Ken Kratz: "Ask yourselves, is that a green SUV? I will argue, no, that's not a green SUV."

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This post will focus on:

• Strang and Buting's motion to suppress, including their argument that the vehicle found by Pam did not match the description of Teresa Halbach's vehicle.

• Strang and Buting's Alternative Timeline, Which prompts Kratz to utter the title ^ quote, "that's not a green SUV."

• Tracking mentions of the RAV from reports, interviews and witness testimony in the interest of inspiring some discussion surrounding whether or not we are dealing with a GREEN or BLUE RAV4.

• Going over possible locations where the RAV may have been found by Colborn on November 3, 2005.

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Please note:

 

There is a large number of pictures / screenshots / documents linked in this post.(1) is a photo (2) is a document and (3) is a separate reddit post. 

 

 

 

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The Debate Rages On

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From early on in this case I was positive we were dealing with more than one RAV.

There is hardly any of Teresa's DNA in the car. There was no insurance or dealership paperwork found. No plates. A VIN that had been tampered with. Suspicious wheels and wheel wells. Missing screws, nuts and bolts. Unexplained damage. The Battery was dead.

Then, on December 16, 2016, Kathleen, for whatever reason, sent outa whopping three tweets concerning the Avery case¹ - one early in the morning, and two later that same day. One of her later tweets gave us a fantastic hint concerning the RAV. Zellner said (via twitter): "Putting the State's case in a scientific truth crusher. Fully expect it will be flattened and tossed aside in a growing heap of wrongful convictions.

IMO that tweet was meant to say - 'Hey boys. I know everything.'¹

Before that tweet I was very careful to never mention the blue green issue in my posts, however that day and that tweet [kind of sealed the deal for me.^3]()

IMO Manitowoc Sheriff's Department had Teresa's 1999 DARK GREEN RAV4 in their possession on November 3. Whatever else they found it gave the author of this report reason to include that Teresa was kidnapped.¹That is huge. I assume the DARK GREEN RAV was most likely disposed of after the VINs, plates and tires were hastily removed.

Zellner's Post Conviction Motion:

 

• On November 3, 2005, according to the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department reports, Ms. Halbach's vehicle was seized.

 

IMO this is not a typo as some have suggested - the report is not simply dated incorrectly. MTSO fucked up bad here. Recall that (according to the official story) Manitowoc never had the RAV in custody - it was Calumet and Madison that had the RAV, not Manitowoc. Whoops.

 

Zellner includes this report in her PC Motion. It is Exhibit C, ¹ and it is not the only Exhibit included in the motion which lists the car as dark green.

 

Exhibit H ¹ from Zellner's PC Motion is Fassbender's report (from the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation). His report lists Ryan Hillegas as "mentioned" and yes, also lists the "Victim's Vehicle" as a DARK GREEN 1999 RAV4 Toyota.

 

 

 

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Aware of Pubic Hair

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I can think of many reasons why, if Avery is innocent, LE would not have used Teresa's actual car. Kratz and his crew were no doubt were eager to secure the conviction. That meant they needed as much evidence as possible connecting Avery to the crime. Yet I am sure everyone was painfully aware of what happened last time - Steven was exonerated when new technology became available that allowed further examination of the existing evidence. That would be forever on their minds.

Come 2005, if MTSO knew who the killer was and still decided to pin it on Avery, you can bet your life they would have done their best to make sure they wouldn't leave any pubic hairs behind, if you catch my drift. They would have destroyed as much actual evidence as possible and they would begin to rely on manufactured evidence. There are some obvious, glaring risks associated with the idea of manufactured evidence. I will address that at the close of the post.

For now, I will begin by tracking the RAV through reports, interviews and witness testimony.

 

 

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What Color is the Dress RAV?

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Early on in the investigation:

 

• On November 3, 2005, Teresa is reported as Missing. I think it is safe to assume Teresa's family and friends prepared the missing persons poster.¹ We all know the RAV is listed as being dark green on the poster. It seems everyone involved agreed the vehicle was best described as DARK GREEN. We even have records from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation ¹ which list the Major Color of Teresa's RAV as GREEN.

 

• The very first report of the CASO report (November 3 - Lemuix) ¹ we see the RAV is also listed as being DARK GREEN. I assume LeMuix was provided this information from Teresa's friends or family.

 

• As seen in Episode 2 of Making A Murderer, a media broadcast (November 4) described the car as DARK GREEN ... "just like you see here."

