>> david: tonight here, the stunning new legal twist as a witness admits he lied on the stand in a grisly kidnapping case. >> deborah: for the first time tonight, you're going to see a startling tape. could it free a man who's now behind bars? "20/20" begins right now. somebody has my daughter. they have kidnapped her. please get everybody in the community out there. everybody's trying to say, "it's okay, karen.

this is all just a mistake." but see, they didn't know what i knew that morning. >> a nursing student, holly bobo, last being seen dragged away from her home by a man in camouflage. >> she said, "stop, stop, stop. leave me alone." but she never called out his name. >> just hours after holly bobo disappeared, more than 400 people turned up here to search these woods. >> holly, i love you so much. please try to get home to us. >> i just remember it was madness, cops everywhere, helicopters flying. it was already crazy. >> we were looking at everybody. everybody was looked at. >> when did someone kind of pull away from the rest? >> he said, if somebody like him had got holly, she's just a toy to him. and it's all fantasy world. >> dennis benjamin says, "there's a man on my porch who has just confessed to the kidnapping of holly bobo." >> do you think the jury got this one wrong?

>> absolutely, yep. innocent people are in prison. >> please help us find her. ♪ this is the tennessee river. on its western bank is decatur county, a patchwork of sparsely populated farms, dense woods, and neighbors who look out for each other. >> it's a rural county with a cute, little, small town, parsons. very close to the tennessee river. >> a lot of cattle farming and crop farming. >> hunting, fishing, boating. >> people that like to live out in the country. they have some animals or some horses.

>> there's not a lot of industry in decatur county. >> i started to say it might be compared to mayberry, but it's nothing like that. we do have crime, just like every other town in america. but we are rural. everybody pretty much knows everybody. everybody knew holly and her family. >> 20-year-old holly bobo came from a loving family. she lived with her mother karen, father dana, and her older brother, 25-year-old clint, in a home her dad built with his own hands. >> it was your typical little single story, three bedrooms. the kitchen was in the middle, kind of, in that little, small living room. and they had a carport there, which is a two-car carport to the back of the house. >> they're typical, middle-class, hard-working country folks. holly's dad, he had an excavating business. her mother was a schoolteacher.

>> holly and i were just very close. we were about five years apart. >> holly was raised like my little sister. and clint was like my little brother. and we were always growing up together. >> we just lived in our own -- own world. two kids in college. we had our church family, our family, family gatherings. went to the movies together. rode four-wheelers together. rode horses. >> the bobo kids grew up with a sense of caring for their community. clint is studying to become a social worker, and holly is attending nursing school. >> they're the best people on earth. and that's what hurt so bad, that this happened to them. they didn't do anything that would have put them in harm's way of having this to happen. it just doesn't happen to people like them. >> it was just a -- a normal morning like anything else. dana gets up first and gets ready.

>> i usually go out and feed the dogs. >> dana says holly is already up, studying for a big test later that day. >> i asked her if she needed any money, i think, for gas or whatever that day. she said, "yeah," and i left her some money on the bar. i left at my regular time, 5:30 or something like that, and went on to work. >> karen wakes up a short time later. >> i went on about my business getting ready. i had packed her lunch like i always did. she was sitting at the kitchen table studying, and i kissed her good-bye and told her i loved her, just like every other morning. and i left. >> around 7:45, a neighbor was getting ready to go to work, and he heard a scream from next door. >> she said," stop, stop, stop, leave me alone, stop."

but she never called out his name. >> it made such an impression on him that he told his mother that he heard somebody screaming over at the bobos' house. >> that neighbor calls karen bobo at work, worried, saying, "we heard a scream coming from your house." >> that's just not a call you get every day, so i instantly knew something was wrong. >> holly's brother clint, who is asleep in the house, doesn't hear the scream, but he wakes up to the family dog, rascal, barking. >> he just continued to bark. so, i decided to get up, see what he was barking at. as i was approaching that window, i heard people talking, voices. i could tell it was a male and a female voice. i never was really able to tell what they were saying. >> there's a side window next to the kitchen that faces the carport, which of course is an open carport. >> clint looks into the carport. he sees holly and another person kneeled down in a catcher stance. >> i could see enough to tell it

was holly and a man in camouflage who i identified as drew, who was her boyfriend. >> at first he thought it was holly and her boyfriend and they were arguing. he didn't want to get involved in it, so he stepped away and let them do whatever they were doing. at that point, he sent his mom a text and asked, "does holly not have school today?" >> i said, "well, her and drew are out here in the garage." i expected drew to be dressed in camouflage because drew and i had talked the night before, and he told me he was going turkey hunting that morning. >> but there were some things that clint didn't know that his mother knew. drew was at least 30 minutes' drive away. >> drew was hunting on my mom's property in southern decatur county. >> right away her instincts told her, that's terribly wrong. >> i would say, like, 20 seconds later, i receive a phone call from her. she says, "call all the neighbors. oh, my god, clint. that's not drew." >> i said, "that's not drew. get a gun and shoot him."

>> miss karen is saying, "shoot him. get your gun and shoot him." he's like, "what are you -- what are you talking about? you want me to shoot drew?" he -- he just woke up. he wasn't comprehending everything that was going on. >> i said, "so you want me to shoot drew?" i think that's when she must have hung the phone up. >> i just hung up, and i collapsed to the floor. >> so, he said he went and got his gun and he looked out the back window of the kitchen and he saw that holly was walking with a man in camouflage. >> at that point is when i could see them. they were walking towards the woods. and there's a trail that holly and i are both very familiar with. that trail leads you to a logging road. and they looked like they were walking right toward that trail. she was walking on her own. she didn't appear to be hurt. still thinking it's drew, i'm watching them as they're walking toward this trail. >> as clint bobo is watching his sister holly and this man in camouflage disappear into the woods, back at work, karen bobo knows something is really wrong. >> and everybody was trying to

say, "it's okay, karen. this is all just a mistake." but see, they didn't know what i knew that morning. it couldn't be drew, and that the neighbor had heard a scream. and so, my friend, she grabbed my hand, pulled me up, and we headed out of the building. she hands me her phone. >> 911, what's your emergency? >> somebody has my daughter. they have kidnapped her. somebody in full camouflage got holly. please get everybody in the community out there. >> they're on their way, sweetie. i got everybody on their way right now, already. >> oh, my god. >> in the hours and days that follow, thousands of people will come to this small town all asking the same question. where is holly bobo? (♪) i'm getting vaccinated with pfizer's pneumococcal pneumonia vaccine. so am i. because i'm at risk for pneumococcal pneumonia. come on. i already got a pneumonia vaccine,

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a quiet spring morning in the country interrupted by a scream, then a deafening silence. 20-year-old holly bobo vanished from her own backyard, and her family is in anguish. >> holly was an absolute joy from the day she was born. it just seemed like there was something special about her. she was always kind to people and appreciated the small things in life. >> holly's mother says she shares a special bond with her only daughter.

