SAVANNAH, Tenn. — Zach Adams’ life is now on the line.
A jury Friday evening returned a verdict of guilty on all charges against Adams in the kidnapping, rape and fatal shooting of Tennessee nursing student Holly Bobo.
Those charges are: first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, especially aggravated kidnapping with injuries, first-degree murder rape, aggravated rape by force with a weapon, aggravated rape with bodily injury, aggravated rape by force by one or more persons and first-degree murder premeditated.
Sentencing is set for 10 a.m. Saturday. Jurors face a choice between life in prison or the death penalty for Adams.
Adams did not testify during the trial but it is possible he could appear Saturday to plead for the jury to spare his life.
“We still maintain Zach Adams is innocent,” Adams’ defense attorney Jennifer Thompson said after the verdict. “We just cannot help to be just heartbrokenly disappointed in the verdict in this case.”
She said she told Adams not to react to the verdict. He sat silently trembling with a pale face.
Mark Gwyn, director of TBI, called it “a good day for justice in the state of Tennessee.
“I hate that it took six years to reach it.”
Six years of struggle for the families involved came down to 11 hours of deliberation by the jury.
“We’ve finally come to a place where we can breathe a sigh of relief,” said pastor Don Franks, hands intertwined with the Bobo family’s in the courtroom.
Bobo’s family didn’t want to speak as two other defendants still await trial, but the relief this justice brings is obvious to the community it shattered.
“I wanted to cry. I wanted to bawl. I wanted to shout, yelp,” said Larry Stone, the hunter who found Bobo’s skull. He tears up at the thought of finding Bobo’s remains covered in dirt.
► The Holly Bobo trial: Complete coverage here
Above: Zachary Adams is led into the courthouse Friday.
The sequestered panel of 12 people began considering physical evidence and witness testimony Thursday in the trial of Zachary Adams in Savannah, Tennessee. They deliberated 3 ½ hours and resumed Friday morning — the trial’s 11th day.
Adams has pleaded not guilty to abducting, raping and killing Bobo. She was 20 when she reportedly walked into the woods behind her family’s house with an unidentified man wearing camouflage and disappeared on April 13, 2011.
Her remains were found 3 ½ years later, near her home in Parsons.
Judge C. Creed McGinley moved the trial to Hardin County in search of an unbiased jury.
Bobo’s disappearance sparked a massive search in the fields, barns and woods of western Tennessee, and the case received national attention. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has said the investigation was the most exhaustive and expensive in the agency’s history.
Two more suspects are awaiting trial in the case, but trial dates have not been set for them.
Jason Autry testified at Adams’ trial for seven hours, He said his only role in Bobo’s death was when he attempted to help Adams hide the body.
He is also charged with murder, kidnapping and rape.
Autry received federal immunity, meaning nothing he said could be used against him during his trial.
Adams’ brother Dylan Adams is also charged with murder, kidnapping and rape. He was indicted in May.
The state has not said what evidence they have against him. He was not called to testify at his brother’s trial and was expected to plead the Fifth if called.
A third suspect, Shayne Austin, took his own life in Florida. It was believed he helped Adam’s dispose of Bobo’s body.
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