Why Did Loof the Bloodhound Alert on Teresa Halbach's Scent at the Cul-de-sac on Kuss Road? [Updated 6-12-2017]

The driveway to Joshua Radandt's deer camp is off the Kuss Road cul-de-sac. A field road from the Avery property leads to the cul-de-sac, and vice versa. Click here for a photo tour of Kuss Road, the driveway to Radandt's deer camp, and the area around the quarry by sweatyuncle_steve at reddit on May 29, 2017.

Included in Kathleen Zellner's August 26, 2016 motion is CASO Deputy Rick Riemer's report of activity for November 7th (exhibit D of Zellner's motion and CASO file page 138). Riemer wrote that he and Fauske walked Radandt's quarry and the surrounding field area with a bloodhound named Loof, and Loof tracked to "the south entry door" of a "red trailer" and "was very intense on this track." He also wrote that "this track continued in a westward direction to a cul-de-sac at the end of Kuss Road" (go to page 43 of Zellner's October 23, 2017 motion to read her explanation about Kuss Road).

Riemer's report is as follows (slightly paraphrased):

"I assisted Sarah Fauske, a patrol officer from Kaukauna Police Department, and her bloodhound, Loof, with tracking. We walked the Radandt quarry and field area on different tracks, covering five to 10 miles. One of the more significant tracks that Loof tracked was from the south entry door of the red house trailer near the concrete stoop, and this track continued in a westerly direction toward a cul-de-sac at the end of Kuss Road. Fauske indicated that Loof was very intense on this track."

In the report it is unclear if Riemer is referring to the red trailer at Avery Salvage Yard or a red trailer at Radandt's deer camp, but he does specify that he and Fauske were in Radandt's quarry and the surrounding field areas when they walked the five to 10 miles of tracks with Loof the bloodhound. And since Zellner included Riemer's report as an exhibit in her motion, the logical conclusion would be that Riemer is referring to a red trailer at the deer camp in Radandt's quarry (image below).





UPDATE JUNE 12, 2017: Attached to Kathleen Zellner's June 7, 2017 motion for post-conviction relief is a report by Loof's handler, which states that on November 7, 2005 Loof the bloodhound, tracking Teresa Halbach's scent, walked around Avery's premise, garage and trailer and had shown interest at areas there. This means the trailer that Loof hit on was Avery's red trailer, not the red trailer that had been at the deer camp. The following is Loof's handler's report for activity on November 7th.

We walked down the driveway to the Avery property to the area where the van was sitting and for sale. I pre-scented K9 Loof and did a perimeter scent inventory. K9 Loof was harnessed, given the scent article of the insole and given the command of "Find".

Having started approximately 50 feet east of the van, K9 Loof immediately went to the front portion of the van for sale. K9 Loof continued west going to a black F350 parked in the driveway in front of a garage. K9 Loof went to both doors of the truck. K9 Loof then went directly to the service door of the garage and worked her nose along the bottom of the actual overhead garage door, showing much interest.

K9 Loof worked west around the side of the garage but was unable to continue due to a large aggressive appearing German Shepard. K9 Loof wanted to continue around the garage.

K9 Loof went up to the south door of the trailer home. The door having a small porch entrance and the door was white in color. K9 Loof wanted to enter the home. K9 Loof continued north along the trailer and went between some pine trees and a burning barrel. K9 Loof smelled a charred area showing some interest then continued west.

K9 Loof went west in a picked cornfield. Directly to the south was a gravel pit and in between the two was an area of brush and trees. K9 Loof worked this area with indications of very strong scent. K9 Loof worked west coming out to a cul-de-sac that was taped off with crime scene tape and two deputies were not allowing access. K9 Loof crossed the tape on one occasion and then was told not to go any further. The deputies phoned Sheriff Pagel to see if I could continue but were told to not allow anyone access at this time.

UPDATE JUNE 12, 2017: Also attached to Zellner's motion for post-conviction relief file is an affidavit from Joshua Radandt. The following is an excerpt (see also, Ken Kratz "Shuffled" the Burn Barrels, Which is How "Deer Camp Burn Barrel #2," the Only Barrel to Contain Bones, Became "Janda Burn Barrel #2").

"Later that week I received a call from law enforcement on my cell phone. Law enforcement asked me to unlock my three hunting trailers so they could be searched. I left work and drove to the hunting camp. When I arrived there was nobody there. I unlocked my trailers and left.

"It is my understanding that they were searched by law enforcement and scent tracking dogs.

"Later that day law enforcement called my phone again. They informed me they completed their search and I could use them again normally.

