Hello, this is Teresa with Auto Trader magazine.
I'm the photographer and just giving a call to let you know
that I could come out there today um, in the afternoon.
It would probably be around 2:00 or even a little later.
Um... again, it's Teresa.
If you could please give me a call back and let me know if that'll work for you.
Thank you.
So let's say I die before I'm 31.
Or let's say I die tomorrow.
I don't think I will. I think I have a lot more to do.
I just want to know, whenever I do die...
I just want people I love to know that whenever I die...
that I was happy.
That I was happy with what I did with my life.
Sync and corrections by explosiveskull www.addic7ed.com
For 18 years, Steven Avery was limited in everything he did,
after being convicted for a crime he didn't commit.
Now state lawmakers want answers as to why this happened to him.
While in prison, Avery's wife divorced him.
Following his release, he lived for a time in an ice shanty.
Steven Avery is now back home, but for 18 years
he sat in prison for a sexual assault he did not commit.
Avery says he forgives the woman for accusing him of the crime,
but will never forgive Manitowoc County law enforcement.
"Guilty." That's all they think, is the guy's guilty right away.
So they should look into things more.
Steven was becoming like a celebrity in the criminal justice system.
Politicians were posing for photo ops with Steve Avery.
Politicians from the governor down to a state legislator,
who would be a prime mover on the Avery task force.
An innocent man was taken from his home,
taken from his family, accused of crimes he did not commit.
It was rough, those 18 years.
But I had to do it day by day.
You know, to keep going.
Something had to be looked at to see how this happened
and use that maybe as a catalyst to look at more than just that case from 1985,
but the whole system as a whole.
What kind of reforms get us closer to truth and justice in the system?
I chair the judiciary committee,
so I started to develop a task force with an eye towards
"how can we prevent this type of thing from happening again?"
My family stuck around for a while, then...
it was hard.
So then I told the old lady to leave.
That was the hardest part.
Everyone on the assembly floor, if I recall,
stood up, gave him a standing ovation
for what he had had to go through...
and their own kind of "I'm sorry for what happened to you from the system."
People on the task force, people at the committee hearings,
every one of them is sitting there thinking, "What if that had been me?
What if that was my children that I didn't get to see or play ball with
or read books to at night for 18 years?"
Not a day goes by that I don't think about Mr. Avery,
his family and friends and the suffering they endured...
When it was time to leave, I said, "Steve, could I give you a hug?"
And he just grabbed me in a big bear hug and I said to him, you know,
"I'm very sorry, Steve. I'm so sorry."
And he said, "It's OK. It's over."
Everything was going good.
I was working by the yard.
I'm trying to do my best, stay out of trouble and just live happy.
The best thing?
Probably when I met Jodi.
Then I felt that I could be loved again and I could love somebody again.
And have a future again.
The clarity of this situation,
there are lots of situations where people don't talk about compensation or whatever
'cause it's not clear that they didn't do it.
You just know that there's not enough that you can keep 'em in prison.
But this was so clear and the circumstances so troubling,
I think, to most people in the state.
I wasn't familiar with the statute on prisoner compensation
for being wrongfully convicted.
And they said, "$5,000 a year, $25,000 cap,"
and I just kind of scoffed and I said,
"My goodness, it should be $25,000 a year." Um...
And that's where $450,000 came from.
I went out to the yard many times to see Steve.
You know, see if he was all right and adjusting and, um,
you know, what's going on in his life and things like that.
And he says, "Right now, I want to be by my parents,
I want to work in the yard, I want to try to... try to fit in."
I think he felt that when he got out of prison,
if he would've left the state or even ran up to Crivitz and hid out,
I think he thought that Manitowoc County was forcing him to do that.
And he wasn't gonna let anybody run him out of town.
You know, he was gonna stay here and try to get some of his life back.
And I think he wanted Manitowoc County to see that he was getting his life back.
Steven Avery spent 18 years in prison
for something he didn't do.
Today marks one year since Avery went home free.
His time spent out of prison has been with his family.
It feels real good. Yeah. We can all be together again.
He's never since spoken with the people who put him behind bars.
