Secrets of a Drug Addicted Narcissist

Orbital Bones, Alleles and the Admissibility of DNA Evidence


Warning: Long post - nothing new - just a review


In this post:

  • I begin with a timeline which I created in an attempt to summarize what was happening with the remains during the November 2005 to February 2006 time period - before DS and JB signed on to the case.

  • I then detail the March 2006 to June 2006 time period. We all know what happened in March of 2006. June of 2006 is when Kratz filed his motion on the admissibility of DNA evidence. He requests the court allow him to introduce DNA results developed via STR/PCR techniques (a method utilized when an analyst is dealing with a small amount of DNA).

  • DS and JB actually ended up signing a stipulation saying they would not dispute the admissibility of the DNA evidence. This is questioned by many on TMM. IMO the discussion (if honest and fair) can lead us very close to the truth of the matter - why did DS and JB not challenge the admissibility of the DNA evidence? I attempt to explore that question.


Please note:

  • Links followed by a 1 will lead to a screenshot

  • Links followed by a 2 will lead to a document on www.stevenaverycase.org

  • Links followed by a 3 will lead to a separate reddit post or website


 

 

The Remains - Pre Strang and Buting


  • November 3, 2005 - Teresa is reported missing.

  • November 5, 2005 - Ryan organizes a civilian search effort. Pam finds the RAV. Remiker 'confirms' the VIN. Wiegert submits his (very specific) affidavit1 which Judge Fox later authorizes as a warrant. Officers from the DOJ, CASO and MTSO take over the Avery property for an unusual amount of time.

  • November 8, 2005 - The remains are found in Avery's burn pit. As we know the Manitowoc County Coroner was not notified. Perhaps even more telling is that while we don't have any photos or video of the recovery process we do have multiple witnesses who freely admit to unceremoniously shoveling the remains out of the pit and leaving them in a box to await further examination by Leslie Eisenberg.


 

 

November 9, 2005 - The (Past) Post Crescent


  • November 9, 2005 - Avery is arrested for being a felon in possession of a fire arm.

  • November 9, 2005 - The Post Crescent published an article titled 'Halbach Case Takes Criminal Turn.'

Surely everyone will recall how many of us on reddit were a little thrown off by the affidavit Wiegert submitted on November 5, 2005. (He says he expected to find a bloody scene with cutting instruments as well as hair, saliva and semen ... What. The. Fuck.) It turns out a reporter working at the Post Crescent in 2005 also took notice of the affidavit. This article should inspire some discussion:

Halbach Case Takes Criminal Turn (Originally Published Nov 9, 2005)3

Investigators sought evidence of abduction, sexual assault and homicide in the Teresa Halbach disappearance when they requested a court order to seize Steven Avery's car and a tow truck owned by his brothers. Told police were looking for Halbach's clothes or body in the two vehicles seized, [Avery] said "They're not going to find that." Steven Avery told The P-C Tuesday that he wasn't involved in Halbach's disappearance and suspects he is being framed. "It was planted," he said of searchers finding her vehicle in the Avery salvage yard. "A cop drove her vehicle into back of the junkyard ... I'm going to call the FBI. I want them to investigate."

The search warrant request said investigators sought Halbach, clothing she was wearing when she disappeared and other property she owned such as photography equipment and electronic storage devices. The warrant also sought forensic evidence "including but not limited to, fiber evidence, blood, hair, saliva, semen and fingerprints." Also, the warrant request said police sought "instrumentalities capable of taking a human life including, but not limited to, weapons, firearms, cutting instruments, ropes and ligatures."

Teresa Halbach's brother told The P-C Tuesday night that his family hadn't been told about specific searches and types of crimes officers suspect, but said it doesn't come as a surprise. "We didn't really want to hear that," he said. "Was it one of a number of possibilities that we ran through our mind? Sure. The family wants to find Teresa whether she is alive or not. We hope she is alive, but we want to find her either way."


 

 

November 10, 2005: Case Closed


  • Nov 10 - Eisenberg examines the remains.

