Did Teresa Halbach Go to Avery's Before or After Zipperer's?

UPDATE JUNE 9, 2017 - ZELLNER'S PETITION FOR POST-CONVICTION RELIEF SAYS TERESA HALBACH WENT TO AVERY'S BEFORE ZIPPERER'S

On June 7, 2017, Kathleen Zellner filed a motion for post-conviction relief for Steven Avery. In it she gives the "correct timeline for his activities" on October 31st, which is based on Steven's affidavit (Affidavit of Steven Avery, attached and incorporated herein as P-C Exhibit 4) and "Ms. Halbach's new cell records" (Ms. Halbach's New Cell Records, attached and incorporated herein as P-C Exhibit 72):

"Current post-conviction counsel, using new telephone records of Ms. Halbach, has reconstructed the correct timeline and route that Ms. Halbach took on October 31, 2005."

The following is the "accurate timeline for Steven Avery's activities on October 31, 2005," according to Zellner's motion filed on June 7, 2017 (page 139).

Mr. Avery has given an affidavit that the following is the correct timeline for his activities on October 31, 2005:

8:12 a.m.: Mr. Avery called AutoTrader to schedule an appointment for his sister Barb Janda. According to Angela Schuster ("Ms. Schuster"), manager of the AutoTrader office, Mr. Avery was already linked to Barb's husband Tom Janda's AutoTrader account.

11:04 a.m.: Mr. Avery called AutoTrader from his landline (920-755-4860) (Toll Free Records, P-C Exhibit 74), which was linked in the AutoTrader records to Tom Janda's account. (11/6/05 DCI interview of Angela Schuster; "11/6/05 Schuster Interview," attached and incorporated herein as P-C Exhibit 75). Mr. Avery confirmed that a photographer was coming to the Avery property to photograph the Janda van and that the photographer would be arriving at approximately 2:00 p.m. Mr. Avery confirmed the address of the Barbara Janda appointment as being 12932 Avery Road. (Affidavit of Steven Avery, P-C Exhibit 4). At this point in time, there can be no question that Ms. Pliszka knew that the appointment, scheduled at 8:12 a. m., was made by Mr. Avery and that it was to take place at the Avery property. The State omitted Mr. Avery's call to AutoTrader at 11:04 p.m. from its timeline to the jury. (Trial Exhibit 360).

2:24 p.m.: Mr. Avery called Ms. Halbach to see when she would be arriving. (Affidavit of Steven Avery, P-C Exhibit 4).

2:31 p.m.: Ms. Halbach arrived at the Avery property. Mr. Avery recalls that when he looked out of his trailer window, he saw Ms. Halbach snap one photograph of the Janda van. Mr. Avery put on his shoes and went outside. Ms. Halbach began walking towards Mr. Avery's trailer, but when she saw Mr. Avery, she waved and turned around to go to her car to get his magazine. When Mr. Avery approached the car, Ms. Halbach was in the driver's seat with the door open and the engine running. Mr. Avery approached the driver's door, which Ms. Halbach left open, and handed Ms. Halbach cash totaling $40.00. Ms. Halbach handed an AutoTrader magazine to Mr. Avery. Mr. Avery remembers there was no mud splattered on Ms. Halbach's car, or visible damage to the driver's side bumper or parking light of her vehicle, and the back seats were in the upright position. Ms. Halbach turned left on Highway 147 after leaving the Avery property. (Affidavit of Steven Avery, P-C Exhibit 4).

2:35 p.m.: Mr. Avery read that AutoTrader advertised for sale front-loaders. He called Ms. Halbach to ask her to come back to his property in order to take a photograph of a loader that he wished to sell. Mr. Avery hung up before Ms. Halbach picked up the phone because he wanted to go see Bobby. (Affidavit of Steven Avery, P-C Exhibit 4).

4:35 p.m.: Mr. Avery called Ms. Halbach again at 4:35 p.m. that evening to set up an appointment for her to photograph the front-loader to advertise it in AutoTrader. (Affidavit of Steven Avery, P-C Exhibit 4). Mr. Avery's call went to the automated voicemail.

5:36 p.m.: Mr. Avery's girlfriend Jodi called Mr. Avery from jail. The couple spoke for fifteen minutes, the maximum time allowed from jail phones. These calls were recorded by the jail. (Jail Phone Log, attached and incorporated herein as P-C Exhibit 76, STATE 1 _9308).

7:00 p.m.: Mr. Avery had a bonfire. The fire burned for about two or two and a half hours. His nephew Brendan came over as well. They burned brush. (Affidavit of Steven Avery, P-C Exhibit 4).

8:57 p.m.: Jodi called Mr. Avery from the jail phone and the couple again spoke for the maximum time allowed from jail phones. This call was recorded by the jail. Brendan went home before Jodi called, and by the time Brendan left, the fire had burned down to ash. (Jail Phone Log, P-C Exhibit 76, STATE 1_9308).