Is there any way you can forgive them?
I doubt it.
They know they did wrong.
He and his lawyers plan to file a lawsuit seeking damages.
Avery says money will help him get back on his feet,
but it can never make up for lost time.
The lawsuit, from Steven's perspective, and this is based on...
what he said to Penny Beerntsen
at the hearing in front of the Avery Task Force,
was really about, he didn't want what happened to him to happen to anybody else.
But he also didn't want what happened to her to happen to anybody else.
And it clearly had because of what Gregory Allen did
while Steven Avery was sitting in prison.
The essence of the civil suit says that the district attorney and the sheriff
were obliged constitutionally to turn that exculpatory evidence about Gregory Allen
over to the defense.
It's not a subtle, um... lawsuit,
in that this is a gross constitutional violation.
We've alleged $36,000,000 in damages or a million dollars per year
for the years that he spent in prison,
and then the other $18,000,000 for penalty damages
or deterrents damages.
From Steven's perspective, it couldn't have had less to do
with what the numbers were.
It was entirely about, let's identify who did what here.
Let's make sure that they are held up as examples to everybody else
in law enforcement as to what you do not do,
and what the consequences are when you do what you should not do.
What we're really talking about is accountability.
Trying to prevent another family broken.
So it don't happen again.
When Mrs. Beerntsen gave the description of her assailant
at the hospital that night, did you say that it sounded like Steven Avery?
No, sir.
Later on that evening, you made that statement, is that right?
- Object to form. - You may answer.
I do not remember if it was that evening or possibly at the Sheriff's Department.
You made the statement that the description sounded like Steven Avery,
you just don't remember whether you said it at the hospital
or whether you said it at the Sheriff's Department later on.
- Is that... - I'm gonna object to that.
- Is that correct? - Because that's not what she said.
And I object to the form.
Why don't you guys all just get sworn and testify here?
- Let the witness answer. - I didn't...
I'm not stopping the witness from answering.
You're trying to tell her what to say.
When you said, "You said this," and she didn't say that,
- I'm gonna object... - Yes, she did.
...to make sure that the record is correct.
For us, the attorney general's report was a blessing
in that at least some of the people who were being questioned
did not anticipate any personal liability to themselves,
felt like they were talking law enforcement to law enforcement,
and so were fairly candid.
So that was very helpful to us in terms of the discovery
that we needed to conduct of those people in the civil suit environment,
by which time they did know about civil liability,
but we already had their remarks down in investigatory reports.
And then the statement says,
"Dvorak described Avery as such a dirty man
that every time he would come to the jail,
the sheriff's deputies would have to make Avery take a shower."
- Do you see that? - Yes, sir.
Did you tell that to Ms. Strauss?
Possibly, but not in those words.
In what words?
- That he... - Do you remember the words you told her?
I'm gonna object to the form of the question.
OK.
I do not remember specifically.
But reading this, this is not my words.
Well, if you don't remember, how can you tell us that?
Objection. Argumentative.
- Go ahead, ma'am. - You can answer.
I would say I do not speak or talk, converse, in this kind of verbiage.
Well, we actually had instances where people attempted to change
what they had said to the investigators for the attorney general's office
when we were deposing them.
And of course we could produce the investigatory reports
and say this report says you said... thus and so.
She may have taken the words out of context.
What context?
The more attempts there are to wiggle out of prior statements,
the weaker become the rationalizations.
So we now know that the person Mrs. Beerntsen described to you
was Gregory Allen, right?
- No. - No?
No.
Well, we know that Gregory Allen was the assailant of Mrs. Beerntsen
because the DNA has shown that.
Well, you know that. I don't know that.
I don't take what's in the paper as gospel truth, believe me.
Well, do you take DNA evidence that's been done by the state crime lab
- and become the basis for vacating... - That there was...
Let me finish. Vacating a judgment of conviction of Steven Avery,
is that enough for you to know that Steven Avery did not commit this assault?
No. Where did the evidence come from? That's all I'm asking.
Are you saying you doubt the DNA examination...
That there was a match? I believe there was a match.
- OK, so you... - Has DNA evidence been fabricated before?