 

• On November 5, 2005, Steven ¹ refers to the RAV as GREEN. Brendan does as well (in his earlier interviews at least) and actually says the RAV was GREEN and IN GOOD SHAPE. ¹

 

 

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Similar in Appearance

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IMO Once Strang and Buting took the case they immediately knew something was off about the RAV. It is incredibly rare to see them refer to the RAV as BLUE in any transcript or motion. Indeed, during the PRE TRIAL the defense argued that the Court should suppress the fruits of the November 5th warrant. Their argument touches on the blue / green debate.

 

• Strang and Buting's Motion to Suppress²

 

As we see once DS and JB took on Avery's case, they began by trying to show that false statements were made and included in the affidavit (an application for a search warrant).

 

DS and JB argue those false statements were crucial to the Court's finding (Judge Fox) of probable cause. Willis happens to agree with that argument ¹ - however he eventually denies the motion to suppress.

Remember, the theory goes the RAV was planted in order to provide LE with probable cause for a warrant so they could plant anything and everything look for Teresa.

 

In Franks v. Delaware, if Avery was to prove false statements were knowingly included the affidavit, the fruits of the search may be subject to suppression. Of course it always comes down to the Court's discretion.

 

Most relevant to this post, according to Strang and Buting one of the knowingly false statements (from the affidavit provided to Fox) concerns Wiegert's assertion that volunteer searches found a vehicle on the Avery property matching the description of Teresa Halbach's vehicle. ¹

 

Strang and Buting believed the vehicle found on the Avery Salvage Yard by Pam and Nicole did not match the description of Teresa's vehicle, as Wiegert indicated in his affidavit. They alleged this 'flase inclusion' was done with malice and forethought.

 

Now lets go back and examine the RAV a bit more.

 

 

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Pam and Ryan: Hands tied to the Bible

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• On November 5, 2005 (The day after he received 22 calls from LE) Ryan organizes a civilian search effort.

• Also on November 5, Sheriff Pagel and Pam both separately show up at Teresa's Ryan's shortly after the other volunteers depart. She is provided with Pagel's direct line.

• A short time later Pam gets permission directly from Earl to search for Teresa the RAV.

• Once the RAV is located, Pam is confused by the color. She calls Pagel / Wiegert and says this car is more BLUE than GREEN, the obvious implication being Pam was expecting to find a GREEN RAV 4. Indeed as we see below Pam tells Buting she had a picture of Teresa's RAV while she was searching the Salvage yard - the picture she had was of a GREEN RAV. No wonder she was confused.

• Pam asks Wiegert over the phone, 'What color is Teresa's car?' He replies, 'It was GREEN.' ¹

• Based on Pam's discovery and Wiegert's affidavit, Judge Fox signs the Warrant. ¹

• Investigators from the DOJ, CASO and MTSO take over the Avery property for an unusual amount of time. ¹

 

 

'I never witnessed a search like this ... It is the most unprofessional mess I have ever seen.' - Pete Baetz (DS and JB private investigator for the Halbach case)

'In 25 years in the FBI, I never saw a warrant service extend 8 days, and we searched some pretty significant locations. It seems to me that a competent group of investigators and crime scene technicians should have been able to complete their searches in 48 hours at most.' - Steve Moore (Former FBI Agent)

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Motion for Suppression

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To prove their case (that false statements were knowingly included in affidavit) the defense called Wiegert, Remiker, Pam and Ryan to the stand. Every single one of them perjure themselves - [Remiker even slips up and reveals Manitowoc has been withholding potentially exculpatory information in the form of recorded phone calls.^3]()

 

In the affidavit in question Wiegert says Teresa's Mother told him the RAV as DARK BLUE. ¹

 

He doesn't mention that PAM was worried about the color being more BLUE than GREEN and of course there is no mention of his own statement where he states the car was GREEN.

 

Further Wiegert does not mention that the RAV was (apparently) found with a LeMieux Toyota sticker on it. Last but not least, in the affidavit Wiegert misrepresented the facts by asserting the full VIN was confirmed at the time the RAV was found - that was not the case.

 

 

 

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The Blue Green Debate: The Court's Opinion

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Below is a small excerpt from Pam's direct examination by Buting during the Pre Trial Suppression Hearing. It will be followed by The Court's ruling.

 

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Concern about the Color

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Pre Trial (Motion for Supression) - Jerry Buting Cross Examines Pam Sturm

JB: Did you have some description of the vehicle with you?

PS: Yes, we had the sheet on the vehicle, and what it looked like --

JB: And this sheet --

PS: -- the plate number.

JB: What kind of sheet are you referring to?

PS: It was, I believe, a picture of the car.

JB: Okay -- What kind of information was on the sheet?

PS: It was a Toyota Rav 4, and there was a license plate number, the color.

JB: The what?

PS: The color.

JB: And what was the color?