Concerning the bonfire that Steven believes occurred in his pit on October 31st, detectives persuaded witnesses that there had been a bonfire on October 31st. Steven himself then became convinced that he had a bonfire on October 31st. However, based on initial statements of witnesses, especially those of Blaine Dassey, there wasn't a bonfire on October 31st. The false memories implanted in the minds of witnesses overcame any true recollection of events on October 31st.

SUMMARY OF TIMELINE BASED ON ZELLNER'S JUNE 7, 2017 MOTION

1:52 PM: Teresa's cell phone is being serviced by the same tower that will service it again at 2:41:59, the Whitelaw tower, which is 13.1 miles from the Avery property (per Zellner's August 2016 motion).

2:13 PM: Teresa checks her voicemail. The call to her voicemail was serviced by a cell tower in Shoto, near Zipperer's (according to the fax of Teresa's Cingular pre-bill, but the fax may have been doctored). Teresa may have turned onto County Road B, heading north, rather than south, believing she was heading in the direction of Zipperer's, but Zipperer's was in the other direction on County Road B. Since she was heading north on County Road B, she continued in that direction to Avery's, which was one of the routes she could have taken to Avery Salvage Yard.

2:31 PM: Steven looks out his trailer window and sees Teresa taking one photo of Barb's van; Steven grabs the ad description and cash and walks outside; Teresa sees Steven and waves for him to meet her at her RAV4; Steven walks to Teresa's RAV4 and he gives her $40 as she is sitting in the driver's seat with the engine running; Teresa hands Steven a current copy of AutoTrader magazine (if Teresa's phone was pinging a tower during this time period, Zellner would know because she has cell tower data; however, Ryan Hillegas said coverage was spotty at Avery Salvage Yard, which could mean that Teresa's phone was not registered with a tower while she was at the salvage yard).

2:33 PM: Steven has returned to his trailer; Bobby is getting in his truck; Teresa is in her RAV4 with the door shut and engine running.

2:33 PM: Bobby leaves and doesn't see Teresa in her vehicle, but she is there, in her RAV4, with it running, parked in the driveway, about to leave.

2:34 PM: Teresa leaves right after Bobby leaves.

2:35 PM: Steven, still inside his trailer, calls Teresa to see if she will return to take a photo of a front-loader, but he hangs up before she answers; he decides to next door to Barb's to talk to Bobby (he doesn't know that Bobby just left).

2:36 PM: Steven walks outside and sees Teresa signaling to turn left from Avery Road onto highway 147 (Bobby just left, and Teresa was right behind him, but Steven was inside his trailer when Bobby left and turned right from Avery Road onto highway 174, so he only sees Teresa leaving).

2:41 PM: Teresa has left Avery Salvage Yard and is driving back from where she just came, southward toward Zipperer's, but this time on County Road Q, not County Road B (she is north of a tower in Whitelaw, which is currently servicing her phone rather than the Zipperer tower in Shoto -- as she gets closer to Zipperer's, the tower in Shoto would take over if her phone is still powered on). At 2:41, her cell phone is registering with the same tower, the Whitelaw tower, that serviced it 49 minutes earlier, at 1:52.

2:50 PM or later: Teresa arrives at Zipperer's (her phone would be pinging the Shoto tower if it was still powered on; however, Teresa inadvertently may have turned her phone off when she pressed "end" to forward the call at 2:41 to voicemail -- CFNA).

"The cell phone coverage out in that area [of Avery Salvage Yard] is absolutely horrid.  And to get a call out to -- most of the time when I used my phone out there, I only had 30 seconds or a minute to talk before your phone cut off on you." - Ryan Hillegas, pre-trial testimony

Also from Zellner's June 7th motion for post-conviction relief:

Trial defense counsel, by not carefully reviewing the discovery and not having the appropriate experts, failed to realize the following:

Ms. Halbach's last appointment was at the Zipperer's not the Avery's, and the CD of her voicemail left on the Zipperer's answering machine was concealed and/or destroyed by the State to mislead the jury into believing Ms. Halbach's last stop was Mr. Avery's.

Also from Zellner's June 7th motion for post-conviction relief:

Investigators withheld the Zipperer voicemail CD which contained favorable and exculpatory evidence for Mr. Avery

The CD of Ms. Halbach's voicemail recording on the Zipperer answering machine was never turned over to trial defense counsel and has allegedly disappeared. Current post-conviction counsel, through their investigators, sent a FOIA request for the CD, and neither Manitowoc nor Calumet Counties claimed to have possession of the voicemail CD.

Furthermore, although trial defense counsel's discovery requests would have encompassed the CD, it was never turned over by Mr. Kratz in discovery. Mr. Fallon confirmed in a letter to current post-conviction counsel on April 20, 2017, that neither Calumet nor the Manitowoc Sheriffs Departments have been able to locate the CD of Ms. Halbach's voicemail left on the Zipperer answering machine.