>> we could finish each other's sentences. we enjoyed doing the same things, riding horses, listening to the radio. >> holly's cousin, country singer whitney duncan, says music has always been a passion for holly. >> we had singing in common for sure. she had a beautiful voice. "peace in the valley" was her favorite gospel song. and i have that clip, go back and watch it. ♪ there will be peace in the valley ♪ >> following graduation from high school, holly has her eye on the future, studying hard to become a nurse. >> holly and i ended up in the same nursing class in parsons, and so i really got to know her. she was very committed to the program. you could just tell. she studied continuously. on the day that she went missing, we got to class, and we were supposed to take a test the

first thing. the instructor went out and came back, and she announced that something terrible had happened. i'm sorry. and so, we immediately dispersed and went to the area, started searching. >> million low! >> holly! >> when tragedy strikes, decatur county comes together. on april 13th, 2011, just hours after holly bobo disappeared, more than 400 people turned up to help search these woods, trying to help find any clue as to what happened to the 20-year-old nursing student. >> the search response was almost immediate.

by 8:30, half the neighborhood was out there. >> i've seen 800 people out here today. >> this guy here's going to be the group leader. >> group one is this. so group two would be down here. >> by 10:00, half the county was there. >> holly, i love you so much. please, please try to get home to us. and if anybody knows anything about her, please, please help us find her. >> when you first get there on the scene, what was it like there? >> everybody was involved trying to determine what happened to holly bobo. it was just a chaotic scene of following leads with hundreds of people involved. >> just anybody that can help, come on and help us, please. >> tennessee is known as the volunteer state, and that's what happened. just about every county in half of tennessee was there, from memphis to beyond nashville. >> if you see anything that is not right, call me. >> there were people on horseback, atvs.

>> there were posters on telephone poles. there were posters throughout the county. >> pink ribbons and pictures of holly bobo are posted all over this small, tight-knit community of parsons. >> it becomes a pretty big story right away. >> everybody ready? >> it grew exponentially. >> we just want to bring everybody up to speed. >> when the days went on and there was no more signs of holly. >> got a lot of ground left to cover still. >> first you had the local stations. >> it's been almost a week since holly was last seen outside her family's home. >> from jackson, from decatur county, from nashville and memphis coming in. and then you had the national people coming in. >> and now we have the latest on the desperate hunt for tennessee nursing student holly bobo. >> last seen being dragged away from her home by a man in camouflage. >> we're going to begin with the urgent search for a young woman gone missing. >> in addition to thousands of volunteers, law enforcement from across the country came to tiny parsons to help in the search.

>> decatur county sheriff's office, who responds with multiple deputies. they called in the tennessee bureau of investigation. the tbi came in with dozens of agents. they called in the u.s. marshals and the fbi. >> this was the biggest investigation in the tennessee bureau of investigation history, that almost every agent in the whole tennessee bureau had some type of involvement in it. >> this is where our virtual command center is. we've really been concentrating from holly's house north up to i-40. >> we're talking about a distance of about eight miles? >> yes. >> they brought in bloodhounds and so forth, and they tracked a set towards that bigger pond. they had divers, and they walked that pond, and they looked and didn't find anything. >> there were several times i took agents out in my patrol boat and looked at places on the river.

>> so i just remember it was madness, cops everywhere, helicopters flying. it was already a crazy -- and i just -- for me, it was just surreal. >> i just want her back. >> thank you. >> while authorities focus on the search, the crime scene itself reveals very little in the way of physical evidence. a footprint and spots of blood in the carport where clint last saw his sister. >> there's two little steps that go into the carport. her mustang was parked in the first slot, and the blood was found right in front of it. one of them was about the size of a fist. one of 'em was about the size of a fist. the other ones were much smaller, maybe a quarter-sized or dime-sized. >> it was determined to be hers. the discovery of the blood obviously is disheartening and indicates she's at least injured. she was at least bleeding when she was taken away. >> the working theory, whoever took holly had to be familiar with the area and know the

bobos' schedule. >> we feel that she knew that she was in fear of her life, so she was compliant with his command. >> it might've been somebody close. somebody that kinda knew our routine, when i left, when she left, and when my daughter left to go to school. >> in our minds, besides the very few people we were the closest to, anybody could've been a suspect. >> as the list of possible suspects grows, authorities begin to wonder if the abductor could be even closer to home than the bobos realize. >> there were a lot of people that felt him telling the truth would be the secret to solving this case.

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wow. anything you can't do? ( ♪ ) mugs. ♪ bmo ♪ ♪ it's been almost a week since holly was last seen. >> a 20-year-old nursing student who was reportedly abducted from her home a week ago today. >> abducted from her home six days ago.

>> weeks after 20-year-old holly bobo is abducted from her home, investigators still don't know who took her, but thanks to cell phone tracking technology, they say they know where she was taken. so you mapped out where you thought her cell phone went? >> yes. >> so where do you think her phone went as she was leaving her home? >> it went straight north. >> can we look at the map? >> absolutely. okay, so they go north, about 32, 33 miles an hour. the red dotted area, and then it travels this way. >> volunteers searching along the mapped-out route find some of holly's personal items, including her cell phone. >> we were going down the side of the road on each side of highway 641, just kind of this the ditches, walking elbow to elbow.

we found the phone there. >> they found her notebook, they found her lunchbox, they found her school papers. and that essentially followed the same path of the gps tracking of her cell phone. >> it's confirmation they are looking in the right place, but that doesn't make the search any easier. >> the massive investigation has turned up nearly 300 new leads, but still no holly. volunteers say they don't plan on stopping until she is found. >> it's just unbearable. i can't hardly imagine. >> we are those people, we became those people that no one ever wants to be. >> the bobos are living a nightmare, and it's only about to get worse. once viewed as victims, they're now being viewed as suspects. >> did she know her alleged abductor? >> yes, there were a lot of people that felt clint was lying, felt very strongly that clint was lying, and that clint telling the truth would be the secret to solving this case. >> i've heard countless times, "if i would a been that --" i'm talking sometimes people said this to my face.

you know, "if i had been that brother, i would have went out there," you know, "i would have done something." they just don't understand the way that this event played out. >> the tbi, the fbi, and the u.s. marshals interview clint bobo multiple times over several weeks, asking him over and over what he knows about his sister's disappearance. >> just question, after question, after question. detail after detail, you know, just trying to pull any information they could out of me. which i understand is what they're supposed to do. i just wanted to be as helpful as i could. so -- but i was willing to do whatever they asked me to do. >> i interviewed clint bobo on several occasions for sometimes several hours at a time i spent with him. and i never, ever felt that clint bobo is dishonest. i find him very trustworthy. and he never changed his story of what happened. >> clint's cell phone data backs up his story. he never left the bobo home that morning.

