Did The Young And The Restless' Adam Really Kill A Man When He Was A Child?

Adam Newman is the son of "The Young and the Restless" legacy character Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) and like his father, has had an extremely dramatic life thus far. With a reputation for being nefarious, Adam has committed many crimes over the years and has betrayed nearly everyone in his life at some point or another. The character has been portrayed by several actors since his creation, but Mark Grossman has been filling the role since 2019.

Adam Newman was born Victor Adam Newman Jr. on "The Young and the Restless" in 1995 to his mother Hope Adams, according to Soap Central. Hope was a blind woman living on a farm in Kansas who had met wealthy businessman Victor Newman during one of his many jaunts out of Genoa City. When she discovered she was pregnant the two tried to make a relationship work, but Hope ultimately decided to stay on her farm to raise her son. She married a man named Cliff Wilson and Adam, who went by Vic at the time, grew up believing Cliff was his father — though Victor made periodic visits to the farm over the years as a "family friend."

It wasn't until Vic was an adult and his mother was dying of pancreatic cancer that she revealed the truth to him about his paternity. He decided to go by his middle name Adam and went to work for his biological father at the family company Newman Enterprises in 2008 (after being rapidly aged). This would only be the beginning of a tumultuous relationship between Adam and Victor, as well as Adam's previously unknown siblings, that would last for years to come.

In early 2020 Victor Newman's daughter Victoria Newman (Amelia Heinle) was stabbed and forced to step down as CEO of Newman Enterprises (via Soap Central). Victor led his son Adam Newman to believe that he would be named the new CEO and Adam was livid when Victor reneged on his word and chose his other son Nick Newman (Joshua Morrow) instead. Being passed over in favor of his "legitimate" brother pushed Adam over the edge and he declared war on his father.

Adam got in touch with his childhood friend Alyssa Montalvo (María DiDomenico) who was now working as a crime reporter (via Soaps in Depth). Alyssa's father AJ Montalvo, a lone shark, had been killed when they were children and Adam knew that Victor had been in town at the time of the man's death. Adam suggested to Alyssa that Victor had killed AJ in retaliation for AJ killing his step-father Cliff Wilson when he couldn't pay back a debt he owed. Alyssa rejected the claim at first but Adam was determined to put Victor away for murder — or at least blackmail him into naming Adam CEO of Newman Enterprises. Victor surprisingly gave in to Adam's demands without much of a fight and Adam temporarily took over the company.

Adam Newman's tenure in the CEO chair at Newman Enterprises was extremely short-lived. Soon after he was appointed, Adam received a vague warning from his sister Victoria Newman suggesting that their father Victor Newman was hiding damning information (via Soaps). Adam quickly confronted Victor who revealed that an 11-year-old Adam himself was the one that really killed AJ Montalvo. Victor claimed he had only been trying to protect him from the memory of doing so and the truth coming out.

Victor went on to explain that the story of AJ falling from a barn loft and dying had been fabricated. In actuality, Adam had killed the man and Hope had immediately called Victor to come to town and help deal with their son who had become catatonic after the ordeal (via Soap Central). The farm's caretaker George had moved AJ's body to the barn, Victor paid the coroner to hide the man's true injuries, and Adam had no memory of the events. Adam refused to believe this version of events so he tracked George down and asked him to come to Genoa City. Hoping to prove that Victor was lying, Adam was devastated when George confirmed the story that Adam had been the one to kill AJ.

Traumatized by the information he had learned about himself, Adam Newman went back to his childhood home in Kansas in hope of remembering what happened on the day AJ Montalvo was killed (via Soap Central). While there, he began to have flashbacks of the incident, revealing that AJ had been threatening his mother and telling her that if she didn't pay back her husband Cliff Wilson's debts he would take it out on her son. Fearing for his mother's safety and knowing the blind woman would have difficulty defending herself, Adam confronted AJ. Then the older man threatened the boy directly and Adam attacked him in self defense, causing a head injury that led to AJ's death.

Adam sought help from his ex-wife Sharon Newman (Sharon Case) who is now a licensed therapist, hoping she could help him process what he remembered — though this did cause a rift between Adam and his then-current wife Chelsea Newman (Melissa Claire Egan).

In an interview with TV Insider, actor Mark Grossman explained how this newly uncovered information could affect his character's understanding of himself moving forward. He said, "I don't think Adam is a bad person. He's got a good heart, but he's always done these bad things. Now, he's realizing he killed this man and he buried it deep down. Maybe there's a reason that he also did all these bad things throughout his life?" However, Grossman still maintains that Adam was justified in protecting his mother.

Later, Adam Newman was almost killed during a confrontation with Chance Chancellor (then Donny Boaz) (via Soap Central). While arguing about Chelsea Newman, Chance noticed a sniper aiming for Adam and pushed the other man out of the way when a shot rang out, taking the bullet himself. Luckily, Chance survived the gunshot wound and Adam made sure to thank the other man for saving his life before he was committed to a psych ward for his own protection. Little did Adam know, his old friend Alyssa Montalvo had told Chance months earlier that she would get revenge against Adam for killing her father (via Soaps in Depth).

In December 2020, Alyssa returned to Genoa City to testify that she witnessed Billy Abbott (Jason Thompson) shooting at Adam and hitting Chance. However, her story seemed fishy to Billy's girlfriend Lily Winters (Christel Khalil) who immediately began looking into the case (via Soaps). After discovering that Alyssa was a marksman shooter, lied about returning to Kansas, had shooting gloves in her possession, and was still harboring hatred toward Adam, Lily was able to convince police detective Rey Rosales (Jordi Vilasuso) to look into her. Eventually, law enforcement gathered enough evidence to arrest Alyssa and Billy was exonerated for the crime (via The Soap Scoop).