Murder with a really BIZZARE twist

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Wisconsin Innocence Project

Steven Avery Exonerated after 18 Years in Prison

September 11, 2003

On July 29, 1985, Steven Avery spent the day with his family, first shopping in the morning, then helping to pour concrete at his father’s home, then buying paint at a Shopko in Green Bay with his wife and five children in the late afternoon and early evening.

Late that same afternoon, a woman was brutally attacked, sexually assaulted, and nearly killed on a beach in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin.

Sixteen witnesses, including Avery’s family and friends, a cement contractor, and clerks at Shopko, along with store receipts from Shopko, corroborated Avery’s alibi. But the state didn’t believe Avery or his 16 alibi witnesses. He was charged with and convicted of the brutal attack on that beach in Manitowoc County, based almost entirely on eyewitness identification testimony of a single witness. The state also presented microscopic hair examination evidence indicating that a hair found on Avery was “consistent” with the victim’s hair. Avery was sentenced to 32 years in prison in March 1986.

Avery’s conviction was affirmed by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, and the Wisconsin Supreme Court denied discretionary review. Ten years later, in 1995, Avery sought DNA testing on fingernail scrapings taken from the victim immediately after the crime. Those tests revealed genetic markers consistent with both the victim and Avery, so that the laboratory could neither conclusively exclude Avery (on the off-chance that he and the victim shared those markers), nor identify him as the perpetrator. Those tests, however, also revealed DNA from another, unknown person, which could not have come from Avery. Despite this evidence of a third-party, the Wisconsin courts denied relief, holding that the DNA evidence was not sufficient to warrant a new trial.

In April 2002 the Wisconsin Innocence Project of the University of Wisconsin Law School obtained a court order, over the state’s objection, under Wisconsin’s postconviction DNA testing statute for new testing under newer, more powerful DNA technology. The Wisconsin Crime Laboratory succeeded in developing a PCR/STR profile from a pubic hair retrieved immediately after the assault from the victim’s pubic hair combings. On September 10, 2003, the lab results were released, proving that Avery and his witnesses were telling the truth, that he was not at that beach on July 29, 1985, that he had nothing to do with the crime, and that the eyewitness was simply mistaken, as eyewitnesses often are. The DNA test conclusively excluded Avery as the source of the pubic hair, and also identified the true perpetrator of this crime, a man named Gregory Allen, who is currently serving a 60-year sentence in prison for sexual assaults committed after this one. Allen was matched to the DNA profile in this case through a search of the state and national DNA databases.

The very afternoon that the final results were in from the lab, on September 10, 2003, the new District Attorney stipulated that Avery is innocent and that he should be freed and the case dismissed. Later that same afternoon, the court signed an order officially exonerating Avery and ordering his immediate release. Shortly before 9:00 a.m. the next morning, September 11, 2003, Avery walked out of the Stanley Correctional Institution. He had served over 18 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.

When Avery was hauled off to prison he lost virtually everything. When he was arrested he had a wife and five children, a job, and a supportive extended family. His wife divorced him while he was in prison. When he walked out of prison, his children were all grown. Two of his children—twins—were less than a week old when he was imprisoned. When he was released, they were 18. He never had a chance to know those children.

CHILTON, Wis. (AP) - Prosecutors will charge a man wrongly convicted of rape 20 years ago with killing a 25-year-old woman
whose vehicle was found near his home, the Calumet County district attorney said Friday.

Steven Avery's blood was found inside the woman's sport utility vehicle, District Attorney Ken Kratz said. DNA evidence also linked Avery to Teresa Halbach's ignition key, which was found hidden inside Avery's bedroom, he said.

"It is no longer a question, at least in my mind as special prosecutor in the case, who is responsible for, in this case, the death of Teresa Halbach," Kratz said.

Avery has denied involvement in Halbach's disappearance, even though Kratz said Avery was the last person to see the freelance photographer. Avery and his family became the focus of the
investigation Nov. 5 after Halbach's family found her SUV at the Avery family's salvage yard.

Investigators found burned human remains at the salvage yard, as well as blood in Avery's trailer home and garage, according to search warrants filed Friday. Eleven spent .22-caliber shell
casings also were found in Avery's garage and two guns in his home, authorities said.

Calumet County Sheriff Jerry Pagel said he believes the human remains were those of Halbach, though positive identification was still pending.

Kratz said he will charge Avery with first-degree intentional homicide by Tuesday. He wouldn't say why or how he thinks Halbach was killed.

Kratz said he also planned to file other charges against Avery, including those related to hiding and mutilating a corpse. He has no plans to charge anyone else, though he said authorities were
still investigating whether others were involved.

Halbach, from Hilbert in Calumet County, was last seen Oct. 31 when she had three appointments for Auto Trader Magazine, taking pictures of cars for sale. One stop was at the Avery salvage yard in Manitowoc County, about 25 miles south of Green Bay.

Avery has said she stopped briefly, took pictures of a minivan and left. Her family became concerned when they didn't hear from her for days and reported her missing Nov. 3.

After authorities began searching, more than 100 friends and relatives joined in to hunt for Halbach.

Investigators combed through thousands of cars at the salvage yard and still were searching the lot Friday, Pagel said. They also found the charred remains of a cell phone and digital camera in a barrel at the salvage yard, he said.

Avery, 43, remained jailed after being arrested and charged Wednesday with a weapons violation because of the two firearms found in his home, despite his status as a convicted felon for past burglary and other convictions. Authorities also had him and his family submit DNA samples.

Avery served 18 years in prison for sexual assault but was freed in 2003 after a law school group persuaded a judge to allow new DNA testing, which ruled him out and linked another man to the crime. The case prompted state lawmakers to push for legislation designed
to cut the risk of wrongful convictions.

Avery has said he fears Manitowoc County officials are after him because he filed a $36 million lawsuit against the county for the wrongful conviction. Manitowoc County officials asked authorities in Calumet County to lead the investigation into Halbach's death
because of the lawsuit.

OMG!! !

even if he was guilty of the later crime, he's already served the time. they should just leave the dude alone, that's awful.

HMMM Ever see the Shawshank Redemtion ? maybe ( of course speculation only ) he didn't know what to do after he got out so he went ahead and committed a crime similar to what he had been unwrongly jailed for in the first place. Always the off chance that he didn't do it also but it would not fall under "double jeopardy" as the victims were not the same.

I saw the movie It actually was "based" on the double jeopardy clause which was way i pointed out that the victims were different. In the movie she was convicted of killing her husband who had actually faked his own death and in the end she actually killed him

In the movie she was convicted of killing her husband who had actually faked his own death and in the end she actually killed him

Which is why you should never accept legal advice from Hollywood.

Double jeopardy means you can't be tried repeatedly for the same offense...but two attempts on someone's life at different times are separate offenses.

Jeremy

no kidding lol she didn't try to kill him the first time but she was convicted of it which was why she couldn't be prosecuted again

DOUBLE JEOPARDY - Being tried twice for the same offense; prohibited by the 5th Amendmentto the U.S. Constitution. '[T]he Double Jeopardy Clause protects against three distinct abuses: [1] a second prosecution for the same offense after acquittal; [2] a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction; and [3] multiple punishments for the same offense.' U.S. v. Halper, 490 U.S. 435, 440 (1989).

I wonder if he thought he could get away with it, thinking that DNA evidence was a waste of time after that first almighty cock-up?

she can't be convicted of killing someone she was already convicted of killing since you can't kill someone twice I understand your point if it had been an assault on the same person or a robbery or whatever but you can't kill someone twice and you can't be convicted of killing the SAME person twice