Blair Adams

[spiraleyes]

[TheCars1986]

I had never heard about Blair being seen with a man at several restaurants on the night of his death.

[mwcarolina]

There was a composite of a possible suspect on one site I read, though i never knew of this. Reportedly Blair was also involved in a relationship with a male which could be a possible motive now.

[JenniferS.]

Anyone find it pecular he didnt not have any underwear? Did the ,murdered take it for souviner or did he get dressed in hurry sp he coul get out of a bad situation and leave thme behined?

[bell83]

Originally Posted by JenniferS.

Anyone find it pecular he didnt not have any underwear? Did the ,murdered take it for souviner or did he get dressed in hurry sp he coul get out of a bad situation and leave thme behined?

It's possible he didn't wear underwear.

[bigted12]

Originally Posted by mwcarolina

There was a composite of a possible suspect on one site I read, though i never knew of this. Reportedly Blair was also involved in a relationship with a male which could be a possible motive now.

Blairs mother said on UM "he was sleeping less and less during the summer, he seemed worried, he told me "someone is spreading rumors about me""

That would fit in with him being gay and some ex or someone was hanging it over his head, maybe blackmailing him. but it doesn't really explain his actions and behavour why would that make him travel around north america, booking flights, hiring cars, acting like he did in the reception of the hotel?

He was running away from someone, but if this someone was spreading rumors about him being gay i can't see the logic in this person stalking him and wanting to follow him from canada to the US. why? and the same can be said about drugs, thats another theory, but i can't even imagine some drug dealer catching flights and hiring cars to follow him around 2 countries. and if they did why not take the thousands of dollars he had by his side?

So let's say that his paranoia and his death aren't related, lets say that he was running away from something or someone in canada, lets say drug dealers, lets say rumors about him being gay, or lets even say mental health problems made him do what he did and he was infact gay and in knoxville he hooks with a guy. a guy who kills him....

why would a paranoid man, and you can see how he's acting in the hotel reception go looking for sex or whatever with a stranger? which is putting him in a very vulnerable situation, i can't see him being of the state of mind where that would be something he'd go looking for, i also don't see it as viable that someone was taking flights and hiring cars, stalking him and then killing him.

Nothing makes sense, it's difficult to say it was simply a case of paranoia, because he ended up being murdered, so his paranoia was justified, the question is, is if what made him go on the run was the reason he was killed, or was it unrelated. i tend to think that theres a big chunk of this story missing, if the family and police are not telling us everything, or they are just as in the dark as the rest of us i don't know, but theres maybe 40 or 50% of this story missing. so we really can't come to a conclusion.

[Latka Gravas]

The Blair Adams case (S09) is one of the more infamous UM segments, and is approaching it's 25th anniversary this year.

It definitely appears that BA had some kind of a "mental break" in the Summer of 1996, and/or became addicted to some sort of drugs?! (maybe). Prior to his acting oddly that summer, he held down a good job, had family & friends he was in contact with, etc.

However, something obviously happened that started him on a downward spiral. He suddenly quit his job in Canada, withdrew all of his money out of multiple account(s), was acting like people were out to get him & travelled from Canada & all over the U.S. (in many cases back-tracking), without any clear goal/destination in mind. He didn't seem to be in Knoxville, TN for any work-related reason, nor did it appear that he knew anyone there.

He was obviously killed by someone in the parking lot, but who, and why?! Was it some kind of intimate encounter gone wrong, which may partially explain his pants being gone?!

Or, in his frenzy/paranoia - did he attack an innocent bystander in that parking lot - who ended up killing him in self-defense?! But, if that's the case, why was his extensive amount of money scattered around him?! I.e., it's evident that robbery was not a motive (or else the $ would have been taken). So, did the killer and/or Blair himself scatter the money around for some reason?! And, none of this explains the pants situation.

Fairly or not - the lateness/earliness of the hour (3:30am) & the place where the death occurred does add an element of sleaziness to this crime - that wouldn't have been there if this had occurred either much earlier or much later.

No matter what happened here, however - I don't think that whoever killed him was someone he knew prior to going to Knoxville. And, I do not believe that he was being pursued by anyone - I think that was all in his imagination.

Also, sadly it looks like BA's mother (who was interviewed in the segment) recently passed:

Originally Posted by 1990 UM fan

I believe this is Blair Adams' mother, Sandra Edwards: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.dig...dwards-9973583

[bigted12]

What you just said is i guess the most plausable theory, maybe it's the exact same as the Tammy Lynn Leppert case, did he have some really bad reaction after taking drugs that gave him severe paranoia? So he quits his job and tries to escape something that doesn't exist, ending up in america where he just happened to annoy the wrong person who ended up kllling him?

Although it's insane its the most likely theory, i agree you with you i don't believe that the person who killed Blair knew him, It doesn't really make sense for someone to be getting on planes and hiring cars to eventually kill him on the other side of north america.