- Yes. I don't know. I don't know. - You think that happened here?
So you actually think that your sketch is more valid evidence
than the DNA evidence that's inculpated Gregory Allen.
My drawing was the result of what image she had in her head.
That's what that is.
I'm just... the pencil. I'm just the pencil.
That's right. I agree with you. OK.
My sketch looks more like Steven Avery than it does Gregory Allen.
Right. That's right.
One of the realities in this kind of litigation
for somebody like Steve Avery, who has no money, who's never had money,
is that the insurance companies would get together and say...
"Here's a million dollars. Walk away from this case."
What could we possibly do to prevent Steve from having that happen?
I want to share with you, you know, how happy we were
when we realized that... he was very, very close
to having 400 grand put in his hand,
which removes all of the incentive to take a lowball settlement.
He could then afford to stay in the lawsuit as long as it took.
I'm doing good.
I been working every day almost, waiting for Jodi to get out.
She got locked up...
drinking, you know, driving.
I hollered at Jodi quite a few times to stop drinking.
I guess it sunk into her because she did stop and she's a different person now.
I gotta give her a lot of credit.
When Jodi gets out, hopefully we can set a wedding date.
We learned during litigation something we had absolutely no knowledge of
before that lawsuit got started,
that 1995
was a very, very significant point in this thing.
We're on the record.
We're continuing depositions on the case of Avery v. Manit...
And that there is not only something to this idea
that law enforcement had information about somebody else,
but there is serious meat on those bones.
I mean, serious meat. Um...
What we learn is that while Steven Avery is sitting in prison now for a decade...
a telephone call comes in to the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department
from another law enforcement agency,
which at least one of the officers involved in that process,
believes to be the Brown County Sheriff's Department,
saying that they had someone in custody
who said that he had committed an assault in Manitowoc,
and an assault for which somebody was currently in prison.
- You've gone over exhibit 138. - Yes, sir.
It describes you receiving a telephone call, 1994 or 1995,
from someone who identified himself as a detective, correct?
Yes.
The detective indicated that there was a person in custody
who had made a statement about a Manitowoc County offense. Correct?
- Yes. - OK.
And what that person in custody had said
was that he had committed an assault in Manitowoc County
and someone else was in jail for it. Correct?
Yes, sir.
Manitowoc doesn't have huge numbers of major assaults where people go to prison.
And certainly where people would still be in prison.
There is a very distinct possibility, I would say likelihood,
that it's Gregory Allen, it's the Brown County Sheriff's Department
that is that is, in 1995, on the Gregory Allen Case,
that Gregory Allen has said something about Steven Avery,
and at a minimum somebody ought to check this out.
I mean, that's... that's a significant event.
Right. That's what stood out in my mind.
The fellow who got that call was named Colborn.
And you might say that there should be a record of him
immediately making a report on this.
There might be a record of his immediately contacting a supervising officer.
There might be a record of him contacting a detective
who handles sexual assault cases.
Uh, there might be some record of it.
But if you thought any of those things, you'd be wrong,
because there isn't any record in 1995,
1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003.
Now 2003 is a year that has meaning because that's when Steven Avery got out.
And the day he got out, or the day after,
that's when Colborn decides to contact his superior officer named Lenk.
And Lenk tells him to write a report,
and they then go have contact with the sheriff.
Now let's just stop and think about that for a minute.
Why does that happen?
Why does it happen then when it didn't happen eight years earlier?
Um... I mean, I think I know the answer.
I mean, I think the answer is pretty clearly,
these people realized that they had screwed up big-time.
Colborn realized it, Lenk, as his superior realized it,
and the sheriff realized it.
So Lenk tells Colborn to write a report, the sheriff tells Lenk,
"Get me the report."
The sheriff puts the report in a safe.
That's how much he cares about documenting this thing.
Well, obviously, it doesn't do anybody...
Well, it certainly doesn't do Steve Avery any good
to document that eight years after the fact.
Because Steve Avery has been sitting in a cage for those eight years.
This document didn't begin to get prepared
until after you had talked to Sheriff Petersen.
- Is that a fair statement? - Correct.
