EPISODE 6:
TESTING THE EVIDENCE
Image may be NSFW.
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The needle has moved! Evidence presented in Episode 6 has changed my concept of the crime, if not the sheriff’s office investigation of it.
INVESTIGATOR’S NOTES: (Some or all of you probably already have the answers to these)
Image may be NSFW.INVESTIGATOR’S NOTES: (Some or all of you probably already have the answers to these)
- Dust on the Oldsmobile in the garage is months old. Was it even moved in November?
- Prints on the Oldsmobile? What are the marks in the dust? Photos of the marks?
- 6:25 PM entry; circles already on the floor in garage. Why?
- Remiker found the bullet. Isn't that convenient?
- Lenk wasn't properly logged into the search log. No way to know when he really arrived—could have been there for hours. Log is invalid.
- Check all search photos and video for time-stamped evidence of Lenk at the search scene to determine arrival time.
- Why was Lenk there?
- Why is bullet on the floor? How many murder bullets are found (bloodless) on the floor of a garage?
- Caliber of the bullet? Condition? Pistol? Rifle?
- Couldn't the lab give us parameters of high and low calibers which could have caused the wound? Doesn’t seem unreasonable.
Clik here to view.
Episode 6 began with a somewhat pathetic (and in some ways disturbing) display by Calumet County District Attorney Ken Kratz. The D.A. sat next to Calumet County Sheriff Jerry Pagel at a hastily-called press conference and provided an unusually and unnecessarily detailed version of the killing of Teresa Halbach. I am at a complete loss as to why either Pagel or Kratz felt that press conference was appropriate or necessary. I have never seen anything like it during my tenure in law enforcement. I have been involved with the investigation of horrendous, disturbing and bloody crimes where publicity was essential to finding the killers before they struck again. Even then, descriptions of the crimes or the crime scenes were not necessary. When you have your suspect in custody, there is even less of a need for such exposure. Frankly, at times, I wondered if Kratz found the details personally salacious.
Because of Kratz’ incomprehensible decision to expose his case file like an exhibitionist in a trench coat, family and friends of Teresa Halbach were subjected to a horrific (though fictional) description of her death. “Stabbed in the stomach with a butcher knife….throat slit….still begging for her life…..not dying…” are gut-wrenching, heartbreaking mental images I doubt her loved ones will ever forget.
And why did they have to endure this? Why was this unverified, unsupported lie trotted out to the public before the first attempts to corroborate it were launched? If Kratz and Pagel had been willing to wait just a few days, the apocryphal ‘confession’ of Brendan Dassey would have been proven false. There was no hurry. In their minds, there was no threat to the public, they had their suspect, Steven Avery in custody. There was no reason, legally, forensically, or morally, not to wait until the outlandish fantasy dragged out of Brendan Dassey was tested. They didn’t even wait 24 hours.
Because of Kratz’ incomprehensible decision to expose his case file like an exhibitionist in a trench coat, family and friends of Teresa Halbach were subjected to a horrific (though fictional) description of her death. “Stabbed in the stomach with a butcher knife….throat slit….still begging for her life…..not dying…” are gut-wrenching, heartbreaking mental images I doubt her loved ones will ever forget.
And why did they have to endure this? Why was this unverified, unsupported lie trotted out to the public before the first attempts to corroborate it were launched? If Kratz and Pagel had been willing to wait just a few days, the apocryphal ‘confession’ of Brendan Dassey would have been proven false. There was no hurry. In their minds, there was no threat to the public, they had their suspect, Steven Avery in custody. There was no reason, legally, forensically, or morally, not to wait until the outlandish fantasy dragged out of Brendan Dassey was tested. They didn’t even wait 24 hours.
Let’s review why Brendan’s confession was demonstrably false:
- Blood evidence required to be in the Avery trailer: If Teresa Halbach was stabbed in the stomach, her throat cut, and shot in the head, that room would have been awash in her blood. The gunshot and the throat wound would have resulted in low-, medium- and high-velocity blood spatter all over the room. This could not be hidden from forensic investigation. Even if extensively cleaned up, it would leave unmistakable (and easy to find) latent blood patterns on the walls and furniture. The mattress and sheets would be soggy with the victim’s blood. It could not be cleaned out of the mattress foam and batting.
- Physical damage to the bed required for the story to be true: The victim was allegedly shackled and tied to the wooden bed frame. But no evidence of any defects in the frame consistent with the shackles and/or ropes is alleged. Even if Teresa was simply confined in the trailer for several minutes, she would undoubtedly have attempted to escape and in doing so been restrained by Avery/Dassey, which would have left physical traces of her behind.
