Making a Murderer (2015–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Turning the Tables - full transcript

[woman] Hello, this is Teresa
with Auto Trader magazine.

I'm the photographer
and just giving a call to let you know

that I could come out there today
um, in the afternoon.

It would probably be around 2:00
or even a little later.

Um... again, it's Teresa.

If you could please give me a call back
and let me know if that'll work for you.

Thank you.

[Teresa] So let's say I die before I'm 31.

Or let's say I die tomorrow.

I don't think I will.
I think I have a lot more to do.

I just want to know, whenever I do die...



I just want people I love to know
that whenever I die...

that I was happy.

That I was happy
with what I did with my life.

-[theme music plays]
-[geese honking]

[male reporter] For 18 years, Steven Avery
was limited in everything he did,

after being convicted for a crime
he didn't commit.

Now state lawmakers want answers
as to why this happened to him.

[female reporter] While in prison,
Avery's wife divorced him.

Following his release,
he lived for a time in an ice shanty.

[female reporter 2] Steven Avery
is now back home, but for 18 years

he sat in prison
for a sexual assault he did not commit.

Avery says he forgives the woman
for accusing him of the crime,

but will never forgive
Manitowoc County law enforcement.

"Guilty." That's all they think,
is the guy's guilty right away.



So they should look into things more.

Steven was becoming like a celebrity
in the criminal justice system.

Politicians were posing
for photo ops with Steve Avery.

Politicians from the governor
down to a state legislator,

who would be a prime mover
on the Avery task force.

An innocent man was taken from his home,

taken from his family,
accused of crimes he did not commit.

It was rough, those 18 years.

But I had to do it day by day.

You know, to keep going.

Something had to be looked at
to see how this happened

and use that maybe as a catalyst to look
at more than just that case from 1985,

but the whole system as a whole.

What kind of reforms get us closer
to truth and justice in the system?

I chair the judiciary committee,

so I started to develop a task force
with an eye towards

"how can we prevent this type of thing
from happening again?"

My family stuck around
for a while, then...

it was hard.

So then I told the old lady to leave.

That was the hardest part.

Everyone on the assembly floor,
if I recall,

stood up, gave him a standing ovation

-for what he had had to go through...
-[applause]

and their own kind of "I'm sorry for
what happened to you from the system."

People on the task force,
people at the committee hearings,

every one of them is sitting there
thinking, "What if that had been me?

What if that was my children
that I didn't get to see or play ball with

or read books to at night for 18 years?"

[woman] Not a day goes by
that I don't think about Mr. Avery,

his family and friends
and the suffering they endured...

When it was time to leave, I said,
"Steve, could I give you a hug?"

And he just grabbed me in a big bear hug
and I said to him, you know,

"I'm very sorry, Steve. I'm so sorry."

And he said, "It's OK. It's over."

[Steven on phone]
Everything was going good.

I was working by the yard.

I'm trying to do my best,
stay out of trouble and just live happy.

The best thing?

Probably when I met Jodi.

Then I felt that I could be loved again
and I could love somebody again.

And have a future again.

The clarity of this situation,

there are lots of situations where people
don't talk about compensation or whatever

'cause it's not clear
that they didn't do it.

You just know that there's not enough
that you can keep 'em in prison.

But this was so clear
and the circumstances so troubling,

I think, to most people in the state.

I wasn't familiar with the statute
on prisoner compensation

for being wrongfully convicted.

And they said,
"$5,000 a year, $25,000 cap,"

and I just kind of scoffed and I said,

"My goodness,
it should be $25,000 a year." Um...

And that's where $450,000 came from.

I went out to the yard many times
to see Steve.

You know, see if he was all right
and adjusting and, um,

you know, what's going on in his life
and things like that.

And he says, "Right now,
I want to be by my parents,

I want to work in the yard,
I want to try to... try to fit in."

I think he felt that
when he got out of prison,

if he would've left the state
or even ran up to Crivitz and hid out,

I think he thought that Manitowoc County
was forcing him to do that.

And he wasn't gonna let anybody
run him out of town.

You know, he was gonna stay here
and try to get some of his life back.

And I think he wanted Manitowoc County
to see that he was getting his life back.

[male reporter] Steven Avery
spent 18 years in prison

for something he didn't do.

Today marks one year since Avery
went home free.

His time spent out of prison
has been with his family.

It feels real good. Yeah.
We can all be together again.

[male reporter] He's never since spoken
with the people who put him behind bars.

