Dassey Trial Notes – 17 April, 2007
The day started with Calumet County Sgt. William Tyson. He testified about material found in the Steven Avery Trailer. What was initially called a night stand became known as the bookcase (associated with the plain sight key).
His responsibility during the original search was to watch the Manitowoc County officers who were searching the trailer. He did not see handcuffs and leg irons collected.
He took part in the March 1, 2006 search warrant issued because of the Dassey confession. He found a bleach bottle in the laundry area in the trailer. Special Prosecutor Kratz referred to this area as the bathroom. The bottle was not checked for fingerprints.
Tyson collected the DNA sample from the Halbach RAV hood latch in March, 2006. He did not collect a sample from the hood release lever, and he did not change gloves when he collected the sample.
Since the battery cable was found to be disconnected at the Wisconsin Crime Lab, the question to beg is why wasn’t this evidence collected in November 2005?
Kevin Heimerl from the State Crime Lab testified about his participation in the November 2005 searches. A photograph of the Avery burn barrel no. five was shown, and he identified the items clearly visible at the top as items similar or same as those owned by Teresa.
Heimerl was also involved in the March 1st and 2nd, 2006 searches of the Avery garage. He found two bullet fragments during this search. One was located in a crack in the floor and did not yield evidence. The other was found toward rear of garage. Halbach DNA was extracted from this fragment. Heimerl explained that during the November, 2006 searches he was not looking for bullet fragments. Shell casings were found in the November search but that did not trigger the need to look for bullets. He also found a creeper, a gasoline container, and paint thinner in the garage in the March search. .
On cross examination, Heimerl revealed that shell casings were found in the burn pit. He did not sift material from the burn barrel. He packaged the creeper as evidence but did know what happened to it. He swabbed a tool chest but not the creeper.
Calumet County Deputy Dan Kucharski testified about his participation in the searches. Kucharski is the deputy who speculated about aliens in the Avery trial. He testified that on the various searches shell casings were discovered and collected. Firearms, a carpet shampooer, a vacuum, and bedding from bedrooms were collected.
When searching the garage, a snowmobile was removed, but little else. It is unknown why the searchers did not look for bullets after finding the shell casings.
He was present during the eighth search of the Avery trailer when the infamous plain sight key was discovered.
The prosecution used this witness to show a missing poster for Teresa Halbach that was posted in the Salvage Yard office.
Edelstein quizzed Kucharski about evidence collection. He asked why the shell casings were not preserved for fingerprints or why a box of shells taken from the Avery trailer was not handled for evidence collection. Kucharski attempted to evade the questions by talking about the number of items collected. He finally had to admit that he did not have a reason for his behavior.
Ken Kratz then asked whether Kucharski was informed that Halbach was shot in the garage, would the search have been different? Kucharski affirmed the question.
The problem with this is that there was no known crime scene then. The vehicle was located and a likely site for a body was located behind the garage. So why not conduct a thorough search to find a probable crime scene?
Kratz then asked about Avery’s weapon possession as a convicted felon. That drew an objection from Fremgen which was sustained. Ken Kratz had an angry outburst that drew a gentle admonition from Judge Jerome Fox.
John Ertl, analyst with the State Crime Lab, testified about his arrival at the Avery property and his interaction with the Toyota RAV. He tried to open a door. He collected items propped against the Toyota; the hood and the cardboard box. Ertl inspected brush that had been left leaning on the vehicle but found no evidence. He did not locate footprints or attempt to find the source vehicle for the hood.
If the team were looking for the victim, they passed up potential leads by not attempting to find the movement of the person who parked the Toyota.
Ertl testified that burn barrel no. five had a tire rim on top that blocked the view of the ash surface. To access the plastic cased items, the ash had to be excavated.
He also testified that luminol reacts with lead. Does this mean that when the garage was checked with luminol that the fragment in the floor crack would have been visible? He noted areas that glowed with luminol had no reaction with phenolphthalein.
Bill Newhouse, tool mark examiner, testified that shell casings found in the garage were fired from the rifle found in the Avery trailer. One bullet fragment from the garage was also tied to that rifle.
Kenneth Olson, trace evidence specialist, testified that lead was found around holes the skull fragments taken from the burn pit.
I suspect that at some point, investigators realized they had a problem with the lack of a defined crime scene. And, there were two glaring areas where they had neglected to collect evidence; the hood latch and the garage. The confession helped that.
But, the thing is that the hood latch was a known potential source of DNA since the hood had to be opened to disconnect the battery cable. And the shell casings would hint that associated bullets were possible.
by Brian McCorkle
in category Brendan Dassey
