Audrey Elizabeth Hale wrote multiple entries in a journal recovered from her vehicle that suggested planned at one point for her attack on the Covenant School to occur in January 2023.
The Tennessee Star reported last Wednesday it obtained dozens of pages of Hale’s writings from a source close to the Covenant investigation.
In multiple entries spread across four pages, Hale wrote that she planned to attack the Covenant School on January 17, then decided against the date for a number reasons.
Hale first indicated she selected the January to commit the attack in a January 16 entry apparently addressed to Nikki Tidwell, who was previously identified as a friend Hale made while studying at the Nossi College of Fine Arts and Design.
“I’m so sorry Nikki.” Hale wrote, “I didn’t meant to plan my massacre on the 17th. I’m going to be a terrible s*** for leaving you. How bad my heart hurts.”
She wrote, “Tomorrow is my last day on earth. I love you, I am so sorry.”
The next entry is dated January 17. Hale wrote, “PS – Not leaving yet. I couldn’t do it. I don’t want to ruin your day… I’ll wait as planned.”
It is unclear if Hale and Tidwell spent time together on January 17, but Tidwell’s mother told The Washington Post last year the pair often spent time together in Tidwell’s room.
The outlet reported that Hale and her friend were together in the Tidwell family home just two days before the March 27 attack, when the pair celebrated Tidwell’s 28th birthday.
“I just never saw anything bad in her, never,” Tidwell’s mother told the Post.
Five pages later, in another entry dated January 17, Hale wrote, “P.S. It was too sudden. I’m unstable. I hope I feel numb in the days coming.”
Likely referencing the stuffed animals and toys she wrote about using to explore her sexual fantasies, Hale concluded the entry, “I could not leave my animals. I just couldn’t do it.”
In an undated entry on the next page, Hale appeared to offer more explanation for why she did not attack the school in January.
“I guess I’m a p**** or my anxiety is too high.” Hale wrote, “can’t sleep well. Racing thoughts. (I wanted to be here for Nikki on her birthday)”
She then wrote, “I want to do it in February. 2/17/23 (no birthdays on that day).”
Hale then suggested moving the date to February would give her time to “finish my ‘before death’ goal list,” which The Star previously reported included plans to watch movies, visit a local book store and “look at” her toys and stuffed animals.
Later in the undated entry, Hale wrote that she was “too sad [and] anxious. Not enough anger. Guess the time wasn’t right… yet.”
She concluded, “It will be. I’ll know when it’s time. (Right now is too much uncertainty).”
Hale ultimately committed her devastating attack on the Covenant School on March 27, 2023. She claimed the lives of three 9-year-old students and three adults working at the school before Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) officers fatally shot her.
Star News Digital Media, Inc., which owns and operates The Star, and editor-in-chief Michael Patrick Leahy are plaintiffs in lawsuits which seek to compel the MNPD and the FBI to release Hale’s full writings.
The Star published an FBI memo last Wednesday, addressed to MNPD Chief John Drake, which “strongly” urged police not to release “legacy items” left by individuals like Hale.
An FBI definition suggests the agency considers all writings left by Hale to be “legacy tokens,” including both the materials obtained by The Star and those sought in the lawsuits.
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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].
Photo “Audrey Elizabeth Hale” by Audrey Elizabeth Hale and “Nashville Winter” is by Kim Unertl CCNC2.0.