>> the cell phone data, holly was moving the whole time clint's been here. the police were there at 8:10, and holly's cell phone moved for another hour and 15 minutes. clint couldn't have been involved in moving her, or somebody else would have had to have been involved, too. >> i just wish i had known more. i wish i had known that the neighbor called mom at school. i wished i had known that the neighbor heard a scream. i wished i had known that drew was turkey hunting. i didn't have the information that i needed. >> it will take several years, but clint is eventually cleared, as are all the bobo family members and holly's boyfriend, drew scott. meanwhile, as the investigation is seemingly going nowhere, the bobo family is increasingly frustrated. >> until your child is found or you know what happened to them, i don't think anyone could ever do enough, in a parent's eyes. >> that's right. >> there was all kinds of leads coming in, we were looking at everybody. everybody was looked at. >> when did someone kind of pull away from the rest? >> there was a point in the

investigation to where the fbi agent and dicus, the tbi agent, come up with a suspect. >> and who was that guy? >> that's terry britt. >> he spent the majority of his life in prison for kidnapping and rape. >> he was on that list of local people that were sexual predators, and of course we ran his name. and terry britt, right away, he fit the description that clint gave. he was about 5'10", 11. >> i estimated him to be about 5'10" and about 200 pounds. i guess it was just assumed that he had black hair or dark brown, it just blended in with his camouflage clothing. >> terry britt fits the description, he knows the routes. he lives at the end of the route where her stuff was thrown out. and he has a strong history of this kind of behavior. >> according to terry dicus, terry britt did have, for lack of a better term, a type. he liked pretty, blond, blue-eyed girls. and holly fit that type.

>> agent dicus wants to talk to britt, and he has no trouble tracking him down. britt is locked up on another charge. dicus records the conversation with him. >> how you doing? >> i'm getting there. >> while britt says he has an alibi and denies having anything to do with holly bobo's abduction, he spoke hypothetically about who may have done it and why. >> he said if somebody like him had got holly, she's just a toy to him. and it's all a fantasy world. >> she's young, pretty, perfect [ muted ] body? >> yeah. >> okay. like a toy, some people would think. see this man, when he goes and gets this female, he's going to go snatch her up. he can't wait to get her to wherever he is going to take her to, because he's wanting that body. >> he's living in this fantasy. he's got this perfect girl and he's got to get to that body as quick as he can. but as soon as he gets -- soon as he gets done, now reality

sinks in. >> but here comes reality. now i've got a body. what am i going to do with it? because if you keep it, you got to feed it. >> right. >> you got to hide it. it ain't going to happen. and if you kill it, what are you going to do with it? there's no way. >> the first time i interviewed him, i was like, "oh, my god. this guy did it. this guy did it." >> but the bobo investigation is about to take a turn. >> i've been hearing about these guys. >> in the investigation they were brought up early and often. >> is a new prime suspect about to take center stage? >> he would tell people, "you're going to end up in a hole just like holly." d, you never want to lose sight of the things you love. some things should stand the test of time. long lasting eylea hd

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♪ months into their investigation, no arrests have

been made. but tbi agent terry dicus is convinced he has his guy. >> we conducted a thousand interviews. we looked at five counties around. terry britt's the one. it's either this guy, or we have no idea who. there were some disagreements, some very heated disagreements at the tbi. it was just the argument, "you don't have enough proof for it. you can't prove that he did it." that's what i was faced with. and i was taken off the investigation. >> with new tbi agents now taking the lead, they clear terry britt and go back to sifting through all those tips that have been gathered over the years. >> as investigators dig into this case, a variety of possible suspects emerge. but one group of men well known to law enforcement becomes the focus of their investigation. >> i've been hearing about these guys that people are saying they were into all kinds of things,

stealing things. >> they were friends, four guys. zach adams, dylan adams, jason autry, and shayne austin. all four were suspects separately. >> zach had criminal histories. dylan had drug charges. jason autry had a history of theft and drug charges. shayne austin admittedly had a drug problem. they all had that common link of having a criminal past. >> tell me about your son, shayne? >> he was just the life of the party. he was just a fun person to be around. but he had a problem. >> between his ninth and tenth grade year of high school, he dislocated his shoulder playing football. think the opiate stuff started after his first surgery. he wanted to not be addicted to drugs.

he tried not to be addicted to drugs for a long time. >> jimmy and rita austin had given shayne a place to live, a little trailer to live in that was down the road from their family home. >> their last names all started with "a," and the locals referred to them as the a-train. they were known for getting in trouble. >> in the investigation, they were brought up early and often by people that know that they're into drugs. zach would tell people, "you're going to end up in a hole just like holly." comments everywhere that normal people would not make. >> and in the early days of the investigation, holly's mother karen thought these guys could know something, given what they had been heard saying around town. so she tracked them down herself. >> i asked them, did they know anything about our daughter's abduction? of course, they all denied it. >> she was kind of doing her own investigation.

i mean, she came here and asked to talk to shayne. >> i guess i would have fought goliath. you know, i just had no fear. i was trying to find my daughter. >> and at the time of holly's abduction, witnesses tell investigators that before she went missing, shayne austin crossed paths with her at a local racoon hunting festival. >> the story was that shayne had seen holly bobo at the coon hunt and that he'd kind of followed her around like a stalker. >> did you hear anything about that? >> i guess we heard that rumor. we heard that he was trying to take a picture of her and pretending like he was talking on the phone. but now, shayne only had a flip phone, so i don't think he could hold that flip phone up to your head and take a picture of somebody. but that's what we heard. >> investigators followed up on this story.

within a week of holly's disappearance, they showed up at the austins' property, wanting to speak with shayne. >> they come and brought the dogs and come down and search shayne's trailer. and that was the start of it. >> throughout their investigation, authorities say they never found evidence at the austins' property that connected him to holly bobo. were you surprised that they were down there? >> yes. i mean, i know shayne had drug issues. and that's what i told the tbi guy when he come to the gate down there and i said, "hey" -- i said, "if she'd been made of morphine" -- i said, "you come to the right place. but no. no way." >> and then two years later with those new agents on the case, authorities zeroed back in on the adams brothers, jason autry, and shayne austin. at what point did you realize that he might be in trouble with all of this? >> when they come back at 6:00 in the morning and tooting the horn.

