Live from Music Row Thursday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Roger Simon in studio to discuss the timeline of the release of documents related to The Covenant School killer.
Leahy: In studio, all-star panelist and good friend Roger Simon. Roger, we are talking about the declaration submitted by the Metro Nashville Police Department Lieutenant Brent Gibson, who’s in charge of the investigation.
Simon: And the more you read it, the more suspicious I get, I have to admit.
Leahy: It’s very lengthy. Let me get to the bottom line here in terms of timelines. Your head’s going to maybe go…
Simon: Is it as long as the Durham report?
Leahy: Let me read this a couple of minutes, a couple of points, and we’ll get to how long they think it’s going to take. It is essential that police investigators be able to gather materials freely and broadly using their judgment without fears…
Simon: Oh, good.
Leahy: Materials they gather will prematurely be released to the public and cause prejudice to the effectiveness of the investigation.
Simon: It sounds like it was written by a public relations person.
Leahy: Yes, it sure does. I, says Lieutenant Brent Gibson, the Metro Nashville Police Department in charge of the investigation of the Covenant Killer, have a good faith belief that the police department’s denial of petitioners’ public records request has been proper.
Okay, so they say, you can’t see this stuff even though we think we should be able to see it. And the public should see it. He continues, Metro Nashville Police Department must continue and conclude its investigation in an unrushed deliberate manner before the records are released, releasing any of the puzzle pieces too quickly could jeopardize putting this intricate puzzle together.
Simon: Ah ha! Elementary, my dear Watson.
Leahy: Roger, my BS meter is off the charts right now.
Simon: I’m up there with you.
Leahy: Okay. Are you ready for the timeline?
Simon: Yes. Absolutely.
Leahy: Here we go. Based on the volume of evidence and the number of persons to be interviewed, I believe it will take approximately 12 months for Metro Nashville Police Department to complete its investigation in this case.
Simon: When everyone says 12 months, you can read that as 24 or 36. Besides that, this says something immediately, and I hope the public officials that I know listen to this show hear this.
The idea of having a special session about what went on in August as planned by the governor of the state is ridiculous because we’re not going to have the information, any of it really, in our hands by which to make a judgment. Having that session is a clown show, and you should stop it right now.
Leahy: It’s a dangerous clown show. Dangerous because as you’ve seen Roger, in our secret recordings of the leftists that gathered in Nashville on Saturday. They have said they’re going to blanket up, number one.
They have also said that they are going to have armed security there, not licensed. They need to be licensed, but they’re not going to be licensed as far as I can tell. That’s a violation of law right there.
Simon: Yes. What could possibly go wrong?
Leahy: And thousands of left-wing funded by billionaire demonstrators are going to descend upon Nashville on August 21st.
Simon: I can’t believe that Governor Lee will be so foolish just to hold this thing now, because it is ridiculous without the information, without knowing the full toxicology report on this woman. There’s no reason to know exactly why she did anything.
Leahy: We’ll get back to the declaration of Lieutenant Brent Gibson here in just a minute. But let me add to that point. The breaking news from yesterday you may have seen. The Tennessean has followed the lead of The Tennessee Star and filed the lawsuit in this chancery court to have the manifesto, the toxicology report, the autopsy report, and other documents released.
They filed that case yesterday. But there’s another plaintiff in that case, a very interesting plaintiff. It’s State Senator Todd Gardenhire as an individual. And made a clear argument in, and it was a very well done brief by the way, in the complaint, that these documents must be released in advance of the August 21st special session.
Simon: Good luck with that, according to the police department.
Leahy: Exactly. Think about this. Today, the murders happened seven weeks ago, and the killer was killed seven weeks ago on March 27th. So here we are, May 18th, 2023. They’re saying the guy in charge of it says he needs 12 months to close the investigation. That’s May of 2024. And as you say, 12 months will morph into 24 months. Basically, they don’t ever want to release this.
Simon: Obviously. And the role of the FBI should be investigated just as it was in the Durham report because they have the finger on everything today in our country with regard to important criminal activity.
Leahy: I want to add one other thing, though. There was another declaration filed yesterday in Chancery court by Metro Nashville Police Department Assistant Chief Mike Hagar. He’s not the one in charge of this. And here’s what he wrote.
I have reviewed the writing submitted to the court on May 12th for the in-camera review and the proposed redactions. So the judge in this case, I’Ashea L. Myles on Friday, got the entire manifesto and proposed redactions objections.
Simon: Somehow that doesn’t exactly compute with what we’re being told by the police department.
Leahy: But no, I’m just saying we just heard from Lieutenant Brent Gibson, who’s in charge of the investigation, who says the investigation itself is gonna be open for at least 12 more months. The BS meter is way off the charts with that one. But it’s a sworn affidavit, right?
Simon: That’s right.
Leahy: But here’s what Mike Hagar said who’s higher up in the food chain there. He said I have reviewed the writing submitted to the court to chancery court Judge I’Ashea L. Myles on May 12th Friday for in-camera review and the proposed redactions. Balancing the ongoing investigation 2ith the pending litigation, I do not believe that releasing the redacted version of the writings will impede the investigation.
Simon: Oh, yeah, but warning, without the toxicology report, this is all irrelevant.
Leahy: Therefore, Metro Nashville Police Department does not object to the release of the redacted records. This is the other angle, after having heard from all interested parties and the Covenant parents if this court should so direct, and they’re not going to hear until July 8th from the Covenant parents, et cetera.
So it’s a delay tactic. And we can guess that all of the stuff that was outlined in the investigative report of what’s being ongoing from Lieutenant Brent Gibson will all be redacted.
Listen to today’s show highlights, including this interview:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
Photo “Metro Police Officer” by Metro Nashville Police Department.
