Who Killed Blair Adams?

On July 5, 1996, Blair Adams, 31, left his home in Surrey, British Columbia, and withdrew his savings account totaling about $6,000, as well as emptied his safety deposit box which had jewelry, platinum, and gold.

Blair then drove to the Canadian-American border where he tried to enter the United States. However, due to the large sum of money, he was flagged as a possible drug courier and denied entry. The following day, Blair quit his job as a foreman at a construction company, S.S. Cedar Homes and spent $1,600 on a round-trip ticket to Frankfurt, Germany that was set to take off the following day.

Hours before his flight, Blair showed up at a friend’s house panicked and terrified that someone was trying to kill him. When his friend couldn’t help him cross the border, Blair refunded the ticket and rented a vehicle, once again attempting to enter in the United States through the Canadian-American border. This time, he was granted entrance.

Blair made his way to the Seattle Airport where he purchased a one-way ticket for $770 to Washington, D.C. Upon arrival on July 10, he rented a vehicle and drove more than 500 miles to Knoxville, Tennessee. “He had no reason to be in East Tennessee. He had no reason to be in Knoxville. He knew no one in east Tennessee or the eastern United States,” said detective Perry Moyers.

Around 5:30 p.m. Blair stopped at a gas station in Knoxville where he complained to the gas station attendant that he couldn’t get his car to start. The attendant told him that he had the wrong keys. When interstate repair service drive Gerald Sapp arrived, Blair held a rental key for a Nissan and refused to look in his pockets for a key for the Toyota Camry he had been driving. Gerald arranged for Blair's rental to be towed to an auto shop and along the way he was dropped off at the nearby Fairfield Inn. "The guy was not all there...He didn't appear to be messed up, he didn't appear to be on drugs, but his mind wasn't functioning correctly for some reason," said Gerald.

Hotel staff recalled Blair’s odd behavior. Blair was seen on CCTV pacing in and out of the hotel lobby for forty minutes. “The best way to describe him would be paranoid. He just was very nervous, agitated, expecting someone to come in on him even though there wasn’t anybody there,” said hotel employee Ticca Hartsfield. After checking in shortly after 7:30 p.m., Blair put his room key in his pocket and exited the lobby, never to return.

The following morning, Blair’s lifeless, partially nude and beaten body was discovered in a parking lot of a hotel that was under-construction about a half-mile from his hotel. “His pants were removed in a way not like someone would take their own pants off, but in a way that someone else would remove you pants for you. His socks were turned inside out. His shoes were off and his shirt was ripped open,” said Lt. Jim Jones of the Knox County Sheriff’s Department.

Scattered around his body was German, Canadian, and U.S. currency totaling nearly $4,000, as well as a fanny pack which contained $2,000 in gold, platinum, and jewelry. A set of rental car keys and hotel room key were strewn about.

According to the autopsy report by the University of Tennessee Medical Center, Blair’s cause of death was a violent blow to the abdomen that ruptured his stomach -possibly from a crowbar or club - resulting in septic shock. The autopsy also revealed that he was struck on the head and had defensive wounds on his hands. Furthermore, there were no drugs or alcohol found in his system and investigators believed that he had been sexually assaulted.

Detectives found a single strand of long hair in Blair's hand, however, despite having a DNA profile, there was no match found. “Every aspect of this case is mysterious…there’s no explanation for it,” said Lt. Jim Jones.

Following his death, two woman came forward claiming they saw Blair talking with an unidentified male outside a Cracker Barrel near the Fairfield Inn. Investigator stated that the women had varying stories about what the man looked like.

Initially, investigators believed that Blair's death was sex-related due to how he was discovered. They believed that he had picked someone up at a truck stop near the crime scene as the area was notorious for prostitution. It was speculated that Blair got rolled. A local security guard at a nearby business recalled hearing an abrupt female scream around 3:30 a.m.

Prior to his death, Blair had told his mother, Sandra Edwards, that someone had been spreading rumors about him. But when she asked him about it, he said "I don't think I should tell you about it."Tragically, she would never find out.

Some people believe that Blair was having an affair with a married women which resulted in his death. When the husband discovered the infidelity, Blair fled in fear for his safety. However, unable to leave her behind, he made plans to meet up with her in Knoxville. The husband, able to track her through credit car records, discovered them together and in a fit of rage he beat Blair. The women screamed and in a panic they left him in a bad part of town known for prostitution.

Another rumor was that Blair was afraid of a former co-worker. In order to get away from the co-worker he quit his job and fled.

Whether an attempt to escape his own delusion or a desperate man in fear for life, Blair's life met an abrupt end leaving his friends and family without any answers. Till this day, no arrests have been made in Blair's case.