When David K. Stanley fled authorities in Virginia and Tennessee in February 1996, he asked his third wife, who was then pregnant, to go with him. She refused. The following letter, which he sent to his wife sometime between February and May 1996, is now part of Stanley's permanent court record. Within a few months of sending the letter, Stanley would marry his fourth wife. It is unclear whether Stanley and his third wife were divorced at the time, and where he was living when he wrote the letter. The letter has been edited to remove names and other private information.




[NAME DELETED]

I want you to know in advance of reading this that I am taking this one and only opportunity to vent my feelings to you. Yes there is great anger in me, [DELETED]. But please bear with me and read the entire letter. God has given me a new life to start over with, and the sum total of my heart is joyous for that most precious gift.

If you have not filed for an annulment yet, please do so. You do not need to be shackled with the shame of me anymore. If you do not do this, following the manner in which I told you before I left, then I will fly to Haiti and get it done there and have the papers recorded at the Sullivan county courthouse. You deserve to be totally free of me. You can save me the plane fair [SIC] by doing it there, and [NAMES DELETED] will readily sign for me (if you send it to their P O Box [ADDRESS DELETED]) but one way or another, you deserve to be rid of me.

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For all this and so much more you cannot even comprehend, I forgive you. I love you, so I forgive you. I forgive you and pray for you and your family every day. And I will keep your secrets forever. Though you do not deserve any loyalty from me now whatsoever, I will never ever break my vows to you. I have been from the first moment I ever laid eyes upon you, noble, to you in every way, although this last gesture, in keeping [DELETED], is the last you will ever know of my nobility. My nobility and heart will be with someone else someday, who really wants and appreciates it, unlike you. If that person does not exist, then I will go to my grave alone, but never again will someone hurt me [DELETED]. [SENTENCE DELETED] And every single time you look at our child, I want you to remember exactly what YOU and YOU alone did to its biological father. Every day of your life. You deserve that.

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[SENTENCE DELETED] I will be in this and many other places of splendor. I will be singing and playing, and taking a true love with me to all the places you will only be able to think about in your head. I will live them. And the saddest part for you is that I am maybe one of the few people alive that can actually accomplish this. Recover totally from the fatal wound you gave and rise like the Pheonix [SIC] from the ashes of fiery death to be reborn so much better than before. You know that if I have anything, I have that kind of gift from God. I will of course make it a point to be in Ireland soon. But you can stay there on [LOCATION DELETED] and read about it I suppose.

Thank you for finally letting me, 'let it all out' as you so often told me to. It feels very good to my heart to let all this hurt and anger out in such a way that will not hurt you. That was the only reason I ever held back from saying harsh words to you in the latter part of our time together....because I was trying so desperately to be perfect for you and to never again cause you any hurt. What a reward I got.

But now, onto the good stuff of my new life.

First of all, the new me has a perfectly constructed credit file, so I easily traded the car for a ......you guessed it.....a blue Corvette with glass top. '95 model. It is so fast....I love it.

You were in fact completely mistaken.....accomplishing this was much easier than I ever dreamed. In the new life I have here, (the one I so desperately wanted to share with you) EVERYONE loves me. In my new business, everything [SIC] thinks I am a genius. In my home, my female roommate and my new friends all flock around me just to 'touch the flame'. In my new church, (around 1,100) they have already asked me to take over the music program. We have a fantastic choir, and even have an 18-member orchestra.

My group is forming, and there is a great crew of truly dedicated young people to do the drama. I really thank God for giving me young people of true dedication to be around this time, unlike the pathetic pretenders I have known before. Out of the fiery furnace [DELETED], God has given me a new life. A life I truly deserve. It is so wonderful. The senior Pastor knows everything except my old name and state I am from. But he will keep his vows to me and keep me safe. He, like everyone back home EXCEPT [DELETED], thinks I did the right thing. He had much prayer over me, and says God has given me a new life to minister for Him. He also says that God will give me, just like He gave Job, much greater back for everything that I have had taken from me. A greater love, more children, financial blessings, everything. As I am now living every day in God's lap, I believe with all my spirit that this will come to pass. EVERYONE thinks I am so wonderful. You cannot begin to know how good it feels to have a clean slate, something I paid the price to have for 10 ugly years of my life. To not feel ashamed to walk down the street. To not fear that your mate would in the end ultimately judge you and betray you. In this new life that God has Himself given me, that will never again happen. I am whole, healthy, handsome, charming, and a young 24 year old with a great life ahead of him. That is how he is teaching me to view this. As my Pastor puts it, I'll make a perfect prince for whomever the lucky girl is that wins the race for me. Yes well he is really trying hard to raise my spirits, I know, but it feels like he is speaking the truth. He honestly feels after much prayer about me that God has a miracle path for me ahead. I sure hope so.

All the singles and wanna-be's are so forward here, but after my experience with you I doubt I'll ever go out with a woman who asks me out. Please don't take that harshly, but its [SIC] just how I feel. But with the blond hair, the small waist, (I am now down 34 pounds) the music, and being a business owner, well you can guess what's happening. Even though you don't deserve to hear this, I cannot even bring myself to even think of anyone else. But they sure are trying. I have never used your real name, and the story I tell is that you were tragically killed in an automobile accident. That way when I am approached or when they call my house to invite me over I always just say that I am still in mourning over you.....which is the truth.

EVERYONE here also thinks I only look 23 or 24. As I have lost 34 pounds since I left, none of my clothes fit.....I had to buy all new 36 and 34 pants. My suit and jacket fit really well now. I go to the gym twice per day during the week, and once on Saturdays. I am doing Marcus Aurelius in the Easter drama here and I have to wear a Roman legion battle toga - it is so cool. I was going to take a picture and show you the new me, but I am still afraid that [NAMES DELETED] might betray me and take it to the officials. I have gone through so much for this change that I cannot take a chance.