Zellner Should Ask Steven Avery If the SharpSales Sign Belonged to Him

In the packet of materials that Autotrader photographer Teresa Halbach gave customers was a "for sale" sign, as depicted in the top image.

Teresa Halbach came to Avery Auto Salvage on September 19, 2005 and photographed Steven Avery's blue Pontiac Grand Am (trial exhibit 15), so why would the sign he had for this Grand Am be from sharpsales.com (second image from top) and not from Autotrader?

Or did somebody else acquire and write on this sign, front and back, imitating Avery's handwriting? And was this sign then planted on Avery's desk?

The back of the sign has the address 3302 Zander Road along with Teresa's cell phone number.



In October 2005, LE would have had Steven under surveillance, so they would have known he was interested in the home for sale at 3302 West Zander Road, either because: (1) he had been recorded on the phone talking about it, (2) there was an informant within his inner circle with whom he had talked about it, or (3) they were monitoring his internet activity.

"3302 Zander Road" can be seen in Avery's searches on October 2, 2005, including from a real estate listing (see "Avery Registry Report" below, the forensic analysis of Avery's computer).



There are two nearby properties with the address "3302 Zander Road":

1. 3302 Zander Road in Two Rivers, and 
2. 3302 West Zander Road in Denmark

There is an abandoned home at 3302 Zander Road in Two Rivers/Mishicot (see images below).



Abandoned home at 3302 Zander Road in Two Rivers/Mishicot.

It seems Avery may have been trying to locate the town because he didn't have the correct full address for the property that was for sale in Denmark, WI: 3302 West Zander Road (see images below). Avery had searched Denmark WI, Kewaunee WI, and the real estate listing in Manitowoc.




3302 West Zander Road in Denmark was for sale at the time Teresa went missing.

Steven had a Grand Am for sale (which Teresa photographed on September 19, 2005). The framers, using samples of Steven's handwriting, wrote on both the front and the back of the sign and then planted the sign in Steven's trailer after LE commandeered the property on November 5th.

The one side of the sign has the information on the Grand Am that Steven had for sale, and the other side has Teresa's cell number and the incomplete address of the property that Steven had searched online (3302 Zander Road).



The Zander Road sign was planted to connect Steven to an off-site murder scene. The evidence photos prove it was planted (see images below).

LE should have been all over 3302 Zander Road, the abandoned house in Two Rivers/Mishicot; however, since it was now a waste of time, nobody was assigned to investigate it.

The framers had to change the Zander Road plan because phone records and recorded calls from the county jail between Jodi and Steven documented that Steven didn't leave the Avery property on October 31st.

Much of the dubious evidence was discarded or modified in order to fit an evolving salacious tale.

The framers had three days to organize since Teresa wasn't reported missing until the afternoon of November 3rd. If Steven had an alibi for Monday, then they could have said he held her hostage somewhere until he could burn her. That's probably why she wasn't reported missing for so long...it gave the framers a broader window of opportunity.

The Zander Road sign was found during a search of Steven's trailer on the first day, Saturday November 5th. His trailer was searched from 7:30-10:00 pm.

During Ken Kratz's redirect examination of Fassbender, he asks him about the sign and says we'll get back to it with other witnesses, but never does (trial testimony, page 214).

