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.

Blaine Dassey Testified to the Opposite of What He Told Investigators on November 7th and 11th

Had Scott, Barb, Blaine and Bobby, pictured above as the guilty verdict was read at Brendan's trial, told the truth in their statements and testimonies (better yet, had they consulted an attorney and invoked their Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination), Brendan, and perhaps Steven, would not have gone to prison for crimes against Teresa Halbach.

"Mr. Kratz is well-aware that other individuals lied about their contacts with Ms. Halbach on 10/31". - Kathleen Zellner's statement to Dateline, February 2017

On November 5, 2005, when police took control of the Avery property, Blaine and Brendan Dassey's bus driver told police that at 3:40 p.m. on October 31st, when she dropped off the brothers, she saw a woman taking pictures of a van parked at the intersection of Avery Road and the shared driveway leading to the homes of Barb Janda and Steven Avery.

Also on November 5th, DCI agent Kim Skorlinski contacted Barb Janda, who agreed to bring Blaine to the Cedar Ridge Restaurant in Maribel so that they could "ask him a few questions that had to be clarified" (CASO page 282). At 5:00 p.m., CASO deputy Wendy Baldwin and DCI agent Skorlinski "made contact with Blaine." Skorlinski wrote a report on their contact with Blaine; however, this report was not entered into evidence at Avery's trial.

The following map of the property must have been drawn by Blaine during his interview on November 5th, although it was included in the DCI report of his second interview on November 7th, and the date of the map was changed.





During cross examination at Avery's trial, Strang asked Blaine about the interrogation at Cedar Ridge Restaurant (page 103), but Strang misrepresented this meeting as having taken place on November 15th:

Q.   The Cedar Ridge Restaurant?
A.   Yes. 
Q.   Over in Maribel, near you?
A.   Yes.
Q.   Okay.  Was your mom there for that?
A.   Yes.
Q.   Just you and your mom?
A.   Yup. 
Q.   And then a couple of officers or agents?
A.   Yes.
Q.   And did you guys sit across the table from the agents, in the restaurant?
A.   Yes.
Q.   Did there come a time in that discussion between you and your mom and the agents, when the agents sort of got in your face a little bit?
A.   Yes.
Q.   What were they doing to get in your face?
A.   They were arguing.
Q.   They were arguing?
A.   Yes.
Q.   They raised their voices?
A.   Yes. 
Q.   They got angry?
A.   Yes.
Q.   They accused you guys of not accepting that Steve was guilty, didn't they?
A.   Yes.
Q.   They accused you of embarrassing yourselves by believing in your uncle, didn't they?
A.   Yes.
Q.   They tried to convince you that Steven Avery was guilty, didn't they?
A.   Yes.
Q.   And they got loud about it, at the restaurant?
A.   Yes.
Q.   And then they stomped off and left you there, when you wouldn't turn on your uncle, didn't they?
A.   Yes.
Q.   And that was back in November 15 of 2005.
A.   Yes.

ATTORNEY STRANG: That's all I have.

Two days later, on November 7, 2005, at 10:11 a.m., Agents Debra Strauss and Lisa Wilson of Wisconsin DOJ, Division of Criminal Investigation, interviewed Blaine Dassey at the home of his boss, Michael Kornely, where he had been staying since November 4th (trial exhibit 355).

On November 7th, Blaine told the DCI agents Strauss and Wilson that he did not see anyone or any vehicle that did not normally belong in the driveway when he and Brendan got off the bus and together walked directly to their house on October 31st. He explained that a red and black Blazer and a Monte Carlo/Grand Prix were parked at the mailboxes, where the school bus driver picks them up and drops them off. He said he did not see Steven Avery when he got off the bus. He said that Bobby was sleeping in his bedroom when they got home, and that them coming home woke Bobby up.

Blaine said he listened to the message that Teresa Halbach left on their answering machine. He recalled her saying that she would be at their residence to take pictures between 1:00 and 2:00 p.m., and he recalled that she left a callback number to reschedule if necessary. Blaine said that Barb had placed ads in AutoTrader in the past, the most recent being for a black Lincoln.