[male reporter] Is there
any way you can forgive them?

I doubt it.

They know they did wrong.

[male reporter] He and his lawyers plan
to file a lawsuit seeking damages.

Avery says money will help him
get back on his feet,

but it can never make up for lost time.

The lawsuit, from Steven's perspective,
and this is based on...

what he said to Penny Beerntsen

at the hearing
in front of the Avery Task Force,

was really about, he didn't want what
happened to him to happen to anybody else.

But he also didn't want what happened
to her to happen to anybody else.

And it clearly had because
of what Gregory Allen did

while Steven Avery was sitting in prison.

[Kelly] The essence of the civil suit says
that the district attorney and the sheriff

were obliged constitutionally to turn that
exculpatory evidence about Gregory Allen

over to the defense.

It's not a subtle, um... lawsuit,

in that this is a gross
constitutional violation.

We've alleged $36,000,000 in damages
or a million dollars per year

for the years that he spent in prison,

and then the other $18,000,000
for penalty damages

or deterrents damages.

From Steven's perspective,
it couldn't have had less to do

with what the numbers were.

It was entirely about,
let's identify who did what here.

Let's make sure that they are held up
as examples to everybody else

in law enforcement
as to what you do not do,

and what the consequences are
when you do what you should not do.

What we're really talking about
is accountability.

Trying to prevent another family broken.

So it don't happen again.

[Kelly] When Mrs. Beerntsen gave
the description of her assailant

at the hospital that night, did you say
that it sounded like Steven Avery?

No, sir.

Later on that evening,
you made that statement, is that right?

-[man] Object to form.
-[Kelly] You may answer.

I do not remember if it was that evening
or possibly at the Sheriff's Department.

[Kelly] You made the statement that
the description sounded like Steven Avery,

you just don't remember
whether you said it at the hospital

or whether you said it
at the Sheriff's Department later on.

-Is that--
-[man] I'm gonna object to that.

-[Kelly] Is that correct?
-[man] Because that's not what she said.

And I object to the form.

[Kelly] Why don't you guys all
just get sworn and testify here?

-Let the witness answer.
-[man] I didn't--

I'm not stopping
the witness from answering.

[Kelly] You're trying
to tell her what to say.

[man] When you said, "You said this,"
and she didn't say that,

-I'm gonna object...
-[Kelly] Yes, she did.

[man] ...to make sure
that the record is correct.

[Kelly] For us, the attorney general's
report was a blessing

in that at least some of the people
who were being questioned

did not anticipate any
personal liability to themselves,

felt like they were talking
law enforcement to law enforcement,

and so were fairly candid.

So that was very helpful to us
in terms of the discovery

that we needed to conduct of those people
in the civil suit environment,

by which time they
did know about civil liability,

but we already had their remarks down
in investigatory reports.

[Kelly] And then the statement says,

"Dvorak described Avery
as such a dirty man

that every time he would come to the jail,

the sheriff's deputies
would have to make Avery take a shower."

-Do you see that?
-Yes, sir.

Did you tell that to Ms. Strauss?

Possibly, but not in those words.

In what words?

-That he--
-Do you remember the words you told her?

[man] I'm gonna object
to the form of the question.

[Kelly] OK.

I do not remember specifically.

But reading this, this is not my words.

[Kelly] Well, if you don't remember,
how can you tell us that?

[man] Objection. Argumentative.

-Go ahead, ma'am.
-[Kelly] You can answer.

I would say I do not speak or talk,
converse, in this kind of verbiage.

[Kelly] Well, we actually had instances
where people attempted to change

what they had said to the investigators
for the attorney general's office

when we were deposing them.

And of course we could produce
the investigatory reports

and say this report says you said...
thus and so.

She may have taken the words
out of context.

[Kelly] What context?

[Kelly] The more attempts there are
to wiggle out of prior statements,

the weaker become the rationalizations.

[Kelly] So we now know that the person
Mrs. Beerntsen described to you

was Gregory Allen, right?

-No.
-No?

No.

Well, we know that Gregory Allen
was the assailant of Mrs. Beerntsen

because the DNA has shown that.

Well, you know that.
I don't know that.

I don't take what's in the paper
as gospel truth, believe me.

Well, do you take DNA evidence
that's been done by the state crime lab

-and become the basis for vacating--
-That there was--

Let me finish. Vacating a judgment
of conviction of Steven Avery,

is that enough for you to know that
Steven Avery did not commit this assault?