"During the course of the conversation law enforcement informed me that they were going to collect the contents of the burn barrel at the hunting camp at a later time. When I returned to camp they had the area cordoned off surrounding the burn barrel and had officers to watch the burn barrel day and night on a rotating basis until its contents were collected.

"A few days later I remember seeing light in the Manitowoc county sand and gravel pit to the south of Radant's property. I remember that the lights appeared to illuminate the entire Manitowoc county pit."

Brutus‏ @cadaverdogbrutu
Pagel and his Kuss road blockade...turns the true heroes away on the day...sniffer dogs. Unbelievable. #hownottorunalegitinvestigation

TickTockManitowoc @TManitowoc
Picture this scene: "Any sign of my missing Teresa?" "No sorry, Ms. Halbach..our sheriff blocked the search and rescue dogs from looking."



Zellner is seeking a judge's permission to allow advanced DNA and scientific testing on the pelvic bones found in the burn pile at Radandt's quarry [CASO Property No. 8675] and on burnt material found at Radandt's deer camp [CASO Property No. 7958 and 7953] off the seldom-traveled stretch of Kuss Road.

Zellner wrote in her August 26, 2016 motion that bones found in Radandt's quarry, which included a pelvis, were suspected to be human:

"State expert Leslie Eisenberg testified that the volume of bones discovered in the burn pit was 'two-to three-fifths of what might be expected.' Dr. Eisenberg also admitted that the bones had been moved prior to their location in Mr. Avery’s burn pit. Dr. Eisenberg testified that she suspected that the bones found in the Radandt quarry, which included a pelvis, were human."

During Zellner's press conference on August 26, 2016, she said that only 30 percent of the bones were recovered and 29 of the teeth were never recovered

"The bones were moved. That was admitted. There was a human pelvis found over in the quarry. The bones were in different spots. The body was not burned whole. It's not possible to do that. So you've got the same bone in three different places. You've got only 30% of the bones recovered. You have 29 of the teeth never recovered. The bones look like they were planted. The property was closed down. The coroner from Manitowoc was not allowed on the property and actually was not notified it was a murder—that violates the Wisconsin statute."

In Zellner's motion, she wrote that Sgt. Andy Colborn of MTSO discovered Teresa's RAV4 on November 3rd, at which time it was seized by MTSO; and then on November 4th, after the CASO flyover, it was moved from Radandt's quarry to the Avery property using the conveyor road:

"On November 3, 2005, Officer Colborn discovered the victim’s vehicle and called dispatch, on a personal line, to confirm the victim’s license plate number. On November 3, 2005, according to the Manitowoc County Sheriff s Department reports, Ms. Halbach’s vehicle was seized. Ms. Halbach's vehicle was moved to the southeast corner of the Avery property on the evening of November 4, 2005 after Calumet County Sheriff Jerry Pagel and Investigator Wendy Baldwin conducted a flyover of the Avery salvage yard. Ms. Halbach's vehicle was moved from the Fred Radandt Sons, Inc. quarry to the Avery property using the conveyor road that led onto the Avery property from the quarry."

Keep in mind that around 8 p.m. on November 4th, Chuck Avery saw headlights in the area where the RAV4 would be found the next morning.

Zellner also wrote that Steven Avery contends the victim’s key and bones were planted on his property on November 7, 2005 and were discovered on November 8, 2005:

"Non-law enforcement individuals were also allowed to enter the property after the property was closed to the general public. Two of those individuals were untruthful in their police interviews. Mr. Avery will present his third party theory in his post-conviction petition that he will file once he obtains the new test results. Individual A [Joshua Radandt] accessed the  property from the quarry four times, for some unknown reason, after it had been closed to the public. Specifically, Individual A accessed the property within minutes of Officers Colborn and Lenk on November 5, and twice on November 7. Prior to anyone realizing that Ms. Halbach’s body had been burned, Individual A gave a statement in which he described seeing a fire in a burn barrel behind Mr. Avery’s garage on October 31, 2005. Subsequent investigation has determined that Individual A’s statement is contrary to the facts; Mr. Avery’s burn barrel was never behind his trailer or garage, and it was impossible for Individual A to observe Mr.  Avery’s backyard as he described because of the elevation of the quarry from where he was allegedly making his observations.

"Individual B [Ryan Hillegas] accessed the property using a false name... Individual B received approximately 22 calls from law enforcement on November 4, 2005, prior to the victim’s vehicle being moved onto the property. Individual B accessed the Avery property twice on November 7, 2005 and once on November 8, 2005 after the property was closed to the public. Mr. Avery contends that the victim’s key and bones were planted on November 7, 2005 and were discovered on November 8, 2005."