Blaine said he was picked up by a friend's mother at 5:20 p.m. to go trick-or-treating and that he returned at approximately 9:30 p.m. He said when he got home, Barbara, Bobby and Brendan were inside and awake. He said he went to bed shortly after he got home, sometime between 9:30 and 10:00 p.m. He said he didn't recall anything unusual happening that evening after he went to bed.

Blaine said he didn't recall anyone using the burn barrels that day. He said that the last time he recalled anyone using the burn barrels was Thursday, November 3rd.

When asked if there were any bonfires the week of October 31st, Blaine said there weren't any.

The DCI agents asked Blaine "if he had seen any media coverage of the missing woman, including her name and picture of her vehicle." He said that he had "but these photos did not help Blaine recall having seen Halbach or her vehicle before."

Blaine was questioned about the Suzuki and snowmobile in the garage. He was asked to describe in detail the trailer that had been used to transport the Skidoo snowmobile from Crivitz to the Avery property.

Blaine was asked if he recalled Steven coming to the house and asking for assistance in moving a Suzuki or a snowmobile into the garage. Blaine said he did not. Blaine said if Steve would have made such a request, Blaine would have remembered

Blaine asked if he could describe where the gray Suzuki was normally kept. Blaine responded that for the last week or two, this Suzuki was parked on the side of Steve's garage closest to Blaine's house. Blaine said he thought Steve's plan was to fix the Suzuki so Blaine's grandpa, Allen Avery, could take it to the cabin in Crivitz. [This could be interpreted as the Susuki being parked on the east of the garage, inside or outside.]

Blaine was asked where the Suzuki currently was located. Blaine said he thought it was still parked next to Steve's garage. [This could be Fassbender twisting Blaine's words by using the word "next" when Blaine could have said it was still parked on the side of the garage closest to his house.]

Blaine was asked what he knew about Steve's snowmobile. Blaine responded Steve brought this snowmobile back from his grandpa's cabin about one week ago. Blaine was with Steve when Steve did this. According to Blaine, the snowmobile was put on a trailer and brought back home. Blaine did not help Steve unload this trailer because the snowmobile had been left on the trailer. As of the week of 10/31/2005, Blaine thought the snowmobile was still on the trailer. [Steve brought the Suzuki home on 10/30 from someone named Tim, and he also brought the snowmobile home from Crivitz on 10/30.]

Blaine was asked to describe the trailer. Blaine described this trailer as approximately 14' long, black metal with a drop ramp, and approximately 2' sides. Blaine said this trailer is capable of hauling two snowmobiles. This trailer is actually Barb's trailer and usually sits [sic] on the left side of Barb's garage.

The two DCI agents returned on November 11th to re-interview Blaine about any bonfires the week of October 31st. Blaine said he was "supposed to have a girl over to his house for a bonfire" but the "bonfire never took place" because the girl said "she did not want to come out for a bonfire." 








To summarize, Blaine was questioned on November 5th, 7th and 11th.

During cross examination of Blaine at Avery's trial, Strang was mistaken about an interview occurring on November 15th (page 83). There was an interview on November 5th at Cedar Ridge Restaurant (unless Baldwin misrepresented the date in her report on CASO page 282, and this interview actually occurred on November 15th and not November 5th).

Q.   Good morning.
A.   Good morning.
Q.   I'm going to call you Mr. Dassey, even though you-- I guess you are 18 now, you turned 18?
A.   Yes.
Q.   Since this is a little bit of a formal place; do you mind if I address you as Mr. Dassey?
A.   Yes.
Q.   Yes, you do mind?
A.   Or no.
Q.   All right. Mr. Dassey, you have been approached by the police a number of times, I think, since October 31, 2005, haven't you?
A.   Yes.
Q.   Started probably a week later, on November 7?
A.   Yes.
Q.   And on November 11?
A.   Yes.
Q.   November 15?
A.   Yes.
Q.   And times after that, right?
A.   Yes.
Q.   Right up through today, when you talked to Mr. Fassbender during the break?
A.   Yes.
Q.   And the police have asked you the same questions over, and over, and over, about October 31, haven't they?
A.   Yes.
Q.   You give them an answer?
A.   Yes.
Q.   And if they don't like the answer, they ask you again?
A.   Yes.

