Letters from a new hampshire prison from the wrongfully convicted chad evans

The only other avoidance action I can recall is Amanda not coming to my birthday party. That was actually her idea. She was worried about my mom seeing Kassidy and thinking she was a bad mom as I recall. I told her that it was me that grabbed Kassidy and will tell her as such. (Boy do I wish now that it had gone this way.) Amanda just thought it would be easier to stay away.

Hope this helps some.

Responding to #152

I’m glad to hear that you will have a follow up visit with Alan and will have a chance to meet with him. He is a good man. Back then, I always felt he believed in my innocence. He may still. He is a “company” man, very cautious. The attorney that is here for killing his wife, Seth Bader, knows both Sisti and Alan and likes Alan. You and I probably see it differently than Bader. We both understand that some people just want to do a job and let others be the boss. That’s cool.

It’s pretty interesting that you met Wil Peirce. I’m sure he wants to stand by his 2000 statement. The interesting thing about him is if you get him talking and it doesn’t seem like you are accusing his friend/ and former part time boss, Jeff, Will lets his guard down and opens up a lot more. That’s a great approach you took with the accumulated accident theory. I recall my dad telling me that he met Will at Amanda’s sentencing. Will started contradicting some of his earlier statements, Jeff’s, and/or police theory. But the second my dad made some comment to him about talking to the authorities and me being in prison, wrongly convicted, Will backed away, “Oh no, I think he’s guilty.” I don’t recall the exact details as I was getting it all secondhand from my father. It’s just some insight I wanted to give you when dealing with him. If Will isn’t painted into a corner he will speak more freely. Back when Ron Rice was planning on speaking with him, Amanda was going to go with him. She knew Wil a little and thought it would make him a lot less nervous about speaking. I never met Mr. Peirce. The only time I ever had any knowledge of him was when he testified at my trial. I thought he was a bizarre man. In any case, it is good that he has responded and hopefully he can introduce you to Jeff Marshall.

I am really glad that you got to speak with Mandy Allard briefly. Did she call you or you her? Your comments about her and Amanda confused me a little but I plan to call you soon on that and several issues. It’s funny that you mentioned Mandy seeing me with Kassidy and Kyle outdoors at my house because I recall that too. It was a nice day out and I was in the driveway playing with the kids. Kyle had one of those little battery operated Jeeps that kids can sit in and drive, and I was trying to teach Kassidy how to drive it in between playing ball with Kyle. We were running around playing tag, hunting for bugs, etc. that day. Kyle really liked Mandy and ran up to her whenever she came over. I am surprised to hear that she only met Kassidy twice. I would have assumed more. I can’t recall what Mandy was dropping off at my house. It may have been some paperwork for her mom. I’m sure Amanda was out shopping. I’m glad Mandy will help get you to talk with Melissa when you are ready.

I did enjoy your responses to each letter because they gave me insight to what you were interested in and what you found important. What I don’t miss about the responses is they always led to more questions from you which made more work for me.

Regarding your response to my letter 115 where we talk about reporters. Obviously, my powers of persuasion have been highly exaggerated, which is ironic, given my earlier observations about Jeff's persuasiveness. I pointed out many examples in letter 115 of how the media printed things that were not true, were highly sensationalized, and were inflammatory. Yet, you still seem to believe in them and their inherent goodness. Perhaps you should take this as proof that I am not nearly as persuasive as everyone claimed I was around the time of my trial. To your point that the reporters were just reporting what someone likely told them. This just proves my theory that cops are less interested in the truth and justice than they should be. Besides, I would think that a good reporter would check their facts before printing some comment from a cop. They certainly would check the validity if it was a defense attorney stating it. Seriously though, I get your point and will try to repeat every day, “I love the media for they will help set me free.”

Regarding my letter 116 and conversation with Adam Tuttle. As I said during the visit, I AGREE with you, the fact that the police didn’t produce a report of their visit with him will not free me. However, it is something to be aware of and if we go along and find several other people that they have done this with, it possibly could. We already know, that they “framed” their interview with Amanda in Gray, Maine. They started the interview in one room. She went on at length about Jeff Marshall. When she was finished they moved here into another room and THEN started the recording. I’m sure they recorded in that first room because they had no idea what Amanda was going to say. However, they never gave us a copy of that. Amanda distinctly remembered talking about Jeff, being born in Alaska, details about her stepfather, yet none of that is in that second interview. My point is the cops did things that related in no way to finding the TRUTH. Of course I want to be exonerated because of truth, but if it took police misconduct to get back into court in order to TELL MY SIDE, I’ll take it. I just think that the police should be held to a higher standard than the accused. After all, they feel none of the pressure to be “perfect” that the accused feels and they still lie when they think it advances their theories of cases. For now we do nothing with the Adam Tuttle info except file it away in the back of our minds in case other examples of the same occur.