On April 9, 2016, Kathleen Zellner tweeted:

“All day re-tracing TH steps. No doubt she left Avery property alive. All roads lead to one door and it's not Steven Avery's.”

An interpretation of the tweet is as follows:

There are several roads in and out of Radandt's quarry into Avery Salvage Yard [Radandt's quarry is to the south, east and west of Avery Salvage Yard.] 

All roads from Radandt's lead straight to Avery Salvage Yard.

The hunting cabins at the deer camp in Radandt's quarry are pictured above as they were on November 4, 2005. There were three cabins and what looks like a shed or garage. One of the cabins/trailers appears to be red. Avery's red trailer is at the top of the image.

The smaller cabin (on the left in the image above) and the red trailer (the center cabin in the image above) at Radandt's deer camp are no longer there. When they were removed is unknown, but Radandt sold the deer camp almost a year to date after Teresa went missing.

Sometime after 2005 and before 2014, there were only two cabins (trailers) at the deep camp in Radandt's quarry, as pictured below.



solunaView of Reddit visited the deer camp at Radandt's quarry. The following is what he/she wrote about it on August 28, 2016:

• The property was sold almost a year to the date after the TH murder.
• The property and the access road is still an entry to the Radandt quarry.
•  The property is very small and of little value for anyone, even as a "hunting" location due to the surrounding area.
• The property was sold to someone from Sheboygan, WI. I have the name but will keep that to myself for doxxing reasons.
• Radandt has relatives in Sheboygan and it is believed that the property is still in the family (if it wasn't, the road into the quarry would be closed off).
• Trailers were moved and taken offsite. One of my concerns, and why I visited the actual camp, was to see if there was a foundation under any new trailers. There is not.

The "deer camp" theory was developed because of the trailers and the site changes. Joshua Radandt implicated himself by his early and far too detailed eyewitness accounts to law enforcement. The fact bloodhounds led right to the Kuss Road cul-de-sac only further complicates the issue. Human bones found on your property and you skate/are allowed on the Avery property during an active investigation? How is this possible?

When you place a cursor over a Google Maps satellite image of the deer camp at Radandt's quarry and right click on it, it displays the address as 13136 White Cedar Road. When you map the route to this address from Avery's, it takes you to the deer camp via Kuss Road.

Google doesn't properly map the driveway you would take through the woods at the end of the cul-de-sac on Kuss Road to get to the deer camp, but you can see that long driveway when viewing the satellite image (images above and below).







In the image below, the burn pile in the quarry is circled in red, Avery's trailer is circled in yellow, the location where the RAV4 was found in the "pit" at Avery Salvage Yard is circled in pink, and Radandt's deer camp is marked with the bullseye (it's actually to the left and below the bullseye).

The killer had three days before Teresa was reported missing to dispose of her body. The burn pile at the gravel mound in the quarry (circled in red in the image below) was far from any residences and would have been an ideal place to burn a body without being noticed.

The burn pile, although in the quarry, actually was on a section of land owned by the county.





Today, satellite images show mining of gravel west and northwest of Avery's trailer (image below); however, in October 2005 that area was a field with a vehicle-sized path running along the boundary with Avery Salvage Yard (image above). Because that field is now a quarry, you can no longer drive from the cul-de-sac on Kuss Road to Avery's trailer, but you still can drive from Kuss Road to the deer camp/hunting cabins in Radandt's quarry. This is visible in the image below and in the drone flyover of the Avery property from January 2016 (video below).



The image below is a screen shot from a video taken by a drone on October 31, 2016. You clearly can see that there now are only two trailers at Radandt's deer camp. There is a pine tree near the spot where the red trailer at the deer camp was located on October 31, 2005.







Below is a screen shot from an episode of Evil Lives Here on the Investigation Discovery channel. It is an image of Avery's property after the bones were discovered on November 8, 2005 (the blue tarp in the image was placed over the burn pit after the bones were found). You can see tire tracks going to the burn pit and coming from the direction of the field track to Kuss Road ( image source). Could the burnt remains found in Avery's burn pit have come in this way?



Below are other photos of Avery's property, but they were taken either before the bones were discovered in the burn pit behind Avery's garage or on the day the bones were discovered and the blue tarp had yet to be placed over the burn pit. You can see tire tracks going to the burn pit.



