at the back of their property with a man wearing camouflage who looks familiar. The Holly Bobo murder case returns to court years after a Tennessee man’s conviction. A new legal filing has emerged, requesting a new trial based on statements made by a key trial witness who now claims to be recanting his testimony—the same testimony that helped convict his friend. Holly's case has already faced several setbacks over the years; could this be another? At the time of her disappearance, Holly Bobo was a 20-year-old nursing student at the University of Tennessee at Martin, attending classes at the Parsons Center. She lived with her parents and brother. On the morning of her disappearance, Clint, Holly's brother, was awakened by a noise outside the home. Believing he heard and saw his sister talking with her boyfriend, he thought nothing was wrong. However, when Clint spoke to their mother, she immediately sensed something was wrong and frantically called 911. That morning, Holly had woken up at 4:30 a.m. to study for an exam. Around 7:30 a.m., she answered a call from her boyfriend, Drew Scott, who was out turkey hunting. By that time, Holly's parents had already left for work, and Clint was still asleep. Twelve minutes later, Holly made her final cell phone call.  Now her convicted killer wants a new trial.  His then attorney testifies that she does not believe she was an effective counsel. She sites depression and being overwhelmed by the  volume of evidence. The judge will her more testimony this month. Joining Nancy Grace today: Ben Powers - Criminal Defense Attorney, Facebook: Legal Powers Dr. Angela Arnold - Psychiatrist, AngelaArnoldMD.com, Former Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Obstetrics and Gynecology: Emory University, Former Medical Director of The Psychiatric Ob-Gyn Clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital, Todd G. Shipley, CFE, CFCE - Cyber Crime Expert, and Author: “Investigating Internet Crimes: An Introduction to Solving Crimes in Cyberspace;" X: @webcase Dr. Kendall Crowns -  Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County (Ft Worth), NEW Podcast --- launching on April 7th, Lecturer: Burnett School of Medicine at TCU (Texas Christian University) Shane Deitert - Former Assignment Editor for WATN in Memphis Dave Mack- Crime Stories Investigative Reporter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A gorgeous young nursing student, Holly Bobo, walks into the woods and vanishes forever. And tonight, her brutal killer to walk free? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories.

I want to thank you for being with us. Oh, okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. What about, man? There's,

any one down the room. Somebody has my daughter. Okay. Like a pin down the road. Please get that now. No, no. Wait, um, is that what you, Leah? Yes, I'm at school.

I'm sorry. Okay. You know what's carrying? Yes. Okay. Good. It has so. Oh, my stars. You are hearing the heartbroken mother of Holly Bobo begging, begging for law enforcement to go immediately to her home. You hear her stating, I'm at school. She's a schoolteacher. I'm trying to get to my home. Neighbors heard her screaming and somebody in camouflage got Holly. And that is how this case, her disappearance kicked off. Listen to more of that.

911 call. Okay. The pocket officer's all the way, redmail. Okay. They're on their way, sweetie. Help me. They're on their way, sweetie. Red ma'am.

Is this is wrong? They're on their way, sweetie. I've got everybody on their way. Radmell already. The pain in the mother's voice is almost unbearable. It's excruciating to hear it. You were hearing Holly Bobo's mother raising the alarm. Her daughter

has been taken by a man in Camo. Joining me, an all-star panel to make sense of what we are learning. Straight out to Shane Dieter, joining us from Tennessee, former assignment editor, WATN, Memphis. Shane, thank you for being with us.

Just hearing Holly's mother is heartbreaking in the 911 call. Her voice says sometimes a scream and then she's begging. And she's crying and the excruciating trip from work trying to get home. Describe where was the mother when she learns this is happening, Shane?

She was at work. She is a school teacher. And she was at work. I know she was so upset that she had to have a friend or a coworker drive her home. I just couldn't imagine, you know, getting that call and then making that call. It was heartbreaking, as you heard. I could not imagine the scare that that mother had and that was her baby. That is Holly Bobo's mother.

