TBI admits to mishandling information in Holly Bobo murder case

HARDIN COUNTY, Tenn. — Day five of the Holly Bobo murder trial came to an end Friday. Zach Adams is accused of kidnapping, raping and killing the 20-year-old nursing student.

State prosecutors called a lead investigator with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to the stand Friday, where a shocking discovery was made. Agents may have mishandled information in the case.

TBI special agents, who worked for years to solve the murder of Holly Bobo, had four key suspects right under their nose but failed to check.

“Did the name Shayne Austin ever come up? Did the name Zach Adams ever come up? Did the name Jason Autry ever come up?” state prosecutor Paul Hagerman said.

TBI Special Agent Brent Booth said “Yes sir.”

Booth took the stand Friday describing how agents chased leads and tips but prioritized where Holly could have been over possible suspects.

“That’s what it was all about was to find her alive and bring her home,” Booth said.

Booth admitted investigators received multiple tips about Zach Adams and the other men charged early on but never looked into them.

“Case agent is responsible for reading every memo, every report that comes in,” Booth said.

Booth said agents didn’t read reports thoroughly and alibis of the suspects weren’t checked out. “Too much coming in too fast,” he said.

Booth said although he’s not making excuses for mishandling information, he says the agency is small and the case was overwhelming. “We pride ourselves on doing the right thing always in the right way,” Booth said. “We make mistakes in this one, one I’ll take with me for the rest of my life.”

As cross examination began, Booth was questioned about search warrant procedure. Several warrants were issued over the course of Holly’s disappearance.

“You swore a warrant at some point to get the banking records of the Bobo family, didn’t you?” defense Attorney Jennifer Thompson said.

“Correct,” Booth said.

The defense team said at some point Karen, Dana and Clint Bobo made false and misleading statements about the disappearance of Holly. He said Karen Bobo lied about Holly’s age, saying she was 17.

“Someone had told her that we wouldn’t issue an Amber Alert if she was over 18,” Booth said.

Next to the stand was Steve Deaton, a member of the West Tennessee Dive Rescue and Recovery team. The dive team was asked by the TBI to search the waters near Joe Holladay Road. That’s the location said to be where the gun used to murder Holly Bobo was thrown out.

“We located a metal object that was later identified as a revolver,” Deaton said.

A TBI forensic scientist who examined the revolver testified as well. “This is a picture of the right-hand side of the revolver that was brought in by Agent Booth,” Special Agent Cervinia Braswell said.

The handgun was found about 15 inches underwater after four and a half hours of searching.

The trial will resume at 9 a.m. Saturday. Stay with WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News and www.wbbjtv.com for gavel-to-gavel coverage.