PS: Green.

[...]

JB: Would you say that it matched the description exactly or?

PS: It was real close to the description.

JB: You had some concern about the color?

PS: Yes.

JB: It was more blue than green?

PS: It was bluish green.

JB: So you had some doubt. Okay. So, at any rate, then, you weren't -- I don't want to lead, but I'm trying to move things along. You weren't provided with the actual VIN number, though, correct?

PS: It was on some sheet, but we didn't have that specific sheet with us.

---

 

 

Pam had a map, Pagel's number and a picture of the RAV with her - she tells Jerry that the photo she had was of a GREEN RAV4. Oh, Pam also had the VIN on piece of paper, but wasn't sure if she had it with her.

Pam is the first one to make mention of the car as BLUE. From that moment on we have confusion.

 

 

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An Exact Match

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Once Ryan, Wiegert, Remiker and Pam finish their testimony, Willis hands down his ruling.

Remember, DS and JB were specifically arguing that Wiegert was untruthful in saying searches found a vehicle 'matching' the description of Teresa's RAV.¹

 

 

• Note: Below we are only seeing Willis' opinion surrounding one of the three allegedly false statements included in the affidavit. The entire ruling is rather lengthy.

 

The Court: The defense also characterizes as an intentional false statement, one made with reckless disregard for the truth, the assertion in the affidavit that the searchers claimed they had located a vehicle "matching" the description of the vehicle owned by Teresa Halbach ... The basis for this assertion is that Pamela Sturm was told to be looking for a green vehicle, but she informed police that the vehicle was, quote, "bluish green, though it's more blue than green", end quote.

The Court: While one can argue whether or not Detective Wiegert was justified in using the term "matching" in the affidavit, the Sturm's clearly did discover a vehicle, which was very similar in appearance to Teresa Halbach's vehicle, and which turned out to be an exact match.

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IMO it is clear DS and JB were also considering the idea that a second RAV was used. However, in terms of their job as Avery's defense lawyers, this is where the Blue / Green debate ended for them. It wouldn't be relevant again until post conviction matters. Once Willis denied Avery's motion to suppress, DS anf JB didn't have much of a choice. The RAV was admitted. The Trial Court ruled - Willis sided with the State's opinion. Apparently Avery did not prove that knowingly false statements were included in the affidavit. The November 5 warrant provided the State with multiple pieces of (IMO) planted / manufactured evidence.

 

In a corrupt court you have to play the hand you are dealt. The Reports filed by LE said this was Teresa's 1999 RAV4 - an exact match.

 

In a similar expression of dysfunction, the Reports filed by LE said Brendan confessed to raping Teresa - which of course rendered Strang and Buting's wish to call Dassey as Avery's alibi witness improbable.

 

 

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A Teal or Green or Blue RAV

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So now we come to the Jury Trial. I will make this brief.

 

The very first mention of the RAV in the JURY TRIAL - Kratz says, "You will hear from various kinds of citizens like Bobby Dassey. Bobby Dassey saw this young girl, later identified as Teresa Halbach, get out of her TEAL, or BLUE, or GREEN colored SUV and actually take pictures of the van that her mom had for sale."

 

However when Bobby gets to the stand we know he was not always the best witness. He was no doubt manipulated and coached so much he wasn't sure what he was supposed to say. Among other things, Bobby let slip about the barrels¹ and pretty much destroyed the story that Bear was vicious.¹

 

He also kinda fucks up when asked to describe Teresa's RAV. See below.

 

Bobby Dassey - Direct Examination by Ken Kratz

KK: Could you describe the vehicle for the jury?

BOD: It was a LIGHT GREEN. Like a TEAL color.

(Kratz: Fuck, Bobby! The Rav was not LIGHT GREEN or TEAL, it was BLUE or TEAL!)

KK: Alright, from which way did this blue or teal SUV drive in, as you were looking out the window.

(And shortly after... )

KK: When you walked out to your vehicle to go bow hunting, did you notice if the teal or blue SUV was still in the driveway?

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Kratz was certainly coaching his witness to always use the term BLUE or BLUISH GREEN. This is strange considering that, again, not a single person said the RAV was BLUE or a BLUE GREEN color prior to Pam saying, 'It looks more blue than green.'

 

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Ryan Hillegas - Direct Examination by Ken Kratz

KK: Mr. Hillegas, are you familiar with how close the residence that Teresa lived in was to her parents' house?

RH: Her parents lived roughly a quarter mile down the road.

KK: And are you also familiar with the vehicle that Teresa drove at the time?

RH: Yes. It was a Toyota RAV4, a blue-green color -- combination blue-green.

