What Happened to Holly Bobo?: The Appeal

41m
Zach Adams is serving a life sentence for the kidnapping and murder of Holly Bobo. But with a new legal team behind him, could his fate change?

To catch new episodes early, follow What Happened to Holly Bobo for free on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Apple Podcasts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Spotify⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Amazon Music⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Listen and follow along

Transcript

Hi, I'm Debra Roberts, here with another weekly episode of What Happened to Holly Bobo. Remember, you can get new episodes early if you follow What Happened to Holly Bobo on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
Now, here's the episode. In April 2024, my producers and I were in Tennessee conducting interviews for a 2020 episode on the Holly Bobo case.
We'd spoken to so many people whose lives had been affected by this story, but there was one person we hadn't talked to yet. Zach Adams, the man convicted of murdering Holly Bobo, was now in the Morgan County Correctional Complex in East Tennessee.

Zach claimed he was innocent

and was trying to appeal his conviction.

While we were in Tennessee,

we arranged a call with Zach.

This would be his first ever interview

since his conviction seven years ago.

Remember, he didn't testify at his own trial, so this would be the first time we'd hear from him. My team and I were wrapping up an interview in a nearby town.
We were expecting Zach to call us from prison at 12.30, so we were caught off guard when the phone rang a little early. The producers and crew rushed to get the cameras in position.
Ready? Yeah. Hello, this is a prepaid call from...
An inmate at the Tennessee Department of Corrections. Hello.
Hey, Zach, this is Eva. How are you doing? Hi, I'm good.
I guess we should probably just kind of start at the beginning. There were many tough questions I needed to ask Zach, but with him in prison, the call would have to be short.
So I made sure to ask him about the morning of Holly's abduction on April 13th, 2011. I wanted to know his version of what happened that day.
Here's what he told me. After waking up, he spoke to his girlfriend a couple of times on the phone.
He says they'd been arguing since the day before, though she would later testify that while she had tried to break up with him earlier in the week, they were together the evening before the abduction,

and she'd stayed the night. Zach says that in the morning, his friend Shane Austin called him,

asking if he wanted to go out and try to buy some drugs. Zach didn't have a car,

so he went to ask his brother Dylan if they could use his truck. He says he and Dylan then picked up Shane.
They stopped at an ATM to get cash and then a gas station. While Zach was pumping gas, Shane went in to pay.
And while he's in there, I guess that's when he hears that somebody has been kidnapped. So at this point, we don't know who.
All I know is we're fixing to be getting drugs and I need to get us back to our home area and be as safe as I can. Because, you know, in my mind, I'm thinking somebody's really messed up.
Zach says after about two or three days, the police showed up at his door. And I remember I was coming out off morphine.
I was real, real sick. And I'll never forget, they was in red coats because it had been raining.
And it was in these red, like, raincoats. So they come out to my house, and they looked everywhere anybody could be.
They looked underneath the house, and they asked me if I had camouflage. And I said, of course I got camouflage.
I used to hunt all the time. I've got all kinds of camouflage.
And so I showed them all of my camouflage and stuff, and they took their notes and then left. I think they might have left their card.
Remember, Holly's brother Clint said the man who took Holly was wearing camouflage. But Zach says it wasn't him.
In fact, he says he's been convicted of murdering someone he's never even met. Did you know Holly Bobo before this? Never knew, never met her, never knew of her to this.
Never, I mean, never met her. The only connection I've had to her family was her mother was my fourth grade teacher.
I never actually knew where their house was and I still don't know exactly where it's at to this day.

I have to ask you, did you kill Holly Bobo?

Absolutely not.

Did you rape Holly Bobo?

Absolutely not.

Do you know anything about what happened to Holly Bobo?

Absolutely not. If I did, I would have already told anything I knew.
Zach Adams is currently serving a life sentence without parole plus 50 years. But now, he has a new legal team who says they have newly discovered evidence they believe supports his effort to challenge his conviction.

Is Zach Adams' fate about to change?

I'm ABC News Senior National Correspondent Eva Pilgrim.

From ABC Audio and 2020, this is What Happened to Holly Bobo.