so we went down and opened the gate and let him in. and they said, "we're down here to get this over with. so we want shayne." >> that's when they wanted to know where the body was at. the tbi met with shayne, and they got that immunity deal. >> investigators offered shayne immunity to cooperate and tell them what he knew about his friends' involvement in holly bobo's abduction. >> you take an immunity deal. "hey, you've done something. you've done something." but the lawyer said, "if you don't do it, they're going to arrest him. they done told me they're going to arrest him." and he said it's going to cost thousands of dollars. so us three, we talked, and we agreed. >> we talked hard. we talked hard. "if you've got any part of this, you better be telling it." >> shayne austin had nothing -- nothing at all to do with this. >> so shayne austin takes the

deal. but when he sits down with investigators, they're disappointed. >> they was very unhappy because he didn't know where the body was at. >> according to authorities, all he can tell them is that he too has heard zach adams make incriminating comments about what happened to holly. >> there was talk that zach had blurted out, "i'm going to do you like i did to holly." >> but shayne also said that he didn't believe that zach was telling the truth. he thought that zach was just boasting. >> but investigators believe shayne knows more than he's telling, and they revoke that immunity deal. >> i was scared for my son. if the tbi wasn't here, they was calling him, harassing him. so we didn't have any peace. >> i don't know if it was them calling him or whatever. but anyway, his drug use just escalated, and that's -- from

that -- and christmas was the last time we seen him. >> shayne's parents say his life continued to spiral, and in 2015 he died by suicide. >> shayne opened that door to addiction, and it just grabbed him and pulled him in. this time it pulled him in for real, wasn't going to let him go. >> authorities have lost one cooperating witness. but they're about to get a new one. >> tell the truth. you ain't got to be scared of nobody now. ain't no reason to be scared of nobody. >> could what he has to say finally explain what happened to holly bobo? (woman) with purina one true instinct, her true instincts really came alive. from day one, it's the high-protein nutrition she instinctively craves. it's making a real difference, supporting healthy energy and strong muscles.

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♪ more than two years after holly bobo disappeared, investigators are still searching for answers. rumors about four locals, small-time criminals -- zach adams, his brother dylan adams, jason autry, and shayne austin -- have failed to

lead to any hard evidence. but in 2014 investigators catch a break when dylan adams is arrested on unrelated gun charges. >> when he was arrested this time, it was big. this guy that he had been hanging with was a convicted felon, and they had a couple guns on them and drugs. so he got in trouble for having the firearms around a felon. >> they had him in a federal holding facility up in northwestern tennessee. >> while dylan adams is incarcerated on these gun charges, investigators speak with him at least six times over eight months. and he seems to implicate his brother zach and jason autry in the kidnapping and murder of holly bobo. >> i had to go through the tbi to make sure my son was still alive, still safe.

and you know, each time that i spoke with him, there was no indication that he was being interrogated. >> he has no concept of what is really going on. >> dylan's family says he has intellectual disabilities. >> dylan was -- he was slow. he really was. >> dylan would have a hard time completing a simple task. maybe a little slow in reading, comprehending, things like that. >> according to court documents, dylan eventually pleads guilty to lesser federal charges and is released, but not into the custody of his mother. in fact, she says she couldn't even see him because of the conditions of his release. >> i was told that i would not be able to contact him, or he would not be able to contact me. i think "safe house" was the word that they used, because dylan was their key witness and he had to be protected.

i had no idea where he was going. >> as it turns out, prosecutors arranged for dylan adams to be released into the custody of a private citizen and former memphis police officer named dennis benjamin. >> dennis benjamin takes him back to his house for several weeks. >> is this normal for someone to be released into the custody of someone that they don't know that's a law enforcement person? >> it's real strange. that's for sure. >> we reached out to the prosecutor in that case about dennis benjamin's involvement, and they would not comment. and while dylan adams is there, a huge break in the case. the moment the bobo family had been dreading for years. >> the three-year and five-month search for holly had come to an end. two men searching for ginseng found her remains sunday morning off of country corner road in holiday. >> holly's skull was found with a single gunshot.

among the remains -- some of her schoolwork, her sandals, and her promise ring from her boyfriend, drew scott. >> it was just a miracle she was found. because to this day, as broken as my heart is, my heart is so broken for those people that still don't have that. because i don't think i could have kept going. >> and just weeks later, the decatur county sheriff's office receives a shocking phone call. the caller is dennis benjamin telling them that dyaln adams, still in his custody, has just confessed to taking part in the kidnapping and murder of holly bobo. >> have a seat right there, if you don't mind. >> dylan adams is brought in to speak with tbi agents, and through halting, one-word answers, tells them that he, zach adams, jason autry, and shayne austin committed the crime together.

>> you came forward to dennis and told him some things that are above and beyond what you've ever told me or brent about this case, right? >> yes, sir. >> describe, what was she was doing? what did she look like? what was she wearing? >> she had long pants on. pink shirt. i remember that. >> okay. >> dylan says that all four men sexually assaulted holly at zach's house. >> and now you're saying that shayne austin is sitting there, you're sitting there, jason autry is sitting there, and zach. is there anybody else involved? >> no. >> was holly bobo kidnapped? >> yes, sir. >> was she raped? >> yes, sir. >> i just see someone being bullied into saying something they didn't do. i think that he was just trying

to get through it. >> you withheld information. that ain't how this works! >> he was in a federal holding facility for almost two years. the tbi agents there pounded him and he never, ever, once said, "i raped holly." den -- dennis benjamin's house, and suddenly he's raped holly. >> we attempted to contact dennis benjamin, but we were unable to reach him. >> she was shot in the back of the head. >> how did that happen? >> i don't know. >> how much blood was on the floor? >> quite a bit. >> what was ever done to clean that up? >> as far as i know, just a rag. after that, i don't know. >> armed with dylan's confession and a search warrant, investigators go to zach adams' house looking for any physical evidence to corroborate his story. >> they come to the door there

and said, "you want to unlock it, or you want us to tear the door down?" and they knocked a hole in it to see what was back there, i reckon. tore the fan down as they was tearing the floor out. they used my pick and things to tear this out with, but they cut it out with a saw. >> in the story, he was raping her and attacking her in the house. well, they pulled up floorboards, they dna tested all the couch and the bed and everything. never found it, nothing. >> we reached out to the tbi, and they declined to answer specific questions about this case. >> in my heart of hearts, i know my boys. they're drug addicts. they're not murderers. >> but despite a lack of evidence, authorities believe that's exactly what they are. zach adams, jason autry, and dylan adams are eventually all indicted for murder. >> decatur county grand jury

handed down an indictment of especially aggravated kidnapping and first-degree felony murder. >> with all three heading to trial, the state announces that it will seek the death penalty. and jason autry proclaims his innocence to anyone who will listen. >> innocent man! falsely accused! >> and tonight for the first time, you'll hear from zach adams in his own words. >> i have no reason to lie. >> and the brand-new development that adams hopes may finally exonerate him. >> if you'll play with them, you might as well go all the way, jason. something more. ye symptoms could mean that gritty feeling can't be brushed away. even a little blurry vision can distort things. and something serious may be behind those itchy eyes. up to 50% of people with graves' could develop a different condition called thyroid eye disease, which should be treated by a different doctor.