No. Where did the evidence come from?
That's all I'm asking.

Are you saying you doubt
the DNA examination--

That there was a match?
I believe there was a match.

-OK, so you--
-Has DNA evidence been fabricated before?

-Yes. I don't know. I don't know.
-You think that happened here?

So you actually think that your sketch
is more valid evidence

than the DNA evidence
that's inculpated Gregory Allen.

My drawing was the result
of what image she had in her head.

That's what that is.

I'm just... the pencil.
I'm just the pencil.

That's right. I agree with you. OK.

My sketch looks more like Steven Avery
than it does Gregory Allen.

Right. That's right.

[Glynn] One of the realities
in this kind of litigation

for somebody like Steve Avery,
who has no money, who's never had money,

is that the insurance companies
would get together and say...

"Here's a million dollars.
Walk away from this case."

What could we possibly do
to prevent Steve from having that happen?

[Glynn] I want to share with you,
you know, how happy we were

when we realized that...
he was very, very close

to having 400 grand put in his hand,

which removes all of the incentive
to take a lowball settlement.

He could then afford to stay
in the lawsuit as long as it took.

[Steven on phone] I'm doing good.

I been working every day almost,
waiting for Jodi to get out.

She got locked up...

drinking, you know, driving.

I hollered at Jodi quite a few times
to stop drinking.

I guess it sunk into her because she did
stop and she's a different person now.

I gotta give her a lot of credit.

When Jodi gets out,
hopefully we can set a wedding date.

We learned during litigation something
we had absolutely no knowledge of

before that lawsuit got started,

that 1995

was a very, very significant point
in this thing.

[man] We're on the record.

We're continuing depositions
on the case of Avery v. Manit--

[Glynn] And that there
is not only something to this idea

that law enforcement
had information about somebody else,

but there is serious meat on those bones.
[chuckles]

I mean, serious meat. Um...

What we learn is that while Steven Avery
is sitting in prison now for a decade...

a telephone call comes in to the
Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department

from another law enforcement agency,

which at least one of the officers
involved in that process,

believes to be
the Brown County Sheriff's Department,

saying that they had someone in custody

who said that he had
committed an assault in Manitowoc,

and an assault for which somebody
was currently in prison.

-[Glynn] You've gone over exhibit 138.
-Yes, sir.

It describes you receiving
a telephone call, 1994 or 1995,

from someone who identified himself
as a detective, correct?

Yes.

The detective indicated
that there was a person in custody

who had made a statement about
a Manitowoc County offense. Correct?

-Yes.
-OK.

And what that person in custody had said

was that he had committed an assault
in Manitowoc County

and someone else was in jail for it.
Correct?

Yes, sir.

Manitowoc doesn't have huge numbers of
major assaults where people go to prison.

And certainly where people
would still be in prison.

There is a very distinct possibility,
I would say likelihood,

that it's Gregory Allen,
it's the Brown County Sheriff's Department

that is that is, in 1995,
on the Gregory Allen Case,

that Gregory Allen has said something
about Steven Avery,

and at a minimum somebody
ought to check this out.

[Glynn] I mean, that's...
that's a significant event.

Right. That's what stood out in my mind.

[Glynn] The fellow who got that call
was named Colborn.

And you might say that
there should be a record of him

immediately making a report on this.

There might be a record of his immediately
contacting a supervising officer.

There might be a record of him
contacting a detective

who handles sexual assault cases.

Uh, there might be some record of it.

But if you thought any of those things,
you'd be wrong,

because there isn't any record in 1995,

1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,

2000, 2001, 2002, 2003.

Now 2003 is a year that has meaning
because that's when Steven Avery got out.

And the day he got out,
or the day after,

that's when Colborn decides to contact
his superior officer named Lenk.

And Lenk tells him to write a report,

and they then go have contact
with the sheriff.

Now let's just stop
and think about that for a minute.

Why does that happen?

Why does it happen then
when it didn't happen eight years earlier?

Um... I mean, I think I know the answer.

I mean, I think the answer
is pretty clearly,

these people realized
that they had screwed up big-time.

Colborn realized it,
Lenk, as his superior realized it,

and the sheriff realized it.

So Lenk tells Colborn to write a report,
the sheriff tells Lenk,

"Get me the report."

The sheriff puts the report in a safe.

That's how much he cares
about documenting this thing.