Regarding your response to my letter 117. You said, “Thanks for explanation of the Carol Bartz interview. I didn’t read it, and am glad you brought it to my attention.” I’m still not sure if you read it or not but I assume you now have or at least what I highlighted because you referenced the eye contact comments. I just thought it was a neat interview and it would give you some insight into the manager I was 10 years ago. She seems like the female version of me. Warm and caring but no nonsense. Not the kind of lady you want to cross.

You asked about the timing of Josh and Scottie’s visits to our house. I know my mom mentioned that she met Joshua when she came to stay with us sometime in July. He was good and attentive with Kassidy. I am sure they were both at our house for a few days in August. I can’t recall when. If you look at the photos of Kassidy in a bathing suit at Water Coutry. If we dated that photo (Last I knew you set those photo letters aside to get back to at a later date.) that is when they were here. I apologize, I don’t have that information readily available here. You are mixing up the time that Josh told Jackie that he saw bruises on Kassidy. There were NO bruises when the boys were at my house over the summer. Josh saw bruises on Kassidy when Amanda went to Maine around my birthday in OCT. to get some of her money from her mom for a birthday present for me. When the boys were at our house, we cooked out, ate ice cream at Lone Oaks. Amanda took them to Water Country (I’m 99% sure), we ordered takeout. Amanda took them shopping. I believe that I wrote to you once about the fact that Amanda bought them sneakers when they were up. (Well, I did, because she wasn’t working.) I think Amanda may have taken them to Hampton Beach as well. I am not sure how many overnights. At least 3-4 once. I’m sorry but once again, these are all great questions to ask Amanda. All I can tell you for sure is I was glad that she had time with them. Family time is important. And, she got to spoil them a little because I don’t believe that they were really used to that.

You asked who stayed over our house between June 2 and Nov. 9^th 2000. In addition to the people you listed:

Cathy Nuernberg stayed several times, mostly in the beginning of our relationship. As the summer rolled on, she worked a lot and then moved to Texas. I would say June and July is when she stayed overnight.

My mother spent several days in July. She and my dad usually came back for a weekend every 6-8 weeks. I can’t recall exactly from that summer.

My mom, dad, Jason, Nicole came and stayed over during my birthday weekend.

Crystal Martin stayed over those two times that she mentioned in her interview. For some reason, I think Emily Conley stayed over once also.

I’m sure that Nicole and Brandon came and spent a weekend or two with us.

I know that Michelle and Bruce Truell stayed over the most frequently. Throughout the summer when we got together to do something it usually involved drinking and we stayed at each other's houses. Sometimes with the kids, often without. The best I can give you for exact dates with them is to look at the chronology. If we went somewhere together, one of us stayed over the other house.

Brent stayed over several times but that was also early on. I would say, June and July. By August, I was getting him less and less, and he was spending more time with his biological father.

Travis from September 15^th or so onward. I can’t recall a time when he had an overnight guest.

Scott and Josh Conley

I’m sure that Jason and possibly his best friend, Tim, came to spend a night or two with us. Jay liked to visit from time to time. In fact, Jason and Jeff Porter definitely stayed at our house the night in August that we went to the Creed concert in Portland.

I’m sorry I can’t give you more specifics about who stayed and especially when. Right now as I look at this list I feel that I may be forgetting people. I’m just not sure. It was so long ago. If I think of anyone else, I will let you know. It is possible that Jeremy Hinton spent another night or two.