- Blood evidence required to be in the garage: If shot in the garage, or even dragged into the garage, the victim’s blood would be everywhere. What didn’t soak into the concrete floor would have flowed into the deep cracks in the concrete where Avery could not have cleaned it.
But what do we find? No blood on the walls of the trailer. No blood in the carpet in the trailer. No allegation of blood on the mattress or the sheets. No blood in the garage, even though a spent “murder bullet” is found.” Teresa Halbach was not killed in the Avery trailer or garage. There is no other option. So had Kratz and Pagel waited, or had they even talked to anybody who had been at the crime scene, they would have realized the ridiculous nature of Dassey’s story before they subjected a grieving family to unnecessary pain.
Clik here to view.
So what motivated Pagel and Kratz to hold the presser when they did? I hope I am wrong, but there is a logical, though unpleasant explanation: They knew from the November searches that Dassey’s story was, at best, extremely unlikely. But until specific tests had been conducted to corroborate the version of events Fassbender had elicited, no lab testing existed to rule out the story. Therefore, they had to publicize the confession before the lab reports came back proving the ‘confession’ spurious. Until that time, they had ‘cover’ to publicize the details of the story. But why did they need to do so?
One reason is likely self-promotion on Kratz’ part. District Attorney is a political position and most DA’s have political ambitions. So, publicity is good. And losing a huge case like the Halbach murder would be a career ender. And how do you help guarantee a conviction? Poisoning the jury pool. That press conference ensured that every single potential juror in Manitowoc or Calumet County would not only believe that Steven Avery was a butcher, but know the salacious alleged details of the crime. The press conference was so wrong on so many levels, but it was so characteristic of Ken Kratz.
Image may be NSFW.One reason is likely self-promotion on Kratz’ part. District Attorney is a political position and most DA’s have political ambitions. So, publicity is good. And losing a huge case like the Halbach murder would be a career ender. And how do you help guarantee a conviction? Poisoning the jury pool. That press conference ensured that every single potential juror in Manitowoc or Calumet County would not only believe that Steven Avery was a butcher, but know the salacious alleged details of the crime. The press conference was so wrong on so many levels, but it was so characteristic of Ken Kratz.
Clik here to view.
If anyone doubts Kratz’ motives in holding the presser, think about this dichotomy: Kratz spends an entire press conference giving a too-detailed, ‘R-rated’ version of the death of Teresa Halbach, and when asked by the press whether there was any DNA backing up the Dassey story, he says, “We’re not going to comment on that.” Why? Was the DNA too horrible to speak of? Would it violate the privacy of the victim’s family? It immediately made me think of the scene in the movie “Airplane!” when Ted Striker is letting his girlfriend Elaine know he’s leaving on a mission.
Striker: My orders came through. My squadron ships out tomorrow. We're bombing the storage depots at Daiquiri at 1800 hrs. We’re coming in from the north, below the radar."
Elaine: “When will you be back?"
Striker: "I can't tell you that. It's classified."
The reason Kratz would talk about the details of Teresa begging for her life before being raped, but not answer a question on DNA is because he knew he had no DNA evidence. Period. And as attorney Dean Strang so correctly noted, poisoning the jury pool with Dassey’s alleged confession, and then not calling him to testify was a brilliant move because it got the statement “in,” but made it impossible to cross-examine Dassey on the ‘confession. Innuendo and false testimony is not how jury trials are supposed to work. At least not since the late 1600’s in Salem, Massachusetts.
The fact that Judge Willis wouldn't even give a jury instruction regarding Dassey’s ‘confession’ in light of the March 2nd presser, makes me wonder how anybody could get a fair trial in those counties as long as Kratz is prosecuting and Willis is on the bench.
FURTHER IMPLICATIONS OF THE BURNED BODY
Another very subtle problem that the prosecution's theory of the crime poses to the defense is that the body of the victim is not available now to compare for knife or bullet wounds. This means that any bullet of any type and size, whether from a rifle or pistol of any caliber, could be considered the murder weapon. In that part of Wisconsin, hunting is a passion. How many homes don't have a gun in them? Steven Avery’s certainly did. How many homes anywhere don’t have knives in them? The problem with this is that Kratz (who I am now convinced is bound by neither honor nor decency) can now hold up any gun or knife in the possession of Steven Avery and claim that it was the murder weapon. Without wounds to compare it to, it could not be disputed in conclusive terms.