Other than the excerpts of testimony above, Blaine outright lied at Avery's trial (page 52). Blaine caved into pressure from Scott and Barb to change his original statements to match the State's narrative. Kratz wrote the script, which he rehearsed with Blaine prior to Avery's trial. Blaine followed Krtatz's script when he testified, but his performance wasn't flawless.

The following are Blaine's lies about October 31st during direct examination by Kratz.

1. The bus dropped him off at 3:40 (he originally said the bus drops him off between 3:30 and 4:00 p.m.).

2. He got home from trick-or-treating at 11 p.m. (he originally said he got home at 9:30 p.m.).

3. As he was walking from the bus stop to his home, at 3:46 or 3:47 p.m., he saw Steven bringing a plastic bag to his burning barrel (he originally said he didn't see Steven that day).

4. When Steven threw the plastic bag into barrel, there was smoke and flames coming out of the barrel (he originally said he didn't see Steven that day, he didn't see anyone using burn barrels that day, and burn barrels were used on November 3rd).

5. When he got home at 11 p.m. he saw one person, who he believed to be Steven, sitting and watching a bonfire with four to five foot flames behind his garage. (He orginally said that he got home at 9:30 p.m., and that when he got home he didn't see anyone outside; he also originally said he hadn't seen Steven that day and that there weren't any bonfires that day or that week.)

6. When he got home at 11 p.m. he went to bed in the bedroom he shared with Brendan, but Brendan wasn't in the bedroom (he originally said that when he got home at 9:30 p.m., Barb, Brendan and Bobby were inside, and then he went to bed by 10 p.m.).

7. At 3:45 p.m. he saw the Suzuki parked on the "right side, outside of the garage" (he originally said that for the last week or two, this Suzuki was parked on the side of Steven's garage closest to Blaine's house, meaning the inside of the garage).

8. Kratz, knowing that Blaine screwed up, used a diagram to have Blaine point out where the Suzuki was parked, and Kratz clarified for the jury that Blaine is "pointing to the outside of what would be Steven Avery's garage, just to the left side." (Fassbender twisted Blaine's words in his report of Strauss and Wilson's November 7th interview with Blaine, writing that "when asked where the Suzuki currently was located, Blaine said he thought it was still parked next to Steve's garage." However, Blaine hadn't said it was "parked next to Steve's garage;" he said it was "parked on the side of Steven's garage closest to Blaine's house.")

9. He also noticed a snowmobile outside, parked in "back of, behind the Suzuki." (He originally said Steven had towed the snowmobile from his grandpa's cabin about one week ago, on October 30th, and that the snowmobile had been left on the trailer. He also said that as of the week of October 31st, he thought the snowmobile was still on the trailer.) Kratz stopped at this point to add the following:

Q.   Now, I'm just asking you about your observations, Blaine, I don't know -- I don't care who you talked to, or what somebody might have said, but just what you saw with your own eyes, okay?
A.   Okay.
Q.   Do you remember seeing, with your own eyes, or remembering your own observations, whether or not that Suzuki and that snowmobile were moved somewhere else, at some point after the 31st of October? 
A.   I'm not sure, no.
Q.   Okay.  You just remember the 31st, that they were next to the garage; is that right?
A.   Yes.

10. Because Blaine, when asked twice before about the burn barrel, didn't say, as he had rehearsed with Kratz, that he saw white smoke, which would be the color of smoke if plastic were burning, Kratz asked him a third time about the burn barrel:

Q.   Now, can you describe for the jury the smoke or anything else that you saw coming out of that burn barrel when you got home that day?

ATTORNEY STRANG:  Asked and answered, twice. 

