Dassey Trial Notes – 20 April, 2007
Investigator Mark Wiegert testified that a first, second, and third interview with Brendan Dassey took place on 27 February, 2006. Tom Fassbender was present. These professional law enforcement people claimed the equipment they used for their job was of poor quality and the three taped sessions were unusable. Wiegert spoke with Special Prosecutor Ken Kratz who wanted a better recording. The transcript of this session was of little use. There were too many ellipses that could be interpreted as a pause or poor audio according to whim.
The two officers placed Dassey, his brother, and mother at the Fox Hills Resort in Mishicot. They claimed it was to protect Dassey and preserve the integrity of the investigation.
But, there were no indications that anyone was threatened. And the Dassey trio went home the next morning. So, did those reasons evaporate overnight?
At 10:30 that night, Tom Fassbender started with accusations against Brendan. Wiegert claimed that Dassey placed himself in the Avery garage during that interview although the opportunity to record that statement and its circumstance was lost due to their faulty equipment. For the third time that day, investigators had faulty equipment. One would think as professionals they would check their gear first. Especially after two failures.
Wiegert explained that interrogation techniques included using deception, befriending, and appealing to emotion. The business of glossing past Miranda was not covered although this is another common interrogation technique.
Dassey went cooperatively with police to the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s department. In opening, Ken Kratz claimed that confession is an unnatural act. If a person is guilty, isn’t it unnatural to cooperate with authorities?
The confession opened with Special Agent Tom Fassbender telling Dassey to make statements against his own interest.
Brendan appears relaxed. He is sitting on a sofa that appears undersized. A glaring problem is apparent. Our view of the process is not neutral. We don’t see Special Agent Fassbender. Mark Wiegert is barely visible. Brendan will get all the attention. We don’t see the actual Miranda process.
The process of changing Brendan’s description of the events that day begins. Early the pressure is for him to change his story. “Otherwise we’ll have to go through this again.”
Often, the answer Brendan gives are tentative and questioning as if he wants to give the correct answer but he is not sure what this is. The interrogators know what they want. Brendan is guessing.
One question is whether the rifle was a single shot or a semiautomatic. Brendan picks the first choice. Fassbender asks him “Its not a semiautomatic?” Dassey seems certain that it is a single shot. This is a fail question but investigators disregard it.
The prosecution claims the Dassey Confession yielded two new items of evidence. The bullet fragment found in the garage is of really not new since so many shell casings were obtained in November, 2005. The other item is the hood latch that yielded Steven Avery DNA. Again, in November, 2005 people in the Wisconsin Crime Lab knew that the hood had been opened. But, Wiegert and Fassbender need a reason for a new search warrant. If only they could get something from Brendan Dassey.
The exchange went like this
Fassbender “Do you recall him taking the plates off?”
Dassey: “Yeah”
Fassbender: “What else did he do? He did something else you need to tell us what he did. After that car is parked there. It’s extremely important.”
Dassey: “Then he left the gun in the car.”
Fassbender: “That’s not what I’m thinking about. He did something to that car …”
Fassbender and Wiegert already know about the hood latch. Dassey apparently doesn’t.
Dassey: “I dunno.”
Dassey needs hints.
Fassbender: “Did he do something like look at the engine did he raise the hood at all or anything like that?”
Dassey: “I dunno”
Fassbender: “Did he do something to that car?”
Dassey: Long Pause “Yeah”
Fassbender: “What was that?”
Wiegert: “What did he do Brendan?” Long Pause “It’s OK. What did he do?”
OK. He’s not getting it. Lots of hints. Time to give the big hint.
Fassbender: “What did he do under the hood if that’s what he did?”
Dassey: “I don’t know what he did but I know he went under.”
Fassbender: “He did raise the hood. You remember that?”
Dassey: “Yeah”
Wiegert: “While he was raising the hood, did you take the license plates off?”
Dassey: “No”
Wiegert: “Who did?”
Dassey: “He did.”
And shortly thereafter, Dassey says the Avery left the knife in the truck.
Toward the end, Fassbender asks the secret information question. He does not supply an answer, but only two are possible.