Suspiciously, Mr. Kratz never played the recording of the 2:12 p.m. voicemail for the jury. It is reasonable to conclude that Mr. Kratz concealed the 2:12 p.m. voicemail because it confirmed that the Zipperers' residence was Ms. Halbach's last stop.

Corroboration of this assertion is found in a recorded conversation between Inv. Wiegert and Det. Remiker on November 5, 2005, about the sequence of Ms. Halbach's appointments on October 31, 2005. In that conversation, which occurred after interviews with Mr. Schmitz, Mr. Avery, and Mr. Zipperer, they concluded that Ms. Halbach's first appointment was with Mr. Schmitz, her second appointment was with the Averys, and her third appointment was with the Zipperers. 

There Was Opportunity for Blood Beyond the 1996 Vial [Updated 06-13-2017]

The blood smear by the ignition switch of Teresa Halbach's RAV4

"Experts experiments confirm SA's trial attorneys correct about blood being planted but incorrect about how it was done. #MakingAMurderer" - Kathleen Zellner, Twitter, December 4, 2016

UPDATE JUNE 13, 2017: The following are excerpts from Kathleen Zellner's motion for post-conviction relief filed on June 7, 2017. In the motion she explains that the blood planted in Teresa Halbach's RAV4 came from Steven Avery's bathroom sink on the evening of November 3rd, after he reopend a cut to his right middle finger and dripped blood into the sink, neglecting to clean it up because his brother Chuck was waiting for him, so that they could drive to Menards; and when he came home that night he went straight to bed, not noticing until the next morning that most of the blood in the sink was gone. 

Post-Conviction Exhibits #8. Group exhibit of video recordings from news interviews of Steven Avery (11/9 WFRV, 11/18, WBAY), in which he states that he believes law enforcement removed his blood from his trailer, and in one interview states he believes law enforcement removed his blood from his sink.

Mr. James will testify that the blood stains in the RAV-4 were selectively planted and one blood stain was placed by the ignition with an applicator. Mr. James will testify that Mr. Avery's blood did not come from the 1996 blood vial, but was instead blood dripped by Mr. Avery into his bathroom sink in 2005, which was removed and dripped into the RAV-4. Mr. James will testify that the blood stain on the rear cargo door was not the result of Ms. Halbach being thrown into the rear cargo area of the RAV-4 after she had been shot, as the State contended. 

Failure of Trial Defense Counsel to Investigate Mr. Avery's Claim that His Blood Was Removed from His Bathroom Sink and Planted in the RAV-4

On the evening of November 3, 2005, Mr. Avery was having dinner at his mother's residence, and when he walked outside her residence, a uniformed officer pulled up in a MCSD squad car and asked if he could speak with him. Later, Mr. Avery learned that this individual's name was Sgt. Colborn. Sgt. Colborn asked Mr. Avery if a female from AutoTrader Magazine had come to the property on Monday to take pictures of a vehicle they were selling. Mr. Avery told Sgt. Colborn that a female from AutoTrader had come to the property at approximately 2:30 p.m. and had photographed a van his sister was selling. Mr. Avery contended that she was on the property for less than five minutes. Mr. Avery told Sgt. Colborn that he noticed her photographing the van and he exited his trailer to pay her. Mr. Avery observed Ms. Halbach leave the property and turn left on Highway 147. Sgt. Colborn misrepresented, in a report written months later, that Mr. Avery said 3:00 p.m., not 2:30 p.m. Mr. Avery's affidavit is consistent with all of his prior statements to police that Ms. Halbach was on the Avery property sometime between 2:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. (Affidavit of Steven A. Avery, Sr. "Affidavit of Steven Avery", attached and incorporated herein as P-C Exhibit 4).

Mr. Avery then drove his Pontiac Grand Am from his parents' residence to its usual parking spot in front of his garage. Mr. Avery then walked next door to his sister's trailer, where he attempted to unhitch the trailer. In so doing, Mr. Avery broke open the cut on the middle finger of his right hand. His finger was dripping blood as he walked back to his car to retrieve his cell phone charger. While in his car, Mr. Avery dripped blood from his finger onto the seats and the gear shift. From his car, Mr. Avery walked to his trailer, entering through the door at the south end. Mr. Avery dripped blood on the floor as he entered the bathroom to find a piece of tape to put on the cut. Mr. Avery dripped blood onto the rim and basin of the sink and the bathroom floor. He did not wash away or wipe up the floor or sink because his brother Charles Avery ("Chuck") was waiting for him to go to Menards in Manitowoc with him. He hastily wrapped his finger in masking tape and exited the trailer through the front door. Mr. Avery forgot to lock the south door on the front of the trailer. He did not clean the blood out of his sink prior to leaving the trailer at approximately 7:30 p.m. to go to Menards with his brother Chuck. (Affidavit of Steven Avery, P-C Exhibit 4). Menards in Manitowoc was an approximately 23-minute drive from the Avery property. (Affidavit of Steven Avery, P-C Exhibit 4). Mr. Avery and Chuck checked out at Menards at 8:06 p.m. (Menards Surveillance Video, attached and incorporated herein as P-C Exhibit 5).