But who is Holly? Holly Bobo, a beautiful 20-year-old nursing student at the University of Tennessee Martin. She lives with her parents and brother Clint at the family home in Darden, Tennessee. of April 13, Holly awakens at 4.30 a.m. to study for an exam. Brother Clint wakes up to the sound of the family dogs barking around 7.45 a.m. He looks out to see Holly and a man dressed in camouflage in the garage. Clint thinks Holly and her boyfriend, Drew Scott, are having an argument. As I listened a little bit closer, I could tell that that was Holly's voice.

So I knew it was Holly. So in my mind, the male's voice, I knew to be Drew, you know, who is her boyfriend. That's my friends at ABC 2020, again joining me. all-star panel. You know, it's very disconcerting to Dr. Angela Arnold Arnold, Arnold, joining us. We're now a psychiatrist out of the Atlanta jurisdiction, and you can find her at Angela Arnold MD.com, because your day is going along as normal until it's not. And you hear the mother just, she can hardly talk, she screams, then she begs, and she cries, trying to get the entire community out, pronto to help find her daughter

All she knows in this juncture is that a male wearing camo led her daughter, took her daughter after an argument in their carport into the woods that goes along the Tennessee River. That's all she knows when she's calling 911. There she is at work. She's a school teacher and she gets this call and her life will never be the same, Dr. Angie. Imagine Nancy. She has literally no control. control over what is happening to her daughter. All she can do is try to get there as fast as she can and try to get as many people there as

fast as they can get there. But she knows that she has no control over this situation. I can't even imagine a more horrible feeling for a mother. Now, we just heard from our friends at ABC 2020, Clint Bobo speaking. He was stating, as I listened to a little. closer. I could tell it was Holly's voice. So I knew if it's Holly, then she must be talking to her boyfriend, Drew. Okay, how did he come to the idea, Shane Dieter, joining us from Tennessee that Holly was talking to the boyfriend? Nancy, the night before the brother and Drew the boyfriend

were talking, they were also friends. And Drew talked about going hunting. So when Holly's brother heard that and saw her going out, you know, towards the wood with this man in camouflage, he thought it was her boyfriend or assumed it was a boyfriend. This one critical mistake may have cost Holly her life. When the brother, by all account, well-intentioned, looks out, he sees his sister with a guy. they're talking and he thinks it's the boyfriend. Listen. Clint calls his mother Karen at work telling his mother, it looks like Holly and Drew are having an argument and are walking towards the woods. Karen says that is not Drew.

Grab a gun and shoot whoever is with Holly. Drew is turkey hunting on Bobo family property. Clint asks, you want me to shoot Drew? Karen Bobo immediately calls 911 around 8 a.m. I said that's not Drew, get a gun and shoot him. And Clint said, you want me to shoot Drew. And I think that's when I hung up in call 911. From our friends at ABC.

So what she didn't know out to Dave Matt, crime stories investigative reporter, what he, the brother didn't know is when he told mom, some guy, I guess the boyfriend, is leading her down the trail to the river into the woods. Her response is she knew she did not have time to explain Dave Mac. she says get a gun and shoot him and the brother clint is just groggy what he's just waking up he's like you want me to shoot drew but what the mother knew and the brother didn't know was at that very moment the boyfriend wasn't even there he was miles away turkey hunting with his own father but the brother didn't know that he's like what explain it Dave that's exactly what happened Nancy all right Clint was just waking up and he hears the dogs barking you mentioned that

Karen knows that Drew is hunting because he's turkey hunting on bobo family property it's actually Karen's grandmother that's the property they're hunting on so he's 30 miles away and so she knows it's not brew it can't be Drew and Clint has no clue he's just blurry eyed and he's like, he hears his sister. He hears her voice, but he hears a tinge in her voice that he feels like they're arguing. And I think he said he heard the word no. But the way that he briefly saw it just in his mind, he couldn't think. I mean, think about it. It's early in the morning. Who else would you be talking to? You wouldn't be talking to somebody you didn't know out by your car, getting ready to go to school. That's why Clint was kind of out of it and just

assumed it was Drew right then. And Karen obviously knew it could. She knew it could. That's why she could grab a gun and shoot him. She'd be go shoot him. She knew intuitively, a mother's intuition knew her daughter was in trouble and that man meant no good. No one more. What's your mercy? Somebody has my daughter.