ATTORNEY KRATZ:  I want him to describe, if he can, I want to know if he can describe the color, or if there were flames, or more descriptive of what he saw, Judge. That has not been answered.

ATTORNEY STRANG:  It's been asked and answered, twice.

THE COURT:  I know the question has been answered if there was something coming out of it. I don't remember if there was a request for a description, so I will allow the question.

Q.   (By Attorney Kratz)~ If you remember, Blaine, do you remember anything coming out of that burn barrel?

A.   Yeah, white smoke.

(Blaine originally said there weren't any fires in burn barrels that day.)



The screenshots above and below are from CASO's November 4th flyover of the Avery property. Many portions of the recording seemed to be intentionally blurred, especially the areas in front of Avery's truck and Barb Janda's shed, where Avery parked the trailer after returning it to Barb. Are the trailer and Skidoo snowmobile parked between Avery's truck and the garage overhead door in the screenshots above and below?



The flyover video from November 4th is blurred but there appears to be something between Avery's truck and his garage overhead door (image above). That something could be the Skidoo snowmobile on the trailer Avery borrowed from Barb to haul the snowmobile from Crivitz to his home on October 30th. That snowmobile on the trailer would have been blocking the garage overhead door, preventing anyone from pushing the Suzuki outside the garage, as the State claims was done to make room for Teresa's RAV4 on October 31st.



Avery's truck was parked to the side of his garage overhead door when law enforcement commandeered the property on November 5th (Steven and other family members were at the family cabin in Crivitz). The trailer used to tow the Skidoo snowmobile from Crivitz to the Avery property on October 30th had been parked, with the Skidoo still on it, in front of Avery's garage overhead door. Prior to November 4th, Avery had moved the Skidoo inside his garage and moved the trailer, which belonged to Barb, beside her home.




On October 30th, Avery used Barb Janda's trailer and his Ford truck to tow a Skidoo snowmobile from Crivitz to the Avery property. According to Blaine, he was with Steven when he towed it on October 30th; and during the week of October 31st, it was still on the trailer as far as he could remember (Blaine stayed at the home of his boss November 4-12th). Avery had moved the Skidoo off the trailer and into his garage prior to the evening of November 4th, and then returned the trailer to Barb, moving it to the side of her home.



The image above is from a flyover video taken by a drone on October 31, 2016.  The large yellow box at the bottom of the image is the turnaround on Avery Road, near the mailboxes, where the school bus driver dropped off the Dassey brothers. The tiny pink box at the top of the image is where the minivan that Teresa photographed was parked on October 31, 2005. The distance is about 1000 feet or 333 yards (the length of about three football fields). The school bus driver said she saw Teresa taking pictures of a van by the mailboxes (the yellow box); however, the van that Teresa photographed was parked in the long, shared driveway between Steven Avery and Barb Janda's homes (the pink box).


Screenshot of a 2016 drone flyover of the Avery property.

In the image above, the spot where the bus driver picked up and dropped off the Dassey brothers is marked with the yellow box. It is at the end of Avery Road, where it intersects with the long shared driveway to Barb and Steven's homes. The spot where Barb's van was parked on October 31st, and the days that followed, is marked with the pink box.

On November 5th, the day police took over the Avery property, the bus driver for the Dassey brothers approached law enforcement at barriers on HWY 147 and County Road Q (she walked there from her home on County Road Q). She told them that on October 31st around 3:40 p.m. she saw a women, who she thought was Teresa, talking pictures at the spot where she dropped off the Dassey brothers. She gave a statement to Wiegert two days later, on November 7th, and clearly stated that it was at the intersection of Avery Road and the long, shared driveway where she saw Teresa taking pictures of a van. But the van was not parked at the spot. It was parked down the shared driveway, near Steven's trailer.

