Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) confirmed through the report published upon the conclusion of its investigation into the Covenant School shooting that Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the biological female who identified as a transgender man when she killed six on March 27, 2023, left a “will” that contained specific instructions for the “distribution” of key personal items, including her “possessions, thumb drives, writings, and artwork.”
This fact seemingly contradicts the previous claim made in probate court by the killer’s parents, Ronald and Norma Hale, whose attorney stated in a June 2023 court filing that their daughter did not have a will and died intestate.
The claim that Audrey Hale died without a will appears to have been instrumental behind the decision by Ronald and Norma Hale to assign the ownership of the killer’s intellectual property rights, including the 1,299 handwritten pages left by their daughter.
After claiming the killer died without leaving a will to assign ownership over her property, Ronald and Norma Hale purportedly transferred the rights to Audrey Hale’s intellectual property to the Covenant Children’s Trust, a group of Covenant parents who claim they own Hale’s written works.
These written works include the 16 journals, originally called a “manifesto” by law enforcement, which are the subject of state and federal lawsuits by Star News Digital Media Inc, the owner and operator of The Tennessee Star, and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy, which seek to compel both MNPD and the FBI to release Hale’s writings.
In the state case, Tennessee Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles ruled on July 4, 2024 that not one page of Hale’s writings should be released, citing both the then-ongoing criminal investigation and the claim by the Covenant Children’s Trust, whom she earlier allowed to intervene in the lawsuit.
Following the conclusion of the investigation, MNPD Public Affairs Director Don Aaron told The Star on Friday, “As there is a pending lawsuit at the Tennessee Court of Appeals related to these records, MNPD cannot release any of the records without a court order.”
SNDMÂ and Leahy expect to win their appeal of Myles’ decision, which was filed last year.
Leahy and SNDMÂ recently extended an offer to drop their lawsuit against the FBI if Director Kash Patel drops the agency’s opposition to releasing the killer’s writings. The Department of Justice has confirmed the FBI is considering the offer.
Despite the refusal by MNPD and the FBI to release the killer’s writings, The Star last June obtained Audrey Hale’s entire 2023 journal, and subsequently published the document in its entirety in September 2024.
In addition to the final journal the killer used prior to her death, The Star obtained a suicide note, discovered by the FBI and addressed by the killer to Ronald and Norma Hale, which contained the words, “PLEASE READ MY WILL.”
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Pennsylvania Daily Star and The Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Image “Audrey Elizabeth Hale” by Nossi School of Fine Art and “Hale Digital Devices” is my MNPD.