[Apostapler]

Originally Posted by Latka Gravas

Fairly or not - the lateness/earliness of the hour (3:30am) & the place where the death occurred does add an element of sleaziness to this crime.

Nothing good ever happens at 3:30AM.

[Todd Mueller]

Originally Posted by Apostapler

Nothing good ever happens at 3:30AM.

Officially, "nothing good happens past 2AM" as I learned from this Bear Hands song.

[Stratego]

I guess the police's theory of a prostitute and her pimp unsuccesfully trying to rob him is possible. But I'm wondering if Blair would even think of getting involved with a prostitute with his paranoid state of mind. And if robbery was the motive, why didn't they take any of the money or his bag? Why would they be in such a hurry if it was planned?

Perhaps Blair had a mental breakdown, started undressing himself and approached a stranger who freaked out and proceeded to beat him up with a baseball bat.

[mphs95]

Originally Posted by JenniferS.

Anyone find it peculiar he didn't not have any underwear? Did the ,murdered take it for souvenir or did he get dressed in hurry so he could get out of a bad situation and leave them behind?

If he was caught while with another person, he probably was running away w/o time to grab his pants, much less his underwear. Just my opinion.

[TheCars1986]

Originally Posted by RobinW

A new article about this case was just published this morning containing a few pieces of info I never knew before:
http://www.knoxnews.com/story/news/c...hed/610262001/

I re-read this article today and there was a wealth of information that has either been overlooked or ignored over the years.

-Blair first tried crossing the border on Sunday July 7th, and was denied entry.

-Blair returned to his mother's home and packed his bags and left Monday morning, July 8th, and this was the last time his mother saw him alive. She claims to have said he was traveling to see the Olympics in Atlanta (which is plausible because they were set to start on July 19th).

-At some point on the 8th, he entered a travel service and bought a round trip flight to Frankfurt, Germany. Then he requested a refund later that same day.

-At dawn on July 9th, he attempted to cross the border on foot, but was detained because he matched the description of an auto theft suspect. He was released back into Canada.

-On July 10th, He abandoned his car at the Vancouver International Airport and rented a car from there. He finally succeeded in getting across the border and abandoned his rental car at the Seattle airport where he purchased is one way ticket to Dulles, VA.

I know he was clearly not of sound mind right before his death, but if he really did intend on seeing the Olympics, why was he abandoning his rental cars? The mysterious key that was reported by Blair at the gas station belonged to the car he rented in Vancouver and ditched in Seattle. Both keys were found with Blair's body. Also of note in that article was how one of the investigators believed Blair was killed:

Davenport believes the sex act could have been committed in a vehicle. When the struggle began, the killer might have hit Adams in the head, thrown him onto the road, and struck him while driving away.

The fatal blow to the stomach could have been caused by the vehicle's front bumper, Davenport believes. (Jones disagrees: He thinks the blow was a kick.)

Davenport's theory would explain Adams' blackened hand.

"He caught the pavement," Davenport said. "If you’ve ever wrecked a motorcycle, how the rocks or pavement will eat you up, one of his hands looked like that."

That would explain why no murder weapon was found or even conclusively linked to a specific instrument. I've always thought it was odd that a blow to his stomach is what killed him, but if he was hit by a car this would make much more sense.

[bigted12]

You have a guy who was clearly paranoid and paranoia can make you do irrational things, which could explain his actions.. Like reserving a flight and not getting on it and the whole thing with the car at the gas station....

So the question is, Was his paranoia all in his head? Well he ended up getting murdered, So maybe he was right to be paranoid!

But was the person/people who killed him the ones he was scared of and running away from back in Canada? Or was it a completely unrelated thing?

Because it would be one hell of a coincidence for someone to be paranoid and/or running away from someone or something that wanted to hurt him, just be killed by someone else his first night in a random town in another country...

It's always interested me that whoever killed him didn't take the money and the jewelery.

[MegtheEgg86]

Having gained a lot more life experience and knowledge (and having spent going on a decade in healthcare now) since I initially saw the segment--clear as day, Blair Adams was acutely mentally ill. Without going into a lot of detail, every single one of his behaviors in this case is extremely similar to things I have seen other people do.

Given the severe nature of his illness and the vulnerability that often places sufferers in, I don't think Blair solicited a prostitute that night. I think it's more likely he was sexually assaulted and killed, possibly because he was a victim of opportunity or because he inadvertently provoked the ire of someone violent or under the influence with his erratic behavior.

I get the feeling--and I could be totally wrong--that Blair's mother also suffers from mental health problems of her own and many are known to run in families. And as an aside, I don't necessarily believe her contention that Blair once had a relationship with a man. And I've definitely never believed the "Olympics" explanation.