Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, identified several shortcomings in the independent investigation commissioned by Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell into allegations of misconduct within the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD).
An independent review commissioned by O’Connell to examine whistleblower allegations against the MNPD concluded with major questions still unresolved, particularly those tied to the Covenant School shooting investigation.
Conducted by the law firm Butler Snow, the review found that most claims raised by retired MNPD Lieutenant Garet Davidson were either unsubstantiated or did not rise to the level of misconduct, but it also acknowledged that key portions of Davidson’s complaint were deemed outside the scope of inquiry.
Investigators said they were barred from questioning officers about the Covenant case after Davidson became the subject of criminal indictments. Notably, they did not interview the former lead detective on the case, Bobby Samuels.
On Monday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Pappert outlined key gaps in the Butler Snow investigation, explaining how major elements of the MNPD whistleblower complaint – particularly those tied to the Covenant School shooting – were ruled out of scope and left unexamined.
Pappert specifically pointed to the firm’s failure to interview Samuels, who served as the lead investigator on the Covenant case before leaving the department and moving out of state in early 2024, despite his unique position to address many unanswered questions.
“Bobby Samuels left the department in sometime early 2024. This complaint from the whistleblower did not arise until last summer, so it seems to me that if this law firm really wanted to get to the bottom of the Covenant complaint specifically, they could have interviewed Bobby Samuels, who as far as we can tell, is no longer a member of law enforcement, would not be held to any standard by Metro Nashville Police Department because he doesn’t work there anymore, and might have actually been able to give details that none of the other people interviewed could have,” Pappert explained.
“For some reason, he was not interviewed. His name does not appear in the document. There’s no statement saying that they attempted to track down former Detective Samuels. This is one of these really infamous, I think, hanging chads that’s just left out there unmentioned,” he added.
Pappert further highlighted how Samuels played a critical role in uncovering troubling information involving Vanderbilt University Medical Center, as he documented that the shooter, Audrey Elizabeth Hale, allegedly told a Vanderbilt mental health professional she wanted to kill her father and potentially commit a mass shooting.
Noting how such statements would trigger a duty to warn the intended victim under Tennessee law, Pappert pointed out that Samuels personally questioned Hale’s parents about this incident, and they denied having any prior knowledge, suggesting Vanderbilt may have failed to meet its legal obligations.
“Detective Bobby Samuels was one of the two detectives in the room interviewing Audrey Hale’s parents, the parents of the killer, and he specifically asked them about this specific incident that apparently occurred at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where Audrey Hale had apparently said she wanted to kill her parents, at least kill her father, and maybe commit a mass shooting,” he explained.
“Even though [Samuels] might have had something interesting to say, he wasn’t contacted by these investigators,” Pappert further stressed.
Pappert, along with The Star’s CEO and Editor-in-Chief Michael Patrick Leahy and Executive Editor Christina Botteri, was nominated for the prestigious 2025 Dao Prize for The Star’s series on the Covenant Killer Manifesto.
Live December 29 Tune in now to The Michael Patrick Leahy Show – your AMERICA FIRST news talk!
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– Read more at @TheTNStarhttps://t.co/bpcwhOrQQh— Michael Patrick Leahy (@michaelpleahy) December 29, 2025
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
Photo “Nashville Police” by MNPD.
Any time you combine the words, “investigation” and “Freddie,” simplay add the word, “fraud.”