Well, obviously, it doesn't do anybody--

Well, it certainly
doesn't do Steve Avery any good

to document that
eight years after the fact.

Because Steve Avery has been
sitting in a cage for those eight years.

[Glynn] This document
didn't begin to get prepared

until after you had
talked to Sheriff Petersen.

-Is that a fair statement?
-Correct.

This indicates that Colborn said he
was informed by someone in '95, '96

that "the case was already solved
and the right person was arrested."

-True?
-True.

Sergeant Colborn couldn't recall
who it was that told him

that the case had already been solved.

-True?
-True. It's what he told me.

Did he have-- Did he make
any guesses about that or say,

"Gee, it could've been this person, it
could've been that person, I'm not sure"?

He wasn't sure. He...

[Glynn] You recognize exhibit 125?

That's one of the Sheriff's
Department statement forms,

and it looks like
James Lenk's signature on it.

-OK. Have you seen this document before?
-No.

OK. And how about 138, which is the...

-Well, you tell me what it is.
-Yeah.

That's another one of our statement forms.

It looks like it was filled out
by Andrew Colborn.

And again, have you seen
that document before today?

No.

[Steven on phone]
A lot of people told me to watch my back.

Most of the time,
I didn't even believe 'em.

But then, sitting and doing depositions,

I don't know, it kinda changed my mind.

They were covering something up.

And they were still covering something up.

Even with the sheriff
who's on there now, he's...

covering something up.

[Glynn] Have you ever had any
conversations with anybody else

other than Sheriff Petersen
and Lieutenant Lenk

about the subject matter of exhibit 138?

Ever discuss it with anyone else?

Any other officers,
any friends, any family?

Not that I can specifically recall.

I may have mentioned it to other people,
but I don't recall doing it.

[Kelly] At the time that you received
information from the crime lab

telling you that Gregory Allen
was inculpated

in the sexual assault of Mrs. Beerntsen,

did you have conversation
with any people in the sheriff's office?

-Yes.
-Who were they?

Andy Colborn...

and Jim Lenk...

had information that he had received.

Let me show you what's been marked
as exhibit 124.

-I'm familiar with the document.
-OK.

[Kelly] Who is Douglass Jones?

[Rohrer] Assistant district attorney
for Manitowoc County.

All right. What is this memo
to your understanding?

It speaks for itself.

He had a telephone conversation
with Gene Kusche about the case.

[Kelly] This document
reflects a conversation

between you and Douglass Jones

shortly after it became public knowledge
that Steven Avery had been exculpated

and that Gregory Allen
had been inculpated, right?

-That's correct.
-All right. He says as he, Doug Jones,

was trying to close the conversation,

you told him "that in '95 or '96,

Andy Colborn had told Manitowoc
County Sheriff, Tom Kocourek,

that an officer from Brown County
had told Colborn

that Allen and not Avery might have
actually committed the Beerntsen assault."

OK? Did you in fact
tell that to Douglass Jones?

-I don't recall.
-All right.

Does seeing this document, 124,
refresh your recollection?

My recollection of this conversation,
which is not very strong,

was that Colborn made a comment to me
about getting some information.

Yeah?

OK, the statement goes on and says,
the next sentence says,

-"Gene stated..." That's you.
-Mm.

"...that Colborn was told by Kocourek
something to the effect that

'we already have the right guy
and he should not concern himself.'"

-Now, did Colborn tell that to you?
-I don't recall it.

Do you have any reason to believe
that Doug Jones

-would misrecord what you told him?
-No.

OK.

Then it goes on to say that Doug Jones
asked you if this information was known.

-Do you remember him asking you that?
-No.

Then it goes on to say that you said Lenk,
M.T.S.O. Lieutenant James Lenk,

Detective Bureau Command Officer,
"was aware."

Did you tell that to Doug Jones?

If he put it there, I probably did.

And what was the basis
for your knowledge about that?

It would've had to have been
from Andy Colborn.

This was unconscionable
withholding of information

that would have been of use
to Steven Avery's lawyers

who were right at that time,
in the middle of litigation,

asserting,
based on the fingernail scrapings,

that there may have been
somebody else involved in this.

If that information
had come to light in 1995,

Steven Avery would've gotten out in 1995.

So they cost Steven Avery
eight years of his life.

This is as close
to a conspiracy of silence

as I think you could find in a case.

[Kelly] Did you provide this information
to the attorney general's office?

Yes. My recollection
says I believe we did.

And who's "we"?