Law enforcement had commandeered Avery's property, his sister's property, and Avery Salvage Yard on November 5, 2005 and did not release it until November 12, 2005. During those eight days, the Avery family was not allowed on their properties. Delores Avery had a golf cart that she stored in her garage, which is where it was found when cops searched Avery Salvage Yard for Teresa Halbach at 2:30 p.m. on November 5, 2005 (CASO page 82). It remained on the property until cops removed it and secured it on a sealed trailer on November 11, 2005 (CASO, page 239). A cadaver dog alerted on this cart (Avery's 2009 motion, page 8). Could the tracks going to the burn pit behind Avery's garage be golf cart tracks?



For more information on the bones found at Radandt's quarry, see the following:

• The Bones Found at Radandt's Quarry PART 1
• The Bones Found at Radandt's Quarry PART 2

Radandt Quarry May Hold Key to Teresa Halbach's Murder



(Photo: USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

By John Ferak
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
October 3, 2016

MANITOWOC - After Teresa Halbach's Toyota RAV4 was found in 2005 on the Avery family property, authorities established a mobile command center post while squad cars blocked public access on several nearby roads.

Customers of the Avery salvage business, the Avery family and television news trucks were restricted from the site by Manitowoc and Calumet County sheriff's deputies.

Nothing out of the ordinary there. They were standard measures to protect the integrity of the crime scene.
But what happened next wasn't normal or typical.

Authorities inexplicably opened their crime scene fortress to a few outsiders — the same people whose conduct and whereabouts around the time of Halbach's disappearance was overlooked by law enforcement.

As a result, records reviewed by USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin revealed, Detective Lt. James Lenk and Sgt. Andrew Colborn of the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department made Steven Avery the sole focus of the investigation, at the expense of other viable suspects.

Crime scene logs kept at the search site on the Avery property identified at least seven confirmed visits inside the crime scene perimeter by a handful of people who ordinarily wouldn't be privy to an open murder investigation.

At about 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 5, volunteer searcher Pam Sturm discovered Halbach's vehicle, prompting an eight-day evidence search that ended Nov. 12, 2005. Halbach disappeared without a trace on Halloween — five days before her vehicle was found. Her mother reported her missing on Nov. 3.

"Non-law enforcement individuals were ... allowed to enter the property after the property was closed to the general public," Avery's attorney, Kathleen Zellner, stated in court documents filed Aug. 26 in Manitowoc County in support of her motion for detailed scientific testing of evidence in the Halbach murder. "Two of those individuals were untruthful in their police interviews."

The repeat visitors arrived at and left the walled-off crime scene along Avery Road before several noteworthy clues surfaced at the 40-acre property. They were items of evidence that prosecutors needed to cement Avery's arrest and eventual first-degree murder conviction in 2007.

The clues included:

• Missing license plates for Halbach's RAV4. 
• A spare ignition key.
• Remnants of a burnt cell phone and camera.
• Rivets for Daisy Fuentes women's jeans.
• Fragments of teeth.
• A number of charred human bones.

However, police reports compiled by Manitowoc and Calumet County offer little insight into why Joshua Radandt, Scott Bloedorn and Ryan Hillegas were regularly coming and going from the secured crime scene during the days that led up to Avery's arrest on Nov. 9, 2005.

"In this case ... it's going to raise questions for the police, 'What was their function?'" George Schiro, a nationally recognized forensic scientist, told USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. "Non-essential people should be kept out of the scene. It just keeps the questions from being raised about the integrity of the crime scene."

At the time of Halbach's disappearance, Radandt, then 31, operated the large quarry behind Avery Salvage. Hillegas, then 25, was the missing woman's ex-boyfriend. Bloedorn, then 26, was a close friend of Hillegas who lived with Halbach in rural Calumet County.


Ryan Hillegas at Avery's trial

"Sometimes you do have legitimate reasons for allowing civilians into the crime scene, but it's an absolute must to make sure someone else in law enforcement is always there, to make sure that no one is tampering with the evidence," said Schiro, who runs Scales Biological Laboratory in Brandon, Mississippi.

Here's a deeper look at several events preceding Avery's arrest that coincided with the outsiders' admittance into the crime scene.

Nov. 5, 2005 

When: 5:25 p.m. to 5:35 p.m.