This indicates that Colborn said he was informed by someone in '95, '96
that "the case was already solved and the right person was arrested."
- True? - True.
Sergeant Colborn couldn't recall who it was that told him
that the case had already been solved.
- True? - True. It's what he told me.
Did he have... Did he make any guesses about that or say,
"Gee, it could've been this person, it could've been that person, I'm not sure"?
He wasn't sure. He...
You recognize exhibit 125?
That's one of the Sheriff's Department statement forms,
and it looks like James Lenk's signature on it.
- OK. Have you seen this document before? - No.
OK. And how about 138, which is the...
- Well, you tell me what it is. - Yeah.
That's another one of our statement forms.
It looks like it was filled out by Andrew Colborn.
And again, have you seen that document before today?
No.
A lot of people told me to watch my back.
Most of the time, I didn't even believe 'em.
But then, sitting and doing depositions,
I don't know, it kinda changed my mind.
They were covering something up.
And they were still covering something up.
Even with the sheriff who's on there now, he's...
covering something up.
Have you ever had any conversations with anybody else
other than Sheriff Petersen and Lieutenant Lenk
about the subject matter of exhibit 138?
Ever discuss it with anyone else?
Any other officers, any friends, any family?
Not that I can specifically recall.
I may have mentioned it to other people, but I don't recall doing it.
At the time that you received information from the crime lab
telling you that Gregory Allen was inculpated
in the sexual assault of Mrs. Beerntsen,
did you have conversation with any people in the sheriff's office?
- Yes. - Who were they?
Andy Colborn...
and Jim Lenk...
had information that he had received.
Let me show you what's been marked as exhibit 124.
- I'm familiar with the document. - OK.
Who is Douglass Jones?
Assistant district attorney for Manitowoc County.
All right. What is this memo to your understanding?
It speaks for itself.
He had a telephone conversation with Gene Kusche about the case.
This document reflects a conversation
between you and Douglass Jones
shortly after it became public knowledge that Steven Avery had been exculpated
and that Gregory Allen had been inculpated, right?
- That's correct. - All right. He says as he, Doug Jones,
was trying to close the conversation,
you told him "that in '95 or '96,
Andy Colborn had told Manitowoc County Sheriff, Tom Kocourek,
that an officer from Brown County had told Colborn
that Allen and not Avery might have actually committed the Beerntsen assault."
OK? Did you in fact tell that to Douglass Jones?
- I don't recall. - All right.
Does seeing this document, 124, refresh your recollection?
My recollection of this conversation, which is not very strong,
was that Colborn made a comment to me about getting some information.
Yeah?
OK, the statement goes on and says, the next sentence says,
- "Gene stated..." That's you. - Mm.
"...that Colborn was told by Kocourek something to the effect that
'we already have the right guy and he should not concern himself.'"
- Now, did Colborn tell that to you? - I don't recall it.
Do you have any reason to believe that Doug Jones
- would misrecord what you told him? - No.
OK.
Then it goes on to say that Doug Jones asked you if this information was known.
- Do you remember him asking you that? - No.
Then it goes on to say that you said Lenk, M.T.S.O. Lieutenant James Lenk,
Detective Bureau Command Officer, "was aware."
Did you tell that to Doug Jones?
If he put it there, I probably did.
And what was the basis for your knowledge about that?
It would've had to have been from Andy Colborn.
This was unconscionable withholding of information
that would have been of use to Steven Avery's lawyers
who were right at that time, in the middle of litigation,
asserting, based on the fingernail scrapings,
that there may have been somebody else involved in this.
If that information had come to light in 1995,
Steven Avery would've gotten out in 1995.
So they cost Steven Avery eight years of his life.
This is as close to a conspiracy of silence
as I think you could find in a case.
Did you provide this information to the attorney general's office?
Yes. My recollection says I believe we did.
And who's "we"?
Mike Griesbach and I when we went to Madison.
But this memo is...
was drafted after you had been to Madison.
I'm not sure the date we were in Madison.
You're saying you told that information to the attorney general's office?
We passed everything we had obtained to the attorney general's office.
