Steven Avery

Case record: Steven Avery

Background

Steven Avery was accused of luring Teresa Halbach, a young photographer working for Auto Trader Magazine, to his family's auto salvage yard, where he allegedly killed her and mutilated her remains on Halloween 2005. Avery lived in a trailer on the property where his parents, sister and brothers also lived in a string of mobile homes.

Avery had previously spent 18 years in prison after being convicted of rape in 1985; DNA profiling later implicated another man in the assault.

The offence

Teresa Halbach went to the Avery property by Auto Trader Magazine to take photographs of a vehicle for sale. Avery allegedly requested that Halbach take the photograph of a Dodge minivan his sister was selling, and the state maintained that Avery specifically requested that Halbach take the photograph.

Her family reported her missing three days later.

Avery was accused of first-degree intentional homicide, false imprisonment, mutilating a corpse and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Manitowoc County Circuit Judge Patrick Willis dismissed kidnapping and sexual assault charges before the trial.

A jury found Steven Avery, 44, guilty of first-degree intentional homicide and illegal possession of a firearm in the death of Teresa Halbach, 25. Avery was found not guilty of mutilating a corpse.

Investigation

Advanced DNA testing was used to free Steven Avery after he spent 18 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, and similar technology was used in the Halbach case.

Bone fragments and tissue found in a burn barrel outside Avery's mobile home matched Halbach's DNA profile, according to police. Over the next 11 days, police found Halbach's charred remains in a burn barrel along with her cellphone situated a stone's throw from Avery's trailer.

Inside Avery's home, investigators located Halbach's car key covered with the defendant's blood. Her crumpled license plates turned up in an aging station wagon. When forensic testing was completed, investigators matched Avery and Halbach's blood to that found inside her SUV.

Other trace amounts of Halbach's DNA were found on a bullet embedded in the floor of Avery's garage, according to special prosecutor Kenneth Kratz.

Defense counsel did not dispute the bullet with Halbach's DNA, the blood found in her car, or the key smeared with Avery's blood; instead, he concluded that these were planted by police.

The defense raised questions over the bone fragments found near Avery's trailer. Strang said other fragments were found in the gravel pits that surround the salvage yard, but were not entered into evidence because they were too badly destroyed to be linked to Halbach. Strang contended the bones were moved from another site to the burn barrel where police recovered them.

Arrest

No arrest details were provided.

Trial

A six-week murder trial came to a close Sunday when a jury found Steven Avery, 44, guilty.

Prosecution opening

Special prosecutor Kenneth Kratz said during his opening statement:

"Who killed her?"

Kratz also told jurors:

"This evidence points to one person."

Kratz told jurors that Avery called Auto Trader Magazine and requested that Halbach stop by to photograph a Dodge Caravan his family was selling.

Kratz told jurors that sellers normally pay $40 for the pictures to be taken and that the photographers receive a cut of the fee.

Kratz stated that investigators zeroed in on Avery's property after searching every trunk of the 4,000 cars located on the lot, and that two volunteers found Halbach's Toyota RAV 4 parked along the perimeter of the lot. Kratz also said the car's license plates were missing.

Kratz called more than 50 witnesses and constantly reminded the jury that the case was about Halbach, not Avery. After the verdict, Kratz said:

"This is no time for celebration."
"Let me remind you of the Halbachs."

Defence opening and theory

Defense attorney Dean Strang did not dispute the evidence of the bullet with Halbach's DNA, the blood found in her car, or the key smeared with Avery's blood, but argued they were planted by police.

Strang offered a motive and argued that officers were focused on Avery after depositions were forced in a $36 million lawsuit Avery filed against Manitowoc County, where Avery was wrongly convicted. Strang said:

"All of those turning emotions, all of that within the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department floods out. You can call it tunnel vision, you can call it investigative bias, but this investigation is about Steven Avery and not much else,"

Strang also told jurors:

"This wasn't an effort to frame an innocent man. It was an intense desire to conclude that he was the guilty man,"

Strang claimed that an unprotected vial of Avery's blood, which was taken during the review of his 1985 case, provided the means for the officers' deception. Strang said the officers dabbed the defendant's blood in the victim's car, on the car key and on the bullet.

Strang asked:

"Why else wouldn't investigators have found Halbach's key lying in plain sight in Avery's bedroom after several exhaustive searches of his home?"

Strang said Lenk did not find the car key until eight days after Halbach disappeared, and Strang said it did not have any of the victim's DNA or fingerprints on it.

Strang stated that the bullet that tested positive for Halbach's DNA was not recovered until five months after her murder. Strang said that despite several searches that turned up other bullets and shell casings in the garage, the incriminating one was not found until March 2006.

Strang said:

"If he's the one that burned the body, he's not going to bring [the bones] back 20 yards outside his bedroom window,"

Verdict and deliberations

The sequestered jurors reached their verdict after nearly four days of deliberations. The jury was forced to endure two sets of deliberations after one juror was excused for a family emergency.

When the announcement was made, the defendant showed little reaction other than shaking his head slightly.

The victim's brother, Mike Halbach, told reporters:

"Two out of three is pretty good in this case,"

and:

"We owe the jury a big thank you."

Avery's lawyer Jerome Buting said Sunday:

"He's obviously disappointed, but not despondent,"
"He's not giving up."

Sentencing

After the conviction, Avery faced a mandatory life sentence, which was expected to be handed down in six weeks.

Avery was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole in June 2007.

Outcome

A jury convicted Steven Avery of first-degree intentional homicide and illegal possession of a firearm in the death of Teresa Halbach, 25.

Aftermath

Following the conviction, the Halbach family expressed a desire to return to normal life but faced another hurdle because Avery's nephew, Brendan Dassey, was also charged with Halbach's murder. Dassey's trial was slated for April 15.

Separately, Brendan Dassey, 17, was sentenced to life in prison for helping his uncle rape and murder Halbach. The sentencing took place on Thursday (date not provided in the excerpt) before county judge Jerome Fox.

Dassey said before sentencing:

"Just that I didn't do it. I wouldn't do nothing like that."

In April, a jury convicted Dassey of being party to first-degree intentional homicide, mutilation of a corpse and second-degree sexual assault in the death of Teresa Halbach on Halloween 2005.

The judge granted Dassey the possibility of parole in 41 years, citing Dassey's youth, lack of a criminal record and secondary role in the crimes. Dassey would be 59 when he was eligible for parole in 2048.

Dassey had confessed four months after Halbach's disappearance, describing in detail how he raped Halbach as she was shackled to a bed. The confession said Avery then stabbed Halbach and handed Dassey the knife with which Dassey slit her throat. Dassey later recanted the confession, saying investigators coerced him.

Avery, 45, was sentenced to life in prison in June with no possibility of parole, and had been released from prison 3 1/2 years before Halbach's murder after serving 18 years for a rape that DNA evidence later showed he did not commit.