If your goal is to provide a list of names of people and dates that they stayed over at our house for the website, I think the best we are going to be able to say is “the following people stayed with Chad and Amanda sometime between June and Oct (some parties, multiple times) and never observed bruises on Kassidy or what they would deem abusive parenting by either Chad or Amanda toward Kassidy or Kyle.” (of course check with this people if you would like first) Also, there is the important issue of Jeremy seeing Kassidy with fresh bruises on the afternoon of Oct. 23^rd, but they were not there when we left in the morning.
May 11, 2010 (129)

Responding to #153 &154+

Our call, letters to Brandon+ Mandy

I am glad that we had a chance to speak yesterday. I felt it was productive. I just want to recap several things. Hearing them is one thing but I find it is always good to have a paper copy to back things up in case our memory fails.

You asked me to write to you about Jeff Marshall trying to run his truck at Tristan, her sister Tiffany and the children. It is a great question to ask Tristan for details the next time you speak. Not only will it get her talking freely (in my experience, most people have no problem opening up when they feel they have been victimized in some way. It is VERY hard to get Tristan to speak about anything, so I think you will find something like this helpful) which may also get her to open up more. As I understand it, soon after my trial. Tristan was out with her sister and the kids shopping or going to the movies and Jeff was driving through the parking lot with one of his friends. As soon as he recognized Tristan, he revved his engine, sped up, and swerved his truck towards them. Jeff pulled away before hitting them and sped off. As you can imagine, I was not happy when Tristan told me about this during a visit. It’s such a horrible feeling to be locked up and helpless when it coming to protecting your family. Jeff was taking advantage of my vulnerability, knowing full well that had I been home and he pulled some shit like that I would have let him know I was unhappy about it. It’s as though he was laughing at me. I believe I told Tristan to call the cops and she brushed it off with an attitude of “Yeah, right, like they are going to do anything to him. They will probably find a way to charge me.”

We spoke at length about Tristan’s misinformation and the conversation we had. It was productive to speak with her but she could just as easily revert back to previous “mode.” She could be a huge asset so I will keep you informed. I am VERY concerned that both she and Jeremy seemed to have read a document on the internet (possibly the State Supreme Court opinion on my appeal) that said something like, “As matter of fact…..Evans held Kassidy’s face under faucet, threw child into corners, into walls of the house,” etc. It is concerning that they both seemed to have taken this as an admission by me that I did these things. It seems people are confusing what state or judges describe as fact for ACTUAL TRUTH. You and I both know they are describing these acts as fact to support their opinion. How do we combat this? How do we show people like Tristan, Jeremy, and who knows how many others that this is the case? So much misinformation.

Another good thing that came out of my conversation with Tristan that I forgot to mention to you was Kassidy’s bruising. When I was describing to her that I had inadvertently caused bruising several times by holding her cheeks too firmly, I explained that I didn’t think they looked hard enough at Kassidy’s medical to see if she may have been anemic. Then she started being HELPFUL. She told me she was anemic, (something I never knew.) and that she bruised easily and usually the bruise would start forming within several hours which is quicker than average people. Also she said that anemia can result in hair loss. Occasionally, Tristan relayed, she loses hair in clumps. This was interesting because as you know, Kassidy was losing hers in clumps. I’m not sure if this is an ACTUAL symptom of anemia or if Tristan was losing it from other things but it is worth looking into. What was key to me is that Tristan was being helpful, talked about the bruises and hair loss, and was actually talking. She has been working in hospitals for a long time and has learned a lot of medical information; and she may have some contacts who might take an interest in my case.

I am glad that you had a chance to talk with ______ _________ about the case. Hopefully that relationship can be built some as you have suggested. Believe me, I am not stressing about his claim that they had a witness that saw me “grab Kassidy in a parking lot, slam her head off a curb, pick her up by one arm, and place her in a car” nearly as much as I was about the abortion info that was stewing in my head. However, it is quite bothersome. Can you imagine how you would feel if something so absurd was said about you? I don’t really believe that they have someone that said this. It would have been the most powerful EYE WITNESS against me and they would have had that person testify. I don’t buy the argument that perhaps the witness wasn’t reliable and that is why they didn’t testify to this. They already PROVED they had no problem putting unreliable people on the stand. They had Corey Merrill testify and he was a liar with everything to gain. (Incidentally, we may want to try to contact Merrill at some point. He made several statements to people here, including me that he made those claims up and was pressured by the police.)

When I gave this ridiculous curb claim some more thought after our conversation I began to think it was even more important to find out who made the claim and more importantly WHEN this claim was made. (If in fact there is such a witness statement.) If this claim was made right after Kassidy died, perhaps this is one of the reasons that the police settled on me, instead of other theories about why or how Kassidy died. If the claim was made later on, perhaps months into the police investigation, why not use it to strengthen their case. At that point they already had statements from Amanda that I threw Kassidy into the corners of the house. Food for thought.