Episode 6, The Appeal. What do you say to all those people who think you're guilty? Where's the evidence to support my guilt? Zach spent much of our conversation trying to point out what he says are flaws in the case against him.
One of Zach's main points of contention is that he simply does not fit the description of the man Clint Bobo says took his sister into the woods. And neither does his brother Dylan, who took an Alford plea, or Jason Autry, who served time for his role in Holly's abduction, or Shane Austin, who had red hair.
He said the person was what? Five foot what? Five foot nine, 200 pounds? Who kidnapped her then? It wasn't Jason Autry. He's six foot six.
Couldn't have been me. I was six foot three, 125 pounds.
My brother's 6'2", 125 pounds.

The person in the abduction room wasn't one of us.

I mean, he didn't match the description of any of us.

But prosecutors did present evidence at Zach's trial,

including testimony from several witnesses who recounted hearing Zach say incriminating things. He said, I'll kill you like I did Holly Bobo.
He made the comment, I couldn't have picked a prettier b****. He just had a couple of his friends, you know, they got drunk and they went into the woods with this girl.
And then he was like, you know, I was, I was there for the worst of it. And I was like, well, did you do it? And he was like, I was there for the worst of it.
During our phone call, I asked Zach about those incriminating witness statements. Did you say those things? A normal person don't believe in the drug order like I did.
My life used to revolve around drugs and selling drugs and stuff. Zach told me when he was selling drugs, he wanted to make sure people were afraid of him.
That way, they wouldn't stiff him on what they owed him. So I said things that I should have said, but I never directly said, I did this to Holly or I did that.
I also asked him about his brother, Dylan, whose interviews with authorities led TBI to arrest Zach for Holly's disappearance. Remember, in episode four, we heard the tape of Dylan's confession to TBI, where he said he took part in Holly Bobo's rape along with his brother, Zach.
At the point that you found out that your brother had confessed, were you surprised? Yes. I didn't understand.
Confess to what? He was with me that day. Confessed to half.
I was very shocked. He's lying.
That's the first thing I thought. He's a liar.
He's lying. My brother, he just wants everybody to like him.
He's non-confrontational. He'll lie to you about little small stuff that don't even matter.
But other than that, he's a good person. He just wants people to like him.
As Zach told me, he didn't think his brother Dylan or his friend Shane were involved. He says they were together all day, but he went even further.
Remember, another friend of Zach's, Jason Autry, went on to testify against him. He was a crucial witness at trial, but Zach says he doesn't think Jason was involved at all.
Why do you think you guys became suspects in this case? We didn't have a hard alibi. And it was local drug users and stuff.
And it wasn't what it mattered putting us away. I felt like they had to arrest somebody, even if it was the wrong person, which it was.

When I interviewed Zach, he had already appealed twice and been denied. Now, he had begun trying a third appeal.
In January 2024, the Hardin County Court received a petition from Zach's lawyers asking for a new trial for Zach. The petition claimed that the defense had new evidence, including a video recording of one of the witnesses who testified

at Zach's trial. Remember, at the time of Holly's abduction, Jason Autry was a friend of Zach's, someone he used to do drugs with.
Jason claimed at trial he'd witnessed Zach shooting Holly. 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, birds went everywhere, just all up under that bridge. And it was just dead silence for just a second.
Jason testified that Zach asked him the morning of Holly's abduction to help bury a body. He says he then drove with Zach to a spot under the bridge at the Tennessee River, helped him move the body, and then served as lookout as Zach shot Holly.
Then Jason said Zach dropped Jason off at his car. He also said Zach later told him that he, Dylan, and Shane Austin had kidnapped and raped Holly

and that Zach had disposed of her body.