OK, well, neither this memo nor anything about Colborn and Lenk
is in any of the records that were provided to the attorney general's office.
I can tell you that.
October of 2005,
from the perspective of the Manitowoc County government
and their defense lawyers,
I believe they all knew that they were in the most serious kind of trouble.
That there was a very grave prospect of a very, very substantial verdict.
Manitowoc County and the sheriff and the district attorney
are arguably covered by insurance policies,
and there's a good half dozen insurance policies.
However, the insurers have taken the position
that because of the nature of the allegations against the county,
the sheriff and the DA, the policies do not cover.
Which would mean that Manitowoc County itself and the sheriff and the DA
would be on the hook for those damages in that civil suit.
We don't need to have somebody tell us
that this is going to have an effect on law enforcement.
Of course it has an effect on law enforcement. Are you kidding me?
I mean, law enforcement officers get uptight
when there's even a suggestion that they have said something wrong in a courtroom.
Imagine what it's like when you're going to say that you're a liar
and that you hid evidence and that you deliberately prosecuted a person
that you knew, or at least had reason to know, wasn't guilty of the crime.
And putting all that aside, by the way, in terms of your own professionalism,
there's a guy out there raping and beating women
while the guy that you put in prison is sitting in a cell.
How's that make you feel?
We were just on the absolute edge
of getting ready to go after the named defendants in the case with depositions...
when I get a call from Walt,
who tells me that he has gotten a call from a journalist
asking if either of us would care to comment
on the apparent intersection in life between Steven Avery
and a woman who has gone missing in the Manitowoc area,
whom we later learn to be Teresa Halbach.
This is Action 2 News at five. Coverage you can count on.
Good evening. Thanks for joining us. The Calumet County Sheriff
says the disappearance of Teresa Halbach remains a mystery tonight.
The 25-year-old was last seen Monday afternoon in Manitowoc County.
Right now, police are conducting an aerial search of the land
from Manitowoc to Green Bay.
They're hoping to locate Teresa's car,
which they say is a major key in their investigation.
That car is a 1999 dark green Toyota RAV4, just like the one you see here.
Jeff Alexander has the latest in the investigation.
Halbach is a professional photographer.
One of her clients is Auto Trader
and police say she was in Manitowoc County Monday afternoon
at three different private homes, taking pictures of cars.
Ironically, Halbach's last stop Monday was at Steven Avery's home.
She was there to photograph this 1989 Dodge Caravan.
Avery regularly advertises in Auto Trader magazine
and says Halbach has visited his home on assignment
several times in the past year.
Did she mention any other appointments that day or anything like that?
No, I don't think so.
Because most of the time, she takes a picture
and then she writes down the serial number...
and then she comes and collects the money and... and that's about it.
OK. So what kinds of questions are police asking you?
Just when she was out here. What time. Around.
That was about it.
Did they ask you to take a polygraph or anything like that?
No. No.
Tonight the cops come and they asked me if I remembered anything
and I told them no.
You know, then they asked me if they can come in the house
and check the house over. I said, "I got no problem with that. Come on in."
So they checked the house all over.
You know, everything was fine and then they left.
And I mean, knowing her, I mean, what are your feelings for her parents and...
They must be going through hell.
This is very hard to take.
We love her a lot. We miss her very much.
It's just very odd that we...
we didn't hear from her for the last two days
when she didn't return calls, you know?
We're hoping for the best.
If she's out there, we want her home.
You know, we want to know what happened to her.
From what we understand, she made all three stops.
And after the third stop is where,
um, she stopped answering the phone or she stopped making calls.
She hadn't listened to any voicemail messages after that.
She didn't make any credit card transactions.
So... we don't know what happened after that.
- How are you holding up? - Um... I mean...
the grieving process, you know, could last days, could last weeks,
could last years.
You know, hopefully, we find answers as soon as possible so we can, you know,
begin to... hopefully, you know, move on,
hopefully with Teresa still in our life.
All the small towns, even St. Nazianz, Marytown,
Chilton, New Holstein, Kiel...
So basically we're looking at any public place,
bars, restaurants, gas stations, grocery stores, post offices, banks...
any place you can think of that's gonna allow you to put the posters up.