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all right, we're ready to continue. >> a nursing student who was last seen being dragged away from her home by a man in camouflage. >> holly, i love you so much. >> the bobos are living a nightmare, and it's only about to get worse. >> i know that my daughter begged for her life. look at me, please. you have shown absolutely no

remorse for. >> but is she saying that to someone who's innocent? why do you think you guys became suspects in this case? there were a lot of people at your trial that testified you made comments that you had killed holly bobo. >> i don't think they're capable of kidnapping a woman and keeping it secret for two years. i don't think they're capable of doing arithmetic. >> raise your right hand, please. >> did a key witness lie on stand? >> he said, "i need you to help me bury this body. they said," that's holly bobo." >> now, video never seen before -- of that same crucial witness. >> you gonna play with them might as well go all the way changing his story. so we went all the way. >> what does he tell you? >> tells me he made the whole thing up. >> why would someone admit to killing someone if they didn't do it?

>> circuit court, harding county, tennessee, is now in session pursuant to adjournment. the honorable c. creed mcginley presiding. god bless the united states, the state of tennessee, the county of hardin, and this honorable court. you may be seated. >> it's been six years since holly bobo was taken. six years since she died. everybody -- judge, jury, prosecution, defense -- gathered inside this courthouse. it's september, but it's stuffy. the jurors sweating, people fanning themselves in the tennessee heat. and nobody has a hotter seat than the defendant, zach adams. >> he's charged with kidnapping, murdering, and raping holly bobo. >> he could face the death penalty if convicted. >> in this case, state of tennessee v. zachary rye adams, state ready to proceed? >> we are, your honor. >> defendant ready to proceed? >> yes, your honor.

>> zach adams has put on a suit and a lot of weight. he is the only defendant in this trial. his friend shayne austin died by suicide. co-defendants jason autry and dylan adams expected to stand trial later. >> zach was the one that the state of tennessee thought was the most culpable, so they chose to try him first. >> 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. >> adams does not testify, but years later, he tells us his story in his first interview ever. what do you say to all those people who think you're guilty? >> where's the evidence? there's not one single piece of evidence. >> did you think you were going to get off? >> well, i knew i was innocent. when you're innocent, it doesn't matter. you're thinking -- of course you're thinking you're going to

come home, because you're innocent. >> he took her. he raped her. he killed her. he covered it up. he bragged about it. and he almost got away with it. but he didn't, because we're here now. >> he did not murder holly lynn bobo. he did not kidnap holly lynn bobo. he did not abduct holly lynn bobo. he did not rape holly. >> karen bobo knew the man now accused of killing her daughter when he was just a boy. >> did you know zach adams? >> i had zach in the fourth grade. i was his fourth grade schoolteacher.

>> the very first day, you have holly's mother basically fall out on the stand during her testimony. >> can i take just a minute? i'm feeling sick. >> let's take a recess. i want everyone to remain with me while the jury files out, please. oh -- get a nurse. >> holly's father also testifies. >> what day did you give up hope for the very first time? >> about three years into it, give or take, with the tbi come to our house and told us that was holly, that holly had been found. that was her remains. >> i'm going to ask you to look at this picture. you recognize it? >> prosecutors produce the alleged murder weapon. it's a .32-caliber revolver witnesses claim was owned by zach adams' friend, shayne austin, and it was recovered in a drainage ditch just months before the trial. >> we located a metal object

that was later identified as a revolver. >> a parade of no fewer than nine witnesses testified that, over the years, adams, often while on drugs or in jail, made incriminating statements. >> he said, "i'll kill you like i did holly bobo." >> he made the comment, "i couldn't have picked a prettier bitch." >> he just said 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." and he just left it like that. >> somebody that would brag about that, my god, that's the devil's work. you don't do that. >> did you say those things? >> my life used to revolve around drugs and selling drugs and stuff. so if i could get people intimidated or make them think that, you know, fear me or whatever. so i said things that i shouldn't have said.

but i never directly said i did this to holly. >> the prosecution and defense each call a cell phone expert. both agree adams and the other suspects' phones did not hit cell towers near the bobo home at the time holly was taken. >> at the time of this abduction, do we have any idea where zach adams' phone is, where shayne austin's phone is, where dylan adams' phone is, or where jason autry's phone is? >> no. >> the prosecution expert says it's possible holly and zach adams' phones were in the same general locations later that morning. but the defense expert disagrees. >> in very general terms, the devices were not together at the same location at the same time during that morning. >> did you kill holly bobo? >> absolutely not. >> why do you think you guys became suspects in this case?

>> we didn't have a hard alibi. and we was local drug users and stuff, and wouldn't matter, putting us away. i felt like they had to arrest somebody, even if it was the wrong person, which it was. >> as the trial continues, astonishing testimony. a witness you might think would be the last person to believe adams is innocent. >> i looked at zach personally a total of two or three times. whenever the last one was over with, i stopped looking at him. >> and a stunning courtroom appearance. that former suspect with a theory of what holly's killer was thinking. >> you got to hide it. and if you kill it, what are you going to do with it? >> terry britt, the man investigators say they cleared, is about to take the stand. [♪] ♪ welcome to nada yada island ♪ things started off great, but once the new wore off...

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all right, we're ready to continue. defense ready to proceed? >> yes, your honor. >> state ready to proceed? >> yes, sir. >> all right, call your next. >> terry dicus. >> the prosecution of zach adams for the murder of holly bobo, not surprisingly, features plenty of law enforcement witnesses. that's standard. >> what is unusual, the defense calls six current and former law enforcement witnesses, including the tbi's very own former lead investigator, terry dicus. >> the determination i made is that he could not have been involved in the kidnapping. >> is it really unusual for law enforcement -- >> absolutely, it's unusual. i've never testified for the defense. no, it doesn't happen. law enforcement guys don't come forward for the defense. >> i was wasting my time. >> wasting your time doing what? >> investigating these idiots. >> can you be more specific about "these idiots"? >> jason autry, zach adams, and shayne austin, and dylan adams. i don't think they're capable of

kidnapping a woman and keeping it secret for two years. i don't think they're capable of that. i don't think they're capable of doing arithmetic, much less this. >> in august of 2012, terry dicus had a new supervisor come in, and that supervisor looked at the leads and looked at the way that terry dicus was doing that investigation. >> case agent on the case needed to be benched. >> why was he benched? >> in my opinion, based on statements, uh, he made as well as statements other agents made to me, he had lost his objectivity. he had tunnel vision on a particular suspect and was not objective about all of the facts coming into the case. >> i've weighed the information that i had at the time. and i -- i believe i'm objective. >> to have the lead case agent who was removed from the case to take the stand and still saying