Mike Griesbach and I
when we went to Madison.

But this memo is...

was drafted after
you had been to Madison.

I'm not sure the date we were in Madison.

You're saying you told that information
to the attorney general's office?

We passed everything we had obtained
to the attorney general's office.

OK, well, neither this memo
nor anything about Colborn and Lenk

is in any of the records that were
provided to the attorney general's office.

I can tell you that.

[Kelly] October of 2005,

from the perspective
of the Manitowoc County government

and their defense lawyers,

I believe they all knew that they were
in the most serious kind of trouble.

That there was a very grave prospect
of a very, very substantial verdict.

Manitowoc County and the sheriff
and the district attorney

are arguably covered
by insurance policies,

and there's a good
half dozen insurance policies.

However, the insurers
have taken the position

that because of the nature
of the allegations against the county,

the sheriff and the DA,
the policies do not cover.

Which would mean that Manitowoc County
itself and the sheriff and the DA

would be on the hook for those damages
in that civil suit.

[Glynn] We don't need
to have somebody tell us

that this is going to have an effect
on law enforcement.

Of course it has an effect
on law enforcement. Are you kidding me?

I mean, law enforcement officers
get uptight

when there's even a suggestion that they
have said something wrong in a courtroom.

Imagine what it's like when
you're going to say that you're a liar

and that you hid evidence and
that you deliberately prosecuted a person

that you knew, or at least had reason
to know, wasn't guilty of the crime.

And putting all that aside, by the way,
in terms of your own professionalism,

there's a guy out there
raping and beating women

while the guy that you put in prison
is sitting in a cell.

How's that make you feel?

We were just on the absolute edge

of getting ready to go after the named
defendants in the case with depositions...

when I get a call from Walt,

who tells me that he has
gotten a call from a journalist

asking if either of us
would care to comment

on the apparent intersection in life
between Steven Avery

and a woman who has gone missing
in the Manitowoc area,

whom we later learn to be Teresa Halbach.

[news theme song plays]

[announcer] This is Action 2 News at five.
Coverage you can count on.

Good evening. Thanks for joining us.
The Calumet County Sheriff

says the disappearance of Teresa Halbach
remains a mystery tonight.

The 25-year-old was last seen
Monday afternoon in Manitowoc County.

Right now, police are conducting
an aerial search of the land

from Manitowoc to Green Bay.

They're hoping to locate Teresa's car,

which they say is a major key
in their investigation.

That car is a 1999 dark green Toyota RAV4,
just like the one you see here.

Jeff Alexander has the latest
in the investigation.

[Alexander] Halbach
is a professional photographer.

One of her clients is Auto Trader

and police say she was
in Manitowoc County Monday afternoon

at three different private homes,
taking pictures of cars.

Ironically, Halbach's last stop Monday
was at Steven Avery's home.

[female reporter] She was there
to photograph this 1989 Dodge Caravan.

Avery regularly advertises
in Auto Trader magazine

and says Halbach
has visited his home on assignment

several times in the past year.

Did she mention any other appointments
that day or anything like that?

No, I don't think so.

Because most of the time,
she takes a picture

and then she writes down
the serial number...

and then she comes and collects the money
and... and that's about it.

OK. So what kinds of questions
are police asking you?

Just when she was out here.
What time. Around.

That was about it.

Did they ask you to take a polygraph
or anything like that?

No. No.

Tonight the cops come and they asked me
if I remembered anything

and I told them no.

You know, then they asked me
if they can come in the house

and check the house over. I said,
"I got no problem with that. Come on in."

So they checked the house all over.

You know, everything was fine
and then they left.

And I mean, knowing her, I mean, what are
your feelings for her parents and...

They must be going through hell.

This is very hard to take.

We love her a lot.
We miss her very much.

It's just very odd that we...

we didn't hear from her
for the last two days

when she didn't return calls, you know?

We're hoping for the best.

If she's out there, we want her home.

You know, we want to know
what happened to her.

[man] From what we understand,
she made all three stops.

And after the third stop is where,

um, she stopped answering the phone
or she stopped making calls.

She hadn't listened
to any voicemail messages after that.

She didn't make
any credit card transactions.

So... we don't know
what happened after that.

-[female reporter] How are you holding up?
-Um... I mean...

the grieving process, you know,
could last days, could last weeks,

could last years.

You know, hopefully, we find answers
as soon as possible so we can, you know,

begin to...
hopefully, you know, move on,

hopefully with Teresa still in our life.