Fassbender: “We Know that Teresa had a tattoo on her stomach. Do you remember that?”
Dassey: “Uh Uh.”
Fassbender: “Do you disagree with me when I say that?”
Dassey: “No. But I don’t know [pause] what it was.”
This is considered proof that Dassey knew there wasn’t a tattoo. Even if he got this one right, one fifty‑fifty question does not constitute a veracity test. And this is hardly an answer that shows knowledge. First, Dassey says he doesn’t remember. Then he says he doesn’t disagree with the claim of a tattoo.
One interesting tidbit that came out was that the bonfire had been planned. His brother Blaine and Brendan’s friend Travis had been invited, but couldn’t make it.
Overall my impression was that even at the end, Dassey was issuing contradictory statements and appeared to be guessing.
Investigators attempted to determine a place of death. They revisited the bedroom when the throat cutting took place. When asked by the two whether Teresa was still alive he said, “She was breathing a little bit. Like wasn’t breathing as hard as she could. She was screaming a lot.” Wiegert interjected, “She was screaming or wasn’t?” Dassey explains, “When you scream your breathing goes up or sumthin.” Further prompting by Wiegert about when she was screaming “while you were doing it (cutting the throat), after you were doing it, before you were doing it?” “Before.”
Fassbender “When you cut her throat, what was she doing if anything?”
Dassey: “Like screaming for help and crying.”
Fassbender: “I wanna get that straight. She was screaming and crying when you cut her throat?
“Dassey: Yeah
Fassbender” When did Steven choke her or strangle her?”
Dassey: “Like a little bit after that?”
Wiegert steps in to redo the sequence.
Then Fassbender: “After you cut her her throat, was she still alive?”
Dassey: Barely
Fassbender: How do you know that?
Dassey: “Cause she was breathing like a little bit.”
Dassey says she quit breathing when they were taking her outside. Wiegert prompts and the place of death is now the garage. “Because her belly isn’t moving.”
He was asked to draw some pictures for verification. The bedroom picture has a stick figure on the bed with feet and hands tied and the rope going to corners of the bed. The handcuffs and leg irons are added after prompting but are not in use. While he is drawing this sketch, Fassbender continues questioning him. Dassey was prompted to add the gun rack. It does not appear to me that this layout is good. The sketch appears to show the bed across the room from the gun rack with the foot of the bed pointing at the rack, unlike a simulation that Wiegert later shows.
Next Wiegert has Dassey sketch the garage. By now Dassey has learned at least some of the desired confession. He draws the Halbach vehicle in the same orientation of his grandfather’s Suzuki usually parked in the garage. A stick figure is drawn near the vehicle and blood is shown near the head. Wiegert suggests a snowmobile and Dassey adds that.
At the end, he thanks them for a sandwich they gave him.
Wiegert testifies that he requested a new rendition of the bedroom to move the bed away from the sketch potion because the new rendering places the bed in a better position for the confession. He did not physically move the bed. The new rendering does not match the sketch very well.
Wiegert claimed that Brendan was not a suspect on 1 March. But, the treatment was that of a suspect.
He also stated he was not a cognitive expert. But, earlier he made claims that would be appropriate from a psychiatrist.
When defense attorney Ray Edelstein quizzed him about the complete lack of evidence to place Dassey in the bedroom, garage, and the Toyota; Wiegert’s response was that he had a week to clean up. Besides being false, the statement has little merit.
To clean up a crime scene of that magnitude, one needs more than a vacuum cleaner and low cost carpet cleaner. Blood, would be located in the bedroom, doorway, yard, and garage. Unless Wiegert can prove that Avery purchased a new mattress, bedspring, and bedding, all the blood, sweat and semen would be found in the bedroom.
There is a lot to this confession. I doubt that the jury got the nature of the give and take since it requires study to pick up the idiosyncrasies and contradictions. Hopefully, the defense can enumerate the problems in summation. Perhaps, enough of the jury picked up the leading and prompting by Fassbender and Wiegert.
by Brian McCorkle
in category Brendan Dassey