  • Nov 10 - Teresa's death certificate is filed.1

  • Nov 10 - Kratz and Pagel give a press conference where Pagel says "an attempt was made to dispose of a body by an incendiary means, however, that attempt was not completely successful." Pagel also points out the bones recovered from the Avery property "have been determined to be that of an adult female." During the same press conference Kratz says, "It is no longer a question, at least in my mind, as special prosecutor, who is responsible in this case for the death of Teresa Halbach."


 

 

November 11, 2005 - Let it be Printed, Let it be Known


GRACE: Breaking news in Wisconsin as prosecutors hone in on a single suspect in the disappearance of 25-year-old Teresa Halbach. The district attorney says he plans to charge Steven Avery with first-degree intentional homicide. And tonight, we're also waiting for the DNA test results on burned human bones, teeth and blood found at a car salvage yard. We know they are the remains of a woman. Is she Teresa Halbach, the missing photographer who was last seen when she went on a photo assignment to that very same lot?

FR: Well, have they talked about what they're telling the family about the remains that were found there?

MT: Only that they're still waiting for DNA tests to be done. You know, just because you know they are female remains, it does not necessarily indicate --

FR: Sure.

MT: -- that they are Teresa Halbach's. And they want to be very careful in this case, especially when you have a person who was wrongly convicted and then freed based on DNA evidence.

GRACE: Let's go to WM, prosecutor. WM, what does all this evidence tell you, if you're prosecuting this case?

WM: Well, at this point, even though we don't know exactly whose bones and teeth they've found, let's not forget there was a camera there, too, and this was a woman who was a photographer at the scene, and she's been missing. This doesn't take rocket science."


 

 

November 18 - November 29, 2005: More Fog and Haze


Below I have included two discoveries by a fellow TMM user that help tie this timeline together:


 

 

 

November 30, 2005: An Insane Claim


GRACE: Tonight, the suspect in the disappearance of 25-year-old photographer Teresa Halbach, Steven Avery, says Halbach is still alive. I'm going to go straight out to the reporter with the Wisconsin Public Radio, Gil HXXXXXX. Gil, what's going on out there?

GH: Well, he did -- Steven Avery did an interview with the Associated Press in which he did say that he thought he was being framed and he believed that Teresa Halbach was still alive. He actually called on her to come home, if she could hear him.

GRACE: I want to go to Dr. WS, medical examiner. Dr., why the additional tests? Why is it that they may not yet be able to determine the identity of these remains?

WS: Well, they want to be certain. So they do mitochondrial DNA. Obviously, they did a DNA that is not totally exclusive. Furthermore, it is rare, even though the body may be charred, that the female organs, like the uterus and ovaries, would also be so entirely burnt that they would not yield some DNA. The uterus is fibrous tissue and almost burns last.

GRACE: But they have, I understand, her blood and his blood in the vehicle. They have her blood on a key, or his blood on a key, from the ignition. And that same key is found in his trailer. So, I mean, when you put it all together, there's very little question.


The uterus is fibrous tissue and almost burns last ... interesting.

Anyway, enough of that disgrace.


It seems to me as though Pagel first thought the 7 loci "match" wasn't going to hold up in court. He mentions in an interview that the FBI Lab will be assisting the State Lab in identifying the remains. This is strange, as the FBI didn't provide Pagel, Kratz or anyone else with conclusive results. Indeed Kratz only provided the FBI with enough forensic material to perform an mtDNA analysis.1 Meaning bones from the burn pit were sent to the FBI along with some of Teresa's mother's DNA ... but no DNA from Teresa. WTF Kratz? By conducting an mtDNA analysis the FBI was only able to conclude that Teresa could not be excluded as a source of the remains. Essentially they were telling Wisconsin Officials what they already knew - there was a chance the bones belonged to Teresa, but they couldn't say for sure.


At this point in the timeline we are only one month past the purported date of Teresa's death and look ^ how many contradictions there are concerning whether or not they were able to confirm the identity of the remains.