Blood stains were noted on the molding (Item AA) and the inside living room door (Item CQ) of Mr. Avery's trailer. (3/31/2006 WSCL DNA Report, attached and herein as P-C Exhibit 6, STATE 5245, 5249). Mr. Avery's Pontiac was unlocked and visible blood was on the gear shift. Anyone who examined the interior of his trailer or vehicle would have recognized that the locations of the various blood stains indicated Mr. Avery had a cut on his hand. (Affidavit of Steven Avery, P-C Exhibit 4).

Mr. Johnson, a family friend of the Avery's and owner of Mr. Avery's trailer, remembers observing the cut on Mr. Avery's finger at least one week prior to October 31, 2005. (Affidavit of Roland A. Johnson, "Affidavit of Rollie Johnson," attached and incorporated herein as P-C Exhibit 7).

At approximately 7:30 p.m., Mr. Avery was exiting the Avery property onto Highway 147 when he observed taillights of a vehicle close to the front of his trailer. (Affidavit of Steven Avery, P-C Exhibit 4; Menards Surveillance Video, P-C Exhibit 5). Mr. Avery contends that the only way the vehicle could enter his property from the direction it was pointed was if it was driven by way of Kuss Road and then across the field to the front of his trailer. Mr. Avery believes the vehicle's taillights were similar to those of the RAV-4 and not a squad car. Mr. Avery instructed his brother Chuck to turn around and drive back to the trailer, but by the time they drove back to Mr. Avery's trailer, the vehicle had departed into the darkness. (Affidavit of Steven Avery, P-C Exhibit 4). Mr. Avery and Chuck went to Menards and the county jail to drop off money for Mr. Avery's girlfriend. (Affidavit of Steven Avery, P-C Exhibit 4). Mr. Avery arrived home at approximately 10:00-10:30 p.m.  Mr. Avery did not enter the bathroom and went straight to bed. (Affidavit of Steven Avery, P-C Exhibit 4).

On November 4, 2005, Mr. Avery awoke at his normal time of 6:00 a.m. When he entered the bathroom of his trailer to take a shower, he observed that most of the blood in and around his sink had been removed. (Affidavit of Steven Avery, P-C Exhibit 4).

Mr. Avery consistently expressed his belief to his attorneys and the media that the blood of his found in Ms. Halbach's vehicle was planted and that it came from his trailer. In one interview, he said he dripped blood from his finger into his bathroom sink. (Video Clips from 11/9/05 NBC-26 WFRV interview and 11/18/05 WBAY interview, attached and incorporated herein as P-C Group Exhibit 8).

At 10:30 a.m. on November 4, 2005, Lt. Lenk and Det. Remiker arrived at the Avery property to interview Mr. Avery. (Pages from MTSO Summary Report, P-C Group Exhibit 11, STATE 80). In the early evening, Mr. Avery smelled cigarette smoke when he entered his bedroom to retrieve a cable for his mother's television. Neither Mr. Avery nor his girlfriend smoked. Mr. Avery believes his trailer was entered unlawfully a second time. (Affidavit of Steven Avery, P-C Exhibit 4; 11/9/05 Interview of Steven Avery and Execution of Search Warrant, "11/9/05 Execution of Search Warrant," attached and incorporated herein as P-C Exhibit 9, STATE 553-54).

On November 5, 2005, when Mr. Avery was preparing to leave for a trip to the family properly in Crivitz, he noticed the south front door of his trailer had been pried open. Specifically, Mr. Avery observed pry marks on the south door of his trailer. (Affidavit of Steven Avery, P-C Exhibit 4; Affidavit of Rollie Johnson, P-C Exhibit 7). He remembered locking this door after Lt. Lenk and Det. Remiker left on the morning of November 4, 2005. (Affidavit of Steven Avery, P-C Exhibit 4).

As Mr. Avery's brother Chuck left for Crivitz, he observed headlights in the area where Ms. Halbach's vehicle was discovered by the pond. Chuck called Mr. Avery at 7:20 pm. to check on the headlights, but by the time Mr. Avery arrived by Chuck's trailer, the lights were gone. (Affidavit of Steven Avery P-C Exhibit 4) (Page from Steven Avery's Phone Records, attached and incorporated herein as P-C Exhibit 10) (Pages from MCSD Summary Report verifying Chuck's phone number, attached and incorporated herein as P- C Exhibit 11, STATE 93).

ORIGINAL POST, PUBLISHED MARCH 14, 2017

The blood vial was stored in Avery's 1985 case file (a cardboard box) because it was collected in 1996 as part of his 1995 motion for DNA testing to exclude both himself and Penny Beernsten.

