Naman Shrestha
In ’20/20: Justice for Holly Bobo,’ viewers are provided with a detailed account of Holly Bobo’s murder case. Apart from the events that led to the murder, the episode also covers the investigation that ensued and the kind of impact it left on the victim’s family and friends. As the viewers get introduced to different suspects, officials, and loved ones throughout the episode, some individuals generate more curiosity than others. For instance, the whereabouts of the main perpetrators — Dylan Adams, Shayne Austin, and Jason Autry — responsible for the gruesome crime can be of importance to many.
Dylan Adams, Shayne Austin, and Jason Autry Were Charged With the Murder of Holly Bobo
Brought into the world by Cindy and Timothy Adams, John Dylan Adams grew up with a loving brother, Zach Adams, who was also connected in the Holly Bobo murder case. Prior to their mother’s divorce, the two brothers were close to each other, but later, Dylan moved out to live with his father. According to his mother, Dylan is a person with an intellectual disability and has a low IQ. This is why he attended special schools throughout his life and wore a digital watch as he had trouble telling the time. Just when he started to get involved with drugs, his father passed away in a car crash, making him spiral down the path of narcotics all the more. Soon, he and his brother were brought in for questioning for the murder case of Holly, along with Shayne Austin and Jason Autry.
Talking of Shayne and Jason, the cousins were questioned by the police, but they had quite a strong alibi that checked out. When the time of Dylan’s interrogation came, he admitted that he was with Holly the day she disappeared on April 13, 2011. He claimed that the other three suspects had kidnapped her, after which they sexually assaulted the nursing student at his brother’s house. However, Dylan gave the police two very different versions of what happened on the fateful day. On one hand, he said that Zach murdered her. On the other hand, as per his claims, Jason killed the 20-year-old woman. In September 2014, Holly’s remains were found, more than three years after her disappearance. Later, the police also found a possible murder weapon, a gun that belonged to Shayne.
On the basis of this testimony and a few other pieces of evidence, Dylan, Shayne Austin, and Jason Autry, alongside Dylan’s brother, Zach, were charged with the kidnapping and first-degree murder of Holly. However, later, Dylan recanted his confession and claimed that he was coerced into making those statements. But on September 17, 2014, he was charged with tampering with evidence after admitting that he had helped dispose of evidence that linked to the perpetrators. Almost a month later, he was also charged with rape. Furthermore, in May 2015, he was charged with aggravated kidnapping and first-degree murder of Holly Bobo, but he pleaded not guilty to all the charges against him. Even though Jason, Shayne, and Dylan confessed, they went on to deny any involvement in Holly’s disappearance.
Dylan is Still Behind Bars, Shayne Died of Suicide, and Jason Pled Guilty for Unrelated Gun Charges
In 2017, Jason Autry accepted a plea deal wherein he had to testify against Zach Adams in exchange for a reduced sentence. Being the key witness of the prosecution, he made statements that were quite different from Dylan’s confession. He claimed that he was not involved in the abduction of Holly and that he had gone to Shayne’s house just to purchase drugs. There, he witnessed Shayne and the Adams brothers getting rid of the evidence. When Jason was asked to help dispose of Holly’s body, he went along with Zach to a secluded place underneath the Interstate 40 bridge.
According to him, when they realized that she was still breathing, Zach shot her to death and fled away from the place with the body in the truck. Due to the plea deal, he received an 8-year imprisonment sentence. Dylan Adams entered an Alford plea on January 18, 2018, and pleaded guilty to the charges against him. This meant that he accepted the guilty charge without actually admitting guilt. So, he received a 15-year imprisonment for facilitation of first-degree murder and 35 years for aggravated kidnapping. Since these sentences are to run concurrently, he has to remain incarcerated for 35 years without the possibility of parole from the time of his imprisonment.
Currently, he is incarcerated at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, Tennessee. Just like Dylan, even Shayne was offered a deal in exchange for his testimony in court. But before he could even stand in the courtroom, he was found hanging in his Florida hotel room. Soon, even Jason ended up recanting his testimony against Zach and claimed that the only reason he gave the false testimony was to avoid going to prison. After spending a few years behind bars. Jason was released from Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville on September 16, 2020. Just a couple of months later, he was arrested on gun charges unrelated to Holly’s murder case. Earlier, he pleaded not guilty, but in October, he decided to plead guilty to the gun charges.
Read More: Where Is Zach Adams Now?