And if anybody knows, like, Manitowoc-Two Rivers kind of area,
I mean, if you know it... that would be best to send you guys there.
Like...
If you do find anything, say you find the truck,
say you talk to somebody that has seen her or made contact
or knows her whereabouts or anything, don't touch anything.
Make... It's very important, I guess. Um, don't touch anything.
Get a hold of either the detective or dispatch in Chilton and just, you know,
tell them you're really concerned and you found this
and they can take care of getting a hold of who we need to.
I don't know what to hope. I don't know if you want to find a vehicle
and, you know, she's there.
I don't know if you want to find nothing
and hope that she's somewhere still, um... alive.
You know, we don't know what to...
I don't know what to hope.
Hi, this is Pam Sturm.
I'm on the search for Teresa Halbach and we have found a RAV4.
- Is there any license plates on it? - There's...
No plates on it, but it's a little covered up.
It's weird. It's covered up.
OK. Can you get to the front of the car?
Yeah, I will.
I can find a VIN number. Is it OK if I go in the car?
No, do not go in the car. Do not touch the car.
- Yeah, well... - Stay on the outside of the car,
go over to the front on the driver's side...
OK, now hang on.
The fir... The last four digits: three, zero, four, four.
- OK, where are you? - Is that the number?
Where are you?
No, you gotta tell me if this is the car.
OK, stop. I can't tell you anything. Where are you?
I'm at Avery Salvage.
Other than the car, do we have anything else?
Not yet.
- OK, is he in custody? - Negative, nothing yet.
They blocked off about a four-mile stretch of the highway
that surrounds the Steven Avery home.
And earlier, hazmat vehicles also arrived on the scene,
as well as the Great Lakes K-9 Search and Rescue.
It's just bullshit that they can go and search our house and nobody there.
Well, yeah, they got the whole yard tore apart.
- Do they? - Yeah, the whole shit.
- I'm scared. - Yeah, me too.
- Well, not scared, just worried. - Yeah.
What's the status of Steven Avery?
Is he a suspect at this time? A person of interest?
Uh, everybody is a person of interest at this particular time.
Steven Avery is no more a suspect or a person of interest than anybody else
at this particular time.
Everything is aimed at the Avery compound.
Do you have any other large-scale place
that's being investigated besides the Avery compound?
I will not disclose that information.
You know, there's been speculation around
who has access to the yard.
Do you think your two brothers could've had anything to do with this?
No. No. Not at all.
Look, anybody can go down the road at nighttime, you know,
when everybody's sleeping.
You know, just drive in. My brother ain't gonna hear nothing.
So who do you think did something with her?
I got no idea.
If the county did something, or whatever,
in trying to plant evidence on me or something, I don't know.
I wouldn't put nothing past the county.
To avoid any appearance whatsoever of any impropriety,
I made the decision to seek the appointment
of Ken Kratz, Calumet County District Attorney,
as special prosecutor in this case.
What is your response to Mr. Avery's comment
that Manitowoc County may be trying to pull one over on him?
Yeah, that I'm happy to talk about.
That's something that, again, District Attorney Rohrer and Judge Fox
and really the Manitowoc Sheriff's Department
and other law enforcement community was very sensitive to...
any appearance at all of conflict.
Not just an actual conflict, but any appearance of conflict, I think.
Again, talking about District Attorney Rohrer,
the foresight that he had to bring in another agency,
a law enforcement agency, like Calumet County,
another prosecutor like the Calumet County District Attorney,
was meant to do just that,
to make sure that there couldn't even be those kind of allegations.
They ain't finding nothing.
'Cause there ain't nothing there, so why are they gonna find anything?
All I can think is they're trying to railroad me again.
"Dear Mr. Avery. I would like to invite you..."
Here, I'll move this chair.
There's a hole in the floor right here. Be careful.
OK.
"...to a luncheon that the Wisconsin Innocence Project
will be holding for exonerees from Wisconsin and surrounding states
on November 19th of this year.
The purpose of this luncheon will be to bring exonerees together
to build a network and support group for each other."