Circumstances: Hours after volunteer searcher Pam Sturm of De Pere alerted authorities to Halbach's vehicle covered with tree branches on the outer edge of Avery Salvage, Radandt, the adjacent quarry's owner, signed into the crime scene log. At 5:30 p.m. reports reflect, Radandt wrote the following statement: "On Oct. 31 at approximately 4:30 p.m. I drove up to my 'deer camp' off of Kuss Road (through) my gravel pit and observed a fire going in the proximity of Steve Avery's home or on Avery property. The fire appeared to be contained to a 55 (gallon) drum." Although Radandt did not testify at Avery's trial, his statement supports special prosecutor Ken Kratz's narrative that Avery incinerated Halbach's body after raping and murdering her that afternoon.


Burn barrel seized by the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department from murder suspect Steven Avery's yard. (Photo: Manitowoc County Sheriff's Office)

Zellner filing: "Subsequent investigation has determined that (Radandt's) statement is contrary to the facts; Mr. Avery's burn barrel was never behind his trailer or garage and it was impossible for (Radandt) to observe Mr. Avery's backyard as he described because of the elevation of the quarry from where he was allegedly making his observations."

Nov. 6 

When: 5:08 p.m. to 5:28 p.m.

Circumstances: During daylight, hundreds of police and volunteer firefighters canvassed approximately 4,000 junked vehicles, but Halbach's body, her clothes and her vehicle's missing license plates were nowhere to be found. By the time Radandt returned to the Avery property, it was dark. Most of the police officers had left for the day. However, a number of Manitowoc deputies remained on site, including Deputy Inspector Gregg Schetter, Colborn, Lenk and Dave Remiker, sign-in logs show.

Zellner filing: Contends there is a tie between Colborn, Lenk and the Manitowoc County quarry operator in this case. "Officer Colborn seized the victim's car on November 3, two days prior to it being planted on the Avery property ... Ms. Halbach's vehicle was moved to the southeast corner of the Avery property on the evening of November 4, 2005 after Calumet County Sheriff Jerry Pagel and Investigator Wendy Baldwin conducted a flyover of the Avery Salvage Yard. Ms. Halbach's vehicle was moved from the Fred Radandt Sons, Inc. quarry to the Avery property using the conveyor road that led onto the  Avery property from the quarry."


Aerial photo showing the Avery Salvage Yard and the surrounding Radandt quarry property in November 2005. Zellner has stated that Halbach's RAV4 was moved from the Radandt quarry onto Avery's on Friday night, November 4, 2005 to set up her client for the crime. (Photo: Trial exhibit Avery murder case)

Nov. 7 

When: 6:59 a.m. until 7:10 a.m.

Circumstances: Radandt's third consecutive day of visiting the secured crime scene. Schetter, third in command at the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department, was one of the highest-ranking officials at the scene when Radandt came by. Minutes after the quarry operator left, a large contingent of Manitowoc sheriff's deputies arrived for their shift, including Lenk, Colborn, Detective Dennis Jacobs, Lt. Todd Hermann, and Schetter's predecessor, Mike Bushman, who had recently retired but remained as a part-time reserve deputy.

Zellner filing: Radandt "accessed the property from the quarry four times, for some unknown reason, after it had been closed to the public. (Radandt) accessed the property within minutes of Officers Colborn and Lenk on Nov. 5 and twice on November 7 ... Mr. Avery is requesting DNA testing on the burnt material found at the Radandt deer hunting camp west of the Avery Salvage Yard to determine whether there are any items of evidentiary value at the deer camp."

When: 9:03 a.m. to 9:53 a.m.

Circumstances: Hillegas and Bloedorn, who came from 40 minutes away, spent nearly an hour at the secured scene. That morning, Bushman agreed to lead a four-member evidence search party of fellow Manitowoc sheriff's deputies. Deputy Dave Siders later testified he came across Avery's burn barrel and removed a heavy metal tire rim from inside. Remnants of a Motorola emblem for a cellphone and debris from a camera were identified. Authorities insisted the charred debris was Halbach's camera and cellphone.



Zellner filing: "There are conflicting dates (Nov. 5 and Nov. 7) about law enforcement's discovery of the remnants of Ms. Halbach's Motorola Razr cell phone, Palm Pilot and camera in a burn barrel in Mr. Avery's yard. No mention was made at trial about the second Motorola cell phone taken from Ms. Halbach's home on November 3, 2005 ... Mr. Avery is requesting to examine items described as a Motorola Razr phone and box from the victim's dining room ... The inability of the State to produce the Motorola phone located in the victim's residence would demonstrate that it was the phone placed in the burn barrel by law enforcement."

When: 11:51 a.m. until 12:29 p.m.

Circumstances: Radandt returned to the crime scene for the second time that morning. He came by shortly after Colborn, Lenk and Calumet Sgt. Bill Tyson finished walking through the sprawling salvage yard, apparently to check for vehicles that were overlooked the day before.