during a murder trial that he still doesn't think that zach adams is guilty of this, that's something that's very hard to hear. >> dicus admits he does not know what evidence investigators gathered against zach adams and the others after he left. >> but you can't tell us anything about the three and four years after that? >> you're right. i don't know what y'all have done since then. >> in a murder trial, it's usually the prosecutors pointing fingers. but in this case, the defense attorneys took a turn. they argue zach adams is the wrong guy, somebody else kidnapped and murdered holly bobo. that guy? terry britt. and you don't have to go far to find him, he's sitting right up there on the witness stand. >> terry britt. t-e-r-r-y b-r-i-t-t. >> terry britt was a registered sex offender who lived fairly close to the bobo home. he lived, also, very, very close to where some of her property was found later on during the search.

>> would you tell the jury what you're currently incarcerated for? >> kidnapping, attempted rape. >> do you have other convictions in your history? >> yes, ma'am. i had a rape charge and a robbery charge. >> i got on to him because, number one, he is the exact size of what our witness said the abductor looked like. okay? his history tells me he's capable of kidnapping her. >> do you remember terry dicus coming out to talk to you about the disappearance of holly bobo on multiple times? >> oh, yeah. we all know dicus, don't we? >> britt's history of rape, kidnapping, and firearms convictions made him such a strong suspect, that tbi got a subpoena to bug his home. >> were you aware that for the first time in the state of tennessee, they had actually bugged your house? >> no, ma'am. >> but that extraordinary scrutiny of britt yields no evidence to warrant an arrest,

and he says he has an alibi. >> your wife, janet britt washes with you the entire day? >> the entire day. >> you were never apart from one another. >> never. >> i checked his alibi and found out it was garbage. >> why did you think the alibi was garbage? >> his cellphone called janet's cellphone and talked to it for two minutes and 56 seconds. his alibi's not true. it's -- it's fabricated. >> nevertheless, the britts insist they were together the whole time, and their alibi is legitimate. >> terry dicus called me to go interview terry britt. because all dicus wanted to know was if he is interested in talking about holly bobo and working out some kind of deal.' >> u.s. marshal john walker says he visits britt, who is in prison on an unrelated charge, and lays out how he believed britt committed the crime. >> i said, "i know you're a sociopath. i know you have issues with women." and i walked him through what we knew.

he interrupted me and looked at me very straightforward, and said -- he said, "sounds like you have it all figured out. i'll plead to it, and you can close the case." >> do you remember at one time offering to plead guilty to the murder of holly bobo if you could get a 20-year sentence? >> ha, no. no. >> so you're saying that is not -- >> i'm saying that's a lie. >> when i got up to leave, he stood up behind me and he said, "if i need to show you something, how long would it take you to get me out of here?" he wanted to take me and show me where the remains were at. >> and did you relate all of this information to the tbi? >> yes, i did. >> and as far as you know, did the tbi go back to follow up with an interview? >> they didn't follow up the next few days like i told him that they were probably going to do. that did not happen. >> okay. >> i thought the next day they'd get the confession from him and find the remains. and then nothing happened.

and i'm like, "what do you mean, nothing happened?" >> we asked the tbi about this. a spokesperson said because of the ongoing legal processes, they're not able to answer specific questions, but they remain confident in the investigation. >> did you have anything to do, anything at all -- >> no, i did not. >> -- with the abduction of holly bobo? >> no, i did not. >> with the rape of holly bobo? >> no, i did not. >> putting a bullet in the back of her head? >> no, i did not. i wouldn't do that. >> all right. you can step down. >> terry britt leaves the witness stand, not a free man, but never charged in the holly bobo case. now the jury is about to hear from the most compelling kind of witness, one who claims to be an eyewitness to murder. is this the testimony that could send zach adams to death row? >> at that time, boom, the gun

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chilling testimony today in the trial of zach adams, one of the men charged in the murder of holly bobo. >> the prosecution opened up with a somber message to the jurors, saying adams bragged about killing bobo. >> so far, there's no concrete evidence pinning adams to the crime. >> there is no dna, no fingerprints, no video, no recordings. >> his attorney insists the case against zach adams is flimsy, largely circumstantial, with little direct evidence connecting him to the crime. >> there was no evidence. there's not one single strand of evidence that points to me or anybody, dylan, or shayne, or jason. >> in the first three days of the state's case, none of the witnesses claimed to have seen zach adams with holly bobo. but that is about to change. on day four, the state calls jason autry. >> jason autry for a long time said that he was innocent. he had nothing to do with holly bobo's abduction, nothing to do with her rape, nothing to do with her murder. >> i want to say one thing.

i'm innocent of these charges. >> i heard you say that already. >> right hand before god, i'm innocent, sir. >> but then in late 2016, autry changed his story. we get a call from jason autry's attorney, and he informs us that jason has been talking to prosecutors and that he is going to be testifying against zach at trial. >> raise your right hand, please. do you solemnly swear the testimony you are about to give is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you, god? >> yes, sir. >> there are witnesses. there are star witnesses. and then there's jason autry. from gavel to gavel, the entire fourth day of testimony is all autry. >> when i pulled in, there was a large fire burning in the burn barrel. dylan adams was standing at the door of the trailer with his shirt off.

shayne was walking around in the yard hollering, "you all need to hurry up and get the god damn hell out of here," with a firearm holstered on the right side. >> just details his entire day on april 13th like it was yesterday. >> autry says adams tells him later that he and his brother and shayne austin had kidnapped holly bobo and raped her. >> he said, "i need you to help me bury this body." he said, "that's holly bobo." >> jason autry testifies that he and zach adams brought holly bobo here, to this long, winding dirt road that runs along the tennessee river. >> autry says they take the body, which was wrapped in a blanket, and lay it on the ground. >> i'm standing over the top of

her with my hand on my knees, she being right here. at that time, i see the foot move, a movement, and a sound of distress that sounded like "hmm" come from the blanket. i told him -- i said, "this [ bleep ] is still alive." >> autry says he keeps a lookout while zach gets a pistol from the truck. >> and at that time, boom, the gun chime. the gun went off. it sounded like boom, boom, boom underneath that bridge. it was just one shot, but it echoed underneath that bridge all the way down that damn river bottom. when the gun went off, birds went everywhere, just all up from under that bridge. it was just dead silence for just a second. >> autry says at that point, he hears a boat motor and fears they'll be discovered.

