The Dassey Confession – Part Two – Details
The complaint against Brendan Dassey
The complaint presumably mirrored Dassey’s written confession. It starts with an observation that a camera and cell phone were inside a burn barrel. Dassey was taking a letter from a mailbox to his uncle Steven and stopped to look inside the barrel. He might have been on his bicycle since he stated that he biked to the mailbox. To look inside the burn barrel, he had to go to the back of Steven Avery’s garage, near the burn pit, then head back in the direction of the mail box to get to Avery’s trailer. The confession did not address if there were back doors to the trailer.
Approaching his uncle’s trailer, he heard screams from inside. He knocked on the door still hearing screams. When Steven answered, he was covered in sweat. Avery invited his nephew inside told him of the rape of Halbach and invited Brendan to participate.
The complaint against Dassey then details his participation in the rape and murder of Halbach. Mention is made of restraining Halbach with handcuffs and leg irons and of Halbach crying. The confession states that Dassey cut Halbach’s throat while she was on the bed in Avery’s bedroom, then Avery strangled her.
The two removed the body from the trailer and carried it to the garage and placed the body in Halbach’s vehicle. While the body was in the vehicle, Avery shot it about ten times with a 22 caliber semiautomatic rifle. They then placed the body on a roller creeper to transport it to the fire pit behind the garage (a fire was already present).
Halbach’s vehicle was then hidden in the Avery junkyard. Avery placed the key to the vehicle in a dresser drawer. Bloody clothes (“all cleaned up”) and bloody sheets were thrown into fire pit. The pair then used gasoline, paint thinner, and bleach to clean the garage floor.
Dassey’s mother called and told him he needed to be home at ten o’clock. He then returned home. He noted he had bleached areas on his jeans. It is unknown if Dassey or Avery had a cell phone to receive calls or if they were back inside the Avery residence at the time of this call.
Some of the items in the confession tie in with earlier statements. Other parts seem contrary. The language and descriptions appear to be at a higher level than I would expect of a sixteen-year-old special education student.
Leg irons is a term repeatedly used by investigators and the Special Prosecutor. This term conjures up a vision of harsh and heavy chunks of metal. Avery and his sister, Brendan’s mother, purchased handcuffs and leg restraints on October 19, 2005. Restraints come a great variety of weights and comfort. They can be fur lined, leather lined, or bare. There are various weights available. The market for these devices is large enough to justify stocking by thousands of adult stores. And just like any other activity there are a variety of levels enjoyed by participants.
That Dassey would use the exact terminology as the of the prosecution side is curious. Perhaps leg cuffs, leg things, or leg locks might be more likely to be used by some one of poor verbal ability.
By this confession, there were a lot of fluids in Avery’s bed. There was Avery’s sweat. It is not clear if Dassey worked up a sweat during the five minutes he stated he had intercourse. There is Halbach’s blood. A great deal of that based on the confession. There would likely be semen from both Avery and Dassey. The bedding was said to have been burned, but not the mattress. The mattress should be a slam dunk for the prosecution with all the fluids. So far that has remained silent.
The restraints would reveal strong evidence as well. Yet, the leg irons did not reveal any DNA belonging to Halbach. Did the Dassey description of this device match the one found in Avery’s trailer, or the one purchased on 19 October, 2005? Or was that even asked?
The two would have carried the body in daylight and in plain sight from Avery’s trailer to the garage. Then the shooting in the garage took place. A twenty-two caliber is not particularly powerful or loud, but it does make noise. Did anyone hear the shots? Finally, if they carried the body from the trailer to the garage, why use a roller creeper to transport it to the fire pit? How would a roller creeper behave on terrain while transporting a body?
The specific mention of the key to Halbach’s vehicle gives a third location for this pesky piece of evidence. It was discovered in plain sight on the floor of Avery’s trailer. The prosecution theorized that the key must have fallen from a bookcase and took it as evidence. Now the key was located in a dresser drawer.
Two other items appeared in the confession almost as afterthoughts. One was the statement that Avery’s girlfriend had called and talked to him two times while Halbach was screaming and crying in Avery’s bedroom. Did the girlfriend hear anything?
Dassey said Avery had scratched his finger and got a
The bleached pants were taken by Investigator Weigert during the drive from Mishicot High School to the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Department. The complaint stated there were bleach spots and other stains.
One notable piece of evidence was not collected until a substantially later date. That was Brendan Dassey’s computer. One of the first things investigators seize as evidence are personal computers. Yet, this computer was not taken as evidence until 21 April, 2006, almost a
* This is the key found in plain sight by two Manitowoc County deputies. The prosecution claimed it must have fallen from a bookcase which subsequently seized. Due to conflict of interest, Manitowoc County deputies were restricted to support activities for the investigation.
by Brian McCorkle
in category Brendan Dassey
