Decemystery 31: The Murder of Blair Adams

A picture of the man in question.

2018 has been a crazy year, and this month has celebrated many crazy mysteries. We've discussed everything from the mind boggling internet mystery that is Cicada 3301 to the legendary Voynich Manuscript. But, I've saved the best for last; a mystery so insane, so bizarre that it never fails to leave me speechless.

That mystery is the murder of Blair Adams.

Born Robert Dennis Blair Adams, and a resident in British Columbia, Canada, the story of Blair begins on July 5, 1996. Adams had been suffering from mood swings and had been having difficulty sleeping; telling his mother that “it” was after him but that he didn't think he should tell her what “it” was.

Whatever “it” was though, it made Adams take all of the money out of his savings account (which was around $1,500), along with $6,000 worth of gold, platinum, and jewelry. It's worth mentioning that some reports place these actions on July 7, though most I've read don't.

What did happen on July 7 though was the next step in Blair's plan. It was on this day that Adams boarded a ferry (though some have said that he simply tried to cross via car) to Seattle, Washington from Victoria, British Columbia. However, Immigration officials flagged him as he matched the description a possible drug trafficker: a single male with a large amount of cash on him. Not helping g matters were prior drug and assault charges—plus a history of substance abuse.

The following day, Adams went to his job at a construction company in Surrey. He went into his bosses office and asked for his check before subsequently quitting. Later, he went to Vancouver and purchased a round-trip ticket to Frankfurt, Germany for $1600 that was scheduled to leave the next day. However, just a few hours later, Adams went to a friends house and requested that she bring him across the border because he believed that someone was trying to kill him. She replied that she was unable to do so.

The next day, in the early hours of July 9, Adams turned in his ticket to Frankfurt and tried his luck at crossing the border again and, amazingly, he made it across. Immediately, he went to Seattle and bought a one-way ticket to Washington D.C. in spite of it being cheaper (half the price in fact) to buy a round trip ticket. Upon arriving in D.C. the next day, Adams rented a car and went to Knoxville, Tennessee. It’s worth noting that he knew nobody in either D.C. or Knoxville, though perhaps that’s why he went to both locations.

After a long drive, Adams stopped at a gas station and went inside to tell the attendant there that his car wouldn’t start. Upon inspection, the attendant informed Adams that he had the wrong keys. How Adams was capable of driving to Knoxville without the keys, I have absolutely no idea. The Wikipedia article, which tells a different story than the one that I am (though it’s the only site I used that tells the version it tells; its own sources being an Unsolved Mysteries and USA Today), states that when a repair arrived, he asked Adams to check his pockets, to which he wouldn’t. Adams did, however, have a key on him and it was for a Nissan he left back in Seattle. It also states that Adams couldn’t even enter his car.

Adams as seen via CCTV in the lobby of the hotel. This is the last place he was ever seen alive.

Regardless of the version, Adams was brought to a nearby hotel by said mechanic. When he arrived, Adams entered and exited the hotel a total of five times before finally going to the front desk and buying a room. After being given the key, he left and was never seen alive again. The next day, the corpse of Blair Adams was found outside a hotel construction site. Whether or not this was intentional, I can’t say. I do, however, find it quite ironic.

Adams’ pants were turned inside out along with his socks. His shoes had been taken off and his shirt was torn open. Injury wise, he had defense wounds on his hands—and apparently had torn a lock of his killers hair out—and his pants were pulled down. In spite of this, there’s no definitive proof that he was sexually assault, despite the fact that some of his injuries were consistent with it. Adams had also been struck with a blunt instrument on his head that had sliced his forehead, though the cause of death was a extremely powerful blow to the stomach that had ruptured it.

The most puzzling details however were that a fanny pack he wore was open and the jewelry that he had presumably tried to cross the border with the first time had been scattered around his corpse, along with four thousand dollars in Canadian, American, and Germanic currency. Exactly where the Germanic money came from, I have no idea. The cherry on top of this all is that the rental car key he had claimed to have lost at the gas station was among everything that had been scattered.

Normally I’d jump into the theories here, but I want to clarify something that I stated earlier. The Wikipedia page—which is where I’ve gotten the information for nearly every single other blog entry I’ve done this month—tells a different story than the one I’ve told above. As such, I want to point them out now before we continue.

The first is that on July 9, he tried to cross the border on foot, but was stopped by border patrol. He supposedly had scratches on his hands and legs and also matched the description of someone who was wanted in an automobile theft; the vehicle having been found just nearby. Adams denied being the man and, later that day, he was let go.

The second variation is that the following day, Adams managed to cross the border and rented the aforementioned Nissan from the Vancouver airport and drove to Seattle. It’s there that he bought the ticket to Frankfurt. Apparently, Adams had worked over for his stepfather’s construction company and met a woman who he was possibly romantically involved with. However, said woman told authorities that Adams had “never contacted her” about visiting. In spite of actually knowing someone over there, Adams opted to resell the ticket and buy the ticket he used to get to Washington D.C.. When he arrived, he bought the rental car he used and at some point, he backed his car into another motorists vehicle, who said that Adams “seemed nice” but was “in a hurry”.

