SAVANNAH, Tenn. — The state rested its case Monday in the second week of testimony in the trial of Zachary Adams, the man accused of killing Holly Bobo six years ago.
The first to take the stand was John Maxwell, a first responder from Decatur County who was working in the 911 dispatch center the night Bobo disappeared.
According to records, the elder Adams called police three times. He stated his grandson was messed up on drugs and trying to get his brother’s keys.
During the second, he canceled police, but eventually dialed 911 again asking them to come out to the home. He claimed Adams was trying to get his guns.
The defense pointed out that no arrest was made that night.
Video: 911 call from Zach Adams’ grandfather
After a short recess, the state made an interesting move, calling one of the first main suspects in the case — convicted rapist Terry Britt.
Authorities looked at him early on, tapped his phone and bugged his house for the first time in the state of Tennessee. He was never charged in the case and it seemed the prosecution wanted to solely bring him to the stand to get it out of the way that he was thoroughly investigated.
The defense tried to bring up connections he could’ve had to Bobo’s disappearance, which was met with some irritability on Britt’s end.
They focused on his criminal history, his alleged interest in abduction pornography, his old newspaper delivery route and off comments he made about how whoever took Bobo likely used her as a sex slave.
But the key thought prosecutors wanted the jury to have:
“Did you have anything to do with the abduction of Holly Bobo?”
“No, I did not.”
“The rape of Holly Bobo?”
“No, I did not.”
“Putting a bullet in the back of her head?”
“No, I did not and I wouldn’t do that.”
Video: Terry Britt takes the stand
The next witness to take the stand was Anthony Phoenix, another resident of Parsons and the defendant’s friend.
Despite rumors to his being involved, Phoenix was in jail when Bobo went missing. He told the jury his first thought after hearing the news was, “I wonder where Zach is” and described how Adams acted “sketchy” and nervous whenever someone talked about Bobo.
He allegedly even asked if Phoenix thought a hug would help him appear innocent to Bobo’s mother, Karen.
During another conversation, Adams stated “Let’s rape this b****” while the two were out driving. He said Adams went on to say, “I couldn’t have picked a prettier b****” and that “it was fun.”
There was no doubt in his mind that Adams was talking about Bobo, Phoenix said.
The prosecution then called Jamie Darnell to the stand.
Another one of Adams’ friends at the time of the disappearance, Darnell told the courtroom about an incident in July 2012. He claimed Adams became irritated with him because he wouldn’t use a needle to shoot up drugs. Looking at a knife, Adams allegedly commented that if he knew what that knife had done, he’d be afraid to hold it.
He then fired a shot over his girlfriend’s head out the front door and broke down in tears.
Darnell stated it seemed as if Adams was having a breakdown, feeling guilty about something.
Video: Friends describe Adams after Bobo’s disappearance
The next witness up was another person who lives in Parsons and used to be friends with Adams.
He testified Adams once said, “I let Shayne hit it,” and he said he assumes it was about Bobo. He said Adams also once told a bartender, “I’ll kill you like I killed Holly Bobo” and later said, “I did it.”
Corey Rivers, a man who had a neighboring cell to Adams in the Williamson County jail, then took the stand.
He said Adams told him that he and friends got drunk and went into the woods with a girl and that he “was there for the worst of it.” He said Adams told him that the girl’s body had “got chopped up.”
He also said Adams mentioned another person involved committed suicide because they felt so guilty.
A Hardeman County inmate, Shawn Cooper, then testified Adams approached him after learning he was awaiting transfer to Obion County Jail. Adams allegedly told him he was involved in the “Holly Bobo murder case” and asked him to pass along this message to his brother,Dylan, who was a federal inmate: “Tell him if he don’t keep his mouth shut, I’m going to put him in a hole beside her.”
Cooper said those statements upset him.
“It hit me wrong, so it made me mad,” Cooper said.
Video: Testimony from fellow inmates
Another inmate, Jason Kirk, said he heard the above interaction and said Adams was also talking to him about his bail, saying, “I got 2 million, I guess you got to kill a b**** to get that kind of bail around here.”
Kirk said Adams also told him he wouldn’t get convicted because there’s no gun and no body.
Another former inmate who served time alongside Adams, Chris Swift, was called to the stand next.
He said Adams told him he was in jail for the Holly Bobo killing, with him saying he wasn’t involved in the killing but was involved in “the worst part of it.”
Adams never clarified what that means, Swift said, but he also told him that he was going home after the trial because there was no gun and no body. However, he later changed his tune and said he was going to “the row.”
He said Adams also made comments to him about how he shouldn’t talk to anyone else that he interpreted as threatening.
The state then rested its case.
Video: State calls its final witness
The first witness for the defense was Rita Austin, Shayne Austin’s mother. Austin was the co-defendant who committed killed himself two years ago.
She testified that her son always had a drug problem and that he had really bad facial scarring that could’ve confused the girl who testified about him watching her and Holly. She also said that Jason Autry had access to evidence in court and has been concocting his story off of it.
Judy Evans, Austin and Autry’s aunt, was next up as the final witness for the day.
She talked about the barn that Holly was said to be raped in. She said she would’ve heard her scream, but the state suggested that wouldn’t be the case if Bobo was drugged.
Video: Defense calls its first witnesses to the stand
