Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale declared her “need” for a “trans doctor” in a journal or diary entry dated just 19 days before she orchestrated the horrific attack on the Covenant School on March 27, 2023.
The Tennessee Star confirmed on Wednesday that it obtained nearly four dozen pages of handwritten writings by Hale that were recovered from her vehicle from a source familiar with the Covenant investigation. One of the pages includes an illustrated version of the name Aiden, which is the name Hale used when identifying as a transgender man.
Born a biological female, Hale identified as a transgender man at the time of her attack on the Covenant School, which claimed the lives of three 9-year-old students and three adults.
On the same page as the Aiden illustration, Hale wrote, “I need a trans doctor,” in an entry dated March 8, 2023.
She continued, “this female gender role makes me want to not exist -,” scratching out a word to the point where it is illegible. Hale then wrote, “no. to be completely gone in physical form… off the face of the earth.”
At the bottom of the page, Hale wrote, “My therapist now is the best I could get 4 help. My autism,” then drew a cartoon that appears to lampoon the puzzle pieces that have symbolized autism since the 1960s with a drawing of a crying boy.
Hale’s written statement expressing desire to see a medical professional comes as other documents related to the Covenant investigation, reviewed by The Star, indicate she was under the care of both a psychiatrist and a therapist at the time of the attack.
The Star additionally published a May 2023 police subpoena showing detectives sought all information about Hale possessed by Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC).
On the preceding page, Hale referenced the Columbine High School shooting in one or more undated entries.
“April of ’99 – the year Columbine” and an associate “was born… (4/20/1999),” wrote Hale. April 20, 1999, is the date the Columbine attack was committed.
Hale then wrote the date, April 17, 2023, made a dashed circle around it, and added an exclamation point.
Under that date, Hale wrote, “the year Aiden was born…” then wrote and circled the date March 27, 2023. Next to the date, Hale added an exclamation point and a symbol she used regularly when writing about her planned attack on the Covenant School.
At the bottom of the page, Hale wrote, “A day [without] father will be a better day,” next to a crude drawing of a man with glasses. She deeply etched an X over the man’s face.
The Star previously reported that Hale, in a separate diary or journal entry, wrote a political rant that referenced transgenderism, Second Amendment rights, and non-binary people.
Hale wrote, “So now in America, it makes one a criminal to have a gun or, be transgender, or non-binary.” She then declared, “God I hate those s***head politicians.”
Michael Patrick Leahy, who is the editor-in-chief of The Star, and Star News Digital Media, Inc., which owns and operates The Star, have sued the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) and FBI to compel the full release of Hale’s written materials.
Both the written materials sought in the lawsuits and those obtained by The Star are likely considered “legacy tokens” by the FBI, which sent a memo to MNPD Chief John Drake in May 2023 that “strongly” discouraged the release of such items, including those that could be considered part of a manifesto.
The memo, published first by The Star on Wednesday, also raised precedent for destroying such “legacy tokens.”
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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].
