September 18, 2017
8:00 – MorningLine
8:28 – Judge admonishes gallery for making facial expressions and other outward expressions and says they will be removed, not to return.
8:30 – John Maxwell is called to the stand by the prosecution. He is a 911 dispatcher who was working the day that Holly disappeared.
8:39 – Phone call from Dick Adams, Zach's grandfather, saying that he is there "raising hell" with him. 2nd call is more urgent, says he's on drugs and whipped him up.
9:06 – 15-minute recess
9:42 – Court resumes
9:46 – Terry Britt takes the stand, currently incarcerated for attempted rape. He has been questioned in the disappearance of Holly Bobo.
10:55 – Britt is dismissed, 15-minute recess.
11:13 – Anthony Phoenix takes the stand, welder from Texas, former Parsons resident. On probation for meth production. Acquaintance of Shayne, Dillon and friend of Zach. He was familiar with Holly Bobo and knew her mother as a school teacher. He said that Zach offered information to him about Holly. Zach made a comment about "let's rape this b****" and said that he "couldn't have picked a prettier b****" and "that it sure was fun".
11:23 - Jennifer Thompson begins cross.
11:34 – Jamie Darnell, friend of Zach Adams, takes the stand. He didn't know Holly Bobo, but knew Karen Bobo was a schoolteacher. Zach came to his house wound up and wanted to share some drugs with him. He wanted to shoot him up with meth and he declined because he was afraid of needles. Adams was upset about this.
11:45 – Lunch recess. The heat appears to have been turned on in the courtroom.
12:50 – Court resumes.
13:02 – Darnell is dismissed
13:04 – Carl Stateler takes the stand, Parsons resident and knows Zach, Shayne and Dillon, as well Jason Autry. He had no connection to the Bobo family. Heard the comment to Shayne that he let him "hit it" and also heard the comment that Zach made to his girlfriend that he'll “do her like he did Holly Bobo.”
13:18 – Corey Rivers takes the stand. He is from Jacksonville, Florida. He found himself in Tennessee in 2016, they were driving up north and got pulled over in Williamson County. He was driving and didn't have a license, his friend passed him his suspended license. He's on probation for using someone's suspended license. Zach Adams was his nearby cellmate while he was in Williamson County Jail. Adams noticed he was reading his Bible and asked him if “God will forgive him?” Rivers said Zach told him about going into the woods with that girl and was there for the worst of it. That he was drunk and went into the woods with a couple of his friends. He said that the body had "gotten chopped up.” He explained that bottom part of the body was found in West Tennessee and the rest was found elsewhere. He reached out to law enforcement and they interviewed him. Adams gave him his number and Rivers gave him his Bible. Adams said that he wanted to reach out to him. Adams wanted to show him a video, he said it was right under the nose of the people looking for it and hadn't found it.
13:31 – Cross of Mr. Rivers begins, he is on the sex registry for lewd and lascivious behavior.
13:45 – Shawn Cooper takes the stand. Hardeman County Jail inmate. He sat near Zach Adams during a courthouse appearance. Zach Adams introduced himself when he heard that he (Cooper) was going to Obion County, he asked if he could talk to some federal inmates while he was there. He said to tell his brother to "keep his mouth shut, before I put him in a hole beside her (Holly).” He didn't want any more to do with the conversation after Adams said that to him.
14:03 – Break
14:21 – Jason Kirk takes the station, prison inmate in Clifton. In March of 2014, he was a Chester County Jail inmate, accused of stealing a truck and a high-speed chase. Zach Adams was in the courtroom while he was in the courtroom, Adams again sent a message to Dillon that he was going to quit talking about that “b****.” He went in for his arraignment and Zach remarked after his appearance that "you gotta [sic] kill a b**** to get that kind of bail.” "Got no body, got no gun, there ain't [sic] going to be a conviction.”
14:29 – Cross begins of Kirk.
14:31 – Facebook records are entered into evidence. It's a Facebook picture titled "who am I looking for?" from Zach Adams FB page.
14:34 – Chris Swift is the next witness called. He is foreman for Jones Brothers Construction. Another convict. He was housed in Williamson County jail, met Zach there. Adams asked him in jail if God would forgive him for his case and asked him to pray for him. He said that he wasn't involved in the killing just the worst part of it. He said his brother and the boy that killed himself was involved in the killing. Swift thought about it for a couple of days and he told his attorney about it. TBI came and talked to him about it.
14:52 – After 45 Witnesses - Prosecution Rests – Recess
15:15 – Motion for Acquittal by Defense, Judge overrules motion by defense for an acquittal
15:17 – Defense case begins, Rita Austin is called to the stand, the mother of Shayne Austin. Claims that he didn't have the means to buy a blanket and didn't have a burn barrel. Shayne began another drug habit while he was living in Florida working on cooling towers, he was making $1500 a week and he only had $200 in his account, so he was using a lot of drugs. He got fired by her son-in-law, Josh, went to a motel, and killed himself.
15:45 – Cross of Ms. Austin begins, spoke about the presence of a burn barrel and said that she would have known if he had a burn barrel, the prosecutor asked if she would have known if he had meth in the trailer.
15:52 – Prosecution presents a note from Shayne to her mother. She said that she had never seen this document before.
16:07 – Judy Evans is called to the stand. The aunt of Shayne Austin.
16:28 – Court recesses for the day.
17:00 – Coverage ends