I don't think he's gonna be able to make it.
We should take all those shoes in case we have any unsolved burglaries
with foot impressions.
Yeah, there we go.
Can you move it over here a little bit?
Perfect.
I hadn't been home. They just been searching.
You know, how hard is it to put evidence in the house?
Or on the property?
The sheriff... The old sheriff was out to get me the first time.
How do I know he ain't got nothing to do with it this time, you know?
I don't know.
Have you continued to talk to Steven Avery?
They are... He is cooperating with the investigation.
Is the rest of his family?
Yes, they are.
- How so? - Do you yet know
what the order of her appointments was and who she visited last?
We feel we are narrowing in on that.
Do you think Steven Avery is the last person
- who saw her alive? - We feel we are narrowing in on that.
Tonight the Averys feel like they've become the focus of this investigation
and feel like police are calling them liars.
The entire Avery family is holed up
in their Marinette County cabin right now,
being told after three days they still cannot go home.
Yet they say investigators won't tell them what's going on.
Avery says he once again feels like a suspect
and fears that any moment, police could arrest him.
It all comes back. All these memories and everything else, and they're...
just sketching me out again. And deep down, it hurts.
A hundred percent of my hopes are with finding Teresa.
When we last heard, she was alive on Monday afternoon.
And until we hear otherwise, that's what we're gonna believe,
that's what we're gonna pray.
I'm just praying that God is next to her.
Please bring her home.
That's all we want. Just bring her home.
Please, somebody find her.
Did they find anything while you were out searching?
I'm not really gonna comment on that, but if anything was found, you know,
we had proper authority and had professionals take a look at it as needed.
How many times were you on the site?
You were there Saturday when they found the car,
but how many other times were you on the site?
- I... I wasn't... I wasn't on the site. - You were never on the site.
That's not true at all.
Did you get there, Mike?
Were you a part of the... on the site searching?
- We... - No, the people...
I mean, the original...
Who originally found the vehicle was a member of our search party.
- It was a member of our search party. - Who asked permission to go onto the site.
But no one other than that has ever been on the Avery property.
On the actual site. It's been crime scene and taped off. Secured.
Significant evidence has been discovered over the past 24 hours
at the Avery Salvage Yard.
And the evidence that we've collected is leading us to that of a human person.
You know, we're all victims.
You know, and they just won't leave us alone.
They just keep it up, keep it up.
You know, it's...
You know, a person only can take so much. You know?
Right now, I got enough of 'em. You know?
They can go somewhere else and... and just leave us alone.
Let us do our life and live normal.
Well, as I am sure everybody is aware,
the scope of this investigation is now criminal in nature
and we are classifying it as a homicide investigation.
Um, it appears that an attempt was made
to dispose of a body by an incendiary means.
Pieces of human bone and teeth were found on the Avery property,
and the key that was used
to start Teresa Halbach's vehicle
was found in Steven Avery's bedroom.
And again I want to emphasize that the investigation
revolves around one victim in this case and that's Teresa Halbach.
And I also want to emphasize
that the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department's role in this investigation
was to provide resources for us when they were needed.
As we needed items on the property
to conduct searches,
they provided that piece of equipment and that's their role
and their only role in this investigation.
I spoke with Steven Avery's attorney by phone this afternoon.
Walt Kelly told me he'd been unable to speak to Avery,
didn't know where he was and feared what might happen to him
when he was questioned about Teresa Halbach's disappearance.
I spent the entire afternoon,
including direct conversation with Sheriff Pagel,
trying to locate my client.
My colleague Steve Glynn was in an automobile in the area
trying to find him.
I think they purposely have kept him away from us.
I think they want to question him in our absence.
Where is Avery right now? Which jail? Do you know?
- I don't. I'm sorry. - I don't know which jail. I...
You don't know where Steven Avery is?
We know where he is, but we are not releasing that information
because we do not have contact...
He's entitled to...
You know how this works.
You can't beat the evidence.
- Work with us a little. - Think of your family.
I did not do it.
How's your family gonna be when they think you're a cold-blooded person?
- I did not do it. - If you made a mistake,
they'll understand that.