But now, the defense said someone on behalf of the defense team had interviewed Jason Autry

and he was claiming something new. My name is Jason Autry.
Can we just start at the very beginning of when? The video was recorded in December 2023, and it was filmed by a woman named Katie Spierko. She's a neuropsychologist who's currently working for Zach Adams, but at the time was working for Zach Adams' defense team.
Katie Spierko provided 2020 with the recording. I want to know your whole experience.
How did it get from you being arrested for this to you being on the stand and telling this crazy story? That's a long ways. Yeah.
I mean, that's a lot. Yeah, we got until one.
In September 2020, Jason Autry pleaded guilty to solicitation to commit murder and facilitation of especially aggravated kidnapping in Holly's case. And with credit for time served, he was set free.
But just a few months later, he was once again back in prison after pleading guilty to an unrelated federal gun charge. He was still in jail when Spirko began working on this case.
She went to speak with Jason. In the video, Jason discusses the events leading up to his decision to testify in Zach Adams' trial.
He says that originally he had intended to fight the charges and go to trial. But when he spoke to his attorney, he got an answer he wasn't expecting.
So a lot of this in the beginning was just all routine questions. He said, I got you about 95% chance.
You spend a rest of your time right away. You know, I need to know what they want.
What do they want from me? Yeah. I want you to justify.
Straight up about it. They need someone to understand.

I said, well, what if I say all I seen was just a body, you know,

laying in the back of the truck?

That's not enough to get you out.

We spoke to Katie Spierko in 2024

about the video.

What does he tell you?

Tells me he made the whole thing up.

Took the phone records and the case file

to craft a story that fits in with the evidence that exists and cannot be changed. Why would someone admit to killing someone if they didn't do it? He's sitting in jail for years.
He's being told that Zack's to be telling a story against him. And basically, it's this or the death penalty.
And so under that amount of pressure, I think a lot of people would have folded the way he did. In his petition to the court, the defense claimed the video would quote exonerate and exculpate the defendant from any guilt in this case but prosecutors responded by saying that jason's statements in the video were unsworn not given under oath and not subject to cross-examination they said that j Jason Autry's credibility was thoroughly impeached during Zach Adams' trial and that the jury who convicted Zach Adams was aware of inconsistencies in Jason's testimony and had heard him acknowledge that he agreed to testify for the state in hopes of receiving favorable treatment in a separate criminal case.

For these reasons, prosecutors argued that Jason's statements did not amount to newly discovered evidence. Prosecutors added that Jason's testimony was just one piece of the state's substantial proof of Zach Adams' guilt.
Shortly after watching the video Spirko provided,

one of the people spoke to Jason Autry. You recanted your testimony in the Holly Bobo case.
Is that true? Yes, that's true. In a court filing, the defense referenced the video recording by Katie Spierko,

in which Jason Autry alleged, quote,

he was very well trained by ADA Jennifer Nichols,

who he referred to as the boss of it all.

You're an engaging witness.

Well, I was trained.

I could tell you were trained. I'm on the witness stand a lot.
I was trained witness. Who was doing the training? Jennifer Nichols.
Yeah. Yeah, she was the boss of it all.
In response, prosecutors denied that claim. Zach Adams' defense team has also claimed that their video interview with Jason

provided new information to show

that Zach's constitutional rights to due process

were violated by the state's prosecution of him.

Prosecutors denied these rights were violated

and argued that the claim should have been raised at trial.

I'm curious, you know, why now?

Why are you recanting now?

And do you have anything to gain from it?

I don't think there's really nothing to gain from it.

I think it's all to lose, really.

What do you think of the fact that Jason recanted his confession? I'm glad. I'm glad he's telling the truth.
It's about time. I wish he would have never lied in the first place.
We reached out to Jennifer Nichols, the prosecutor in the Zach Adams trial, about Jason Autry's allegation against her. We didn't hear back, but 2020 had reached out to Nichols in 2024, prior to its episode about the Holly Bobo case.
In a statement then, Nichols denied the allegation, telling us that it is a false statement. She says the only guidance ever given to Jason Autry

was to tell the truth.

There was no training.

In 2024, she also declined 2020's request for an interview,

but did send a statement that says, in part,

at trial, we presented proof through 62 witnesses

and 250 exhibits.

The jurors heard testimony of Zachary Adams' confessions to

multiple and unrelated individuals. I remain confident in the jury's verdicts of Zachary

Adams' guilt. In September 2024, a judge noted that in the video, Jason Autry did not provide

Zach with a clear alibi and that Jason's testimony was not the only evidence of Zach's guilt. The judge ruled that, quote, false testimony does not equate to actual innocence here and granted the state's motion to dismiss Zach Adams' petition.
Nevertheless, the defense has continued to try and argue that Zach should get a new trial.