 

 

 

December 2005: Orbits and Alleles


That statement ^ is followed by this exchange: (Page 175)2

LOY: So you don't -- So what, are there no peaks at --

CULHANE: Nothing.

LOY: -- those loci?

CULHANE: Right. There's nothing.

LOY: Nothing --

CULHANE: Nothing.

LOY: -- on the printout, there's just nothing there?

CULHANE: Correct.

LOY: Okay. Using those -- At those seven different loci, did you get two alleles at each one; do you know?

ATTORNEY KRATZ: Objection, discovery, Judge.

THE COURT: Sustained.


The next time someone bumps into Kratz they should ask him about the possibility of 'allelic drop in or allelic drop out.' (More on that later)



IMO the evidence presented during the preliminary hearing was insufficient to support a finding of probable cause in relation to the charge of Murder in the First Degree. Frankly there was more evidence to suggest a body had been mutilated than there was to suggest a murder occurred. Remember those bullet holes found in the skull fragments? There was no way to tell whether they appeared peri or postmortem.1 This means Teresa (if the bones are hers) might have died sound asleep in her bed before being shot in the head and cremated. Despite all that on December 6, 2005 Willis ruled there was probable cause to believe a homicide had been committed.

Yes, I know (and I agree) I am splitting hairs. Although IMO this is an important hair to split. In doing so you discover the beginning of a frustrating pattern: Willis often finds probable cause where there is none.

Keep that in mind as you move on to the next timeline.


 

 

 

Enter Strang and Buting


  • February 7, 2006 - Kratz sends an email to Culhane2 asking her if she was the analyst who performed the test that got Steven exonerated in 2003. He goes on to tell her he doesn't intend to go into a lot of the "science" of the DNA analysis for the jury. He acknowledges the 7 loci "match" while also saying he was careful not to say the FBI had confirmed the identity of the remains.

  • February 15, 2006 - Steven Avery settled his civil lawsuit for $400,000. The money is split between his (old) civil attorneys and his (new) criminal attorneys.

  • February 24 , 2006 - It is ordered by Willis1 that Strang and Buting may appear in court as Avery's counsel.

  • March 2, 2006 - Brendan is taken into custody. Kratz presents the public (and potential members of the jury) with his dark and disturbed fantasy of how Teresa died. This press conference set off a litany of pre trial motions.

  • March 8, 2006 - The litany begins when Kratz files a motion to amend the criminal complaint.1


Please note I will eventually come back to the bone evidence to explore why DS and JB signed the stipulation, however I am changing focus now because the amended complaint, rightfully so, is what took up most of Strang and Buting's time as they began working on the Avery case.


 

 

 

March 17, 2006: First Day on the Job


On March 17, 2006 Strang and Buting appear in court for oral arguments2 concerning the State's motion to amend the criminal complaint and add three additional charges: Kidnapping, False Imprisonment and First Degree Sexual Assault.

  • Kratz argues1 the additional felony charges found in the amended complaint were not added without probable cause.

  • Dean argues1 there is no physical evidence or other corroborating details in the amended complaint that would support a finding of guilty beyond a reasonable doubt on those three additional felony charges (at this point the bullet fragments have been found but were not yet tested.)

  • Willis rules1 that because Dassey implicated himself along with Avery his statements provide enough probable cause to support the information found in the amended complaint. Willis grants the State's request to amend the criminal complaint on March 17, 2006.

  • Dean then says to Willis,1 "If I heard correctly, the Court ruled that, with the Dassey statements in as a factual basis, there is probable cause. I disagree and I will make the motion, for the purpose of making it clear, I do want those three counts dismissed once the Amended Complaint is filed."

If you read the entire hearing (linked above, March 17) you will easily be able to tell that Strang and Buting were none too pleased with Willis.



 

 

 

A Crooked House of Cards


The Pre Trial is filled with blatant examples of misconduct on the part of Willis, however this one ^ might take the cake. The 3 additional charges of sexual assault, false imprisonment and kidnapping were added based on nothing more than Dassey's words and the Court's discretion.

