Tag: Covenant School Killing

Police Report: Transgender Covenant School Killer Left 1,299 Pages of Writings in Notebooks Originally Called ‘Manifesto’

Tom Pappert

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) report published following the conclusion of its investigation into the Covenant School killings by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as a transgender man prior to the March 27, 2023 attack, revealed the killer left behind 1,299 pages of written materials spread across more than a dozen notebooks, in addition to videos and drawings.

When The Tennessee Star obtained the killer’s 2023 journal from a source familiar with the investigation last June and published it in its entirety four months later, it learned that Hale produced as many as 1,000 pages in other journals over the course of years.

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Metro Nashville Police Concludes Investigation on Covenant School Killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale, Releases 48-Page Report

Tom Pappert

The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) on Wednesday concluded its investigation into the Covenant School attack committed on March 27, 2023 by 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identified as a transgender man prior to killing six at the Christian school she once attended, sharing key findings about the investigation in a 48-page report.

Despite needing more than two years to complete its investigation, MNPD confirmed that “Hale acted alone during the attack itself,” and no one around the killer had knowledge she was planning the attack. 

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FBI Deputy Director Bongino Says Agency Tackling ‘Transparency Issues’ amid Questions over Covenant Manifesto, Epstein Files

Tom Pappert
FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino on Sunday said that he and Director Kash Patel are moving to address the “transparency issues” that have plagued the federal agency in recent years, urging the public to give them time to produce tangible results.

Bongino, who was selected to serve as the FBI’s second in command by President Donald Trump in February, delivered the update in a post to the social media platform X, where he said he will “be posting regular information updates” about the agency’s transparency efforts.

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Tennessee Star Urges New FBI Director Kash Patel to Order Release of Entire Covenant Killer Manifesto

Tom Pappert
FBI Diri. Kash Patel, Covenant Killer 'Manifesto'

The Tennessee Star on Friday sent a letter urging newly-confirmed FBI Director Kash Patel drop the agency’s opposition to the release of the full manifesto left by Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the biological woman who identified as a transgender man when she killed six at the Covenant School in Nashville on March 27, 2023.

Both Star News Digital Media Inc. (SNDM), which owns and operates The Star, and Michael Patrick Leahy, the editor-in-chief of The Star, are plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit that seeks to compel the FBI to release Hale’s full writings. Hale reportedly left about 1,000 pages in journals that police recovered from the residence where the 28-year-old lived with her parents.

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Tennessee Star’s Michael Patrick Leahy to Urge DOJ to End Opposition to Release of Covenant Killer’s Manifesto amid Presidential Transition

Tom Pappert
MPL DOJ

Tennessee Star editor-in-chief Michael Patrick Leahy announced on Wednesday he and Star News Digital Media Inc. (SNDM), which owns and operates The Star, will ask the Department of Justice (DOJ) to drop its opposition to the release of the written documents left by Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale prior to her March 27, 2023 attack that claimed the lives of six.

Leahy announced the decision during the Wednesday broadcast of the Michael Patrick Leahy Show, when he explained The Star has “decided to turn our attention back to freedom of information act, transparency requests that we’ve had going some time related to the Covenant killer manifesto,” in the wake of the 2024 elections.

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The Tennessee Star Releases ‘Manifesto’ Left by Transgender Covenant School Killer Audrey Hale

Tom Pappert
Covenant Killer Journal released

The Tennessee Star and editor-in-chief Michael Patrick Leahy released the full “manifesto” left by Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale on Tuesday, making the killer’s journal entries available to the public for the first time.

This release contains the pages of Hale’s journal that were obtained by The Star from a source familiar with the investigation in June. The journal containing the pages was recovered from Hale’s vehicle by police after her March 27, 2023 attack on the Covenant School, where she claimed the lives  of three 9-year-old children and three adult staff members.

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Covenant Killer’s Father Confirmed Vanderbilt University Medical Center ‘Didn’t Tell Us’ About Daughter’s Interest in Columbine

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale

Ronald Hale, the father of Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale, confirmed to investigators that Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) did not inform his daughter developed an interest in the April 20, 1999 shooting at the Columbine High School in Colorado, according to a transcript of a July 12, 2023 police interview obtained by The Tennessee Star. 

Police documents obtained by The Star previously established that Audrey Hale was a 22-year mental health patient at VUMC, and Ronald and Norma Hale confirmed their daughter was evaluated for commitment for mental health reasons during three separate incidents, including two at VUMC for suicidal ideation.

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Attorneys for Parents of Covenant Killer Silent on Possible Will with Potential Instructions for Release of Documents

Tom Pappert
Jeff Mobley and David Raybin

Attorneys who represent Ronald Hale and Norma Hale, the parents of Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale, did not respond to The Tennessee Star when asked about the killer’s suicide note and a probate court filing, which both appear to suggest the killer left a last will and testament prior to her devastating attack on March 27, 2023.

Neither attorney David Raybin, who represented Ronald Hale and Norma Hale in matters related to the Covenant investigation, nor attorney Jeff Mobley, who represents the killer’s parents in the intestate probate case for Audrey Hale’s estate, replied to a press inquiry from The Star which sought to establish whether the killer left behind a document called a will.

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Group Claiming Copyright to Covenant Killer Documents ‘Not Able to Comment’ on Possible Financial Arrangement with Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Tom Pappert
Ed Yarbrough

An attorney who represents The Covenant Children’s Trust, which claims it owns the copyright to the works of Covenant School attacker Audrey Elizabeth Hale, told The Tennessee Star on Wednesday he could not comment on whether his client received any type of financial compensation from Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), which treated the killer over 22 years.

The Star contacted attorney Ed Yarbrough, who works at the Spencer Fane firm and represented the Covenant Children’s Trust in the Tennessee lawsuit which sought to compel Metro Nashville to release Hale’s documents, to ask whether his client, the Covenant School, or Covenant Presbyterian Church were approached by VUMC to discuss its potential civil liability over its treatment of Hale.

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Covenant Killer Audrey Hale Wrote She was ‘Trapped’ in ‘Adult Life’ Where ‘No One Seems to Notice’ Her in Recovered Journal

Tom Pappert
Audrey Hale Lonely

Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale wrote in the journal police recovered from her vehicle about her social isolation and inability to live independently.

The Tennessee Star confirmed last week it obtained about 80 pages of Hale’s writings from a source close to the Covenant investigation, including the lengthy entry titled “My Brain… This Life.”

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Entries in Journal of Audrey Hale Suggest Date of Covenant Attack was Significant to Killer

Tom Pappert

A handful of entries in the journal recovered from the vehicle of Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale appear to suggest she might have assigned a numerological meaning to the date of her devastating attack which claimed the lives of three 9-year-old students and three adults. 

The Tennessee Star confirmed last week it obtained about 80 pages of Hale’s writings from a source close to the Covenant investigation. Among these entries are multiple pages that suggest Hale assigned special significance to the numbers 2 and 7.

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Covenant Killer Audrey Hale Left Parents Suicide Note with Instructions for ‘If I Don’t Survive My Massacre’

Tom Pappert
Audrey Elizabeth Hale

The Tennessee Star has obtained the suicide note left by Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale to her parents before her devastating March 27, 2023 attack that claimed the lives of three 9-year-old students and three adults.

Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) investigators found the note posted to Hale’s bedroom wall, which The Star has learned was adorned with childhood memorabilia and photos.

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