Posted on 11/10/2005 8:18:34 PM PST by hercuroc
Woman's remains found in salvage yard Disappearance of Teresa Halbach classified as a homicide By TOM KERTSCHER tkertscher@journalsentinel.com Posted: Nov. 10, 2005
Missing Woman
Photo/Jeffrey Phelps
Steven Avery served 18 years in prison on sexual assault charges before being exonerated last year.
Teresa Halbach was last seen Oct. 31.
Recent Coverage 11/9/05: Avery held on gun charge 11/8/05: Investigators sift through gravel pit near Avery property 11/7/05: Police, volunteers seek clues at Avery's home 11/7/05: Nichols: Justice won't be blind if law enforcement is in the spotlight 11/6/05: Missing woman's car found in junk lot 11/5/05: Missing woman, freed prisoner crossed paths
Steven Avery Timeline Dec. 14, 1985: Convicted of sexually assaulting a 36-year-old Manitowoc woman on July 29, 1985. Sept. 11, 2003: Freed from prison after 18 years when judge rules that DNA tests prove Avery did not commit the crime. Oct. 12, 2004: Sues Manitowoc County over his wrongful conviction. Case is pending in federal court. March 2, 2005: Pleads no contest to disorderly conduct, a municipal violation, in a Manitowoc County incident that occurred Sept. 9, 2004. Saturday: Investigators searching for a missing photographer, 25-year-old Teresa Halbach of Hilbert, search the Avery family salvage yard in Two Rivers where Avery works. Investigators believe Avery, who saw Halbach on Monday at his home near the salvage yard, was among the last people to see her before she was reported missing Thursday.
Pieces of bone from an adult woman and human teeth were found on the Manitowoc County property owned by the Steven Avery's family, officials leading the investigation into the disappearance of Theresa Halbach said this afternoon.
Investigators also said that a key to the ignition to Halbach's vehicle was found in the bedroom of Steven Avery's home on the property.
Halbach's Toyota RV4 had been found on the property Saturday.
Officials said Halbach's disappearance, which was reported to Calumet County authorities last Thursday, is now officially considered a homicide and the FBI has been asked to assist in the investigation.
The officials said Steven Avery, who was arrested Wednesday on an unrelated gun charge, would remain in jail at least until a court appearance Tuesday afternoon. Avery was released from prison last year after serving 18 years for a rape that DNA evidence found he did not commit.
Avery and seven of his family members had been ordered Wednesday to give samples for DNA testing but the officials refused to comment on whether any of their DNA matched DNA from evidence found on the Avery property.
Attempts were made to burn a body on the property but were not completely successful, said Calumet County Sheriff Gerald Pagel, who is heading the investigation into Halbach's disappearance.
He and Calumet County district attorney Ken Kratz, who is supervising the investigation, said they had hoped to identify the human remains by now but have not done so.
The officials also disclosed that blood was found in Halbach's vehicle, elsewhere on the Avery family property and in buildings on the property, but they refused to say more.
The officials said Steven Avery was questioned about Halbach's disappearance after his arrest Wednesday and that the interviews were recorded. They said he and all seven other Avery family members who gave DNA samples were questioned after being told they had a right to an attorney.
Steven Avery did not ask for an attorney during the questioning, said officials, who would not comment on what he said.
Halbach, 25, was last seen on Halloween when she had three appointments for Auto Trader Magazine, taking pictures of cars for sale. One stop was at the Avery salvage yard near Mishicot in Manitowoc County.
"You can probably tell that I'm a little bit shook up today with the evidence we've discovered and I think I have a right to be," said Sheriff Pagel.
He called the homicide the worst crime he has seen in 33 years in law enforcement.
Mike Halbach, one of Teresa's brothers, said, "We've braced for the worse, hoped to God it didn't happen, but it seems the worst did happen."
Dozens of family members and friends had spent days searching for any trace of Halbach near the salvage yard. Mike Halbach said earlier today that the sheriff told family members he didn't need them to search today.
Steven Avery was imprisoned in 1985 after a jury convicted him of sexual assault and a judge sentenced him to 32 years. He was freed after a law school group convinced a judge to allow new DNA testing, which linked the crime to another man already in prison for another sexual assault.
Avery has said he fears Manitowoc County officials are after him because he filed a $36 million lawsuit against the county over his wrongful conviction.
Complete coverage of this story will appear online later today and in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in the morning.
http://www.nbc.com has around-the-clock coverage
My family is debating as to whether or not Avery's guilty. My brother and dad think he's been framed; my mom thinks it's one of his nephews now.
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a key to her car was found in his bedroom.
Looks like they got him.. bastard.
This story is bizarre-apparently someone tried to burn the body
I don't think he was framed-seems like too many people have the OJ complex nowadays like the cops are always framing people
Prayers for this poor woman's family - what a horrible end.
Just because there was other DNA present doesn't mean that he was innocent in the first case.
Ooo, yeah. That's irrefutable evidence.
C'mon, they're going to have to have more than that. Would you put a guy away for life based ONLY on a key found in his bedroom?
PING
I believe this is the same woman we were discussing yesterday.
May she rest in peace. Prayers for her family.
It wouldn't have been the cops, but the real killer.
I'm saving my judgment, anyway, until we learn more.
I see this case as a big problem if the DNA was somehow analyzed wrong or tainted-UW Madison was involved with this case and there's gonna be some splainin to do if he killed someone
http://www.planethuff.com/twilight_kingdom/archives/2005/11/teresa_marie_ha.html
Written before body positively identified..
snip
See, it had long been forgotten that one reason Manitowoc authorities took the idea that Steven Avery might have committed an act of violence against a woman in 1985 seriously was because he'd already confessed to running a woman off the road and sticking a firearm in her face. The reason? She'd been complaining that he was standing naked in his front yard. In the hoopla of the Innocence Project patting itself on the back and turning Avery into a noble hero for his years of suffering for a crime he truly did not commit, people kind of forgot his "lesser," proven convictions for other antisocial acts, like burglary, and perhaps even more significant, animal abuse.
snip
Or that the new tests were accurate or untainted or that some bozo in the lab didn't accidently switch paperwork.
Does seem that this alleged perp must have thought he was untouchable, committing another crime in his own yard, either that or he's totally disconnected from reality.
Hope the crusading legal eagles that got him sprung are pleased with their handy work.
Prayers for her family. :(
What's crazy is I kept seeing missing posters for her all over the city... there was one in the elevator at the hospital last Friday, in fact.
Thanks for calling me on it. I knew it would get a reply or two.
OJ was framed to or so I hear still to this day.
If his prints or dna are found on the key, would you then claim someone else framed him somehow. If none is found, it is still suspicious, and if it is a frame job, who then could have done it? I saw a nephew already mentioned in an earlier post.
Is the salvage yard a family owned business, who else works there, etc. What motive might someone else have to put the key there.
This is in your neck of the woods. I will admit I have not followed this case closely to this point, other than what has been reported on FNC. Im going on gut feel, quite frankly.
I'm in total agreement - I'm just saying a car key ain't gonna do it for evidence.
Now that I did not know about. That does look bad, doesn't it...
Again, my mom seems to think it's one of his nephews. Supposedly, one of them was being heavily questioned by the police and even told "We know that you know where the body is, so why don't you just tell us already?" The mother was REALLY upset over it.
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