(WREG-TV) The man charged with kidnapping and murdering nursing student Holly Bobo is behind bars, and it is a place he has been many times before.
The recent charges of especially aggravated kidnapping and first degree murder are far from Zachary Adams’ first run in with the law – his criminal record dates back more than ten years.
Adams is well known amongst Decatur County law enforcement, as well as those in surrounding counties like Benton and Henderson.
He sits in the Chester County jail now without bond, and court documents from his past confirm he is more than capable of violence.
He has charges for drugs, theft, and, perhaps most enlightening to the Holly Bobo investigation, violence.
Adams’ crimes date back to 2002 and quickly escalated into charges of aggravated assault and domestic violence.
In 2004, documents show he shot his own mother in the knee at point-blank range, leading his mother and stepfather to file an order of protection against him.
In that order, Adams’ stepfather said, “He is a danger to us, the community, and his relatives.”
However, recently Cindy Adams stood by her son. She said this is not the first time Zach has been questioned about Holly’s disappearance.
He was also charged in 2005 for threatening his mother, stepfather, and grandparents with a shotgun, and his record shows several arrests for domestic violence over the years.
Cindy Adams said, while she knows her son’s past is troubled, when it comes to Holly Bobo, she will maintain his innocence. She said when she spoke with him about the case, he told her he did not even know Holly.
Adams was arrested for aggravated assault, unrelated to the Holly Bobo case, just last month.
An affidavit reveals he held a gun to a woman’s head, Amber Bray, and threatened to gut her with a knife. Bray is the sister of Adams’ girlfriend.
Adams will be arraigned in Decatur County on Tuesday at 1 p.m.