I have kidnapped her. Somebody who full camouflage got Holly. Please get everybody in the community out there. They're on their way, sweetie. I got everybody on their way right in there already. Oh my God. Clint Bobo can see Sister Holly with the man in Camodes on a trail that leads to a logging road and Clint notices the man is bigger than her boyfriend Drew.

Holly's mother Karen tells Clint to grab a pistol and go outside toward the garage, calling 911 as he walks. In the garage, Clint finds bloodstains. Police arrive at the Bobo residents in 10 minutes. Straight back to Shane Dieter, former assignment editor, WATM Memphis. Shane, what is it that Clint, the brother, saw first of all, a neighbor hears screams. A neighbor. A neighbor. A neighbor hears a woman, we now know to be Holly Bobo, screaming. The neighbor calls the mom at school where she's working. The mom tells Clint to look out. Get up, son.

Go look outside. And he's saying, well, you know, she's walking into the woods with a guy in Camo. But Shane described for me what Clint saw. You know when he saw them kneeling in the carport? He just thought it was his sister having an argument with her boyfriend. So again, like we said, he saw the guy in camouflage. He didn't realize that Drew was 30 miles away. And so he, you know, he did what most people would do, you know, until his mom told him to get a gun.

Then he went out and found the blood. So Dave Mack explained to me when he looks out, they're not walking. yet. No. They're kneeling. Nealing. Yeah. Yeah.

Describe that. That's what really set Clint off, Nancy. Because he sees Holly kneeling and he sees the other person also kneeling. It's not something you see on any time a given day and the guy's just waking up. And so he sees what he thinks is Holly and her boyfriend. But they're kneeling. They're not in a way that he would expect them to be. And that's a very important point.

here because he didn't take immediate corrective action because he thought that Drew was breaking up with Holly. He sees Holly kneeling. He hears her say, no. You start putting it all together and you realize he didn't want to insert himself into that situation. He didn't see it as dangerous. Somebody on their knees, if they're both kneeling, that's not a dangerous situation, Nancy, and that's the way he described it. Todd Shipley joining me from Reno, former detective sergeant with the Nevada Police Department, 25 years in L.A. You know, interesting, we look back at every crime, right? And you can say woulda, coulda, shoulda. If he, he should have known, that wasn't Drew, the boyfriend. He could have called 911. He would have done the right thing. But the

reality is he couldn't see the guy's face ever. He never. saw the perp's face. He saw him from behind. He describes him as wearing camo, a baseball hat, and that he had dark hair coming out from under his cap that, you know, kind of went under his collar to show how long the hair was. He said he was five, 10 to six feet. Hey, that could be anybody. And that he weighed 180 to up around 200 pounds. But he never saw his face. So all the speculation, that it's the brother Clint's fault. It's not. Clint is not the one that kidnapped Holly Bobo.

It's not his fault. He did not see the Perp's face. And isn't it true, Shipley, that in every case, people say, if only fill in the blank, if only I had worn a seatbelt, if only hadn't gone to the liquor store, if only I hadn't gone jogging, I mean, that could be a million scenarios, woulda, coulda, shoulda. but it doesn't fit here because he didn't see the face. He could not have known who the perp is. No, of course.

I mean, and we all regret things that have happened, especially in those stress situations where, you know, the person realizes later that if they'd intervened, the whole situation could have changed. And so that poor young man is regretting, you know, so many things in his life and has for years.

But had he walked out there, it would have been a very different situation. But we don't know. whether that person was armed, what was happening, he could have gotten killed himself too at that point in time. We just don't know because it's all what is after the fact. And that's the unfortunate thing. Extensive searches of the area around the Bobo home are conducted on foot and with dogs. Hour and a half her cell phone traveled throughout Decatur County. The phone tracks north to a wooded area near I-40, stops moving between 8.30 a.m. and 9 a.m. and begins moving again as it