Image may be NSFW.Striker: My orders came through. My squadron ships out tomorrow. We're bombing the storage depots at Daiquiri at 1800 hrs. We’re coming in from the north, below the radar."
Elaine: “When will you be back?"
Striker: "I can't tell you that. It's classified."
The reason Kratz would talk about the details of Teresa begging for her life before being raped, but not answer a question on DNA is because he knew he had no DNA evidence. Period. And as attorney Dean Strang so correctly noted, poisoning the jury pool with Dassey’s alleged confession, and then not calling him to testify was a brilliant move because it got the statement “in,” but made it impossible to cross-examine Dassey on the ‘confession. Innuendo and false testimony is not how jury trials are supposed to work. At least not since the late 1600’s in Salem, Massachusetts.
The fact that Judge Willis wouldn't even give a jury instruction regarding Dassey’s ‘confession’ in light of the March 2nd presser, makes me wonder how anybody could get a fair trial in those counties as long as Kratz is prosecuting and Willis is on the bench.
FURTHER IMPLICATIONS OF THE BURNED BODY
Another very subtle problem that the prosecution's theory of the crime poses to the defense is that the body of the victim is not available now to compare for knife or bullet wounds. This means that any bullet of any type and size, whether from a rifle or pistol of any caliber, could be considered the murder weapon. In that part of Wisconsin, hunting is a passion. How many homes don't have a gun in them? Steven Avery’s certainly did. How many homes anywhere don’t have knives in them? The problem with this is that Kratz (who I am now convinced is bound by neither honor nor decency) can now hold up any gun or knife in the possession of Steven Avery and claim that it was the murder weapon. Without wounds to compare it to, it could not be disputed in conclusive terms.
Clik here to view.
PERSONNEL LOG – SEARCH SITE:
Many different logs are kept during the execution of a search warrant. One of the most important of which records the identity of all those who enter the crime scene, and when they do so. It also records when they leave the scene. Usually, one officer/deputy is given the duty of maintaining the crime scene log. Almost always it is the newest officer, or the one who has most recently pissed off the watch commander.
At the March search of Avery’s property, the handwriting on the sheet indicates that a single person kept the personnel log at the search site. There are two things about this log that are noteworthy to me. First, it is very rare that the sheriff of the county will actually come to a search. Searches happen all the time, and sheriffs generally are not at the scene. Frankly, non-investigative, high-ranking personnel only come to a search scene when there are news cameras, or major evidence is found—or both. We see Sheriff Pagel arrived at 5:38 PM, before anything significant is found. Next entry to the log is at 5:40 PM for Wendy Baldwin and Gary Steier of Calumet County SO, then at 6:08 PM, Dolores Avery, somebody obviously not part of the search team, failed to stop at the perimeter, likely not realizing what was going on. That the officer managing the log was dutiful enough to log this shows that the log was being taken seriously. The last legitimate entry in the log is at 6:12 PM, when Deputy Inspector Schetter of MCSO arrived.
The 6:10 log entry for Lt. Lenk is obviously added sometime after 6:12 PM. The fact that it was entered out of order calls into question the truthfulness of the entry. How do people get into crime scenes and search sites without logging in? Sometimes, they arrive at an area which is not an authorized entry point and duck under the tape. They then have to find the person handling the personnel log. If they are distracted for a while, they might not get their time entered correctly. However, unless they have participated in a recorded part of the search, many investigators just go to the log-holder and announce themselves. The log-holder will enter them in at the time they announced themselves. If they haven’t participated in any part of the search, it’s usually not thought to be a big deal. The fact that Lenk needed to have himself logged in at a certain time makes me wonder why the 6:10 time was so important.
What’s troublesome is that only one person seemed not to log-in correctly—at least on this page. The sequential nature of the log, however, is there for a reason. To keep out-of-order log entries from occurring. To keep that from happening, in fact, forms are used which have boxes in which each investigator’s entry is logged. The boxes keep post-arrival log-ins from occurring. In this case, Calumet County was apparently using a sheet of printer paper. Because Lenk did not sign in sequentially, there is no reason to believe that Lenk arrived at 6:10 PM, and much reason to believe he did not. It is too coincidental that he was logged-in exactly half-way between the two entries that bracketed his.
Lenk, as inferred by the last scene in Episode 6, has some explaining to do.
