Holly Bobo key witness’s apparent suicide was in Florida
DECATUR COUNTY, Tenn. — One of the men tied to the Holly Bobo murder case is now dead. Shayne Austin was in Florida where it was believed he took his own life, Decatur County Sheriff Keith Byrd said Tuesday. “I don’t have any reason to believe it’s anything other than a suicide, but I hope whoever is investigating is doing a thorough job,” Byrd said. Byrd said given Austin’s importance to the prosecution of the Bobo case, he hopes we get answers soon about how he died. Austin has appeared in Decatur County court once in connection with the Bobo case. “They were going to grant him immunity if he cooperated with the investigation,” Byrd said. “Well, come to find out he didn’t cooperate, and the deal was taken off the table.” Last March, Austin appeared in court when the state tried to revoke his agreement for not helping detectives find Bobo’s body. Austin has never been charged in the case and was fighting to have the deal reinstated. Byrd said Austin takes to his grave many questions begging to be answered. “He may have felt remorse or he didn’t want to go to prison or anything like that, and he may have done it because of that,” Byrd said. “On the other hand, he may have been innocent and felt like he was being persecuted and he couldn’t stand the ridicule.” We reached out to the newly-appointed prosecutor for the case, Jennifer Nichols. Her office said she will not comment at this time on how Austin’s death could affect the case against suspects Zach Adams and Jason Autry.