Now, I know you and I have spoken several times about this polygraph examination. Over the past two months I have provided you numerous questions that I feel should be asked of me and I asked you to copy them into a file somewhere. (I hope you have been doing that.) I UNDERSTAND that you feel we will not be able to dictate what questions will be asked. My opinion is this is fine, he can ask what he wants but we are paying for this damn test. In addition to the questions he wants to ask, I want these additional questions asked. I want some of these ridiculous claims questioned. I feel if we can eliminate some of these “tortuous” claims it will go along way towards helping humanize me to people. Any parent can understand swatting a child on the butt. However, NO ONE will understand using a dog brush on a child’s feet or trying to drawn them under a faucet. In addition, if we can prove through the polygraph that these claims are false it may go a long way towards helping build your relationship with _______ ________ and ultimately _____ _______ and others. After all, the polygraph is the Police’s own truth meter. So please understand, when I ask to have certain questions as part of my polygraph, there is a reason for it.

In addition to the questions that I have previously given to you for polygraph, I want to be asked:

1. 
   Did I slam Kassidy’s head off a curb in a parking lot and then pick her up by one arm and put her in the car?
   
2. 
   Did I use a dog brush to cause the abrasions on the bottom of Kassidy’s feet? (you mentioned during the conversation that ______ ________ was pretty convinced that I had)
   
3. 
   Did I use any other instrument on soles of Kassidy’s feet?
   
4. 
   Was I the one that originally found the marks on Kassidy’s feet and brought it to Amanda’s attention?
   
5. 
   Did I abuse Kassidy in the car after picking her up from Jeff Marshall’s house? (This is important because state claimed in opening statements that I had done it in the car. And, you have recently tracked that as the ONLY time I was alone with her.
   
6. 
   Did I throw Kassidy into the corners or walls of my house?
   

I am going to try and not obsess about this abortion situation. You said that you knew that it wasn't Amanda, which was a HUGE relief to me. I am hopeful it was not you just tying to appease me. TRUST between us is so crucial. I apologize for having an inkling of doubt, you have not given me any reason to doubt your word. Trust is an issue for me and it has become an even bigger issue since coming to prison. I don’t want to have a “poor me” attitude, it’s just the situation and many people involved, haven’t given me much reason to trust.

I do apologize that I went through the 10 minute “tirade” at the beginning of the conversation about the entire abortion issue. But in a way, it is good, you got to see first hand how my mind is always working things over and how I am constantly trying to see things 1000 different ways and from every possible angle. It seems like this “obsessive” side of me would be important to get to know in your quest to understand me. As I told you, I am an open book. You have identified some good qualities that you feel I have. You may as well see the bad too. I think it must stem from a lack of confidence now or something. When we got off the phone, I said to myself, “I wonder if Morrison is just telling me what I wanted to hear.” (as many have done). Likely, it was just as you said, (someone else) and it was really this small, non-issue to you. To me however, it just gave my mind a chance to start questioning things further.

Sometimes I feel I am so damaged now. My mind just leaps to the worst thing. Even though, in my heart, I believe Amanda was sincere when she told me she never considered abortion with Kassidy and never would. (so why am I questioning it?)

I think I’m good and then in 10 minutes my mind is wondering back to this same issue. I start questioning how I feel about knowing where and when the call was made. Then, I’m not sure how I feel about you knowing this information and me not knowing. After all, this information was generated from MY case. Why would my lawyers have it and me never see it???? On the one hand I think it is noble that you want to protect someone’s privacy but on the other, I want to be able to completely eliminate it in my mind. Knowing when and where could do that. (for example, if a call was made from Bruce’s Aube’s sometime AFTER November 2000 it could have been made by several people but Amanda COULD NOT have been one of them because she was never there. Thus she would be eliminated. Where as, if it was made from Vanessa or Bruce and Michelle Truell’s sometime after December, it very well could have been Amanda making the call)

Next thing I know, my mind starts wondering if YOU are questioning my integrity by not telling me. Do you think I would chastise a friend or family member for their choices to abort or not if I knew about it? You probably aren’t questioning that at all but I now feel it necessary to make sure you understand my position. I feel everyone is free to make their own choices. However, I don’t believe that woman should be getting abortions without discussing it with their significant other. Because abortion is not right for me, does not mean that it is something that I feel so strongly about that I would judge another’s position.

