Former NFLer Adams had ‘severe’ CTE at time of April slayings
Former NFL player Phillip Adams had “unusually severe” chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, when he fatally shot six people before taking his own life in April, researchers said Tuesday.
Adams’ brain scans were comparable to those of former Patriots star Aaron Hernandez, who also suffered from the condition and died by suicide in 2017 while serving a life sentence for murder, said Boston University’s Dr. Ann McKee, who conducted the examination on Adams’ brain tissue.
“We have seen this behavior. We have even seen homicidal behavior in others diagnosed with CTE,” McKee said. “It is difficult to say that it alone resulted in these behaviors because usually, it’s a complicated issue with many other factors.” But “it is, in fact, not what I would consider unusual in this disease.”
Adams, 32, was suffering from Stage II of the condition, which may have contributed to his “behavioral abnormalities,” McKee said.
CTE has four stages, with Stage IV the most severe and typically associated with dementia.
“Mr. Adams’ CTE pathology was different than the other young NFL players with CTE” whose brains have been examined post-mortem, McKee said. “It was different in that it was unusually severe in both frontal lobes.”
McKee said Stage II CTE is linked to aggression, impulsivity, depression, paranoia and anxiety, as well as poor executive function, which can affect problemsolving, time management and organization.
Adams fatally shot Dr. Robert Lesslie, 70; his wife, Barbara Lesslie, 69, and two of their grandchildren, Adah, 9, and Noah, 5, in Rock Hill, S.C., police said. The doctor lived near Adams’ parents and may have treated the former player and possibly refused him additional medication before the slayings, reports have said.
Adams also killed two air conditioning technicians — James Lewis, 38, and Robert Shook, 38 — who had been working on the Lesslie home at the time of the attack, cops said.