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Who IS Chad Evans? - Sentence and Prison Life
Since his conviction, Chad has sought relief in the courts from his wrongful conviction. However, the standard for the appellate courts was not whether Chad was innocent, but whether the investigation and trial were fair and conducted properly. His inmate status is readily verifiable on the New Hampshire Dept. of Corrections "Inmate Locator" which will give visitors this information:
ID ID DATE PAROLE DATE
EMERY for Men EVANS CaseID Offense Minimum Maximum Docket Court Date 82477 11/9/2000 8/4/2029 7/18/2100 219-2000-S-00888 STRAFFORD SUPERIOR COURT
This is a photo of me, brother Jason, and sister Nicole, holding hands in the prison visiting room. Nicole and Jason are a very important part of my support system and help me get through this nightmare. We have always been extremely close siblings and have picked each other up in times of need. I believe this photo was taken early on, at the beginning of my sentence. Likely 2002 or 2003. [Chad Evans letter to Morrison Bonpasse, 17 May 2010]
This photo is of me in the prison visiting room holding two of my favorite people, Kyle and Malana. We get to visit with our loved ones up to 2 times per week, 2 ½ hours per visit for a total of 5 hours a week. There are 168 hours in a week so you can see 5 hours isn’t much. It is the hardest adjustment I have had to make and still struggle with it. I was a very “hands on” parent out there and spent a lot of time with the kids. The visits with the kids are the best. I try to make every visit special and jam packed with things. We play games, laugh, tell jokes, cuddle, share a sandwich, I try and catch up on their lives, what they are doing in school and I always have some sort of life lesson I share with them. Our time together is precious and I try to pack it with meaningful things. I am determined to be the best parent I can be, even from in here. [Chad Evans letter to Morrison Bonpasse, 17 May 2010]
When Kyle was younger as in this photo, we spent the majority of our visit on the floor in the play area. We would invent games to play. On days when the visiting room was less crowded we would get a chance to play “make shift” football, hockey, etc. When the visiting room was crowded it would be me, Kyle, and another 10-15 kids playing games like freeze tag, Simon says, red light-green light, etc. One woman stopped me on the way to the game shelf once and told me that I reminded her of the “Pied Piper of the Prison Play area.” I thought it was neat how she came up with so many words that started with P in the same sentence. I miss those days. Kyle has grown so much. The small play area is made for children ideally ages 3-7. I dream of one day being able to throw a real football with him again. [Chad Evans letter to Morrison Bonpasse, 17 May 2010]
This is a photo of me, Malana and Kyle in the prison visiting room. I think this was taken in the summer. I would guess by the kids' size it was 2004 or 2005. Kyle and Malana’s birthdays are close together. Kyle’s in July and Malana’s in August. Every year I look forward to having a visit with them around that time. We buy a muffin from one of the vending machines and sing happy birthday. When the tables around us see hear us singing happy birthday to one of the kids, they join in. Pretty soon half the visiting room is singing. The guards are usually cool about it but sometimes you get some that don’t know what to do with themselves about it. The important thing is, the kids are smiling ear to ear and know that they are on center stage. [Chad Evans letter to Morrison Bonpasse, 17 May 2010]
Fathers' Day is one of the most fun times in the prison. They put on a nice event here with money we earn. We get to see the kids actually interact and play games like they would at a carnival for a few hours. In 2007, Kyle won us this Styrofoam hats at a football through a tire toss game so we decided to take a couple of silly photos. In this one we were posing “rapper” style (face paintings and all). As you can see from the picture, he is much more suited to being a rapper than I am. Actually this is one of the things I enjoy most about our weekly phone calls. Kyle takes after his mom and has this ability to remember the words to every song he’s ever heard. He only has to hear a song 2-3 times to memorize it. It baffles me. Sometimes when I catch him in the right mood, he will rap to me on the phone for our entire conversation. It’s like I have a ticket to my own private concert over the phone. [Chad Evans letter to Morrison Bonpasse, 17 May 2010]
Photo, from the summer of 2008, of Chad Evans with his son, Kyle ("in his Harry Potter looking phase") and his niece, Malana.
Chad Evans, on 16 December 2010, with his friend and advocate, Morrison Bonpasse.
Above is Chad's profile of himself and his interest in the Prison's (Family Connections Center (FCC). A .pdf COPY IS LINKED here. This document was mounted in the middle of a collection of Chad's photographs of his son, Kyle. That collage is now at Chad's parents' home. On October 3, 2011, the Concord Monitor published an article by Annemarie Timminsabout the FCC: "Building bonds through walls - Family center at prison gets a home"
Chad and his niece Aliza on November 11, 2011
At the prison's inmate Christmas party, Chad held his niece Aliza, daughter of Chad's sister, Nicole, at right.
Chad had this rocking-horse made for Aliza, at the prison workshop.
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