DS and JB were sure to point out the irony1 - Kratz and Pagel held multiple press conferences essentially boasting about the amount and strength of evidence they had collected. So why was the State fighting so hard to strip Avery of a second preliminary hearing? Obviously it was because Kratz (and Willis) knew there was no evidence to support those three additional charges.

Let us never forget - Avery was charged with First Degree Sexual Assault in 2006. Seriously ... WTF Kratz / Willis? Brendan never said he saw Avery raping Teresa. Brendan only ever spoke about himself raping her while Steven watched on. As we know Willis did eventually dismiss the charge of First Degree Sexual Assault before the trial began. However even today it is not uncommon to find articles listing Avery as a convicted murderer and rapist. This is infuriating now and I'm sure it was infuriating back in 2006. For the Avery family it probably felt like a sick joke. Recall Strang says (in the documentary) "How many times will Steven Avery be charged in Manitowoc County with rapes he didn't commit? This makes two."


 

 

 

Low Morale


Multiple motions were litigated due to the actions of Kratz and Pagel on March 2, 2006. I only went over the filing of the amended complaint, but as you might have guessed many additional motions were also litigated during this time period.

  • Two days after the press conference, March 4, 2006, Dean Strang and Jerry Buting file a Motion to Assure Fair Forensic Testing (of the bullet fragments). The motion would be denied on March 17, 2006.

  • Also on March 8, 2006 they filed a motion asking the Court to limit public disclosure citing the many media appearances by Kratz and Pagel and drawing specific attention to the press conference on March 2. This motion would be denied on May 3, 2006.

As we can see the only avenue available to combat the multiple violation of Avery's due process was to file motion after motion, which DS and JB did, largely to no avail.

It would have been an unusually busy first three months on the job for even the most seasoned of attorneys.


And now, finally, the remains are coming back into the picture.


 

 

 

June 9, 2006: The Admissibility of DNA Evidence


After DS and JB went through a very hectic first three months on the case Kratz suddenly filed a slew of motions on June 9, 2006. They include but are not limited to the following:


Kratz finishes by asking Willis to rule that the DNA testings results derived from PCR/STR testing be admitted as evidence for the jury to consider during the trial.


Pleasy enjoy (or don't) a quick lesson on how DNA if profiled:


As we can see the PCR/ STR method is used when relatively small amounts of DNA are available for testing. That was the case here. Hardly any tissue survived the fire. Due to the small amount / state of the remains Culhane was forced to 'magnify' or amplify the DNA sample in order to detect the different peaks at different locus.

More Alleles = more loci locations = a more definitive determination of whose DNA profile it is we are dealing with.

Again, Culhane was only able to detect peaks (alleles) at 7 loci locations (out of 15)


In 2001 Bruce Budowle (senior FBI scientist) issued a warning to the DNA testing community about the way they were beginning to use (and abuse) the STR / PCR method of DNA analysis.1 Many were attempting to type DNA samples containing very minute amounts of DNA. Budowle's concern was that in amplifying DNA profiles analysts might actually be distorting the profile. For example, by amplifying DNA it is possible to run into a problem known as 'allelic drop in' or 'allelic drop out'. It is possible during amplification that some peaks / alleles will be misread or misrepresented by an analyst leading to a false identification. (Full Document)3


Okay ... DNA lesson over. Clearly we see there are many reasons to question the admissibility of the DNA evidence, yet DS and JB agreed they would not. I understand why that would confuse some.

However I would like to point out that DS and JB did not immediately sign the stipulation.

As we see their first instinct was not to sign the stipulation, it was to get ALL FIVE charges related to Teresa Halbach's death dismissed. It wasn't until much later that Buting signed the proposed set of stipulations saying they would not dispute the DNA evidence.

  • December 13, 2006 - Buting signs the proposed stipulations. (Full Document)2

It is worth noting that while Buting agreed he would not oppose the state's motion regarding the admissibility of DNA evidence, he reserved the right to challenge the specific reliability, methods, protocol, evidentiary escort and weight of the DNA testing and evidence in this case.1


IMO during the Pre Trial Strang and Buting were being purposefully overburdened by the State and the Court. Kratz was throwing so many motions at the defense they didn't know what to do with themselves - meanwhile Willis was steadily denying the defense almost every motion they filed.