EDTA is a blood preservative that would be present in a sample of Avery's blood stored by law enforcement. The FBI said EDTA was not present in the blood found in Teresa Halbach's RAV4.



1. At Avery's trial for the 1985 rape, Penny Beernsten identified Avery as her attacker. A state forensic examiner testified that a hair recovered from a shirt of Avery’s was consistent with Beernsten’s hair. Avery presented 16 alibi witnesses, including the clerk of a store in Green Bay, Wisconsin, who recalled Avery, accompanied by his wife and five children, buying paint from the store. A checkout tape put the purchase at 5:13 p.m. Beernsten put the attack at 3:50 p.m. and estimated it lasted 15 minutes, which meant that Avery would have to leave the scene of the attack, walk a mile to the nearest parking area, drive home, load his family into the car, and drive 45 miles in just over an hour.

2. After losing several appeals, on June 13, 1995, Avery’s new attorney filed a motion with the trial court seeking the release of certain evidence for DNA testing, stating that “DNA testing would exclude both the victim and Mr. Avery. They collected a vial of blood from him in 1996 for the appeal.

3. A petition for DNA testing was granted in 1995 and showed that scrapings taken of Beernsten’s fingernails contained the DNA of an unknown person. The court ruled that the tests were unable to eliminate Avery, and a motion for a new trial was denied. There were two separate DNA samples that could have led to Avery's release. The first one proved inconclusive. As the Innocence Project, which took on Avery's case, reported, a fingernail scraping sample showed that there was unknown DNA underneath Beerntsen's nails. But as the Netflix series explained, DNA in that situation can only be broken down into groups called "alleles." And though there were alleles that matched Avery, there were also alleles that could not have belonged to him. However, because he was a match for some of the DNA, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals found that "the DNA evidence does not make it any more or less probable that Avery assaulted P.B."

4. On April 23, 1996, Avery filed a motion for postconviction relief, requesting “an order vacating the conviction and sentence in this matter and granting him a new trial on the grounds that evidence demonstrates a reasonable probability of a different result on retrial.” Avery’s motion, based on the DNA testing results, stated that the “DNA analysis of fingernail scrapings from the victim constitute newly-discovered evidence and reveal the presence of DNA which could not have come from either the victim or Mr. Avery” and that “such DNA most likely came from the perpetrator of this offense.” 

5. On July 29, 1996, Avery filed a supplemental motion for postconviction relief requesting “an order vacating the conviction and sentence in this matter and granting him a new trial on the grounds that the state withheld material, exculpatory evidence at the time of trial.” Avery’s motion was based on his recent discovery that, prior to trial, the sheriff’s department had failed to provide either Avery or Avery’s trial counsel with information regarding an “alternative suspect living in Sheboygan County who matched the description of the perpetrator.” The trial court conducted a hearing on Avery’s motion for a new trial on the basis of newly-discovered evidence. According to the expert who conducted the forensic DNA testing: there was DNA present in the scrapings taken from P.B.’s fingernails that did not match DNA samples from either Avery or P.B; thus, “there was at least one additional individual present.” Therefore, the trial court denied the motion for a new trial, even though P.B. said there was only one assailant and even though she never mentioned another individual present.

6. The 1996 vial of Avery's blood, collected for the appeal filed in 1995, was stored in a cardboard box (exhibit 468) at the office of the Clerk of the Court for Manitowoc County, along with other evidence from his 1985 case. 

7. In April of 2002, attorneys for the Wisconsin Innocence Project obtained a court order for DNA testing of 13 hairs recovered from P.B. at the time of the crime. The state crime laboratory reported that, using the FBI DNA database, it had linked a hair to Gregory Allen, a convicted felon who bore a resemblance to Avery. Allen was then serving a 60-year prison term for a sexual assault in Green Bay that occurred after the attack on P.B.

8. In September 2002, a Circuit Court judge signed an order for two items of evidence from the Avery's 1985 court file (hair and fingernail cuttings) be transferred to the State Crime Lab in Madison for further DNA testing. This court file also would have contained Avery's 1996 blood vial. Lenk, who was the "designated evidence custodian" for the entire Manitowoc County Sheriff's department at the time, claimed during Avery's 2007 trial that he did not access the evidence box and that he sent a deputy named Mike Shallue with a presigned form to retrieve hair and fingernail cuttings as ordered by the court. When Shallue retrieved the items of evidence, Lenk said he didn't check to see which items Shallue actually retrieved from the box at the Clerk of the Court's Office because he "trusted him and the court" with the task.

9. The buccal swabs that had been collected from Avery in 1985 were in Sherry Culhane’s possession in 2002-2003 to test Avery’s DNA for the court order obtained by the Wisconsin Innocence Project. This testing eventually led to his exoneration and release from prison for his wrongful conviction in the sexual assault against Penny Beersten.