[man] All the small towns,
even St. Nazianz, Marytown,

Chilton, New Holstein, Kiel...

So basically we're looking
at any public place,

bars, restaurants, gas stations,
grocery stores, post offices, banks...

any place you can think of that's gonna
allow you to put the posters up.

And if anybody knows, like,
Manitowoc-Two Rivers kind of area,

I mean, if you know it...
that would be best to send you guys there.

Like...

If you do find anything,
say you find the truck,

say you talk to somebody
that has seen her or made contact

or knows her whereabouts or anything,
don't touch anything.

Make-- It's very important, I guess.
Um, don't touch anything.

Get a hold of either the detective or
dispatch in Chilton and just, you know,

tell them you're really concerned
and you found this

and they can take care of
getting a hold of who we need to.

[packing tape crackling]

I don't know what to hope. I don't know
if you want to find a vehicle

and, you know, she's there.

I don't know if you want to find nothing

and hope that she's
somewhere still, um... alive.

You know, we don't know what to...

I don't know what to hope.

[woman on phone] Hi, this is Pam Sturm.

I'm on the search for Teresa Halbach
and we have found a RAV4.

-[man] Is there any license plates on it?
-[Sturm] There's--

No plates on it,
but it's a little covered up.

It's weird. It's covered up.

[man] OK.
Can you get to the front of the car?

[Sturm] Yeah, I will.

I can find a VIN number.
Is it OK if I go in the car?

[man] No, do not go in the car.
Do not touch the car.

-[Sturm] Yeah, well--
-[man] Stay on the outside of the car,

go over to the front
on the driver's side--

[Sturm] OK, now hang on.

The fir-- The last four digits:
three, zero, four, four.

-[man] OK, where are you?
-[Sturm] Is that the number?

[man] Where are you?

[Sturm] No, you gotta tell me
if this is the car.

[man] OK, stop. I can't tell you anything.
Where are you?

[Sturm] I'm at Avery Salvage.

[siren wailing]

[officer 1] Other than the car,
do we have anything else?

[officer 2] Not yet.

-[officer 1] OK, is he in custody?
-[officer 2] Negative, nothing yet.

[female reporter] They blocked off
about a four-mile stretch of the highway

that surrounds the Steven Avery home.

And earlier, hazmat vehicles
also arrived on the scene,

as well as the Great Lakes
K-9 Search and Rescue.

[Jodi] It's just bullshit that they can go
and search our house and nobody there.

[Steven] Well, yeah,
they got the whole yard tore apart.

-[Jodi] Do they?
-[Steven] Yeah, the whole shit.

-[Jodi] I'm scared.
-[Steven] Yeah, me too.

-[Jodi] Well, not scared, just worried.
-[Steven] Yeah.

[female reporter]
What's the status of Steven Avery?

Is he a suspect at this time?
A person of interest?

Uh, everybody is a person of interest
at this particular time.

Steven Avery is no more a suspect
or a person of interest than anybody else

at this particular time.

[male reporter] Everything is aimed
at the Avery compound.

Do you have any other large-scale place

that's being investigated
besides the Avery compound?

[Pagel] I will not disclose
that information.

[female reporter] You know,
there's been speculation around

who has access to the yard.

Do you think your two brothers
could've had anything to do with this?

No. No. Not at all.

Look, anybody can go down the road
at nighttime, you know,

when everybody's sleeping.

You know, just drive in.
My brother ain't gonna hear nothing.

So who do you think
did something with her?

I got no idea.

If the county did something,
or whatever,

in trying to plant evidence on me
or something, I don't know.

I wouldn't put nothing past the county.

To avoid any appearance whatsoever
of any impropriety,

I made the decision
to seek the appointment

of Ken Kratz,
Calumet County District Attorney,

as special prosecutor in this case.

[female reporter] What is your response
to Mr. Avery's comment

that Manitowoc County
may be trying to pull one over on him?

Yeah, that I'm happy to talk about.

That's something that, again,
District Attorney Rohrer and Judge Fox

and really the Manitowoc
Sheriff's Department

and other law enforcement community
was very sensitive to...

any appearance at all of conflict.

Not just an actual conflict,
but any appearance of conflict, I think.

Again, talking about
District Attorney Rohrer,

the foresight that he had
to bring in another agency,

a law enforcement agency,
like Calumet County,

another prosecutor like
the Calumet County District Attorney,

was meant to do just that,

to make sure that there couldn't
even be those kind of allegations.