pings back south toward the Bobo residents, but not on the same route. Today, Matt, crime story investigative reporter, we heard earlier that when the brother Clint goes into the garage, he sees blood stains on the garage floor. And there were at least two blood stains, as I recall, one about the size of a fist and one, a much smaller blood drop. Drop. That's significant that it was a drop. Not a smear. not a transfer, but a drop. Describe the blood the brother Clint finds in the Bobo family garage. The blood drop, as you just mentioned, Nancy, that's actually the real big indicator that there was probably an injury

that was bleeding profusely enough that it would fall off of her body. And by the way, the blood did test as for Holly Bobo. Now, Clint has to assume it's his sister's blood when he sees it, which most of us would. The bigger of the two could have been put, it could have happened any way. You know, you can fall down on something. You can sit on something. You know, we know that she was kneeling in the garage. And it's the blood drop that actually is the biggest part of this because it shows it's a fresh cut that is bleeding enough that it's not just a smear.

You didn't just cut your finger and smear it on the, on the floor. It's actually dropping from your body freely onto the floor. and it actually can indicate they'll look at that blood to see if it's going towards her car or away from her car. Was she attacked on her way to the car? Was she surprised on her? You know, there's any number of ways that they'll use that blood droplet to find out exactly how she was attacked when it happened and who probably did it. What does it mean? When you take this blood spatter in conjunction with the story that Clint the brother is telling, it's a very, very disturbing story. The search is on

On foot with dogs The phone, her phone tracks north To a wooded area near I-40 It stops moving Remember all this is happening In the early morning hours She gets up to study at 4.30 a.m. She's heading to school.

Mom's at work, dad's at work The phone stops moving by 9 a.m. It begins moving again Pinging back south toward the Bobo home but on a different route than a discovery. Several items belonging to Holly are found scattered throughout the area on country roads. Her lunch, homework, a receipt with her name on it, a card from school, her cell phone,

and a SIM card, which have been removed from the phone. Many would argue that the discovery of her belonging, school papers, homework, her lunch, is random. No. Joining me is a veteran trial lawyer. or criminal defense attorney, Ben Powers, and you can find him at legal powers.com. Ben, please, if possible, take off your defense hat just one moment. The fact that her items were scattered along various country roads is significant. It sounds like they were thrown out a window of a vehicle.

So now we have to figure out. She was walking, being forced to walk by a guy in Camo, a betrayal that leads to down to the Tennessee River. But yet her items that she would have had like in a backpack or in her arm are scattered along various country roads. What, if anything, can I deduce from that Ben Powers? So the first inference that I have

is something's already happened to Holly by that point. Something very serious has probably already happened to or something grave has already happened to her because now they're trying to distance themselves from her and her belongings, and they're just throwing them out the window as they drive because they think that's the best way to get rid of this backpack of contents that they now have that they're trying to get themselves away from. And in turn, what they've done is basically create a trail of breadcrumbs in the direction

that they went to help hone in the investigation in that direction. But my first impression is that it's a sign that something bad had happened prior to that moment, and now they're trying to distance themselves from that by getting rid of any evidence that can tie them to Holly Bobo. Investigators put together a timeline of what happened to Holly Bobo. Waking up early to study for her test, Holly gets a call boyfriend Drew at 7.30. Drew is turkey hunting on Bobo family property with his dad about 30 minutes away.

Holly sends a text at 7.42 a.m. Holly did not send or answer another text or call after 742 a.m. At 7.43 a.m., Holly walks to the carport to get in her car and go to school. The so-called A-train. Word gets around that the A-train may have had something to do with Holly Bobo's disappearance. What is the A-train? I'll tell you. It's Zach Adams, Shane Austin, Jason Autry, and Zach Adams' brother, John D.

Dylan Adams, Adams, Adams, Austin, Autry. Why is it that people cannot shut their pie holes? How is it? Let me go to Dr. Kendall Crowns joining us. Now, his expertise is dead bodies. But how do the dead bodies get there? And how do we solve cases? Dr. Kendall Crowns is with us,

the chief medical examiner, Tarrant County. That's Fort Worth, never a lack of business. He is the star of a podcast about to hit the airwaves, Mayhem in the morgue. He is the esteemed lecturer at the Burnett School of Medicine at TCU. Dr. Kendall Crowns, for every dead body that is a victim of homicide that you see on your table, I guarantee you 50% of those cases are solved by loose lips that sink ships. When you look at one of the victims that you autops,

that you cut apart to determine cause of death. Can you imagine that somewhere out there a killer is bragging? Yeah, often when I'm doing the autopsies, I think about what the individual who may have done this is doing right at that present time. Often they're already in custody, but sometimes they're not. And you kind of always have to wonder, did you walk past them on your way into work that day? Did you run into them at the grocery store or something of that nature?