And in May of 2025, the defense finally had an opportunity to make its case in open court.

Eight years after his conviction, would the man convicted of Holly Bobo's rape,

kidnapping, and murder be granted a new trial? Fridays, Project Runway is back in dramatic fashion. This is more stressful than Cinderella at the ball.
Welcome to the runway. Heidi Klum returns as host.
One day you're in, and the next day you're out. I'm here to show them who's the queen.
With Christian Siriano. I'm excited.
And judges Nina Garcia and Law Roach. I hated your dress.
Hate is such a big word. It's a short word.
It's only four letters. Project Runway.
New episodes Fridays. Stream on Hulu and Disney+.
To you, my darling. No, to you.
The Roses were living the dream. More champagne for me, please.
Until it all came crashing down. You got fired.
Fired? From the director of Meet the Parents. You're a failure.
Women don't like that. If you need a shoulder or an inner thigh, a lean on.
On August 29th. I just want the house.
We want everything. Wow.
Stop. Yeah, go! And see The Roses.
Ugh, these people. The Roses.
Rated R. Under 17, not a minute without parent.
In theaters everywhere, August 29th. You've seen the headlines.
Heard the debates. The three-point ball has created a monotonous rhythm to the game.
Has the three-pointer ruined basketball? And how did we get here? The rise of the three-point shot can be partially traced to an eccentric Kansas genius named Martin Manley. Whose story didn't turn out quite the way he imagined.
I decided I wanted to have one of the most organized goodbyes in history. 30 for 30 podcast presents Chasing Basketball Heaven.
Available now, wherever you get your podcasts. In March 2017, police in Ketchikan, Alaska, got a worried call.
And I haven't heard some of them, so I'm getting worried. It was about a beloved surgeon, one of just two in town, named Eric Garcia.
When police officers arrived to check on the doctor, they found him dead on a couch. Is it a suicide? Is it a murder? What is it? From ABC Audio and 2020, Cold-Blooded Mystery in Alaska is out now.
Listen wherever you get your podcasts. Labor Day grilling is a tradition in my house.
Steaks, burgers, the whole deal. That's why I stock up with Omaha Steaks.
Their USDA-certified tender steaks, juicy burgers, and meaty chicken wings make cookouts easy and unforgettable. I recently grilled their We'll see spacecraft.
FX's Alien Earth. All new Tuesdays.
This ship collected specimens from other worlds. Invasive species.
Creditory. From creator Noah Hawley and executive producer Ridley Scott.
If we don't lock them down. Don't lead too late.
What did you do? FX's Alien Earth, all new Tuesdays on FX and Hulu. In May of 2025, Zach Adams' defense team tried once again to get a new trial.
A series of hearings were held in Hardin County, Tennessee before Judge Brent Bradbury, the same judge who had previously ruled against the defense's attempt to introduce the Jason Autry video into evidence. On day one of the hearing, the prosecution and defense discussed the video that Katie Spierko

had filmed of Jason Autry recanting his 2017 trial testimony.

Remember, in a case where there was no DNA evidence linking Zach to the crime, Jason's

2017 testimony was significant.