>> we load the body back into the truck in the same fashion, shut the tailgate. we driving just erratic, panicked, pretty much. >> to hear him telling that story? >> anger is what i felt. i felt anger, sadness, because i thought he was my friend. why would he lie on me? >> the bobo family told us in 2017 they believe zach adams is responsible for their daughter's murder, and that jason autry's testimony rang true to them. >> it did, and it matched -- it matched what the prosecutors had also. >> my cross-examination of autry was everything. it was really important. >> the defense attorney points out at the time autry says the murder happened, he was on phone calls with his girlfriend and also his mother. >> in the middle of all this, you were able to take a telephone call from your mother,

shirley king that morning at 9:42, weren't you? >> if your records reflect that, that's true. >> autry also mentions a burn barrel at shayne austin's house. >> 55-gallon barrel with all the paint off of it with flames shooting out the top of it three to four foot high. >> shayne's mother says there was no burn barrel. >> shayne didn't have a burn barrel at his trailer. >> shayne's mother also says jason autry was wrong about a fence at shayne's trailer. >> the gate was open. >> no, the driveway did not have a gate at that time. uh, we did put a gate and a fence up, and it was june of 2011 after we bought shayne a puppy. >> the prosecution basically adopted jason autry's story of what happened, but they left

huge gaps in their prosecution. they don't explain who it was that came and abducted holly. they don't explain how her body got at that cell tower. >> prosecutors argued at trial that shayne austin could have been the one that took holly. >> jason autry is the best evidence that these prosecutors have in this case. because they have very little physical evidence. they're banking on the jury completely, wholeheartedly buying his account. >> inside this courthouse, the jury is about to deliver a verdict. it could be a life-or-death decision for zach adams. either way, it won't be the end of it. years later, a new investigation, another courtroom battle, and prison interviews. what zach adams and jason autry say now. >> i mean, that's one thing about me. i'm not going to lie to you. i have no reason to lie.

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when the verdict is announced, out of respect for this jury, i will tell you i want you to contain your emotions. i want there to be no displays. >> the jury deliberates 11 hours over two days and then finds zach adams guilty on all counts in the kidnapping, rape, and murder of holly bobo. >> when you heard them read the verdict and they said guilty? >> it was terrible. it was terrible. worst day of my life, probably. >> there will never be enough punishment for him. >> he don't deserve to be breathing the air that he's breathing today. >> zach adams avoids a possible death sentence. in a deal with prosecutors, approved by the bobo family, he gets life in prison without parole, plus 50 years. >> who is that a picture of?

>> that's holly and myself. that's holly and her nursing student classmates, just a few days before. >> karen bobo, the woman who taught zach adams in the fourth grade, gives him a lesson on heartbreak. >> i know that she begged for her life, because my daughter loved and enjoyed life. but you chose to take that from her. >> toight, a man accused of killing and raping holly bobo pleads guilty. dylan adams pleads guilty to a lesser offense -- facilitating murder. >> he now faces 35 years in prison without the possibility of parole. >> three years later, jason autry pleads guilty to

lesser charges related to holly's kidnapping and murder, and with credit for time served, he is set free. >> his testimony was some of the most credible, persuasive testimony i've ever heard given in a courtroom. >> the state had to make a deal with the devil to get zach adams prosecuted. in my opinion, all three of them should be hanging in this big oak tree on the back side of this courthouse. >> from his prison cell, zach adams has tried and failed over the years to have his conviction overturned. now, he is trying again. you hear people say that they're innocent all the time in jail, in prison. >> yeah, yeah. >> so people are skeptical. what do you say to those people? >> he said the person was what? 5 foot 9, 200 pounds? it wasn't jason autrey, he's 6'6". couldn't have been me, i was

6'3", 125 pounds. my brother's 6'2", 125 pounds. the person that abducted her wasn't one of us. he didn't match the description of any of us. >> a flurry of legal filings, beginning in january 2024, lay out why zach adams says he deserves a new trial and why prosecutors say he does not. >> april 2024, a hearing at the hardin county courthouse. >> court's going to order that the temporary order placing these exhibits under seal is to remain in effect. >> adams' new attorney is there, and some familiar faces. trial prosecutor jennifer nichols and the bobos. >> zach adams is searching for new evidence, new witnesses. he's being helped by katie spirko. she's a neuropsychologist, and she's been re-examining the case against him. how did you end up involved in this case? >> the attorney who's representing zach adams, doug bates, is an attorney i've worked with before. >> what was he looking for you to do?

>> he wanted me to review the case file, watch the testimony, and see if there were things that stood out to me in terms of whether someone was being honest or not. >> spirko says she is now working for zach adams' mother, instead of his attorney. >> as psychologists, we are trained on how to interview people to elicit accurate information. >> spirko provided "20/20" with interviews she recorded during her investigation. >> i want to know everything about you. i want to be able to look into your soul and know every single thing about you. >> i wanted to get a sense for what he was like, because he didn't testify. and i remember the first thing he asked me was if i thought he was innocent and i said i didn't know yet. >> do you now think he's innocent? >> i am so confident he's innocent. >> hi. my name's katie, and i'm so sorry to come here unannounced. i had your address, and i didn't have your phone number. >> spirko looked for more information about former suspect terry britt, who was later

cleared by the tbi. she went to see his wife, janet, who still stands by her husband. >> there was some evidence that came up with terry regarding the holly bobo situation. >> i don't see how, because he didn't have nothing to do with it. there's no way he could have went and kidnapped her. he was here with me. just because he has a record, that doesn't mean he had anything to do with it. >> some of katie spirko's investigating has provoked a reaction from the prosecutor. in a court filing that includes an affidavit from janet britt, the prosecutor accuses spirko of trying to intimidate britt and of offering to show her confidential discovery files. >> spirko denies she tried to intimidate britt and says the only file she offered to share were public records of terry britt's criminal history. zach adams' court filings also say spirko found a witness, who

claims she saw terry britt behaving oddly the morning holly was taken. >> she said he was in a smaller truck and was leaning over, had made eye contact with her and was leaning over, adjusting his body to block her view of his passenger seat. >> prosecutors say adams' attorney and spirko have not gotten a sworn statement from that witness, which they say the law requires before it can be considered. still ahead, the effort to free zach adams brings katie spirko face to face with the person who helped send him to prison. >> he said, "somebody's got to pay, jason." he said, "it's going to be you." i said, "hell no. i ain't paying." skyrizi is tht il-23 inhibitor that can deliver remission and visibly improve damage of the intestinal lining. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to. liver problems may occur in crohn's disease.