When: Time unknown until 4:28 p.m.

Circumstances: Hillegas and Bloedorn both signed out at 4:28 p.m., but there was no sign-in log for either of them. Their continued presence around Avery Road preceded some of the biggest developments in the investigation. The next morning, Nov. 8, Halbach's license plates were discovered inside a junked Mercury station wagon that had broken windows; and Colborn and Lenk rechecked Avery's bedroom and produced a spare key for Halbach's vehicle. Sheriff's Sgt. Jason Jost found a large vertebrae and another human bone near Avery's burn pile pit.

Zellner's filing: Has accused Hillegas of using a false name that day to help authorities search near one of the gravel pits. Zellner furnished a notebook sheet written and signed by the "Ryan Kilgus Group." Zellner also revealed Hillegas "received approximately 22 calls from law enforcement on Nov. 4, 2005 prior to the victim's vehicle being moved onto the property."



Nov. 8 

When: 6:41 p.m. until 7:07 p.m.

Circumstances: Hours after Jost noticed the human bones near Avery's burn pit, Hillegas and Bloedorn were back at the crime scene after dark. Logs show they stayed nearly a half-hour. Meanwhile, authorities decided not to summon Manitowoc County Coroner Deb Kakatsch. No crime-scene photos or videos were taken to document the discovery of the human bones. The following day, Avery was arrested. His $36 million wrongful conviction lawsuit against Manitowoc County and ex-sheriff Tom Kocourek imploded.

Zellner filing: Points out that most of Halbach's bones and 29 of her teeth were absent from Avery's burn pit — raising doubt about how and where Halbach actually died. Zellner has asked for DNA testing on the human pelvic bones that were recovered that week from one of the adjacent quarries. They were clues that Kratz chose to downplay at Avery's murder trial.

Nov. 9-12, 2005 

After Avery's arrest, Radandt, Hillegas and Bloedorn made no more visits to the secured crime scene, sign-in logs indicate.


(Photo: Trial Exhibit Steven Avery)

By John Ferak
USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
October 11, 2016

MANITOWOC -  After sheriff's deputies recovered Teresa Halbach's Toyota RAV4 on the Avery salvage yard property in early November 2005, signs of a grisly crime began to emerge — but not where you'd expect.

Less than a mile away, in northern Manitowoc County, authorities located blood. They recovered charred human bones. They hauled away a considerable amount of suspicious burnt material.

Surprisingly, none of this evidence came from their walled off 40-acre crime scene at Avery Road where Halbach's vehicle was found.

The clues were emerging around several nearby quarry sites. The Wisconsin State Crime Lab found flesh and blood at the Michels Materials quarry near State 147 and the east side of Avery Road, about a quarter-mile from the Avery salvage secured crime scene.

"We were told of three areas where cadaver dogs had been interested," state forensic scientist John Ertl testified at Steven Avery's trial in 2007. "There was a gravel yard, gravel quarry. And there was a maybe 30-foot-tall mound of gravel and sand. And about 6 to 8 feet up the pile, the dog got excited about something."

Avery was eventually found guilty of murdering Halbach, 25, and is serving a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. His nephew, Brendan Dassey, also is imprisoned for Halbach's murder, but his conviction has been overturned by a federal magistrate. Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel has appealed that decision.

Back in 2005, Ertl's experienced team of forensic scientists found "reddish staining on some pieces of gravel." Preliminary tests gave off a positive reaction for blood, according to Ertl.


John Ertl, a forensic scientist with the Wisconsin State Crime Lab in Madison, opened testimony in the Steven Avery murder trial at the Calumet County Courthouse. (Photo: File/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

Furthermore, "we located a pink substance, perhaps three-quarters of an inch in largest dimension, looked like flesh," Ertl testified. "We found another piece of material about the same size; it was reddish and white in color. Both of those items ... tested presumptive positive for the presence of blood. We collected those. We didn't find anything more."

The blood and flesh — along with a number of charred bones that would also be recovered at Joshua Radandt's quarry directly behind the Avery Salvage — were downplayed by special prosecutor Ken Kratz at Avery's murder trial.  

By then, Kratz had already established his narrative for the high-profile murder case: Avery and Dassey raped, murdered and incinerated the photographer's body at the burn pile pit near Avery's garage.

Kratz speculated Avery and Dassey took turns thrusting a butcher knife into Halbach's naked body as she was chained to Avery's bedposts, screaming and begging for her life. Ertl, a blood-spatter expert, testified at Avery's trial that there was no evidence of any cast-off blood spatter inside Avery's bedroom or in the garage to corroborate Kratz's story.