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IMO it is not a coincidence that we are faced with this odd commonality in verbiage.

 

Bluish Green is very a common term in these transcripts. If this was truly a mystical RAV should we not expect some witnesses to say the RAV was BLUE and others say GREEN? Almost everyone (asked by Kratz) replies the RAV is a BLUE GREEN color.

 

If it is so obvious to everyone that the RAV was BLUISH GREEN why was her car listed as only DARK GREEN on the missing persons poster?

 

I refuse to believe that was a mistake.

 

 

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The Propane Truck Driver, The Bus Driver and Mrs. Zipperer

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Recall that Mrs. Zipperer originally says Teresa arrived around 3:00 p.m. She later changes her story on redirect, when Kratz points out¹ she didn't say 3:00pm in her statement, she said 2:30pm. Her statement, by the way, was written by a LEO who simply had her sign it when he was finished.

 

During their closing, Strang and Buting wanted the jury to think Teresa went to the Zipperer's around 3:00 p.m and then arrived at Avery's around 3:30 p.m. and was later seen leaving by two witnesses.

 

As you will see below, Buting reminds the Jury that a propane truck driver corroborates Ms. Bxxxxxr's (Bus Driver) testimony.

 

Dean too argues the Bus Driver was correct in suggesting she saw Teresa on the Avery property around 3:30pm.

 

Whether or not this is the truth, this is what the defense wanted the jury to believe.

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An Alternative Timeline

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Dean Strang - Closing Statement:

ATTORNEY STRANG: John Leurquin sees a GREEN SUV leaving. What does he care about Steven Avery? For that matter, what does he really care about Teresa Halbach? And he doesn't have -- he doesn't have a dog in this fight. All he does is sit and stare out the front windshield of his truck, every day for half an hour, 3:30 to 4, quitting time, as he fills the LP truck.

---

 

However, when Jerry gets up to say his peace, does conceed there are holes in the bus driver's story. He does his best to fill those holes.

 

Jerry Buting - Closing Statement:

ATTORNEY BUTING: The State will argue that the location wasn't right. She said she saw someone taking -- she saw her taking the pictures of something down around the turn around circle. And it's true, that's not where Barb Janda's car was, or this van was. It was up the road a ways. Well, either she's mistaken about that or -- and I submit this is a very real possibility -- Teresa is doing a hustle shot, because she's been flagged down on her way out and asked to take another picture.

ATTORNEY BUTING: We know it's happened before. We have evidence. Angela Schuster said, just a few weeks earlier, Tom Janda had flagged her down and taken a hustle shot, on the way out. And John Lxxxxxn, the propane driver, yeah, he's not as certain, but he does corroborate Lisa Bxxxxxr in that he sees this GREEN SUV around the same time. He doesn't know who's driving, and maybe it wasn't Teresa Halbach at that point. This person who was hustling a shot perhaps, was driving away with it. But he recalled it because it was different, wasn't the usual regular vehicles that he always sees.

---

 

Clearly when Kratz got up to speak he was worried the Jury was starting to believe the alternative timeline put forth by DS and JB.

Kratz comes up with a way to, in his mind, discredit the testimony of the Bus Driver and Propane Truck Driver.

 

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Ken Kratz - Rebutal Closing Statement

ATTORNEY KRATZ: How does it help you? Between Bobby Dassey and Lisa Buchner, who has the better memory? Who was in a position to see what was going on that day? And those kinds of questions you are going to need to answer. Same kind of thing with the other lay witness that was called in this case, some gentleman who was a propane employee, as I understand, who talked about seeing a green mid-sized SUV. Well, ask yourselves, is that a green SUV?¹ I will argue, no, that that's not a green SUV.

---

 

That is Kratz telling the jury, 'Actually, you know what? Forget about me and everyone else saying the RAV was BLUISH GREEN, it's only BLUE.'

 

 

Obviously Kratz was concerned the Jury was thinking Teresa was at Zipperer's at 3:00 p.m and later spotted in her GREEN SUV on the Avery property at 3:30 p.m by the bus driver and propane truck driver.

 

So, for his closing arguments Kratz discards the idea that it is a BLUE / GREEN RAV. He says, as he looks to a blue RAV, 'How does this help you? Is that a green SUV? No, it is not.'

 

Also notice, Kratz told the jury to believe Bobby over the Bus Driver, as he was more likely to have a better view of the RAV. However, the logic here is flawed. Recall that Bobby, for whatever reason, said the car was LIGHT GREEN.

 

• Kratz (Opening): 'Bobby will tell you about a TEAL or BLUE or GREEN SUV.'