The trial judge at the time called it, quote, some of the most credible persuasive testimony I've ever heard. For this new hearing, Zach's defense team tried to call Jason back to the stand.
But through a lawyer, Jason exercised his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. And when the defense tried to subpoena him, the Federal Bureau of Prisons declined to transport him.
That made Jason an unavailable witness. In lieu of Jason physically coming to court, the defense asked the judge to consider the videotaped interview admissible.
Prosecutor Amy Weinrich argued that the video was recorded for revenge. This isn't a recantation.
It couldn't be further from the truth. This is a publicity stunt.
The prosecutor argued that the state had information that the reason Jason Autry had filmed the video with Katie Spierko was to seek revenge against the authorities. She referenced a recorded jail call between Jason and his mother in February 2024, where Jason is heard saying, They're effing with me in federal court.
I'm going to eff with them in state court. In addition, the state also argued that the videotaped interview was hearsay because Jason was not in court to be questioned about it.
But Zach's attorney, Doug Bates, countered that there's an exception to the hearsay rule, which is that because the videotaped interview wasn't made in Jason's own interest, it should be admissible. The judge ruled that the Jason Autry video was hearsay, and that the exception to the rule did not apply.
He pointed out that the statement was not made under oath, that it was, quote, predominantly self-serving, and that Jason's actions since then, such as pleading the fifth, do not align with the, quote, free-flowing nature of the conversation he had with Katie Spierko. The defense said it would appeal the ruling, but it meant they'd have to proceed with this hearing without a key element of their case.
The defense detailed its other evidence, including surveillance footage from the morning Holly Bobo was abducted on April 13th, 2011. The video shows a truck pulling up outside a BP gas station in front of an ATM at 11.12 a.m.
The defense says Zach was in that truck and that it was his brother Dylan's Silverado. We should point out that while Zach told us in an interview that he'd been pumping gas that morning and that Shane had gone in to pay, the defense did not introduce video of either of those events.
But the defense says the video showing this truck outside the gas station at 11, 12 a.m. is important because in 2017, Jason Autry had testified that around that time, he and Zach were in Zach's car with Holly's body in the trunk driving along the back roads of Parsons, Tennessee.
Bates argues that the video means the prosecution's timeline is impossible. Bates pointed out that the defense tested their theory by hiring someone to drive the route in the time frame Jason testified about.
It is impossible. Now let that sink in, Your Honor.
This timeline is impossible. But the prosecutor, Amy Weinrich, struck back.
She said there is no smoking gun and that the route was explained to the jury at the 2017 trial and that they still found Zach guilty. The defense called a number of TBI agents to the stand, including Mark Lewis, who worked on the Bobo case to ask about that ATM video.

Okay, do you remember a conversation at any time where anyone in TBI said, I have a question, if they're so worried about getting rid of a body during this same time frame, why are they at Sonic And why are they at ATM? Why are they at VP?

Specifically, I... During this same time frame, why are they at Sonic? And why are they at ATM? Why are they at VP?

Specifically, I don't recall.

It's possible that we had those conversations.

You don't remember that conversation?

No, no.

But prosecutors argued that the ATM footage of the car did not prove Zach's whereabouts,

suggesting authorities ultimately determined that the footage did not have any value in the investigation. Here's Amy Weinrich cross-examining another TBI agent, Brent Booth.
You've seen the video. Did it have any value? Does it today? No.
Can you tell whether it is human or canine in the front of that truck? That's what I said. There's no way of knowing who's in that truck or what's in that truck.
Are you convinced it's a Silverado? No. However, the defense called a witness who testified that he did know who was in that truck.
Dylan Adams, Your Honor. Dylan Adams.
Dylan Adams. Dylan Adams.

Zach's brother, took the stand. It was the first time he had seen his brother, Zach, in over a decade.
Zach was sobbing. Dylan had accepted an Alford plea and was serving 35 years for his role in Holly Bobo's murder.
But during the hearing, he said he was innocent. In the hearing, Dylan was shown the surveillance video and testified that the truck in the ATM video was his and that he was in the truck that morning with his brother Zach and, and their friend, Shane Austin.
Then, the defense showed Dylan a photo, a surveillance picture from inside the BP gas station store later that morning. Mr.
Ives, do you recognize the individual in this store? The defense also played some of the tape you heard in episode four, in which Dylan confessed to TBI agents that he, Zach, and Jason Autry had raped Holly. That's when the mood of the court seemed to shift.
When the defense said it would play the video of Dylan's TBI interview, the prosecutor argued that she wasn't sure what the purpose of this was and that this was hearsay.

But the judge overruled the objection saying, quote, I'm going to see this video.