14 ATTORNEY KRATZ: I appreciate it. Thank
15 you, counsel.
16 (Exhibit No. 149 marked for identification.)
17 Q. What will be Item No. 149, seized from the same
18 computer table, is another sign with Ms Halbach's
19 phone number; is that correct?
20 A. That's correct.
21 Q. Was that seized on the 5th of November as well?
22 A. Yes, it was, sir.
23 Q. This address, 3302 Zander Road, we'll get into
24 that with other witnesses, but do you now believe
25 that this is connected to Ms Halbach? It's her
 215
 1 phone number, isn't it?
 2 A. That's her phone number, yes.
 3 (Exhibit No. 150 marked for identification.)
 4 Q. Now, what will be Item 150, do you recall, now,
 5 that an Auto Trader Magazine was seized from
 6 Mr. Avery's residence that evening?
 7 A. Yes, I do.
 8 Q. This is the identical Auto Trader Magazine that
 9 Ms Zipperer received, that she had testified
10 earlier; you were in court when that was
11 testified to, wasn't it?
12 A. Yes.
13 (Exhibit No. 151 marked for identification.)
14 Q. Also identically to Ms Zipperer, what will be
15 Exhibit No. 151, was a bill of sale also found on
16 Mr. Avery's computer table, again, identical to
17 that received by Ms Zipperer. Do you recall that
18 now being seized on the 5th of November, don't
19 you?
20 A. Yes, I do.
21 Q. Let me ask you, Mr. Fassbender, do you know how
22 many items of physical evidence were seized in
23 this case alone, the Avery homicide
24 investigation?
25 A. Upwards of 970.
 216
 1 Q. Can you remember all 970 items of evidence that
 2 were seized?
 3 A. No, I can't.
 4 Q. Mr. Buting asked you if knowing that Mr. Lenk and
 5 Mr. Colborn was involved in a deposition, whether
 6 or not you would assign them to search
 7 responsibilities; do you remember that question?
 8 A. Yes, I do.
 9 Q. Do you remember answering yes to that question?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. Do you have an explanation for that answer?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. What is that explanation?
14 A. My explanation is, if they told me that, I would
15 have asked them what the circumstances
16 surrounding that were. Upon them telling me, and
17 what I know now of those circumstances to be, I
18 know there was no direct conflict of
19 interest with those two individuals.
20 They weren't working when he was charged
21 and convicted on the original charge. And when
22 they got deposed, Mr. Colborn was a jailer in
23 that jail and he received a call from another
24 jail that an anonymous person said something
25 about them having the wrong person in jail and
 217
 1 they have the right one. Didn't identify who it
 2 was, what it was about.
 3 Mr. Colborn did the right thing and
 4 forwarded that phone call to the Detective's
 5 Bureau. Mr. Colborn was not even a sworn
 6 officer. Mr. Lenk wasn't even a detective at the
 7 time. He was working the road. That call went
 8 up to the Detective Bureau and was handled by
 9 whoever was up there at that time. And, then,
10 when Mr. Avery was exonerated, Mr. Colborn made a
11 comment to Mr. Lenk, something to the effect
12 that, boy, I wonder if that call they took way
13 back when was Mr. Avery. They had nothing to do
14 with this.
15 Q. So that, as far as you know, was Lenk and
16 Colborn's connection, this mysterious connection
17 to this civil lawsuit; is that right?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. Knowing that, as you sit here today, as the lead
20 investigator in the case, have any problems at
21 all with Lenk or Colborn's involvement in this
22 case?
23 A. Absolutely not.
24 Q. Do you know how many law enforcement officers,
25 how many citizens, and how many other witnesses
 218
 1 were deposed as part of that lawsuit?
 2 A. No, I don't.
 3 Q. Finally, Agent Fassbender, whenever a Manitowoc
 4 County Sheriff's deputy was asked to assist in
 5 this entire investigation, that is, when any
 6 search was done out at the scene, were they
 7 accompanied by a Calumet County or State DCI
 8 agent?
 9 A. Yes.
10 ATTORNEY KRATZ: That's all the redirect I
11 have, Judge.

Jerry Buting brings up the sign when questioning Sgt. William Tyson of Calumet County (starting at the bottom of page 18 of the trial transcript is a description of the search, and page 45 is the finding of the Zander Road sign).

 3   Q.   (By Attorney Buting)~ You also introduced a sign,

 4        a for sale sign, that -- I don't see the exhibit
 5        number here, but I will just show it to you.
 6                 ATTORNEY STRANG:  194.
 7   Q.   (By Attorney Buting)~ All right, 194.  This is --
 8        On one side it has a for sale sign, like you
 9        would buy at a hardware store or something,
10        right?
11   A.   Yes.
12   Q.   It's got 1995 Pontiac Grand Am listed, right?
13   A.   Yes.
14   Q.   And then, on the back it has got some other
15        writing, 3302 Zander Road, correct?
16   A.   Correct.
17   Q.   And then it's got the phone number here that
18        turns out to be Teresa Halbach's cell phone
19        number, right?
20   A.   Yes.
21   Q.   Are you aware that Teresa Halbach's never lived
22        at 3302 Zander Road.
23   A.   I'm not aware of any significance to the address.
24   Q.   So, as far as you know, there's no connection
25        whatsoever between this address and that phone
    46
 1        number, right?
 2   A.   I don't know that.
 3   Q.   You don't know that or you do know that?
 4   A.   I do not know that.
 5   Q.   Now, you do know, I assume, that Teresa Halbach
 6        had seen Mr. Avery on several occasions before
 7        October 31st?
 8   A.   I was told that by Investigator Wiegert in
 9        advance.
10   Q.   Okay.  Part of your briefing, right?
11   A.   Yes.
12   Q.   They sit down and they explain some of the
13        background so you know what's going on, right?
14   A.   Yes.
15   Q.   Okay.  And in fact, before October 31st,
16        Mr. Avery had Teresa Halbach's phone number
17        already because he had arranged a private sale
18        with her; do you recall that?
19   A.   No, I don't recall him having her cell number,
20        what time he had it.  I don't know that
21        information.
22   Q.   So you didn't know that information, okay.  But,
23        if that were the case, finding her phone number
24        in his house on November -- or trailer, on
25        November 5th, would have meant nothing, would it?
    47
 1                 ATTORNEY KRATZ:  Objection, Judge, calls
 2        for a conclusion, that's probably what the jury --
 3                 THE COURT:  The objection is sustained.
 4   Q.   Well, when you collected those pieces of
 5        evidence, you didn't -- you don't know when those
 6        notes -- phone numbers were written, right?
 7   A.   Detective Remiker collected them, but I did not
 8        know when they were written.
 9 Q. All right. They could have been written weeks
10 ago, for all you know?
11 A. True.
12 Q. By the way, you said you weren't collecting the
13 evidence, you were just standing their watching
14 and writing down notes as to the times that
15 things were collected?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. But the actual collection itself was done by --
18 or the bagging was done by Lieutenant Lenk?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. Did you watch him seal every single bag?
21 A. I can't say with 100 degree certainty every
22 single bag, but he was doing his duties, I was
23 there, yes.
24 Q. Okay. So when you say that you were --
25 ultimately you collected the evidence, it was at
 48
 1 the end of the night?
 2 A. Yes.
 3 Q. After all the bags were sealed and completed,
 4 right?
 5 A. Yes.
 6 Q. Then it's turned over to you?
 7 A. Yes.

