The Mysterious Murder of Blair Adams

Twenty-two years ago a Canadian man was mysteriously found dead in Knox County, Tennessee. In the days leading up to Blair’s puzzling murder friends and family witnessed some bizarre behavior. To this day no one knows what led Blair to Tennessee or why he was murdered.

Blair was two years in to a sober life he was attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings regularly and he was working as a construction foreman. Something seemed to change; his family and friends noticed he just wasn’t the same. He stopped going to his AA meetings, he was leaving his job without properly wrapping things up. He even quit his job without picking up his paycheck. Friends suggested he see a doctor. He felt people were spreading rumors around about him, according to his mother. He was also afraid someone was going to kill him.

Six days before his murder, on Friday, July 5, Blair took all of his money out of the bank. He pulled all his gold and jewelry he had in a safe-deposit box. He told his mother something was bothering him and he was going to go visit his uncle. His uncle wasn’t home; Blair decided to board a ferry from Victoria to Seattle. He was denied entry as the border officials thought he was a drug mule. Blair had all his gold and jewelry out in the open; he was acting suspicious and was not forthcoming with prior convictions for drug and assault charges.

When he wasn’t able to gain entry into the US he visited an old girlfriend. He appeared emotional about quitting his job that he seemed excited about in previous conversations with this ex girlfriend. He made statements about not wanting to stay at his apartment. He cryptically told friends that he needed to get across the border and that he was in fear that someone wanted to kill him.

Blair tried to cross the border again without success he then bought a one-way plane ticket to Frankfurt Germany only to refund it the next day. He rented a car and attempted to cross the border one more time. This time he made it. Once across the border he purchased a ticket to Washington D.C. for that night. Once in D.C. he rented a car and drove to Knoxville.

At some point in his drive he had a minor fender bender and left in a hurry after giving the other driver his information. Adams was first sighted in Knoxville about 14 hours before he was found dead. Adams was at a gas station and he was having car problems. It appeared the key was not working for his rental car. Apparently he was using the wrong key and when the tow truck driver tried to get him to check his pockets he refused. He kept claiming that was the key. Eventually the driver towed his car to a local motel for him and Blair walked there himself. The driver said he didn’t seem like he was on drugs but he seemed like his mind wasn’t functioning correctly.

Adams arrives at the motel only to enter the lobby leave and come back several times before booking a room. The hotel clerk said he seemed paranoid, nervous, and agitated. She said he seemed like he was expecting someone to come in for him. There were a few sightings of Adams over the last hours of his life. A few people saw him reading a tattoo magazine and talking with another man. Some other people thought they saw him talking with another man.

Adams was found in a parking lot with his pants off, his socks on inside out, and his shoes under his head. Adams was not robbed as his belonging and money were lying around him. Note, the correct car key for his rental car was found with him as well. He was sexually assaulted. He died from blunt force trauma to his stomach, investigators believed he may have been hit by a mid size truck.

The theory is he may have hired a prostitute as pimps and prostitutes are known to work that area and something went wrong. Could this be true? Would his money and gold be left behind if it were a pimp/prostitute issue? Would the money and gold still be there if it were a drug deal gone wrong? Was there really someone following Blair? Did that person take his car key while he was at the gas station? Was Blair having a psychotic episode?

These are some questions I will explore along with additional information that has come out in the next post about Blair Adams’ mysterious murder.