29-year-old Zachary Adams, the accused murderer and abductor of 20-year-old Tennessee resident Holly Bobo, plead not-guilty in an arraignment on Tuesday, March 11.
Bobo disappeared on April 13, 2011 from her home of Parsons, Tennessee. Adams had not been named as a suspect in the case until he was arrested on an unrelated charge on Friday, Feb. 28.
The charge will update Adams’ extensive rap sheet of assaults he has gained since he was 18.
A man in camouflage was reported in 2011 by Bobo’s brother as leading her into the woods near her house. Adams lives 15 miles from Bobo’s home in Parsons.
Bobo has yet to be found. A recent report from the New York Daily News claims her family still hopes to find her alive.
A search warrant was carried out at Adams’ property on Friday, Feb. 28, which led to two vehicles being towed from the property.
Adams was indicted with aggravated kidnapping as well as first-degree felony murder in relation to the Bobo case after a recent unrelated charge to his record.
Adams was arrested on this unrelated charge after he reportedly held a woman at gunpoint on Thursday, Feb. 6, at his home. Adams was accused in the assault case of threatening to “gut” her.
Adams’s record includes various prior charges, including a conviction of shooting his mother in the knee and threatening to shoot his grandparents.
Adams was sentenced to two years in Decatur County Jail, as well as nine months served in the community correction program, after being charged with theft of over $10,000 in May 2007.
Adams’s bail was set at $1 million by Judge Rick Woods. Adams had no lawyer in court to represent him. The court date was Adams’ first public appearance since the murder charge of Bobo.
“Don’t take pictures of me,” Adams said to a reporter in court. “I’m not the one.”
Members of Bobo’s family were present at the court appearance. Adams’ next court date is Wednesday, April 9, to begin motions in pre-trial and to schedule his case.
Nashville defense attorney David Raybin spoke to reporters about the case and explained prosecutors might want to charge Adams before the case becomes “cold.”
“Witnesses die and evidence evaporates,” Raybin said. “It could be that it was now or never.”
USA Today reported that prosecutors are “considering asking for the death penalty if Adams is convicted.”
According to the Facebook page “Bring Holly Bobo Home,” there is currently a $250,000 reward for her safe return. A total of 12,748 people currently “like” the page.
Posts on the page include short prayers from many Tennessee community members. People from places such as Chattanooga and Denver, among others, comment on the page’s posts.
“We have been praying for Holly [and] your family since the moment we found out she was missing,” Rita Roach Moore posted on Wednesday, March 12.
“We will not stop any time soon.” TAS