10. On September 11, 2003, a request brought by the Manitowoc District Attorney’s Office and the Wisconsin Innocence Project to dismiss the charges was granted and Avery was released after serving 18 years for the sexual assault of Penny Beersten, a crime he didn't commit. Gregory Allen, a felon and "notorious sexual predator" who resembled Avery, actually better fit Beersten's description of her attacker. And DNA in a pubic hair found on Beersten after her attack was found to have, in fact, belonged to Allen, not Avery. And that single bit of evidence freed Avery after he spent nearly two decades in prison.

11. In 2003, Culhane returned Avery's 1985 buccal swabs to Manitowoc County. They were received by Dave Remiker on October 13, 2003. Therefore, since October 2003, MTSO has had Avery’s buccal swabs from his 1985 conviction, which could have been used to plant DNA or to mix with someone else's blood to fabricate blood DNA.





There may have been opportunity for blood other than the 1996 vial:

1. Apparently, in 1985, which was pre-DNA testing, they didn't collect blood from Avery. Or did they collect blood from him in 1985, and the 1985 vial is missing from his case file because it was used to plant Avery's blood in 2005?

2. There may also be a 2001-2003 vial of Avery's blood missing from the Fox Lake prison hospital (search the comments to this blog post for "Raduenz").

There are a couple of possibilities as far as the source of blood other than a blood vial:

1. Blood in Avery's trailer from cutting his finger. Regarding the CD box found in Teresa's RAV4, Nick Stahlke described the blood as "basically covering 50 percent of the surface of this CD box," (day 11 page 209). Maybe Avery's blood that dripped from his cut finger was collected from his home, reconstituted with water or saline, and the CD box was used as a "palette" when planting the blood in the RAV4.

2. Blood from the Grand Am that Avery drove to Crivitz the morning of November 5th, or a bloody rag found inside the vehicle when it was seized on November 6th (it would make sense that Avery used a rag of some sort to wrap his cut finger, and that rag could have been inside the Grand Am when it was seized on November 6th).

Note: A bloody rag was not collected by Wendy Baldwin from Avery's Grand Am on November 5th. Wendy Baldwin collected a bloody rag from a silver station wagon near the pond in the salvage yard at 9:03 a.m. on November 6th, when the Grand Am was in Marinette County (CASO page 109).

Below is a screen shot from NBC26's November 8th interview with Steven Avery. The cut to his finger is no longer bandaged or bleeding and is in the process of healing. Avery told Milwaukee Magazine ("Blood Simple") that he cut his finger loading tin roofing onto a flatbed, and every time the cut was reopened he "bled like a stuffed pig." He said he reopened the cut on November 5th when helping install a tin roof in Crivitz. Nobody, including law enforcement, asked Steven Avery when he orignally cut his finger. In fact, in Avery's November 5th and 6th interviews in Crivitz, neither DCI Agent Skorlinksi nor Marinette County deputy O'Neill noted the cut to Steven's finger. A women is missing and your main suspect has a fresh cut to his finger, but you don't ask him about when and how he cut it?



Detectives said Roland Johnson told them on February 6, 2006 that he saw Steven Avery "just prior" to Halloween 2005 (day 19 page 148). He said it wasn't unusual for Allan Avery and his sons to have cuts since they worked in a junkyard, but he noticed this particular cut to Steven's hand or finger because it was a "pretty nasty gash" that he thought needed stitches. Because Roland wasn't interviewed until three months after Teresa went missing, his recollection was vague. Roland testified he saw Avery with a cut that looked similar to Exhibit 19. He also testified he saw Avery within a month of Halloween and that it could have been a week before Halloween but he couldn't remember.

Chuck Avery told Marinette County deputy Sievert on November 7th that he and Steven left for Menard's in the flatbed at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday and "picked up trusses and insulation and a few odds and ends." Blaine Dassey told DCI agents on November 11th that Chuck and Steven asked him if he wanted to go to Menard's with them to get the "trusses for a shed they were going to build up north." Steven told Skorlinski on November 6th that he and Chuck loaded a TV onto the flatbed around 5 p.m. on Friday. He said: "The insulation was all there and everything else. So it was all loaded. All we had to do was the TV and tie it down."

Nobody mentioned loading tin roofing during the week of October 31st; however, we know that tin was in Crivitz the weekend of November 5th because Steven reopened the cut installing the roofing on that day. The tin roofing must have been loaded onto the flatbed on Thursday, November 3rd and then driven by Chuck to Crivitz on Friday, November 4th, or it was loaded the week before Halloween and driven to the cabin in Crivitz on Friday or Saturday, October 28 or 29th. This means Lenk and Remiker would have seen that Steven had a cut to his finger when he allowed them to search his trailer without a warrant on the morning of November 4th (they insisted Steven be present during the search).