• Bobby (Direct): 'It was LIGHT GREEN, a TEAL color.'*

• Kratz (Closing): 'That is not a GREEN RAV. It is obviously BLUE. Anyone who saw a GREEN RAV wasn't seeing Teresa's RAV, that's for certain and for true!'

 

 

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Plan A and Plan B: Risk Assessment

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As I am sure many will not, there are obvious risks with swapping out one RAV for another.

The most discussion worth question, IMO, is as follows:

 

• If they got rid of the green RAV in order to hide evidence of the actual murderer - who the fuck volunteered to plant the blue RAV? That is risky, even for officers corrupt as them.

 

However, consider this:

 

• Perhaps they weren't hiding the RAV to obscure evidence of the murderer, maybe they hid the RAV to obscure evidence of the murder. You see what I mean?

 

If the murderer helped plant the car we can assume he was not concerned about his DNA coming up. Indeed if any of you believe the RAV was planted, by logic that should lead you to believe the planters were extremely confident their actions would not be revealed anytime soon. IMO whoever planted the RAV planted it knowing they were going to be leaving DNA and fingerprints.

Again, that shows confidence ... where did that confidence come from? It was presumably LE or the killer that planted the RAV.

Indeed we know there is a suspicious amount of unidentified male DNA in the RAV as well as on the Plates. Oh, don't forget the 8 latent finger prints that were found in some very incriminating locations on the RAV. In her motion Zellner actually asked to test the latent prints for molecular amounts of DNA. She was denied, so far as we know.

 

 

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Alternative Locations

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If Colborn did take a dark green 1999 RAV4 into custody on November 3, 2005, where was it located?

Lets go over some possibilities - 1.) The Turn Around by the River¹ - 2.) Zander Road² - 3.) Kuss RD¹ - 4.)The Hunting Camp¹ - 5.) The Quarry¹

 

 

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Mystic River

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First, the turn around by the river.

 

Here is a map showing the location of Avery's trailer in relation to the turn around in question.

 

This turn around comes up in the CASO report. We know of this thanks to none other than Robert Fabian, one of the individuals named by DS and JB as an alternative suspect.

 

He tells Officer that he saw a news broadcast wherein a man spoke about seeing what might have been Teresa's car parked here, by the river.

 

Calumet later tracks down the man who gave the interview to the media and has him clarify what he saw. He tells investigators he must have been mistaken and it doesn't it appear to be same RAV4.

 

Also, notice there is something hidden in the trees not at all far from the turn around, which some theorize looks some sort large drum, possibly capable of cremating a body.

 

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Second, Zander Road.

 

I don't know what to think about Zander Rd. However reading the transcripts it is clear to me everyone was stonewalling when asked about the address.

 

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Why not reply, "It was found in the trailer of the defendant, Mr. Avery, who we suspect murdered Teresa Halbach."

I am very curious, to say the least. I, like everyone, have more than one theory of the crime, yet I always have trouble when attempting to incorporate Zander Rd into any single theory.

 

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Finally, the hunting camp, Kuss Rd, and the quarry.

 

Luckily we should hear more about the Hunting Camp from Zellner. She includes a few exhibits that mention the Camp.

 

Exhibit is a statement from Josh Radandt. He mentions going to the Hunting Camp on October 31, 2005. He says he saw a fire in Steven's burn barrel while he was leaving the Hunt Camp and headed out to Kuss Road.

 

Exhibit is an excerpt from the CASO Report wherein it is stated so and so and her bloodhound loof did come across Teresa's scent leading the Hunt Campt to Kuss road.

 

We shall see

 

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As for the quarry, having seen these dusty photo¹ I was pretty sure the RAV was found there.

Then of course in August Zellner alleged in her PC motion that the RAV was moved to the Avery property from the quarry via the conveyor road.¹

 

So I am not too sure if the RAV was actually found at the quarry but I certainly believe Zellner when she says it was there at one point.

 

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Then of course we have the mystery of the horror on Kuss Road.¹ What on earth is happening? It might not have been the RAV, but IMO something significant was found there.

 

if you read this post you will see I theorize that perhaps the arrest was originally planned to go down the same day the RAV was found. But there was a set back. Maybe it was as simple as someone realizing Avery was in crivitz, or perhaps it was not so simple. We know everyone and their mother was at the Avery property on November 5, 2005. I believe someone (Kratz or maybe Rohrer) noticed something about the 'crime scene' that was set up for the 5th.

 

Perhaps they had planned to say Avery took Teresa in her RAV directly from his trailer to the cul-de-sac at Kuss road. They then would suggest Avery took halbach to the red trailer at the hunting camp where they would find a bloody scene with cutting instruments and possibly semen.

 

Fucked. Up.