Posted on 11/09/2005 2:32:54 PM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
A man who served 18 years in prison for a rape he did not commit said Tuesday night he is afraid he is being framed for the disappearance of a Calumet County woman whose car was found at a junkyard run by his family.
"It's a headache. Everybody's worried about it. They can't sleep, they're so worried," Steve Avery said of himself and his large family, who live in Manitowoc County, mostly in the Two Rivers area.
Calumet County authorities are searching for 25-year-old Teresa Marie Halbach of Hilbert. Halbach, a freelance photographer for Auto Trader Magazine, was last seen Oct. 31, when she had three scheduled appointments for the publication. One of the appointments was at the salvage yard run by Avery's brother.
Investigators on Tuesday discovered evidence that makes them fear for the safety of Halbach, the Calumet County sheriff said.
Investigators still were searching Avery's property Tuesday, Sheriff Jerry Pagel said. He refused to provide any details except to say the search included excavations on or near the Avery property.
Avery's parents, Delores and Allen Avery, live on the property, and Steve Avery said Tuesday he's been living rent-free in "a house trailer close to the junkyard."
Avery was convicted of a 1985 sexual assault and exonerated by DNA evidence 18 years later. He was released from prison Sept. 11, 2003. Since then, the high school dropout has "been helping out at the yard, eight hours a day," he said. His work is unpaid, but "they help me out with food and gas. I work for my older brother. It gives me something to do until the lawsuit is settled," he said.
Avery sued Manitowoc County and its former sheriff and district attorney for $36 million over his wrongful conviction, and he has said he fears someone is trying to set him up as a suspect in Halbach's disappearance. Avery said he has nothing to hide.
"Everybody's taking it pretty rough," Avery said. "My mother breaks down. My brother broke down."
Rumors are flying, Avery said.
"I'm afraid. I heard tonight that a cop put her car in the (Avery salvage) yard."
The junkyard, his parents' adjacent home and his trailer remain under control of the authorities, and his parents have not been able to get inside their home for his mother to retrieve her medications, Avery said.
"I can't go home. Nobody can go home. They got it all blocked off," he said.
"I had to borrow a car. They took my car. Where I'm going to stay tonight, I don't know. I might stay in the back of the car."
Avery's attorney, Walter Kelly, has said he's confident Avery had nothing to do with Halbach's disappearance.
Is Avery afraid they'll arrest him in connection with the missing woman?
"That's always in my mind," he said.
Manitowoc County Sheriff Ken Petersen couldn't be reached for comment on Avery's suspicions Tuesday night. A call to him was referred to Calumet County Sheriff Gerald Pagel, who also was unreachable.
"Calumet County is handling the investigation," a Manitowoc County sheriff's dispatcher said.
Manitowoc County District Attorney Mark Rohrer has appointed the Calumet County district attorney, Ken Kratz, special prosecutor in the Halbach case because he wants to avoid the appearance of impropriety.
Kratz said investigators executed search warrants on the Avery property as well as in other counties, including in Marinette County, where the Avery family has a cabin.
Halbach's vehicle was found at the Avery salvage yard Saturday, when Avery was at his father's vacation property near Crivitz. Officers searched the cabin Saturday and impounded Avery's car and a flatbed truck.
Or maybe it's just payback for the lawsuit.
"Avery sued Manitowoc County and its former sheriff and district attorney for $36 million over his wrongful conviction"
My first thought was, "where there's smoke, there's fire". I hope we're wrong.
"if it were me"
But it wasn't. And predicting someone else's reaction based on your feelings is no test of someones guilt of innocence.
of = or
"He killed her."
I'm kind of leaning that way, too. Prison probably looks good when you arrive back on the outside and end up living in a trailer in your parent's junkyard anyway...
Supposedly there's to be a release of additional info tomorrow after they've searched the impounded vehicles and searched the property.
He was pretty stupid if he put the car in his brother's junkyard. Perhaps the same guy who raped someone 20 years ago murdered this one and put the car in the junkyard. Talk about throwing off the hounds.
Maybe being cheated out of 18 years of your life makes a man either bitter and self-centered or more appreciative of the support he got from his family. He seems concerned for them and not so concerned for himself. I think he's been set up by the people he's suing.
I agree.
" I'm not responsible for finding him guilty or innocent, just giving my thoughts."
Really?
"He killed her"
So you don't think this statement doesn't make you 'responsible' for judging his guilt or innocence?
A/ After 18 years, more than likely, no one involved in his original case is still on the force, or at the DA's office. B/ DNA evidence is not infallible, and in any case, only as good as the evidence collected at the time. 18 years ago, forensic evidence collection was light years behind what is standard today. C/ He was ID'ed in a lineup by the victim shortly after the attack. Only after 18 years, and the new DNA evidence did she state she ID'ed the wrong guy.
Mr. Avery could very well be a not so nice guy.
Wisconsin seems to be splattered all over FR lately!
I'm firmly on the fence on this story. I have absolutely no inkling about his guilt or innocence and will be watching it all unfold.
Never been in jail, have you?
Maybe he figured he did the time so he might as well get what he 'paid for'...
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