Autotrader Issue 37 Was Planted on Avery's Desk as "Proof" Teresa Halbach Went Inside His Trailer on October 31st (Teresa Was Never Inside Avery's Trailer or Garage)

Issue 37 of Auto Trader magazine (September 15-21, 2005) in the bottom left of the image above was not on Avery's desktop when his desk originally was photographed on November 5th.

Additionally, the Zander Road for sale sign in the top right of the image above was not on the shelf above the printer when Avery's desk originally was photographed on November 5th.

Issue 37 of Auto Trader magazine was not on Avery's desk and probably was not in his trailer at all. The only Auto Trader magazine on Avery's desk was issue 40, which was on a shelf to the left of his desk (close up of issue in bottom right of the image above).

Issue 37 of Auto Trader magazine and the Zander Road for sale sign were planted after Avery's desk was originally photographed on November 5th (photo below).

Avery's desk before issue 37 of Auto Trader magazine and the Zander Road for sale sign were planted

When issue 37 of Auto Trader magazine and the Zander Road for sale sign were planted, the planter(s) moved items around on Avery's desk. A Boat & Bike Trader magazine originally was on the desktop, in front of Avery's computer screen, but was moved in front of his printer.

Avery had a notepad in which he had written phone numbers plus a note, "back to patio door." The planter(s) used Avery's notepad to copy his handwriting. The planter(s) wrote Teresa's phone number above "back to patio door" (notice in the image below that the ink doesn't match).

The black marker that was on top of the Boat & Bike Trader magazine most likely was used to write Teresa's phone number on the back of the Zander Road for sale sign.



On November 5th, Avery's trailer was searched from 7:30 to 10:00 p.m. by Manitowoc County sheriff deputies Lenk, Colborn and Remiker and Calumet County sheriff deputy Tyson. Remiker wrote that at 21:48 hours he located "a for sale sign on the right side of the desk area, as well as an Auto Trader magazine on the desk area" (MTSO, page 10).

Issue 37 of Auto Trader magazine, which was planted on Avery's desktop, could have been the one that Teresa Halbach had given JoEllen Zipperer on October 31st. It had been collected into evidence when Dedering, Remiker and Colborn visited the Zipperer residence on Thursday, November 3rd (CASO, page 107).


Close-up of issue 40 of Auto Trader magazine on a shelf of Avery's desk

Before the planter(s) staged items on Avery's desk, there were two issues of Boat & Bike Trader and one issue of Auto Trader, issue 40, on Avery's desk (image above).

Issue 37 of Auto Trader magazine, in the bottom left corner of the first image above and on the left side of the image below, was planted on Avery's desktop to "prove" that Teresa had given Avery the same issue of the magazine that she had been given JoEllen Zipperer on October 31st. Why? Because the State didn't have hair, DNA or blood evidence that "put Teresa in Avery's trailer," so Kratz had to rely on an Auto Trader magazine and an Auto Trader bill of sale to "prove" that Teresa had been inside Avery's trailer.



Ken Kratz at Avery's trial:

The Defense argued that there was no blood found in the trailer. Since Teresa wasn't killed in the trailer, there shouldn't be. But what was found in the trailer is extremely important. They found the very same Auto Trader magazine, the very same type of bill of sale that we put in this exhibit, that's from Mrs. Zipperer, the very same Auto Trader Magazine, very same bill of sale. Teresa was in that trailer. She was in the trailer, but she was not killed in that trailer.

She was killed in Steven Avery's garage. There's two things that are most reactive with luminol, one is human blood and the other is bleach. We have heard about just to the left and just to the back of this tractor a large area that lit up or glowed very brightly. Mr. Ertl testified about that, that the two things that light up, it wasn't blood, but it was, in fact, bleach.

Ken Kratz at Avery's trial:

Right after she is done with Mr. Schmitz, she goes to the Zipperer residence, sometime between 2:00 and 2:30. In fact, you will note from the calls and the testimony later from the cellphone people, that at 2:12 a call is made to the Zipperer residence.You heard some reference to that. 

It may have been lost in some of the other testimony, about Teresa being lost and on her way.  But Teresa finds her way there. And we know that about 2:15 or so, she does her photo shoot at the Zipperer's. We also -- excuse me -- We also know, just like the Schmitz photo shoot, just like every other photo shoot that you have heard testimony about, that it lasts 10 minutes.

She leaves an Auto Trader book. She leaves a receipt, which is actually called a bill of sale. These things are particularly important. [Kratz is lying, the receipt and bill of sale are two different things.]

You will see testimony later, or you will see exhibits later, that were seized from Mr. Avery on the 5th, that exactly the same Auto Trader magazine is found on his computer. Exactly the same kind of bill of sale is found. So the significance, or the habit, if you will, of these contacts, become critically important.

