By Bailey Quinonez

Staff Writer

ROCKVILLE - It was a combination of gambling debt and depression that drove two "good friends" apart and left one of them dead, lying on the street of the King Farm community in Rockville - according to court testimony any way.

Michael Wayne Adams, 45, of Rockville stands before a jury this week following the Feb. 8, 2008 death of 33-year-old Jason David Hadeed, a well-known athletic trainer and owner of Elite Athletic Training System. Police discovered Hadeed on the street, shot three times in the back just outside of Adams' home on King Farm Boulevard.

At the time of the murder, neighbors and friends said that they were not aware of a possible friendship between Adams, a former professional golfer, and Hadeed but relatives revealed otherwise on Friday - a friendship that went beyond their common interest in sports.

Jennifer Blackburn, the mother of Hadeed's two children, said on Tuesday that she had known Adams for 12 years, four years before she met Hadeed. In fact Adams frequently visited their King Farm home and continued to visit even after Blackburn and Hadeed ended their relationship. But Adams, Blackburn said, was more than an acquaintance; she said they often spoke about her relationship problems with Hadeed, went running together and Adams was even present for the birth of one of Hadeed's two sons.

Prior to Blackburn's seven-year relationship with Hadeed, Adams often wrote Blackburn "letters of affection and played romantic games" and signed letters "Love, Michael." However they never had a "romantic relationship" despite Adams asking Blackburn out on a date, she said.

But as the years went on, Hadeed, friends and relatives learned more of Adams and his business, Adams Edge Consulting, "an investment group that invested in sports gambling using set philosophies." Blackburn said she invested approximately $1,000 and Hadeed, said Steven Hadeed, Jason's uncle, invested approximately $30,000, $18,000 of which was from his 401K. In fact several of Hadeed's acquaintances invested in Adams business.

However, by 2007 Steven Hadeed said that Adams told him "he was in his terms 'busted,' meaning that there was no money left" and "lost it on an online casino." Dody Pierce, Adams' mother, said she was aware of Adams' business and the money he owed clients. To help her son with his debt, she loaned Adams' $30,000 in July 2007.

But by December 2007, Adams was "hard to contact" and received several text messages from both Hadeed and others that read "Are you going to call?," "Stop avoiding us" and "Can you give me at least $1,000?"

On Jan. 10, 2008 Pierce took Adams to the Woodburn Center for Community Mental Health in Annandale, Va. because, according to medical documents, Adams was "overwhelmed by payments he had to make to friends," depressed, had a feeling of hopelessness and had "passive suicidal thoughts."

Adams was not admitted that day to the center because according to Pierce "there was a lack of beds." But this was not Adams first trip to a psychologist. In 1998 Adams battled depression after his professional golf career ended in South Carolina, said Pierce.

However, the phone calls and text messages didn't stop. In January Adams' kept receiving phone calls from investors concerned about their money and by January received a voicemail from Hadeed stating that "several investors would get together and go to the police," said Steven Hadeed.

In danger of losing his home, Adams asked Hadeed if he could move in with him for a period of time and suggested that the investors could take his television or computer because "those are material things that don't mean anything to me."

Steven Hadeed said that at the time he thought Adams moving in with Hadeed was a good idea. "I thought it was a good idea so he could save some money and pay us back," said Steven Hadeed.

Adams never moved in. Nobody received any money back from Adams, with the exception of Blackburn, who recovered her full investment.

But by February things appeared to be looking up for Hadeed, despite having lost his investment. On Feb. 7, Paul David Hadeed, Jason's father, said that Jason was extremely excited about a presentation for Nike on Feb. 9 in Virginia. But Jason never made it to the presentation. In fact the last time Paul said he saw his son alive was the morning before his death on Feb. 8.

Some neighbors said they heard 'pleading,' others said they heard two men arguing over a debt moments before the shooting.

Defense attorney Robert Bonsib contended in court in his opening statement that Adams feared for his life on Feb. 8 when Hadeed went to Adams' home and "punched him twice in the stomach" before trying to remove a "computer and things" from Adams' apartment.

Barry and Barbara Gordon, who live only blocks from where Hadeed was found dead, said they heard "You don't have to do this, man" followed by two gun shots.

Adams, however, was nowhere to be found by the time police arrived at the crime scene. He fled to his mother's house in Vienna, Va. where Pierce said Adams "kind of fell though the door onto me" and was in what she called a "short-circuited" state of mind.

Police arrested Adams that night at Pierce's home in Vienna where they found a Jennings model .22-caliber semi-automatic handgun in the glove-compartment box of the Chevy SUV that Adams had previously borrowed from his older brother in December 2007. Adams faces charges for murder and possession of a handgun during a crime of violence or felony. The trial is expected to last a total of 10 days and conclude at either the end of this week or next.