My takeaway for me from this installment is that Kratz and possibly some deputies on Manitowoc and Calumet County Sheriff's Offices are suffering from the 'victory at any cost' syndrome. It doesn't happen just in the justice system. Maria Sharapova proved that this week. Sports is a great analogy to what we're seeing in Manitowoc and Calumet Counties. People remember Lance Armstrong now, not for winning the Tour de France, but for falling to the 'victory at any cost' syndrome. In any endeavor, a small minority of participants are willing to do anything to win. The majority are not so willing. The achievements of greats like Willy Mays are sometimes forgotten, though, when other heroes are caught using steroids.
As a member of the law enforcement family, I feel acute pain whenever I see a law enforcement officer fall victim to the belief that it's okay to cheat the system, "as long as I know he's guilty." But I take comfort in the fact that in law enforcement, like in professional sports, the vast majority play by the rules, and those who violate the trust people put in them are prominent because of their relatively small number. I find encouragement in the knowledge that for every Barry Bonds out there, there's ten Willy Mays'.
(On Friday, I'll be discussing "the bullet," which may not be "the" bullet.)
Many different logs are kept during the execution of a search warrant. One of the most important of which records the identity of all those who enter the crime scene, and when they do so. It also records when they leave the scene. Usually, one officer/deputy is given the duty of maintaining the crime scene log. Almost always it is the newest officer, or the one who has most recently pissed off the watch commander.
At the March search of Avery’s property, the handwriting on the sheet indicates that a single person kept the personnel log at the search site. There are two things about this log that are noteworthy to me. First, it is very rare that the sheriff of the county will actually come to a search. Searches happen all the time, and sheriffs generally are not at the scene. Frankly, non-investigative, high-ranking personnel only come to a search scene when there are news cameras, or major evidence is found—or both. We see Sheriff Pagel arrived at 5:38 PM, before anything significant is found. Next entry to the log is at 5:40 PM for Wendy Baldwin and Gary Steier of Calumet County SO, then at 6:08 PM, Dolores Avery, somebody obviously not part of the search team, failed to stop at the perimeter, likely not realizing what was going on. That the officer managing the log was dutiful enough to log this shows that the log was being taken seriously. The last legitimate entry in the log is at 6:12 PM, when Deputy Inspector Schetter of MCSO arrived.
The 6:10 log entry for Lt. Lenk is obviously added sometime after 6:12 PM. The fact that it was entered out of order calls into question the truthfulness of the entry. How do people get into crime scenes and search sites without logging in? Sometimes, they arrive at an area which is not an authorized entry point and duck under the tape. They then have to find the person handling the personnel log. If they are distracted for a while, they might not get their time entered correctly. However, unless they have participated in a recorded part of the search, many investigators just go to the log-holder and announce themselves. The log-holder will enter them in at the time they announced themselves. If they haven’t participated in any part of the search, it’s usually not thought to be a big deal. The fact that Lenk needed to have himself logged in at a certain time makes me wonder why the 6:10 time was so important.
What’s troublesome is that only one person seemed not to log-in correctly—at least on this page. The sequential nature of the log, however, is there for a reason. To keep out-of-order log entries from occurring. To keep that from happening, in fact, forms are used which have boxes in which each investigator’s entry is logged. The boxes keep post-arrival log-ins from occurring. In this case, Calumet County was apparently using a sheet of printer paper. Because Lenk did not sign in sequentially, there is no reason to believe that Lenk arrived at 6:10 PM, and much reason to believe he did not. It is too coincidental that he was logged-in exactly half-way between the two entries that bracketed his.
Lenk, as inferred by the last scene in Episode 6, has some explaining to do.
My takeaway for me from this installment is that Kratz and possibly some deputies on Manitowoc and Calumet County Sheriff's Offices are suffering from the 'victory at any cost' syndrome. It doesn't happen just in the justice system. Maria Sharapova proved that this week. Sports is a great analogy to what we're seeing in Manitowoc and Calumet Counties. People remember Lance Armstrong now, not for winning the Tour de France, but for falling to the 'victory at any cost' syndrome. In any endeavor, a small minority of participants are willing to do anything to win. The majority are not so willing. The achievements of greats like Willy Mays are sometimes forgotten, though, when other heroes are caught using steroids.
As a member of the law enforcement family, I feel acute pain whenever I see a law enforcement officer fall victim to the belief that it's okay to cheat the system, "as long as I know he's guilty." But I take comfort in the fact that in law enforcement, like in professional sports, the vast majority play by the rules, and those who violate the trust people put in them are prominent because of their relatively small number. I find encouragement in the knowledge that for every Barry Bonds out there, there's ten Willy Mays'.
(On Friday, I'll be discussing "the bullet," which may not be "the" bullet.)