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Former NFL playerPhillip Adams, who police say killed six people before shooting himself in the head earlier this year, suffered from “unusually severe"chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, researchers announced this week.
A neuropathological examination of Adams' brain following his death revealed he had stage 2 CTE, Dr. Ann McKee, a neuropathologist and director of Boston University’s CTE Center, said in a statement sent to PEOPLE.
While not all football players develop CTE, it is not uncommon — in a 2017 study of thebrains of 111 deceased NFL players, Boston University researchers found 110 of them had the condition.
Ann McKee, MD, BU CTE Center and VA Boston Healthcare
In Adams' case, his brain was so badly damaged that it may have led to “behavioral abnormalities,” McKee said, adding that the findings were similar to those aboutAaron Hernandez, a former tight end for the New England Patriots who wasarrested in 2013 for murderand was found to have stage 3 CTE after his death.
“Mr. Adams' CTE pathology was different, however, from other young NFL players with CTE — it was unusually severe in both frontal lobes,” McKee wrote. “In its frontal predominance, Adams' CTE pathology was similar to that of another young NFL player, Aaron Hernandez. Severe frontal lobe pathology might have contributed to Adams' behavioral abnormalities, in addition to physical, psychiatric, and psychosocial factors.”
Adams is accused of killingDr. Robert Lesslie, his wife Barbara Lesslie, 69, two of their eight grandchildren, and two HVAC technicians in April.
The husband and wife were found dead in a room in the back of their house in South Carolina with their two grandchildren, Adah Lesslie, who was 9, and 5-year-old Noah Lesslie. Adams, who lived on the same street with his parents, later fatally shot himself.
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His sister, Lauren Adams,previously toldUSA Todaythat the former athlete’s mental health “degraded fast and terribly bad” leading up to the murders and his death.
“There was unusual behavior. I’m not going to get into all that (symptoms). We definitely did notice signs of mental illness that was extremely concerning, that was not like we had ever seen,” she said, also adding, “He wasn’t a monster. He was struggling with his mental health.''
source: people.com
