The state of Tennessee plans to seek the death penalty against three men charged with the kidnapping and murder of nursing student Holly Bobo, prosecutors told a judge Wednesday.
The suspects — Jason Wayne Autry and brothers Zachary Rye Adams and John Dylan Adams — were Indicted last month on charges of first-degree murder, rape and kidnapping.
They pleaded not guilty in Decatur County court on Wednesday, NBC affiliate WSMV reported.
A fourth man named as a person of interest in the case died in an apparent suicide three months ago — another bizarre twist in a mystery that began when 20-year-old Bobo vanished from her family's home in Tennessee in April 2011.
A major break came in September, when human remains discovered by a hunter in local woods were identified as those of Bobo. Authorities have not publicly detailed how Autry and the Adams brothers allegedly killed her.