On the left, Auto Trader magazine, issue 37, September 15-21, 2005; on the right, exhibit 27, a packet of materials given to JoEllen Zipperer on October 31st and collected into evidence on November 3rd

The Zipperers were a cold call telemarketing lead. JoEllen Zipperer didn't pay for an advertisement at the time Teresa stopped to take the photo. Instead of giving her a receipt and current issue of Auto Trader magazine, Teresa gave her a packet containing an older issue of the magazine (September 15-21, 2005, issue 37), a bill of sale, and a for sale sign. She also told JoEllen that if they decided to place the ad in Auto Trader, she needed to call the office to authorize the ad and make payment.

Avery was a repeat customer (his last photo shoot was on October 10th) who paid Teresa $40 cash, up front, at the time of his photo shoot on October 31st. He was a repeat customer who paid up front, so he was a priority customer. Because Avery was a priority customer, he was given a current or more current issue of Auto Trader magazine. Because Zipperer was just a potential customer, who didn't pay when Teresa showed up to take the picture (she didn't authorize the ad or make payment), she was given a packet that contained an older issue.

Marinette County Detective Anthony O'Neill reported on his November 5, 2005 interview with Avery that "he told me that Teresa Halbach, as in the past, had given him a copy of the current Auto Trader magazine" (page 2). Avery also told O'Neill that after his business transaction with Teresa he went inside his trailer and dropped off the magazine. O'Neill wrote:

"As our conversation continued I asked Steven if he had ever been inside of Teresa’s vehicle at all and he told me “I might of touched the door”. When asked to explain he said “all different places depends how it is”. Steven went on to explain further in more detail, saying that when Teresa got inside the drivers side (seated in drivers seat) to get the Auto Trader magazine for him he had been holding onto the drivers side door (outside, top or side) up until she handed him the magazine and he had then left and returned back to his trailer home, dropping off the book, then going over to his sisters home to see if Bobby was home but finding that Bobby was already gone."

The above conversation with O'Neill starts at 30:03 in the video linked below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-5ZUFmV2lU&feature=youtu.be



[–]Needless Things

Kratz: There isn't a question about who is responsible for the death and the mutilation of Teresa Halbach.

As we know the charges of Kidnapping and First Degree Sexual Assault were dismissed before the trial even began, and the charge of False Imprisonment was dropped after Kratz called his last witness but before closing arguments.

The boys in the club were no doubt concerned come time for closing statements - almost every charge listed in the amended complaint had been inoculated.

Due to Strang and Buting discrediting the gory story Fassbender and Wiegert put forward, Kratz needed to change the theory of the crime for Avery's trial. Of course, this only slightly benefited Steven, and did not benefit Brendan at all. Recall Brendan was convicted for raping and killing her in the trailer while Steven was convicted for killing her in the garage.



[–]Whiznot

People almost universally view the way Avery was convicted as unjust. There is no argument there. The argument is over actual guilt or innocence.

I've slowly come around to thinking something was fishy about Avery's defense. In subtle ways, Strang and Buting meekly acquiesced in favor of injustice.

Real defense lawyers would never participate in a sham trial. Strang and Buting are not who they pretend to be but, man, they were great actors.

Consider the following. Strang and Buting had the information showing that Halbach's cell phone pinged a remote tower when she was supposedly being raped and murdered by Avery and Dassey. Why did Strang and Buting (and their only private investigator, former sheriff's lieutenant Pete Baetz) ignore the single most exculpatory fact?

Only LE think Avery got a fair trial given the fact that two of the jurors were intimately connected to Manitowoc County. One of those jurors was a part time MTSO deputy. The trial was a sham.

After the defense empaneled the two Manitowoc County employees on the jury, Strang and Buting were free to mimic a real defense with the certainty that there could not be an acquittal.

The trial was a sham from the beginning. I think Avery turned against Strang and Buting after Zellner explained how his trial was fixed.

   "I have never liked the mystery surrounding the gentleman's agreement. Anything the prosecution fought to keep the Jury from hearing was no doubt important to uncovering the truth."

I'm in 100% agreement. Consider, Ken Kratz was desperate to keep Brendan Dassey off the stand in Avery's sham trial. Dassey was Avery's alibi witness. The State's extreme and sadistic techniques used to transform Dassey from a witness to a murderer sickened MaM viewers. I cannot understand why Dassey wasn't called to the stand by the defense.

Strang and Buting acquiesced to Kratz's proposed "gentlemens' agreement."

Strang and Buting allowed two prosecution plants to be empaneled on the jury.

Strang and Buting acquiesced to Kratz's desire to keep the jury from hearing from Avery's alibi witness.

Strang and Buting failed to introduce the cell tower evidence that proves Teresa left ASY alive [and they failed to subpoena her original Cingular records, including text messages].

To quote Buting, "what is going on here?"

Dassey was Avery' alibi witness. Surely he could be called by the defense. Kratz was afraid to call Dassey to the stand. Strang and Buting shouldn't have let Kratz get his way. The Dassey "confession" as seen on tape was strong evidence for the defense.