The third variation is that Adams died from sepsis. Whether or not that can be caused by being punched, I’m unsure.

I’m inclined to believe that the Wikipedia article may be closer to the full story, but I’m not one-hundred percent sure. Either way, that’s the story of Blair Adams. There have never been any suspects in his crime, though there have been theories. So, let’s go over them.

The first theory is that Adams was the victim of bad luck and was killed when he hitched a ride from murdered him. Perhaps the most normal thing about this entire case, this theory is exactly what it says on the tin. Adams was the victim of bad luck. However, simple as it may be, it begs the question: why did Adams flee to another country and across several states in said country? Why not buy a round trip ticket, why buy an airplane ticket to Germany and then not use it? Why spend over a thousand dollars on air travel for that matter?

One may argue that Adams was crazy; that it was the delusions of a potentially schizophrenic man who was afraid of nothing. However, with no apparent history of mental illness, and the fact that Adams was 31 at the time of his death, one would think that the signs of an illness as apparent as schizophrenia would’ve shown itself years earlier than that. Not to mention: Adams was clearly terrified of something—and scattering four thousand dollars in three separate currencies isn’t something a normal killer would do.

Theory number two is that Adams was assassinated by the Canadian government.

Although I doubt this theory is legitimate, it’s probably the only one that answers the question of how anyone would be able to follow Blair and kill him without being either rich and close enough to him to know what he was going to do every step of the way. However, government sanctioned murders aren’t common in countries like Canada or the United States (though some may disagree with that statement).

Regardless of what myself, you, or someone else may think: why would the Canadian government want Blair Adams dead? Some may say that he knew or saw something that he shouldn’t have; perhaps Canadian parliament officials making an illegal exchange with someone or testing an extremely secret weapon. Others may point to aliens or UFOs. Some may even say that Adams worked for the government and went rogue a la Edward Snowden. However, nobody who knew Adams was aware of this and as a result, nobody can conclusively say for certain.

It is worth mentioning however that if this theory is true, it’s entirely possible an agent or spy in the United States likely was the one to of Adams and not a Canadian one.

The third theory is the mafia or gang killed him.

A more tame version of the above theory, this one claims that Adams, once again, saw something he shouldn’t have. However, instead of it being a government spook, it a mafia or gang hitman. This is the theory I actually find to be the most believable as I find the idea of disregarding everything that Adams did and said to be nothing more than a coincidence as callous at best and ridiculous at worst. While it is possible, I don’t think it’s plausible. Adams was clearly afraid of something and believed that his life was in danger and as I stated above: I’ve never heard of a killer leaving four thousand dollars in various currencies. That, to me, strikes me as some sort of mockery by someone who knew what Adams was intending to do.

While I’m not sure what the prevalence of gangs and mobs are like in Canada, it’s believable (in my eyes anyways) that they could’ve alerted a branch or subgroup in the United States to Adams’ presence down there. Or they could have sent a few men out to follow him before sending an assassin (or assassins) after him; trailing him until he was far enough away that they wouldn’t be suspect to his death.

That said, while I do subscribe to this theory, there’s not evidence to back it up. Go figure.

Theory number four is that a lover or lover's family killed him. A tale as old as time: forbidden love has claimed the lives of people and it will claim more lives as time marches on. Could it have claimed Blair Adams’ life?

Eh, I doubt it.

One can argue that Adams wished to run away to Germany with the woman he knew from his time over there (or man, I’ve read theories that Adams was bisexual, but I’ve never been able to confirm that he was) and live free. Others may argue that Adams knew someone in Canada who was obsessive. None of these theories have anything other than speculation to back them up and while they seem plausible, I question exactly how likely it is that a lover would have the necessary funds and information to follow Blair every step of the way without ever once being seen. I know stalkers have trailed people across countries, but this would be quite the feat in my book.

Our fifth theory is a ritualistic sacrifice. This theory… is little more than me being a completionist when it comes to theories I’ve seen across dozens (heck, hundreds) of murders. Search hard enough and the idea of it being a ritualistic murder is bound to show up. While those types of murders are rare, and Adams’ death shows no signs of one, the theory is certain to show up if you look hard enough across the internet. That said, I wouldn’t put any stock in it.

The sixth theory is that Adams was killed by the biggest villain of them with any unsolved mystery: aliens. Okay, I jest, that’s not a real theory, but please tell me I got you.

The seventh and final theory is a debt. Money is the root of all evil they say, and Blair’s history of drinking and drug abuse may have come back to haunt him. Is there any evidence for this theory? Well, like every other one in this entry: no. There’s nothing. However, there have been many murders thanks to debts and if Adams knew the wrong kind of people, it wouldn’t surprise me that they remembered his name or face.

Under any other circumstances, I'd be willing to say that the murder of Blair Adams was a strange coincidence that just so happened to befall a mentally ill man. But the between the scattered money and the lack of any witnesses or potential suspects, I think it's safe for me to deem Adams’ case the apex of bizarre; the single strangest murder, let alone mystery, I've ever read. Whether or not it'll ever be solved requires the same level of dumb luck one needs to win the lottery jackpot.