California mayor pens bizarre letter to local paper confessing to stealing from church and attempting suicide over guilt
A California mayor penned a bizarre letter to a local paper admitting to embezzling funds from her church and attempting suicide on her birthday last month over her all-consuming guilt — and has since been placed under criminal investigation.South Lake Tahoe Mayor Tamara Wallace submitted a letter to the Tahoe Daily Tribune on Sunday, writing that she “took funds from the Presbyterian Church over an extended period,” while serving as an administrator, according to the outlet.“Because of this, on September 11, 2025, my birthday, I tried to end my life.I was so filled with guilt, shame, and grief that I experienced a mental health crisis that made suicide seem to be the best solution,” Wallace wrote in the stunning letter of admission.
“It was only by the grace of God that I failed,” the mother of five added.Since then, the lawmaker said she has been in a mental health facility and is now taking medication while in intense all-day counseling sessions.“My husband, children, extended family members, and close friends were in shock and extreme anguish as they found out I had almost succeeded in taking my life.
No one had any idea what I had done to the church,” she continued.She pulled off the theft to help “others,” including her late son’s three children, she claimed.Wallace said she turned towards suicide for a combination of factors, including her immense grief over her “sins,” alleged abuse she suffered at the hands of her father, which included being drugged, and losing her son, Christopher, to fentanyl poisoning.She chose to end her life on Sept.11, in part because she “saw and felt the Pentagon explosion” while on the fourth floor of the US Congressional offices with her husband, Duane, she explained.
The mayor — and self-described “straight A” student and “hard-working mother” — said she still hopes to dedicate her life to her town.“I have been reaching out to the church through the Pastor.I have not heard back...