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forensic neuropsychologist katie spirko, now working for zach adams' family, has spent

nearly a year studying his case file, watching the trial testimony, tracking down and interviewing witnesses. but the person she most wanted to talk to was the man many say sealed adams' fate, jason autry. >> mr. autry, raise your right hand, please. solemnly swear that the testimony you're about to give -- >> i found him to be such an engaging witness, and at the same time there were aspects of his story that were red flags, just impossible. >> dylan adams was standing at the door of the trailer with his shirt off. shayne was walking around in the yard, with a firearm holstered on the right side. >> okay, so, this is in 2017, and he's having a recollection. a friend goes around with a firearm, has it holstered on his right side. that's a really specific thing to remember. >> that's my testimony. the truth.

>> there were just a lot of question marks for you? >> yes, he's going through the events of this day, minute by minute almost with this crazy level of attention to detail and memory. that was a discrepancy that caught my attention. >> after being released from prison for his admitted involvement in holly bobo's murder, it doesn't take long for jason autry to get in trouble with the law again. >> requesting assistance on morris road with a subject that has a rifle. be advised, the subject has taken off running. >> well, two months later, after they let him out of jail, he gets caught in the neighboring county with a firearm. >> breaking news now, a man who served time for the killing of holly bobo has been arrested once again, this time in benton county in a field there.

>> there he goes, back to jail, and then he's still there to this day. >> autry ultimately pleaded guilty to these new weapons charges and remains behind bars awaiting sentencing in that case. >> back in 2017, jason autry told the jury that spellbinding story of what happened to holly bobo under the i-40 bridge, right here at the banks of the tennessee river. but what's he saying now? that's what katie spirko had to find out if zach adams was going to have any hope at all. >> my name is jason autry. >> there you go. thank you. >> when you went to see jason, what were you hoping was going to come from that conversation? >> i was just super curious what he would be like, if he would talk to me, what he would have to say. >> can we just start at the very beginning of when you first started getting questioned related to the bobo case? >> i asked him, "what did you do

that day?" and he gave me what seemed like a really honest answer. >> no, i couldn't tell you what i'd done that day. >> yeah. >> katie spirko provided abc news with this video, and it's the first time it's being seen publicly. >> 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? >> so, all of this in the beginning was just all routine questions. >> autry says that when he told his attorney that he intended to fight the charges and go to trial, he got an answer he wasn't expecting. >> he said, "i got you about a 95% chance you spend the rest of your time right over there." [ bleep ]. "what do they want? i need to know what they want. what do they want from me?" "want you to testify." straight-up about it. >> what does he tell you? >> tells me he made the whole thing up.

>> took the phone records and the case file and put together what he did that day to craft a story that fits in with the evidence that exists and cannot be changed. >> well, what if i say, "all i seen was just a body laying in the back of the truck"? "that's not enough to get you out of jail." >> 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 zach's going 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. >> he said, "i need you to help me bury this body." he said, "that's holly bobo." >> 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 a trained witness. >> yeah. >> who was doing the training? >> jennifer nichols. >> yeah. >> yeah. she was the boss of it all. >> zach adams' defense team made this claim in their legal filing, and we reached out to jennifer nichols about it. she denied the allegation, telling us that, "it is a false statement. the only guidance ever given to jason autry was to tell the truth. there was no training." >> that's the worst that i've ever felt in my life, coming back knowing that you just lied and put an innocent man in prison. >> now he has no benefit to be gained other than, morally, to address the remorse. this isn't helping him whatsoever. he's facing sentencing on federal gun charges. >> but it's important to remember that one way or another, jason autry is an admitted liar, and prosecutors argue that his recantation now

should not get zach adams a new trial. saying, "mr. autry's credibility was thoroughly impeached during cross-examination at trial and that the jury was aware of inconsistencies in his testimony." they also contend that autry's testimony was vetted and corroborated. >> 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, i wish he would've never lied in the first place. >> so what does this mean for zach adams? is there a chance jason autry's new story could set him free? >> a request for a new trial for a man convicted in the 2011 murder of holly bobo. >> i mean, i'm in here for something i didn't do, so i'm hopeful.

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♪ this case is a tragedy. there was never a day in that courtroom that i didn't feel for karen bobo. >> you have shown absolutely -- look at me, please -- you have shown absolutely no remorse for anything that you have done. >> at sentencing, holly bobo's mother, there was that very dramatic moment where she wanted to speak to you and look you face-to-face, eye-to-eye. >> well, she felt like she was talking to the person that took her daughter's life, but she don't realize that i'm not that person. they're the real victims of all this. but they need to know that we didn't have anything to do with it. and if i knew anything, i would've helped any way i could've. >> before this happened to holly, we lived in what we thought was one of the safest communities. the day that holly was abducted, not only was something taken

from us, it was taken from our whole county, community, and the surrounding counties. >> the goal was to get justice for holly and i feel like that happened. and obviously, it didn't bring her back. there will still be sad. but there is a little peace in knowing that the people that did this to her will be in jail. >> but now there are questions about whether one of those people, zach adams, will remain behind bars. >> a request for a new trial for a man convicted in the 2011 murder of holly bobo. >> zach adams' team will now need to convince a judge that jason autry's new story amounts to new evidence that would have changed the jury's verdict. >> jason autry recanted his testimony, and that would give adams an alibi for bobo's murder. >> we reached out to jennifer nichols, the prosecutor in this case. she declined our request for an interview but sent us 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. today, nearly eight years after the verdicts, i remain confident in the jury's verdicts of zachary adams' guilt." >> we understood when the trial and sentence and everything took place that there would be a number of events down through the years. we're going to patient because we still are seeking justice for our beloved holly. >> holly was always about helping someone. whatever holly did, she put forth her best effort. and it was just in her soul to be that kind, loving, nurturing person. >> it's been more than 13 years since holly's passing, and her legacy still remains. a stretch of tennessee highway

has been dedicated in her honor. and holly's cousin, country singer whitney duncan, recorded a song to honor holly. >> i wanted to convey a message of, um, she's not hurting anymore, she is in a better place. i know she's watching down and she sees everything. and she is happy. >> david: after holly's death, the bobo family established a scholarship in her name for other nursing student is. >> deborah: as for zach adams a hearing is scheduled for next month when a judge is going to consider some of his legal filings. that's our program for tonight. thanks for watching. i'm deborah roberts. >> i'm david muir. for all of us here at "20/20" and abc news, good night.

calabanga will not be opening next week as originally expected, but we know tonight the popular san jose water park, once known as raging waters, is going to be making a comeback in a big way. good evening. i'm ama daetz and i'm dan ashley. >> thanks for joining us. abc7 news south bay reporter lauren martinez went to the park today to find out what was going on and got a surprise. >> yes, calabanga ceo came out to talk to her. they had a lengthy conversation, including details of how he plans to make a splash when the water park does reopen in june. >> here's a story you'll see only on abc