MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Attorneys for a man convicted in the 2011 murder of Holly Bobo are seeking a new trial after they said a key witness recanted his story.
Zach Adams was convicted in 2017 of kidnapping, raping, and murdering the nursing student in Decatur County, Tennessee. He is currently serving life in prison.
Dylan Adams, Zach’s brother, made an Alford Plea in 2018 to a lesser charge of facilitation of murder in exchange for a 35-year sentence.
A third suspect, Jason Autry, pleaded guilty to his part and testified against Zach Adams. Autry was released from prison in September 2020, but later plead guilty to a federal gun charge in 2022.
A Tennessee appeals court previously denied requests for a new trial for Zach Adams. In those, his defense raised several reasons why they said Adams should have a new trial, but the court of Criminal Appeals of Tennessee denied all of them.
In this newest filings, the defense attorneys claim Autry has recanted his testimony, saying the ADA in the case trained him on what to say. The appeal claims “Jason Autry made the entire story up to avoid what his attorney told him was 95% certain of conviction.” It says Autry admitted to “concocting the story in his jail cell while reviewing discovery and in discussions with his attorney about the best way to avoid spending the rest of his life in prison.”
The appeal also make several claims of failures by the original attorneys who represented Zach Adams at trial.
A date for a ruling on this latest appeal has not been released.