You never know, but you are right, Nancy. People really love to boast about the things they do and the evil that they commit on other individuals. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Nothing is stronger than a mother's love. Nothing stronger on this earth than a mother's love, it is said. much like Natalie Holloway's mother, Beth, confronted Natalie's killer trying to get the truth.

Of course, Yorne Vandersloot totally blew her off. It's such an a-hole, technical legal term. Here, Holly's mother hears the rumblings, hears the rumors, the a-train had something to do with Holly's disappearance. At this time, she has no idea where her daughter is, and she confronts them. them listen. Karen taught Zach Adams and Jason Autry when they were in grade school and knows the type of men they are. All deny any involvement. I asked them, do they know anything about our daughter's abduction? Of course, they all denied it. That from our friends at ABC 2020. Well, to use a technical legal term on you, Dr. Angela Arnold, she's got balls of size of coconuts.

Wow, she sure does. And Nancy, you need to have balls the size of coconuts to take care of own children when things like this happen because you can't leave it in anyone else's hands. I don't blame her in the least for going after these kids and confronting them and asking them what they did. Why are you calling them kids? Well, I believe I was saying. I called them kids. Yeah, I believe you did.

When she taught them, they were kids. These are grown men. And you know what, Nancy, maybe that had something to do with the fact that she was able to confront them also because maybe she thought of them as kids because they were kids when she knew them and taught them. I understand that they're grown men and they should all go away and suffer grown men consequences for what they did to this beautiful girl. Yeah, you know what? You said something really interesting right there, well, a lot really interesting. But the fact that she knew them, she taught two of them fourth grade. And you know Nancy as long as I do. The word is

they took Holly Bobo out of her own carport on her way to nursing school. And you know, and A girl they knew if this is true. So at that juncture, straight out to Shane Dieter, what did the A train have to say back? I bet they got a big laugh off Holly's mother coming to ask them, where's Holly? They claimed that they had nothing to do with it. And they were out bragging about it. And the mother was listening to these stories. You're talking about someone that's involved.

You know, it's her daughter, and then she taught these kids. She knows them. And Mrs. Bobo is a mama bear. She went after them. I mean, and that's, you know, I hear a bunch of stories that's how cases are solved. As a parent gets involved and has to go after the people. And that's so dangerous. That shows you how brave the mother is.

Shane Dietert, you are so right. Shane Dieter, joining us from this jurisdiction of Tennessee, who was on the case from the very, very beginning. So the mom goes after them, the so-called A-train, and they laugh her off. But the word is bubbling around this tiny, tiny town in Tennessee. The word is bubbling that the A-train is somehow responsible. and then a break.

A random arrest of Dylan Adams on a weapons charge cracks the ice. Adams tells police, in April 13th, he went to Zach's house to get his truck and saw Holly Bobo sitting in a green chair in the living room wearing a pink t-shirt with Jason Autry standing nearby. Adams also tells police his brother was wearing camouflage shorts, black cut-off sleeve t-shirt, and a pair of green crocs. Adam says brother Zach Adams told him he raped Holly Bobo and videotaped it. This confession led of Zach Adams, Jason Autry, and Shane Austin.

His confession led to Jason Autry agreeing to testify against Zach Adams. And now you're saying that Shane Austin is sitting in. You're sitting there. Jason Autry is sitting there in Zach. Is there anybody else involved? Was Holly Bubble kidnapped? What she was. Oh.