Fast-forward nine years.

Avery's post-conviction lawyer, Kathleen Zellner, of suburban Chicago, is seeking a judge's permission to allow advanced DNA and scientific testing on several clues that were confiscated by Wisconsin law enforcement from the nearby quarries including what's known as the Radandt deer camp property off the seldom-traveled stretch of Kuss Road.


Kathleen Zellner, the attorney representing Steven Avery, speaks with the media Friday at the Manitowoc County Courthouse. (Photo: Gary Klein/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

It remains to be seen whether Zellner's late August court filing in Manitowoc County will reveal the identity of Halbach's killer. If Zellner's on the right track, many of the overlooked clues from the quarries may play an enormous role in determining Avery's fate.

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin reviewed the 1,100-page-plus Halbach murder investigation report, compiled by the Calumet County Sheriff's Department, plus other reports generated by the state crime laboratory, to identify a number of instances where potentially significant clues turned up at the off-site quarries.

Here are some of the notable examples:

When: Saturday, Nov. 5, 2005

People involved: Calumet County investigator John Dedering; DCI agent Al Hunsrader; Manitowoc County Detective Dennis Jacobs; Julie Cramer, Great Lakes Search and Rescue K-9 Team; and Brutus, a cadaver-scent dog.

Circumstances: After Manitowoc County seized control of Halbach's vehicle, Manitowoc County Sgt. Brian Nack obtained permission to search Radandt's quarry in connection with Halbach's disappearance. Although a cadaver-sniffing dog named Brutus "did show interest in several areas in the quarry or gravel pit south of the Avery Auto Salvage yard property, Brutus did not factually alert on anything in the area," Dedering wrote in his report. Meanwhile, authorities remained a continued presence in and around the quarry in the coming days. For reasons unclear, authorities from Calumet and Manitowoc County granted access to Radandt, on at least four different occasions, at their walled-off crime scene prior to Avery's arrest on Nov. 9.

In her motion seeking new scientific testing, Zellner stated that Halbach's blue-green RAV4 had been concealed on Radandt's quarry and that it was moved from Radandt's property on Friday night, Nov. 4, 2005, along the conveyor road, to incriminate Avery for the young woman's disappearance.


Steven Avery's lawyers emphasized that several unidentified fingerprints and palm prints were recovered from Teresa Halbach's RAV4 but the prints did not belong to their client. (Photo: File/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

When: Sunday, Nov. 6

People involved: Joseph Tenor, Calumet deputy; Ertl and other Wisconsin State Crime Lab forensic scientists from Madison

Circumstances: Tenor was part of a group of searchers with cadaver dogs inspecting the Michels Materials quarry east of Avery Road, police reports show. One of the cadaver dogs "hit" on a pile of dirt and sand north of the quarry's weight scale area. "Where the dog alerted to, I located an item in the pile of dirt. The item was red in color, surrounded by pink material," Tenor stated.

As time went on, according to Avery trial testimony, the authorities leading the Halbach murder probe did not keep Ertl abreast of the evidence he helped collect at Michels quarry. "I don't know what happened to that sample after I collected it," Ertl testified during cross-examination. Reports show that these quarry clues were turned over to Sherry Culhane, state crime lab's DNA analyst. "Chemical analysis of reddish/brown stains from the rocks and possible 'tissue' indicated the presence of blood," Culhane wrote in her report, "however, these stains were not human in origin."

When: Monday, Nov. 7

People involved: Rick Riemer, Calumet deputy; Sarah Fauske, canine officer for Kaukauna Police Department; Loof, a scent-tracking bloodhound.

Circumstances: Using the trained bloodhound, authorities walked between 5 to 10 miles of quarry trails and fields around Radandt's quarry property, which is south of Avery's property. "One of the more significant tracks that Loof and Fauske tracked was from the south entry door of the red house trailer near the concrete stoop," Riemer noted in his report. Loof tracked the scent to a cul-de-sac at the end of Kuss Road. "It was indicated by Fauske that Loof was very intense on this track," Riemer wrote. The Halbach investigation file does not explain whether authorities went ahead and entered the house trailer. According to trial testimony, the deer camp consisted of three mobile homes at that time.