The bus driver was mistaken. She did not see Teresa on October 31st. She may have seen a women taking pictures of a vehicle parked at the mailboxes since there was a red and black Blazer, along with a Monte Carlo/Grand Prix, for sale on that day; or she saw Teresa taking pictures three weeks earlier, on October 10th, when she came to the Avery property to photograph the Grand Prix that Steven wanted to sell. Steven said Teresa usually came between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m., so it is likely the bus driver never saw Teresa at any time or on any day because she dropped off the boys between 3:30 and 3:45 p.m.

Brendan Dassey's First Interrogation Was on November 6th, Six Days After Teresa Halbach Went Missing

"I had to think about it, if I had seen her or not, cuz that was like a week ago and I got a bad memory." - Brendan Dassey, November 6, 2005 (page 22)

Brendan Dassey's first interview was conducted three days after Steven Avery was first questioned (at 7 p.m. on November 3rd) about Teresa Halbach's visit to his property, which was three days earlier (at 3 p.m. on October 31st). Steven would have discussed with his family that Teresa was missing, and he would have shared with them the details of her visit that day. Reporters also interviewed Steven over the next few days, and Brendan would have seen the reports. Bobby Dassey also would have talked to his family about what he saw that day.

Brendan wasn't home from school when Teresa arrived and when she left on October 31st, but detectives were convinced Teresa arrived at the Avery property around 3:30 p.m. and not 2:30 p.m. or earlier. They also were convinced that Blaine and Brendan saw her when they got off the bus at 3:40 p.m. This is because the bus driver told law enforcement on November 5th that she saw Teresa taking pictures of a vehicle when she dropped off the boys by the mailboxes at 3:40 p.m. on October 31st.

The bus driver either confused the day she saw Teresa or she saw someone other than Teresa taking pictures on October 31st. On October 10th, Teresa had been at the Avery property taking pictures of a Grand Prix that Steven was selling, which may have been parked by the mailboxes, along with other vehicles for sale (this is where they parked the vehicles for sale), which included a red and black Blazer. Or, on October 31st, the bus driver saw a woman taking pictures of a vehicle for sale that was parked by the mailboxes, but it was someone interested in buying one of them, not Teresa. During Brendan's November 6th interview, when asked when did he first see Steven after October 31st, Brendan said he and Blaine saw Steven before they went to school on Tuesday: Brendan said Steven drove up by where they were (the school bus stop by the mailboxes) and told them the Blazer would be gone in the next few days because he sold it, which implies he got a call the day before or that morning from a potential buyer.

Brendan had no memory of seeing Teresa because he didn't see Teresa, but detectives didn't believe him when he told them this (there were three detectives that questioned him for about an hour on November 6th). Therefore, as they continued to question him over and over again, he made up a story based on what he had heard Steven and Bobby (and possible Earl Avery) say about what happened that day. And then he gave details about other events that happened during the weeks surrounding October 31st as if those events occurred that day, and he made up some details out of thin air. He did this because that's what seemed to please the detectives.

Brendan tried to tell detectives the truth, that he didn't see Teresa or her SUV when he got off the bus, but they didn't believe him, so he made up a story based on the memories of others and based on his own memories from other days surrounding the week of October 31st, plus he gave other details that may not have been true at all.

Brendan didn't know until three days after October 31st that Teresa had disappeared. Prior to that, he wouldn't have had any reason to be thinking about that day. He was not questioned until almost a week after Teresa went missing. Therefore, since six days had passed before he was questioned, Brendan's memory of that day would have been foggy.

Had Teresa been reported missing the day after she was last seen, everybody's memories would have been fresher. Had Brendan been questioned prior to the family discussing the events and the media reporting on it, his recollection would have been much better, and he wouldn't have been as susceptible to being coerced into giving a false account.