Even though the defense only played a portion of it in court, the judge assured them he would watch the several hours long video in its entirety on his own. What were they saying? We're going to go get her later on tonight.
That's what they said. Her to find her.
I mean, this is what they said, her. They didn't say Holly's name.
They said her. Okay.
After playing a few minutes of the taped TBI interview, Doug Bates asked Dylan about the circumstances leading up to it, including Dylan's release from federal prison the previous month into the custody of a former Memphis police officer named Dennis Benjamin. Who's Dennis Benjamin? Just somebody they knew right on.
I never met him till after I got sentenced in my federal trial. Who's they? TBI.
Remember, we mentioned in episode four, it was federal prosecutors handling Dylan's gun charges who arranged to have him released into the custody of Dennis Benjamin. Dylan says he did not know Dennis Benjamin, but that he was told he would live with him for his protection.
Did you feel you needed protection? No, sir. Dylan testified that Dennis Benjamin would hound him every day with questions about the Holly Bobo case.
And you told him what? I said raping and ducking Holly Bobo. That was a lie.
I used to get him off my back. Dennis Benjamin was also on the defense witness list, but was not called to testify.
When we reached out to him previously, he said he couldn't speak to us because of the ongoing litigation. During cross-examination, the prosecution didn't directly challenge Dylan on his claim that he lied to Dennis Benjamin, nor did they press him on the photo he says was of him at the BP gas station the morning Holly

was kidnapped. But they

did try to contextualize

Dylan's relationship

with Benjamin. The prosecutor

showed Dylan a letter the state

says he wrote to Benjamin

after staying with him at his home.

You recognize that writing?

No, ma'am, I do not.

Sir?

No, ma'am. I did writing.

I know my writing. I can't

Thank you. Do you recognize that writing? No, ma'am, I do not.
Sir? No, ma'am. I didn't write.
I know my writing. I can't spell it good, so that's not mine.
Okay. All right.
You don't remember telling the Benjamins how much you missed them? Nope. How much you enjoyed living with them? Nope.
The prosecutors also brought up various interviews Dylan had with TBI before he went to live with Dennis Benjamin.

Remember, it was during this time period that investigators spoke with Dylan at least six times over eight months.

And he seemed to implicate his brother and Jason Autry in the kidnapping and murder of Holly Bobo.

The judge appeared to take an interest in those and asked prosecutors for more details about what exactly Dylan said in those earlier unrecorded TBI interviews. The statement that's been talked about was made in September of 2014.
So the statement that they're talking about is not the statement that the court has seen this morning. Correct.
It's another statement. Yes, sir.
The judge looked at the prosecutor. Is the court going to see that statement? Yes.
Okay. We asked the circuit court whether the judge has received that statement and whether it will be made public, but haven't heard back.
At the hearing, the prosecutors also played Dylan's recorded calls with his mom, Cindy, which took place around the time of some of those TBI interviews. The phone calls demonstrate how Dylan's story to his mother changed over time and ultimately came to match the story he told TBI.
In the early calls, Cindy Adams, his mother, begs him to not speak to TBI any further without a lawyer. Holly was at that house.
I mean, did you say Holly was at that house? Huh? Huh? No. You come.
In a later call, Dylan's story to his mother changes. All right, but I want to tell you this.
What? I didn't see Holly was at that house's house i mean i'm not lying about that

i mean you can't see her where at zachary's house i said i've seen holly at zachary's house i'm not lying about that i wasn't involved in it i mean who was What's up? Who it was?

Cypher and Vine and Sharny.

You there? I mean, I'm not, I'm not, they come asking me about that and I'm not gonna lie to them about that. I'm not gonna get in trouble with my brother.
I love him, but I just didn't lie about that. Who's making me say that? What? Who's making me say that?

Nobody's making me say it, Mother.

I'm telling you from my own heart.

What'd they do with this?

I don't know, Mother.

I do not know.

I wish I did.

Why did you wait so long?

You've been missing for three years.

I know, Mother, and I didn't know what to do.

I'm scared.

Over the course of the call, Cindy, his mother, starts crying.

Like this, don't worry about this.

It's the right thing, okay?

It's just breaking my heart.

I mean, it's...

I know.

I can't wait.

That family has suffered so bad.

I know, buddy. I know.
I know. I'm doing the right thing.
I can't wait if that family has suffered so bad.

Yeah, you did the right thing, son.

You did the right thing.

I do.

I do take a question.

No.

All right, bye.

