CROSSVILLE CHRONICLE

State parole board member John Harwell, who heard Adams' plea for parole five years ago, presided over Wednesday morning's emotionally charged hearing before announcing what his recommendation will be to the other four board members. It only takes three members to agree before a ruling on parole is final.

"It is my recommendation that you serve the balance of your sentence because of the seriousness of the charge," Harwell told Adams, 57, a burly fellow with trimmed, grey beard. Adams, who spoke in barely audible tones, alternately stared at the floor and swiped at tears.

Several times he stole glances back at the group of people who traveled to oppose his release, keying in on daughter Susan, who was 2-years-old at the time of Patrick's murder.

Witnesses against his parole hit at the cruel and tortuous beating death of young Patrick. Adams' own children called him a "bad, bad person," "an animal" and "a savage."

Lavonna LaPointe, a daughter who was age 5 at the time of the murder, told how Patrick didn't understand why the man whom he looked up to as his father targeted him for torture that culminated in Adams beating the life out of the small child.

She testified about the ever-lasting affect of her own abuse at the hands of Adams, including sexual abuse she endured. His actions are "visions tattooed in my memory...James Adams is a bad, bad man who should have been put to death."

Daughter Susan, who at age two was too young to understand what she was witnessing, described Adams as a "savage" whose actions made her grow up alone, without a family. "All I ever wanted was a normal life and he took that away from me," she said.

"I don't understand how a grown man can tear a child apart...he acted like an animal and should be treated like one and be kept locked up," Susan continued. "I don't want him getting out and trying to hunt me up. I don't want to have anything to do with him. I am afraid he will slaughter me just like he did Patrick."

Adams was represented at the hearing by attorney Tom Bilbrey, and over a dozen witnesses - his parents, brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces - all of whom said they would support him financially and spiritually if he were allowed parole. Most of the family lives in Indianapolis, IN, while others who testified live in Crossville.

The former long-distance truck driver, who has an eighth grade education, said he suffers from heart trouble and is unsure as to what he would be able to do if paroled. "It has been a long time since I have been out there. I don't know what I can do."

When asked about the murder, Adams said, "It ain't something I done on purpose. It was an accident." This brought sharp reaction from Harwell and former state prosecutor Laken Mitchell, who challenged him over that claim.

Adams explained that he had drunk over a fifth of Jack Daniels liquor and had taken "10 or 12" hits of speed prior to the murder, and that he did not remember details of what happened the day Patrick was killed. "If I sit here 100 years, it wouldn't change a thing."

But testimony during the trial and words from witnesses against him painted him more of a brute and bully who targeted his step-son for brutal attacks including the fatal one.

The little boy so feared his father that he would often throw-up at the table when made to sit beside him, Lavonna said. She remembered one time when Adams "threw a dresser" on the little boy, breaking his leg. John Dooley, an interested citizen, recalled reports of abuse being made to welfare officials in Indiana and in Cumberland County.

Lavonna said the beatings continued through much of Patrick's life. She also recalled times when Adams would hold her head and Patrick's head under water until the life was almost gone from them.

Mitchell recapped damaging testimony from Adams' wife and Patrick's mother, Lovella Adams, from the 1976 trial, about the crime he called the most horrendous with which he had ever been associated.

On the day of the murder, the children had awakened around 9 or 10 a.m. in their Algood home, had eaten and were going through their daily routine. Adams woke up at 1:30 p.m., demanded that his wife cook breakfast and ordered her to assemble the children around the table while he ate.

Patrick, whom Lavonna described as being "petrified" of his father, got sick at the table, sparking an angry slap from Adams. That was followed by several more slaps, socks in the face and a tumble to the floor. At one point Adams ordered the child's mother to take him to the bathroom to wash the blood from his face. When the child returned to the table, the beatings started all over, until Patrick was pummeled to the floor, socked and kicked, and died. An autopsy revealed massive skull fractures, a broken jaw, smashed and broken nose, tattered ear, torn lip, and injuries to the eyes that suggested they had been punctured with a sharp object, maybe a fork.

"This could not have been an accident," Mitchell said. At one point during the beating, the child's mother quoted the father as saying, "Get up you little bastard or I'll kill you." In the end, he did, said Mitchell. He attacked the inmate's remorse over the crime, reminding the parole board member that Adams loaded the child's body into a truck, drove some 40 miles from Putnam to Pickett County, and threw the body over the side of the road "like trash. There was no remorse there."

Mitchell added that the only remorse Adams has is having been caught and having served the past 21 years in prison. "He should be thankful he didn't get what he deserved," Mitchell continued, noting that the Tennessee Supreme Court struck down the death sentence Adams had been given by the jury.

Dooley said, "Some might say I don't have a dog in this fight...but I say every citizen in the United States should have a dog in this fight."

He summed up his presentation stating, "Patrick didn't get a preliminary hearing. He didn't get a trial. He didn't get an appeal. He didn't get a stay of execution. He didn't get a parole hearing. He didn't get a chance for a pardon. He didn't have a chance."

Harwell told the crowd of nearly 50 people that his decision was not final nor binding on the board, but that he was recommending Adams remain in prison to serve out his life sentence. If two members concur, then the ruling will stand.

It is also up to the majority of the board as to when Adams can re-apply for a parole hearing. Adams has 21 days to appeal the decision within certain statutory guidelines.