Uuuggghh, why is my mind so complicated? The reality is, even if Amanda did have an abortion, there is nothing I could do about it now. As you can likely tell, this is something important to me. I thought I knew Amanda but if she could do this to our unborn child, it would be a deal breaker for me. I have friends that are pro-life and others that are pro-choice. I respect both and I guess you could say I fall somewhere in the middle of the road. I am not even sure of your views. If it is too personal a question don’t feel you have to answer.

Anyway, now that I have launched into another diatribe, you can see that I really am a candidate for the insane asylum. It’s hard to describe the things your mind does in jail when you are faced with possibility of never experiencing the opportunity to LIVE life again. A life that you loved and were able to share with people you loved.

OK moving on….
Letter 153

You asked, “Do you recall the discussions about whether to have Kyle testify?” You are correct, I was against it. There was no way I wanted my son involved in any of this. It may have been good for the jury to hear what he had to say and also see him. I’m sure I would have been bawling my eyes out, seeing my baby up there in that position. At that time, Tristan was very supportive of me, but she also wanted to prevent Kyle from testifying unless Alan thought it absolutely necessary. I remember during the discussions Alan described it as a “dicey” situation. Alan met Kyle and thought he was very intelligent. Alan was concerned that either side that called a 3 year old to the stand wouldn’t be looked at favorably. I think the words Alan used were, “The jury will think whoever calls Kyle is a bunch of jerks.” It wasn’t about appearances to me, I was already feeling like a failure for being separated from Kyle for almost a year with the exception of our weekly visits. I had to protect him from this. He was so attached to me then. If he had seen me in the courtroom he would have cried and pitched a fit if he couldn’t come sit with me, hug me, etc. You know, I’ve never thought about it until you asked me the question. It’s probably what Alan was counting on and one of the reasons that he thought Kyle testifying would be a good thing. It would have painted a different picture for the jury. A picture similar to the one that we are trying to paint now, the truth.

Letter 154

When we spoke on the phone, I was not aware that you were at Alan’s office the previous day. I assumed June 6 not May 6^th for some reason until I got this letter. I am glad you met Alan. He is a nice man. I’m glad he felt helping us was important. He is skeptical of our efforts. I figured he would be. It is probably a defense lawyer thing. Likely it is because he has seen me constantly run over by a road grader. The sad part is he usually has been right. Let’s hope he is wrong here. Did he let you borrow the video tape of my interview while you were there?

The photo you mention of Kassidy that Jackie took, looked like Kassidy was sitting in a high chair.

The other photo that you ask about that appeared to be Kassidy with short hair sitting in front of a fence was one of those portrait photos I believe. Kassidy’s hair was short because I believe this was taken around her first birthday. I’m not sure what studio Amanda had it taken at, likely it was Sears or one of those places. You will have to ask Amanda as she will know the history. The photo was taken long before I met either Amanda or Kassidy. I hate to sound like the typical “stereotyped male” but I didn’t pay attention to much to things like where the photo was taken before me and where Kassidy got her hair cut. I know Amanda had a copy of the photo of Kassidy in a frame on our fireplace mantle. She may have told me where it was taken but I don’t recall. With regards to hair cuts, I doubt Amanda got it cut much. In fact, she may have just trimmed it herself. Kassidy was just a little girl and Amanda wanted her hair to grow out. If you look at the older photos, Kassidy’s hair was longer as she aged.

With regards to my hair, I went to Janet Lane’s salon, Hair Everywhere. Janet, Larry Lane’s former wife, owned a location in Rochester and Dover. I had a regular girl I would go see every 5-6 weeks to get my hair cut in Rochester. Man, it’s been so long. I am almost positive her first name was Kim. Being the unobservant male, I’m not really sure where Amanda got her hair cut. I would just give her money when she wanted to get her hair or nails done. Amanda’s natural hair color is dirty blonde. When she met me she was almost bleach blonde. After that she just would color it a shade or two lighter than her natural color. Her and Kassidy both were fair skinned and blonde. Amanda always liked being a blonde.

May 14, 2010 (130)

Responding to #155