My stars. That's from our friends at ABC 2020. Let me understand this been powers. So nobody knows what's happened to Holly. The mom confronts the A-Train about their potential involvement. Do they know where she is? She's desperate. You know why? Because Zach Adams has been bragging. Don't you love a bragger for a client that can't keep his pie holes shut? Saying things like to his girlfriend. you can end up tied up in a hole just like Holly or I'll do the same thing to you I did to Holly bragging the bravado he must have had saying all that and it gets around you can't say things like that in a small town and nobody find out well mom found out and confronted him and don't you know Ben Powers the first minute they could arrest the brother Dylan, John Dylan, Adams, brother of Zach the bragger, they started putting the screws to him, right? Yeah, I mean, once they started really drilling him about the details and getting him to admit very incriminating things, like, you know, she's in their home, she's wearing a pink t-shirt, these are the guys that are with me, this is who did what, and this is the condition of things, and this is what happened. I mean, from that point, it's just a matter of trying to corroborate what he's saying, if you're the state.

If you're on the defense side, you're pointing out all the ways his story doesn't match the physical evidence that they've collected and doesn't match other electronic data like cell ping data and other messages that might be recovered from cell phones and things like that. But that's where it goes next is you try to either build the statement or discredit the statement. Right. Todd Shipley joining us, former Detective Sergeant Reno, Nevada, author of Surviving a Cyber Attack. Hey, Todd, also, the level of detail in John Dillon's description, he gets to the house and there he sees Holly Bobo in a pink top sitting there. His brother is wearing camo shorts, a black cutoff t-shirt and green crocs, and the brother brags that they've holly and videoed it. That's a lot of detail for somebody to make up. Well, it depends on what they're trying to defend themselves with.

Are they trying to put the blame on somebody else and give very detailed information about what they supposedly did and when it could have been himself that did it? I'm not sure that we know all those facts. And as mentioned earlier by your guest was the details don't match up with the evidence and that becomes problematic and where the prosecution or the law enforcement is going to go with the evidence. Do they disprove what he said or do they try to build their case around that stuff? statement. And that becomes a very difficult thing to do it. Crime stories with Nancy Grace. What happened to Holly Bobo? And will her killer now walk free? Is that possible? In what world can that happen? Because not only do we have the brother of Zachary Adams when he gets arrested

on an unrelated gun charge, spill it all about Holly being and murdered. Now we have another member of the so-called A-train singing like a nightingale. Listen. I'm standing over the top of it. My hands on my knees. She's been right here.

At that time, I see the foot move. move to the sound of distress, it sounded like, hmm, come from the blanket. I told him, I said, this is still alive. From our friends at ABC 2020, that's Jason Autry. Describing what happened to Holly Bobo. I mean, did you hear that, Dr. Kendall Crowns? He describes a multicolored blanket that is in the back of one of the other perps truck.

and he's looking at it and the foot moves and he hears an audible sigh and they realize Holly Bobo is still alive. Yes, that can happen occasionally in murders where the individual is found to still be alive after the initial assault that they thought they killed them with. Often we see this in strangulations and what happens then is they will use whatever means they have available to make sure they end that person's life so that that person can't wake up and testify against them at a later date. They may beat their head in with a rock. If they have knives available, they may stab them multiple times.

I've even seen them try to cut heads off. And then they'll also, in this case, shoot them in the head with a gun. And Dr. Angela Arnold, did you hear the callous nature to which referred to Holly? He sees the foot move. He sees her foot move. He hears her sigh. And he says, this is still alive. Well, Nancy, they never didn't have a callous feeling towards her.

They kidnapped her. They raped her. They murdered her. They never had any warm and fuzzy feelings towards her. So that just describes how all of them are, okay? Nancy, they're a bunch of psychopaths. They're a bunch of psychopaths. They wanted to rape her.

And you know, Nancy, what the sad thing is? You know, when we talk about she was gay, Nancy, not just one of them. She was gang. This poor woman suffered unmercifully at the hands of these horrific psychopaths. Talk about singing like a bird. Listen to Autry.