After the prosecutor played the calls,

the defense asked Dylan whether he had been telling TBI and his mom the truth. Did the things you tell TBI then, were they true? No, they were not true.
You listened to recordings of talking to your mom. Were the things you were telling your mom true? The defense asked Dylan about his relationship with his mom.
Dylan said,

she's always treated me good. As Dylan was giving this testimony, Zach appeared to be wiping tears

from his eyes. Afterwards, the prosecutor jumped back in

to finish cross-examining Dylan.

Let me make sure I understand this.

Everything you told law enforcement

since February 23rd of 2011,

everything you've told law enforcement

has been a lie.

Yes, ma'am.

Okay.

And everything you said to your mother in those calls was a lie. Yes, ma'am.
Okay. And everything you said to your mother

in those calls was a lie.

Yes, ma'am.

Why were you crying?

Why were you crying if that was a lie?

I mean, if your mother talked to you that way,

would you not cry?

She told you she loved you.

Why were you crying? I don't have to cry. Over the course of the four-day-long hearing, the judge heard from multiple TBI agents, Dylan Adams, some of Zach's former lawyers, cell phone analysts, the people who were at the center of the exhaustive investigation into Holly Bobo's murder.
But the hearing's resolution is still up in the air. Remember, the defense has appealed the judge's decision to bar the video it recorded with Jason Autry.
The judge placed the hearing on an extended recess until the appeal is decided. Which means, even after this days-long hearing, and after all these years, we still don't have an answer.
We still don't know what exactly happened to Holly Bobo. The hearing is expected to pick up in a few months' time.

Still, on the defense's witness list,

Zach Adams himself and Jennifer Nichols,

the former prosecutor in the Zach Adams trial,

now a sitting judge.

After the 2017 trial,

the pastor for the Bobo family

said they knew this would be a long road.

We also spoke to the Bobo family in 2017. Holly's mother, Karen, told us she couldn't bring herself to even look at her daughter's remains.
She said she wanted to remember Holly for who she was when she was alive. I'm hoping she'll also be remembered for not just the beautiful person on the outside she was, but the beautiful person on the inside.
That's how I want to remember. I want her remembered that way, and that's how I'm going, that's how I choose to remember her.
At the end of 2020, lawmakers in Tennessee passed the Holly Bobo Act, which allows TBI to send out endangered persons alerts, not just for children, but also for those up to age 21. It's intended to make sure authorities can move even faster and alert the public when young adults go missing.
The Holly Bobo case is one of the most convoluted, complicated crimes I've ever covered. At every turn, I found myself asking more questions.
And as you've heard, even some of the former investigators who worked this case still have questions themselves, including whether the wrong guys went to prison for this murder. No matter what you think, it's clear there are a lot of people whose lives were forever changed after Holly was murdered.
As for Zach, he is still fighting to clear his name and overturn his conviction. He says there's not a day that goes by that he doesn't think about this case.
Over 10 years, there's not one day that hasn't went by that you don't think time i see this fence every time i every time i wake up in prison for something i didn't do until you've been in prison for something you didn't do you don't even know how to relate i can't even explain it what what do you think about. What Happened to Holly Bobo is a production of ABC Audio and 2020.

Hosted by me, Eva Pilgrim, the series was produced by Camille Peterson,

Julia Nutter, Kiara Powell, Nora Hanna, and Meg Fierro, with help from Audrey Mostek and Amira Williams.

Our supervising producer is Susie Liu.

Music and mixing by Evan Viola.

Special thanks to Liz Alessi, Janice Johnston, Michelle Margulis, Sean Dooley, Christina Corbin, Kieran McGurl, Andrew Paparella, and Emma Pesha.

Josh Cohan is our director of podcast programming. Laura Mayer is our executive producer.
The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox is now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney+. Amanda, where did you go the night of Meredith's murder? Do I need a lawyer right now? Inspired by the infamous story.
We cannot do our jobs unless you are honest with us. I swear to God, I'm innocent.
You only thought you knew. For 15 years, I've been defined by something I didn't do.
Watch the new Hulu original series, The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox. Now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney Plus for bundle subscribers.
Terms apply.

The top stories, biggest headlines,

entertainment buzz, and viral moments.

You give us less than 10 minutes and we'll give you what you need to know. Your new

daily must-have habit.

Start your day with what you need to know.

Now streaming on Disney Plus.