On November 6th, while Wiegert was waiting for school bus driver Lisa Buchner to arrive to get her statement on what she told police two days earlier, detectives Anthony O'Neill and Todd Baldwin were in Marinette County lying in wait for Brendan; and two DCI agents were at Blaine's boss's house in Francis Creek to interrogate him. They wanted the two boys to be without adult supervision. Had O'Neill knocked on Allan Avery's cabin door in Crivitz, he probably would not have permitted them to question Brendan alone (see below for an except of O'Neill's testimony at Brendan's trial). Detectives O'Neill and Baldwin saw Brendan leave the Crivitz cabin with his older brother Bryan, and they instructed Sgt. Degnitz to pull them over (they were on the way to the store to buy soda). They separated Brendan from Bryan and interrogated him.When Brendan told them that he "hadn't seen the girl before" and that he "hadn't seen her vehicle at all," and "never before or even now or anything like that" and that he "knew nothing at all," they didn't believe him. Detectives Baldwin and O'Neill and DCI Agent Skorlinski badgered Brendan until he told them what they wanted to hear. Brendan was asked the same questions over and over again in O'Neill's squad car for about an hour.

The following is a transcript of Brendan's November 6th interrogation.

Avery's Neighbor Saw a Green/Blue RAV4 Accompanied by a White Jeep Before Pam Sturm Found It in the Salvage Yard

So this is what I think they did... They were lying in wait in the back of the Avery Auto Salvage, waiting for Steven Avery to leave, and once he left with his mother and nephew, Bryan Dassey, for Crivitz around 6 AM on 11/5, the Motley crew moved in heavy, with everything they needed, including towing capabilities, to move these cars around, just so they could place Teresa Halbach's RAV4, cover it up with all that stuff, and set the stage. All of this was done before Earl Avery, the only Avery sibling who didn't live on the property, even arrived (Chuck Avery had left for Crivitz with Brendan around 8 PM on 11/4; Allan Avery had left on 11/3). Meanwhile, back at Teresa's farmhouse, Ryan Hillegas, LE, and specifically Pam Sturm, are going over the next phase, getting ready for the FIND. You can definitely see bushes or trees on 11/4, and then two cars take their place on 11/5. The blob behind the white SUV/station wagon was definitely replaced. They sped up the playback of the 11/4 flyover video when they made the edited copy: not only are segments missing, it's intentionally sped up to create the crazy footage we see. [Reddit Comments]

Dispatch Call at 26:37: Vicky Siebert, Calling for Her Father, Who is Reporting Activity at the Back Quarry Entrance


What Steven Avery’s former neighbour witnessed
By Jeff Klassen
April 28, 2016

Steven Avery’s former neighbor said he saw things around the time of Teresa Halbach’s murder that raise a lot of questions – and no one has asked him about it before.

The recent Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer has made international headlines and raised many questions surrounding the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach’s in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin and the subsequent trial that convicted Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey in crimes related to murder.

Wilmer Seibert in his backyard. Seibert said he thinks he may have seen Teresa Halbach’s Toyota Rav4 driving into the back of Avery’s Auto Salvage via a back quarry road days before a volunteer search party found it abandoned with blood on it in 2005.

One of the key pieces of evidence in the case was Halbach’s blue/green Toyota Rav4 discovered by a volunteer search party in the rear area of Avery Auto Salvage on November 5^th, 2005.

On the southeast side of the Avery Auto Salvage, off Jambo Creek road directly beside the entrance to the quarry behind the yard, lives Wilmer Seibert, a man in his 70s who considers himself friends with the Averys.

Seibert said he saw what he thinks might be Teresa Halbach’s Toyota Rav4 accompanied by another vehicle, a mysterious white Jeep, “days” before the search party found the Rav4 on the salvage yard.

Seibert said he was just hanging out in his backyard one day when he saw the Rav4 speeding quickly down the backroad that leads into the quarry behind the Avery Auto Salvage, and directly behind it was the white Jeep.

About half an hour later only the Jeep returned he said.

A screenshot showing Seibert’s Jambo Creek Rd. property in relation to the quarry road and Avery’s Auto Salvage.

“It was a white Jeep, just a smaller Jeep, and it looked liked the paint was peeling off the hood. You could see like an undercoating on the hood. The Jeep was what I saw come back out but I didn’t see the (the Rav4 come out),” said Seibert.