Once DS and JB took a look at the Motion / Memo on the Admissibility of DNA Evidence they finally knew Kratz was going to use the partial profile / mtDNA results during the jury trial - I have no doubt they felt a familiar twinge of unease. They had a tough decision to make. Do they challenge the DNA evidence? That might have been a fruitless endeavor with Willis on the bench. I can't help but think DS and JB were faced with a frightening reality - no matter what they did the DNA evidence was going to be admitted.

So Buting signed the stipulations.


After many additional motions were litigated (Other Acts of Evidence - Fruits of Nov 5 Warrant - Denny - Blood Vial) Avery was headed to trial.


 

 

 

February 2007 (Jury Trial) - Revelations From Direct Examinations



Of course Eisenberg is implying the recovery of the remains was carefully done, which is absolutely fucking bonkers. First, they used shovels, second, Leslie was never called to the scene. She later tells Dean she knows "little or nothing" about how the remains were recovered.

IMO whoever was coaching Leslie was worried the facial fragments were going to raise suspicion, and for good reason. The presence of this many delicate facial structures not only suggests the bones were planted, it suggests whoever planted the bones knew exactly which bones needed to be planted to in order to ensure Leslie would be able to identify the bones as belonging to an adult female - this was crucial as it helped build on the narrative.

Recall even in November of 2005 certain national media personalities were only too happy to push the narrative along - "A RAV4 was found? Didn't Teresa have a RAV4? A camera was found? Teresa was a photographer! Bones of an adult female were found? TERESA WAS AN ADULT FEMALE! Avery is guilty!"


 

 

 

Teresa Halbach: "My Old Body is Dead."


Kratz damn well knew a proper recovery process (grid, measurements, photos) would not help him convict Avery. However as we all know the suspicious recovery process is not the only thing that leads people to believe the remains were planted - the remains themselves are incredibly suspicious. The severely fragmented state of the remains ... the single bone that survived with flesh on it ... the multiple locations bones were found.

Here is the problem - even if we set all that ^ aside, we still have this whole 29 missing teeth situation1 which is very troubling to me because even without a DNA comparison Kratz (by all rights and reason) should have been able to positively identify the remains via dental records. It is well known teeth will outlast bone in a fire, yet in this case flesh survived the fire while no whole teeth were found. In this case Kratz was not able to positively identify the bones via DNA or dental remains. No wonder it didn't take long for the conversation to shift from whether or not the bones were planted to whether or not the bones even belonged to Teresa. We are supposed to believe not a single tooth survived unfragmented?

This all leads me to believe the destruction / removal of the teeth was intentional. What does intentionally removing or destroying the victim's teeth demonstrate? Yup ... it demonstrates there was an intent to obscure the identity of the remains.


Indeed if you take a look at Kratz' closing statement (March 14, 2007) IMO it is obvious he was concerned the Jury was starting to piece all of the information together concerning the teeth and the partial profile.1 He says although Culhane was only able to develop a partial and although Simley was not willing to make a positive identification, there is no need to worry - Kratz tells the jury he believes the remains and teeth do belong to Teresa.

This says to me Kratz had reason to suspect there was talk among the jury about the identity of the remains. As we can see ^ he deals with this by arguing there is nothing suspicious about the partial profile / missing teeth - Kratz says there was a clear attempt to obscure the identity of a body and obviously Avery was the one attempting to do that in order to hide evidence of a crime.

IMO this doesn't add up. Why would Avery waste all that time obscuring the identity of the remains only to leave the bones on his property / all around his property? Then we have to believe that Avery (fully aware he is being looked at a suspect in the disappearance of this woman) takes off to Crivitz without crushing the RAV or moving the bones. It doesn't add up. That is not hiding evidence of a crime ... that is obscuring the identity of a body and then wanting the body to be found.