Yeah, but if there's a crooked cop...
So you're telling me somebody planted the body?
- I didn't do it. - Who did it?
- I don't know. - Steve.
I do not know.
Steve, think of your family here for a second.
- I am thinking of my family! - No, you're not.
- You're thinking of yourself. - No.
You're thinking of yourself.
And we don't blame you for doing that.
Goddamn it, you had 17 years in prison for something you didn't freaking do.
- I didn't do this one. - And we understand that.
- You made a mistake. You made a mistake. - No, I did not. I didn't do nothing.
- How could I make a mistake? - So you intentionally killed her.
- That what you're telling me? - No, I didn't. I didn't do nothing.
How did it happen? Explain to me how it happened.
I would like to introduce two individuals
who I feel have done a fantastic job in this investigation.
Investigator Mark Wiegert from my office and Special Agent Tom Fassbender,
from the Department of Criminal Investigation.
You said yesterday and earlier in the week
"there's only one victim in this case." Can you explain why you said that?
Sheriff Pagel said that. I've said that before, but go ahead, Sheriff.
OK. There is only one victim in this matter and that is Teresa Halbach.
She is the individual who lost her life.
And that is the one and only victim in this matter.
It... I'll comment further. I don't have a problem with this.
I've heard many reports
and have seen images of a specific suspect in this case,
now Mr. Avery, on the various media,
suggesting that, "Why are they looking at me?"
"Why would I be asked questions about Teresa's death and disappearance?"
I hope with the DNA positive analysis and the other surrounding circumstances
that that question doesn't have to be asked anymore.
I know you're scared, Steve. I know you're scared.
- I'm not scared. - Because you didn't mean to kill her.
- I don't think you meant to kill her. - No, I did not kill her.
- This wasn't a planned thing. - No.
- Did you plan it? - No.
OK, I didn't think so.
I didn't think you're that kind of a guy from meeting you.
I think what happened, you come out of prison
for serving time for something you didn't even do...
- I did not do it. - ...and it screws you up in the head.
Like it screws everybody up.
They didn't give you any counseling. You said before they gave no counseling.
- I did not kill her. - The body's on your property.
The key is in your bedroom.
You know the key is there because you put the key there.
- That's the only way the key gets there. - No.
Yes, Steve. Yes. That's the fact.
You can deny it all you want. The evidence will show that, OK?
- That's the way it is. - But the cops got the evidence.
Yeah. Two independent investigators that have never met you.
Two people who have never met you.
Have nothing against you.
- I know nothing about you. - No, you see,
if somebody else plants that shit there, you ain't gonna see it...
Then why are your... Why is your DNA in there?
Why is her blood in your house?
How are they going to get that blood in your house?
How is her blood in my house? It can't be.
I used to leave my house open all the time.
How does your DNA get inside of her truck?
My DNA ain't. That's because they got blood out of me.
How much blood do they get out of me? A lot of blood.
- Steve. - They got a lot of blood outta me.
- That sheriff? - Steve. Come back to reality here.
- I am. - No, you're not.
I did 18 years. You think I want to do any more?
As special prosecutor, I have also been asked to comment
upon any possibility of tainted evidence
or of something along those lines.
There was some mention, in the media,
that this key in his bedroom could've been left or planted or something of the like.
Now that Mr. Avery's DNA is found on that particular key,
I was left to question whether or not people would have me believe
that not only are they carrying around keys for Teresa's vehicle,
but they're also carrying around vials of Mr. Avery's DNA with them,
whether it's perspiration or whatever. It's absurd.
Because DNA evidence from the suspect, Steven Avery, was found on the key
and Mr. Avery's blood is found inside of Teresa Halbach's vehicle,
it is no longer a question, at least in my mind as a special prosecutor in this case,
who is responsible for the death of Teresa Halbach.
Hey, Steve! Everybody's listening! What do you want to say today?
I'm innocent.
What else do you want to say, Steven? We can't tell it without you.
You know, last time, it took me 18 years and six weeks
to prove my innocence.
This time, I don't know how long.
Sync and corrections by explosiveskull www.addic7ed.com