Siebert cannot precisely remember the day or time he saw the vehicle because of how long ago it was now, but he estimates he saw the vehicles “less than a week,” perhaps “a couple days or three days,” before it was discovered by the search party.

Seibert said vehicles regularly travel down the quarry road but he noticed these two particular vehicles because they were driving faster than usual.

“They must have been going about 40 miles an hour,” said Seibert.

Seibert could not tell who or how many people were in either vehicle.

“Shortly after (the incident he witnesses) the lady found the car back there,” said Seibert referring to the vehicle’s discovery by Pamela Sturm as she participated in a volunteer search party.

Seibert stands on the edge of his property and by the road where he said he thinks he saw Teresa Halbach’s Rav4 days beforea volunteer search party did in 2005.

Seibert said he cannot be 100 percent certain it was Halbach’s Rav4 but, because it was the same green/blue color, and because he rarely saw Rav4s, he’s pretty sure it was.

Seibert said he’s been buying parts from Avery Auto Salvage since before he moved to the home in the 1970, he also raised questions about how the search parties could have found the vehicle so quickly.

“I don’t know how (the search party) could find that car that quick because I needed a gas tank for a truck (once) and they gave me the row (that it was in) and what kind of truck it was and I didn’t find that truck in that short of a time,” said Seibert.

Chuck Avery, who is also Steven Avery’s brother, has owned the salvage yard since the 1990s, and he confirmed that at the time of Teresa Halbach’s murder the back of the Avery lot could be accessed from the quarry road, but since that time the rear entrance has been blocked.

Seibert said he was not questioned by police or lawyers except for when an FBI agent came to his door shortly after Halbach went missing and showed him a picture of Halbach and asked if he knew her, which he didn’t.

Seibert is a quiet family man and he said that because no one asked him directly about it at the time he never thought to tell anyone.

“I really didn’t want to get involved. I didn’t know for sure what was going on and how this was going to be handled,” said Seibert.

Seibert said he is not looking for attention and he is only speaking about it now because Netflix documentary made him ask questions.

Another view of the entrance to the quarry road. Seibert’s property is to the right starting at the fence.

Seibert said during the investigation of Halbach’s murder the police barricaded the quarry road entrance, about 50 feet from his back steps, and blocked the same section of road that he had observed the Rav4 and Jeep earlier.

“He said if anyone moves those barricades give me a call, but he never gave me a number. How would I get ahold of him?” said Seibert.

One evening Siebert said he witnessed Manitowoc County Sherriff’s Department vehicles driving past the barricade and then going through the Avery property with lights late into the night.

He said he wanted to report that someone had crossed the barrier but he didn’t know who to call, so he told his daughter, Victoria Seibert, to call the local police who then told her that there was nothing to worry about.

His daughter confirmed this.

Wilmer Seibert said the next day it was announced on television that they had found Teresa Halbach’s keys on the property but doesn’t make any claims to what that might mean.

Seibert actually likes the Averys and considers them friends.

He said since buying his house and raising nine children neither him nor anyone from his family, that he knows of, has ever had a bad dealing with any of the Avery family.

Seibert had even been on fishing trips with Allen Avery, Steven’s father.

“I can’t really find no fault with them because I never had any trouble with them. I always thought they were good people. They treated me fair at least,” he said.

- END ARTICLE -




Google Maps captured an image in September 2009 of a 1999 Isuzu Rodeo in Andy Colborn's driveway. In 2005, in was not uncommon for Wisconsinites to refer to SUVs as "jeeps" or "trucks."

Critics of Siebert's statements have pointed out that the 'white Jeep' might, in fact, have been a light silver Suzuki owned by the Averys. On Reddit, where Avery's guilt or innocence continues to be a hot topic, people have parsed how likely it would be to confuse a Suzuki for a Jeep, and whether, in certain lighting, silver could be perceived as white." [Rolling Stone, July 8, 2016]

However, in October/November of 2005, Avery's gray Suzuki was parked in his garage and could not be driven because the clutch was out.