 

 

 

Turning Failures into Training Grounds


I know many of you probably feel as though I have wandered into a fanciful land of conspiracy. Perhaps I am way off. Perhaps these bones do belong to Teresa Halbach. Perhaps the presence of the facial fragments are not suspicious. Perhaps the lack of alleles / loci is nothing to be concerned about. Perhaps the DNA evidence is sound.

Well ... I'm not quite there yet, but trust me when I say I don't think Teresa is alive in a basement cellar or on a tropical island somewhere, but at the same time I am not at all convinced these are her remains, so I am stuck in a sort of quantum reality where anything is possible.

However it might be worth noting once more that (at least IMO) there is more evidence suggesting a body was mutilated than there is suggesting a murder occurred.

This might be one of the reasons Avery was saying Teresa was alive and asking her to come home. I am 100% positive rumors were flying around town back in 2005 about the identity of the remains. "Hey did you hear? Another adult female passed away around the same time Halbach went missing."

However, even considering everything above we shouldn't discount the possibility that these are Teresa's remains just because they couldn't be identified as such. The purpose of this post was mainly to demonstrate why (in my mind) Buting signing the stipulation doesn't automatically mean he is corrupt and wanted Avery convicted. That logic doesn't compute. There is no doubt in my mind DS and JB had some questions about the 7 loci "match." Buting actually hands the February 2006 email to Culhane to review during her cross examination.1 Granted Buting didn't spend much time at all questioning the partial profile but instead decided to focus on the results of the test on the bullet fragments. By doing so Buting has Culhane expand on her PCR/STR techniques,1 the same testing method used to develop the 7 loci "match" from the tibia (item BZ).


IMO most of what Strang and Buting have been accused of is unwarranted. A tiny bit of research and you will see that they usually did address (via motion or oral argument) many of the issues they are now being criticized for having missed. Again, it seems to clear to me that Strang and Buting were being purposefully overburdened by the State and the Court.

Another point worth mentioning is that DS and JB were recommended to Avery by his civil attorneys, Stephen Glynn and Walter Kelly, who themselves were determined to expose the corruption which lead to Avery's 1985 conviction.

After everything I have read it all leads me to the exact same conclusion I developed watching the documentary - which is that Strang and Buting did a fine job in the face of a prosecutor and judge who both seemed determined to hide the truth at every turn.


 

 

 

Kathleen Zellner: "You haven't beat me yet."


When it comes to possible errors on the part of Strang and Buting I am much more concerned about the Whitelaw PING and whether or not DS and JB did actually miss that ... or did Kratz manipulate the PING data as well as Teresa's incoming / outgoing calls? Did Kratz (or someone else) make a 'fake track' with PINGS from a decoy phone?

Anyway ... obviously it is my opinion that DS and JB want justice for Avery just as much as any of us here on TMM. However there were no doubt mistakes made and pieces of information missed. I am sure those mistakes will haunt DS and JB for years to come.


On March 29, 2016 Newsweek published an article on their website titled, STEVE AVERY'S NEW ATTORNEY IS GOING HARD AFTER THE COPS SHE SAYS FRAMED HIM3

Zellner says the biggest piece of evidence she’s uncovered is the cellphone records that show Halbach left Avery’s property before she was killed - which Strang and Buting never brought up at trial.

Asked whether she and her team have identified suspects in the case, Zellner says yes - and that they are all men who knew Halbach. “We have a couple. I’d say there’s one, leading the pack by a lot. But I don’t want to scare him off, I don’t want him to run,” she says, explaining why she won’t say more.

In that same conversation, Zellner said both law enforcement and defense attorneys failed to investigate Halbach’s life, noting that the victim was a very nice person just starting her career.When told that sometimes people who are very nice can still be murder victims, Zellner agrees, adding,“And women who have bad judgment about men are murdered."


Whatever was behind that statement I certainly don't think Zellner was trying to come off as insensitive.

It seems clear to me that Zellner has most likely completed her own investigation into Halbach's life.

Thankfully with Zellner on the case the investigation actually will continue.