At that time, boom. The gun sound. Gun went up. And it sound like, boom, boom, boom. Underneath that bridge, it was just one shot,

but it echoed underneath that bridge all the way down that. damn river bottom. And when that gun went off, the birds went up all up on that bridge. And it was just dead silence for just a second. From our friends at ABC 2020, Ben Powers, criminal defense attorney, why isn't it all your clients have guns that just go off? Nobody ever says, he shot her under the bridge. And then it echoed twice. It sounded like three gunshots from the echo under that concrete bridge. And then the bell. And then the birds flew up in the air and then everything was dead silent how what all your clients the gun

just goes off nobody pulls the trigger that i have all my clients that the guns just goes off i think the state tries to put a gun in my client's hands and said they used it intentionally but that always that doesn't always match the the forensic evidence that we have in the case but that's certainly what the state likes to do is it's cleaner to say this person shot intentionally but on the case like this Those guys, those past key guns that just go off with such incredible precision that they actually kill the victim when they just go off. And that's what they're saying here, Autry. He's singing, but he ain't singing on tune because he's saying the gun went off and boom, boom, boom from the three, the shot and the two echoes underneath the bridge and the bird.

fly off. Now, we have a problem. We've got John Dylan Adams confessing. We have Autry testifying in the hopes that someday, somehow, he'll get a plea, a cheap plea, but yet it's still a nobody case. How hard is it to prove a nobody case been powers. Well, I think it's really hard for the state because they're going to rely on probably not the most outstanding witness or witnesses. They're probably not the first choice for the state on who they'd put on a stand

because I'm sure they have a lot of character flaws, possible drug abuse histories, things like that. I believe one or all of them were pretty familiar. Did you say possible flaws? Character flaws, yeah. Did you just say possible flaws? You mean a rap sheet as long as I, 75, is that a possible flaw in your mind?

That's one example of a possible flaw. But yeah, that's a rap sheet, just bad character. I mean, even the ones that are testifying are involved. You know, they're not a good Samaritan. They're just trying to help themselves. And so that brings into some concern. Are they really testifying to do the right thing or are they testifying to save themselves? Oh, dear Lord in heaven.

That's where it goes back to the forensics. And without forensics, without a following. Because then heaven drops. another bombshell in the state's lap listen six months after the arrest of dylan adams and subsequent arrest of others larry stone is hunting ginsing in a wooded area about 20 miles from darden stone says he saw a large bucket in the woods and beneath the bucket he found a human skull investigators recover the skull and other remains in the area and positively identify holly bobo her skull has a bullet hole in the back and fracturing her cheekbone as it exited straight out to dr kendall crown's

Chief Medical Examiner Tarrant County, star of Mayhem in the morgue. Dr. Kendall Crowns decipher what we just learned that was found by two ginseng hunters. They see a bucket. They look under the bucket. Of course they looked under the bucket. They couldn't help themselves. And they find Holly Bobo's skull. So they, what they described is the skull had no flesh on it and had an entrance wound in the back, right side of the head, and an exit wound on the left side of the facial bones or of the cheek. So it showed that she was kind of executed by a single gunshot wound to the back of the head. Dr. Crowns, how do you explain the fact that only a few of her bones were found?

That doesn't necessarily mean she was dismembered, does it? It does not. Sometimes when an individual dies in a wooded area, animals come out and they scavenge the vultures, crows, if there's razor hogs in the area, coyotes, anything can come in and take parts of the body away and they'll spread them over a wide, vast area of the wooded spot and you'll find bones everywhere. And in fact, they can drag them off for miles and you may never find all that person again. The case took years to solve and longer to get to court. But once there, prosecutor Paul Hagerman laid out, Zach Adams told

Jason Autry that he, Shane Austin, and John Dylan Adams had kidnapped and Ruelly. Autry saw a blanket in the bed of Adams truck. There was a body in the blanket. Hagerman says Autry has been offered immunity to testify and that's going to tell the jury he asked Zach Adams, how did this blank get in your truck? The plan was to gut her body so it would sink in the water. But Holly moved and made a noise.

That's when Zach Adams got a gun and shot Holly in the back of the head. He killed him. He just scored it. He covered up. He bragged about it. And he almost got away. That from our friends at Law News. So let me understand.

Shane Dietert, these guys convicted. How is it? How is it that some way the lead member of the A train could walk free? How can this be? My understanding is, Nancy, that Autry has recanted his testimony and has admitted that he did it to get a deal. And that's, you know, where we stand when you lose your star witness. Then you got to count on some others. Let me understand something.