When: Monday, Nov. 7

People involved: Mike Bushman, retired deputy inspector Manitowoc County; Dedering; Wisconsin State Crime Lab personnel

Circumstances: About 10:30 a.m. Bushman notified the mobile command post at Avery's property that his team of searchers discovered a potential burial site at the end of Kuss Road. The site drew heightened interest from "a bloodhound following the scent from Teresa's shoe insole and (was) of interest to a cadaver dog," Ertl's report showed. The Kuss Road site was about a half-mile from the west edge of Avery's land, police reports indicate. That day, Kuss Road was taped off and processed as a crime scene. However, Calumet and Manitowoc authorities waited another two hours before notifying the state crime lab to respond to the site. Ertl's team over in Chilton didn't arrive at Kuss Road until 1:40 p.m. Reports show that no human remains were recovered from the potential grave site, which encompassed a wooded area in close proximity to Radandt's quarry. "At 4:51 p.m. I was notified the excavation area was not pertinent to this case," Dedering stated.



When: Thursday, Nov. 10, 2005

People involved: Sgt. Bill Tyson, Calumet County; Ron Ebben, Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation; members of the Wisconsin State Patrol

Circumstances: Tyson and Ebben were at the command post when state troopers alerted them to a suspicious discovery at the quarry south of Avery's property. "The state patrol officers indicated they found, what they believed to be, a human vertebrae in the water," Tyson stated. Other troopers alerted Tyson to a possible burned human foot. Tyson took the charred object into custody, concluding it was burnt insulation.  

While at the quarry, Tyson photographed a red-stained rag that was taken into evidence. "Upon walking away from that object, I did locate, what appeared to be, fresh blood in the gravel," Tyson stated. Tyson took more pictures of the blood and he collected a swab of the stain. His report did not address what became of the suspected human vertebrae in the water. The state crime lab was not brought in to process the quarry site that day. Later, Culhane analyzed the stain, confirming it "indicated the presence of blood," Culhane wrote. The DNA tests indicated the quarry blood did not belong to Steven Avery, reports show. It came from an unknown male.

When: Saturday, Nov. 12

People involved: Lt. Kelly Sippel of Calumet County; Riemer; Ebben; Rodney Pevytoe, Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation

Circumstances: Nov. 12, three days after Avery's arrest, marked the last day authorities retained control of the 40-acre Halbach crime scene on Avery Road. However, reports reflect, many of these investigators weren't looking for evidence at Avery's, but were focused on gathering physical evidence at Radandt's quarry and at his deer camp site where Loof, the bloodhound, had tracked a scent to a secluded red trailer off Kuss Road several days earlier. "The first item of evidence they were able to collect would have been that of the burned garbage in an area that we refer to as the deer camp located on the Radandt property west/southwest of Steven Avery's residence," Sippel wrote. "The final two pieces would have been that of some bone and flesh located in the Michels Materials Quarry to the northeast of the Avery property." The Michels quarry was where the team of cadaver-scent dogs had fixated on a tall mound of gravel six days earlier. Riemer stated that he processed a container marked "deer camp burn barrel" along with several items of evidence labeled as burnt material and burnt bone from the deer camp area.

When: Feb. 27, March 1, 2007

People involved: Leslie Eisenberg, forensic anthropologist,

Circumstances: During Avery's murder trial, Eisenberg confirmed that she examined a number of charred bones that were recovered by Wisconsin law enforcement from Radandt's quarry property — including some pelvic bones. Additionally, a number of charred human bones turned up in one of the four burn barrels confiscated from behind the garage of Avery's sister, Barb Janda, who lived about 50 yards from Avery.

"There were some cuts, appeared to be some cuts on those pelvic bone fragments?" asked Avery's defense lawyer Dean Strang.

"That's correct," Eisenberg testified.


Forensic anthropologist Leslie Eisenberg uses a graphic of a female skull to answer questions about bone fragments during the Brendan Dassey case on April 19, 2007, at the Manitowoc County Courthouse. (Photo: File/Dan Powers/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)

"But you weren't able to conclude, 100 percent certain, that these were human pelvic bone fragments. Do I understand that correctly?"

"That's correct."

"OK. Now you suspected them of being human pelvic bone. Am I understanding you correctly?"

"Yes."

Zellner has asked the court to order advanced DNA tests on the pelvic bones to determine their origin. She also sought testing on the suspicious burnt material from the deer camp to determine its evidentiary value.

"Most of Ms. Halbach's bones and 29 of her teeth were not found in Mr. Avery's burn pit," Zellner argued in her motion. "State expert Leslie Eisenberg testified that the volume of bones discovered in the burn pit was two- to three-fifths of what might be expected ... Dr. Eisenberg testified that she suspected that the bones found in the Radandt quarry, which included a pelvis, were human."