[...]

 6 THE COURT: Mr. Kratz, are you going to be
 7 doing redirect?
 8 ATTORNEY KRATZ: I am.
 9 THE COURT: How much time do you think?
10 ATTORNEY KRATZ: I just actually, I think I
11 have two questions, Judge, so.
12 THE COURT: All right. Go ahead.
13 REDIRECT EXAMINATION
14 BY ATTORNEY KRATZ:
15 Q. Sergeant Tyson, Mr. Buting asked you about
16 that -- that sign that mentioned a Zander Road
17 address; do you recall him showing you that?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. Do you know where that Zander Road address is?
20 A. No.
21 Q. Do you even know if it's in Calumet County?
22 A. I heard Zander Road a couple of times on our
23 department radios, Manitowoc County either having
24 a crash or something like that, so I'm familiar
25 with Zander Road probably being in Manitowoc
 63
 1 County, I know it rang a bell, but I don't know
 2 where it is.
 3 Q. Something a Manitowoc officer might be better
 4 able to answer?
 5 A. Yes.
 6 Q. And lastly, Mr. Buting asked you about somebody
 7 relieving you from the scene security, that is,
 8 from watching over the SUV; do you remember those
 9 questions?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. Do you remember what department relieved you; in
12 other words, the scene security from the point
13 that you took over, thereafter, do you know what
14 department was responsible?
15 A. Calumet County Sheriff's Department.
16 ATTORNEY KRATZ: I think that's all I have
17 for redirect.
18 ATTORNEY BUTING: No questions.
19 THE COURT: Very well, the witness is
20 excused, and at this time we'll take our morning
21 break. Members of the jury, again, do not discuss
22 this case among yourselves during the break. We'll
23 resume in about 15 minutes.
24 (Jury not present.)
25 ATTORNEY BUTING: Your Honor, could I move
 64
 1 206 and 207 into evidence?
 2 THE COURT: Any objection?
 3 ATTORNEY KRATZ: No.
 4 THE COURT: They are admitted.
 5 (Recess taken.)
 6 (Jury present.)
 7 THE COURT: Mr. Kratz, at this time you may
 8 call your next witness.
 9 ATTORNEY KRATZ: State will call Andrew
10 Colborn to the stand.

Steven owned two blue Pontiac Grand Ams. The 1993 Grand Am that was seized and impounded in Crivitz by Deputy Barry Degnitz was Steven's primary vehicle. The one Teresa photographed on September 19, 2005, was a different vehicle, not the one for his personal use.




Paul Metz, a farmer whose cattle are located at the intersection of Jambo Creek Road and Zander Road, said in his 2017 affidavit: "Around dusk on October 31, 2005, I heard a loud buzzing sound that reminded me of electrical wires pulsating. I then smelled what I thought was insulation burning. I initially thought that the high-power tension wires that run just south of my property were overloading, causing the buzzing sound and the bad odor. I did not confuse the smell with that of a burning body. I know what a burning body smells like from my time as a volunteer firefighter. I was interviewed by officers from the Manitowoc County Sheriff s Department (MCSD). I did not initiate contact with MCSD and I do not know how MCSD learned about this incident. During the interview, I would not have described the sound I had heard as a 'whoosh.' Rather, it was a buzzing sound. I did not tell officers from MCSD that the sound reminded me of instances when I poured gasoline or other highly volatile substances on a fire. I did not tell anyone that I thought the smell was coming from the south or from the vicinity of the Avery property off of Highway 147."