So we've got Jason Autry testifying a trial with a story so rich in detail. It's hard not to believe, even talking about his own involvement. But then let's don't forget about Ben Powers that John Dylan Adams also took a guilty plea to 35 years behind bars. So what? They're going to plead guilty to 35 years and eight years respectively because they didn't do it? Well, I think they're going to take a plea in that situation because the state's got a witness that they're concerned about testifying and being able to put it all together in a compelling way. And what they're looking at is the possibility of life without parole or the next best thing would be life with parole, which is 51 years. And so under those circumstances, there's a lot of motive to take a plea. that doesn't always have to do with, you know, guilt or innocence, but rather self-preservation.

Now, isn't it also true to Dave Mack that when I said it was critical where her discarded items are found, that many of them were found just 75 feet from one of the Perps driveway. Another coincidence, Dave Mack. The fascinating part about where those items were found, as you pointed out, is these men were familiar so much with the area that they were driving, the first drive away from the house and then back towards it on different roads, but back in the same direction, 75 feet from Shane Austin's front door, that's where they found a receipt with Holly Bobo's name on it. Now, you mentioned a minute ago about the guilty pleas and things like that. Of the four members

of the A train, only Zach Adams actually went to trial. We've got Autry rolling over on everybody in creating such an incredible story on the stand is so articulate the judge said he was the best witness he'd ever seen uh john dillon adams you know there he just he was the reason they even got an arrest to start with when there was no body found and Shane austin actually committed suicide uh in February of 2015 so he'd commit suicide and they never get a plea gee i wonder why but they offered him a deal nancy got busted as killing holly bobo and commit suicide So two of them take a plea, one commits suicide and the other goes to trial and is now saying it's all a big lie. But let me ask you one more thing.

Isn't it true, Dave Mack, that Autry gave the statement about how Holly Bobo was shot once in the back of the head, then the skull is found and lo and behold, it's exactly what he says happened. exactly as Autry describes it. Odd that you would tell the truth and claim it's a lie. You know, none of it makes sense, but I don't know. When you've got lifelong criminals and drug addicts and dealers, you can't believe anything they're saying. But when they tell the truth and it matches up with the evidence you've got, I kind of think you go ahead and believe that. Yeah, especially in light of the fact that they describe what happened before the skull is found. So I guess they're clairvoyant yet again.

This is coming to the court under a very little used writ of quorum anabas, which means that, according to the convicted killer, Zachary Adams, he wants to correct the record of its factual inaccuracies. Zachary Adams, former lead defense attorney, has testified before a Hardin County judge that she does not believe she was a competent, effective capital defender, During Adams' 2017 trial, she was depressed, she told the court, overwhelmed by an electronic discovery dump and facing a judge, she believed, would get a conviction no matter why. During the trial, prosecutors instead relied largely on Autry's testimony, along with statements attributed to John Dylan Adams and several jailhouse witnesses who claim Zachary Adams made incriminating comments. Attorney Jennifer Thompson alleges after reviewing the discovery, she believes Autry crafted his statement and other witnesses followed along.

What's more, the judge denied her request for Austin's former attorney to join her trial team, leaving her with more digital discovery than she could handle a loan. Thompson said she considered withdrawing but didn't because she was afraid Adams would be pressured into a plea. A judge is now considering what Thompson says she failed to do at trial, in essence, her ineffectiveness at trial. Zachary Adams' bid for a new trial continues at the end of this month, December 29th and 30th, for the state's remaining witnesses and closing arguments. A written ruling is expected to be issued within 60 days of the hearing's conclusion. If the judge grants Adams' relief, prosecutors would have to decide whether to retrial. Adams or walk away. We wait as justice unfolds, and now we remember an American hero police officer,

Sierra Burton, just 28 years old, shot and killed at a traffic stop. Survived by fiancé, set to be wed in just nine days, Sierra and canine partner Breve. American hero, police officer, Sierra Burton. Nancy Grace signing off. Goodbye, friend. This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed human.