[Steven] They ain't finding nothing.

'Cause there ain't nothing there,
so why are they gonna find anything?

All I can think is they're
trying to railroad me again.

[woman] "Dear Mr. Avery.
I would like to invite you--"

Here, I'll move this chair.
[clears throat]

[man] There's a hole
in the floor right here. Be careful.

[woman] OK.

"...to a luncheon that
the Wisconsin Innocence Project

will be holding for exonerees
from Wisconsin and surrounding states

on November 19th of this year.

The purpose of this luncheon
will be to bring exonerees together

to build a network
and support group for each other."

[laughs] I don't think
he's gonna be able to make it.

[woman] We should take all those shoes
in case we have any unsolved burglaries

with foot impressions.

[man] Yeah, there we go.

Can you move it over here a little bit?

Perfect.

[Steven] I hadn't been home.
They just been searching.

You know, how hard is it
to put evidence in the house?

Or on the property?

The sheriff-- The old sheriff
was out to get me the first time.

How do I know he ain't got nothing
to do with it this time, you know?

I don't know.

[female reporter] Have you continued
to talk to Steven Avery?

They are-- He is cooperating
with the investigation.

[male reporter]
Is the rest of his family?

Yes, they are.

-[male reporter 2] How so?
-[female reporter] Do you yet know

what the order of her appointments was
and who she visited last?

We feel we are narrowing in on that.

[male reporter 3] Do you think
Steven Avery is the last person

-who saw her alive?
-We feel we are narrowing in on that.

Tonight the Averys feel like they've
become the focus of this investigation

and feel like police
are calling them liars.

[female reporter] The entire Avery family
is holed up

in their Marinette County cabin right now,

being told after three days
they still cannot go home.

Yet they say investigators
won't tell them what's going on.

Avery says he once again
feels like a suspect

and fears that any moment,
police could arrest him.

[sniffles]

It all comes back. All these memories
and everything else, and they're...

just sketching me out again.
And deep down, it hurts.

[people singing]

[Mike] A hundred percent of my hopes
are with finding Teresa.

When we last heard,
she was alive on Monday afternoon.

And until we hear otherwise,
that's what we're gonna believe,

that's what we're gonna pray.

[singing continues]

I'm just praying
that God is next to her.

Please bring her home.

That's all we want.
Just bring her home.

[sobbing] Please, somebody find her.

[male reporter] Did they find anything
while you were out searching?

I'm not really gonna comment on that,
but if anything was found, you know,

we had proper authority and had
professionals take a look at it as needed.

[reporter 2]
How many times were you on the site?

You were there Saturday
when they found the car,

but how many other times
were you on the site?

-I-- I wasn't-- I wasn't on the site.
-You were never on the site.

That's not true at all.

[male reporter 2]
Did you get there, Mike?

Were you a part of the...
on the site searching?

-We--
-No, the people--

I mean, the original--

Who originally found the vehicle
was a member of our search party.

-It was a member of our search party.
-Who asked permission to go onto the site.

But no one other than that
has ever been on the Avery property.

On the actual site. It's been
crime scene and taped off. Secured.

[man] Significant evidence has been
discovered over the past 24 hours

at the Avery Salvage Yard.

And the evidence that we've collected
is leading us to that of a human person.

You know, we're all victims.

You know,
and they just won't leave us alone.

They just keep it up, keep it up.

You know, it's...

You know, a person
only can take so much. You know?

Right now, I got enough of 'em.
You know?

They can go somewhere else and...
and just leave us alone.

Let us do our life and live normal.

Well, as I am sure everybody is aware,

the scope of this investigation
is now criminal in nature

and we are classifying it
as a homicide investigation.

Um, it appears that an attempt was made

to dispose of a body
by an incendiary means.

Pieces of human bone and teeth
were found on the Avery property,

and the key that was used

to start Teresa Halbach's vehicle

was found in Steven Avery's bedroom.

And again I want to emphasize
that the investigation

revolves around one victim in this case
and that's Teresa Halbach.

And I also want to emphasize

that the Manitowoc County Sheriff's
Department's role in this investigation

was to provide resources for us
when they were needed.

As we needed items on the property

to conduct searches,

they provided that piece of equipment
and that's their role

and their only role in this investigation.

I spoke with Steven Avery's attorney
by phone this afternoon.

Walt Kelly told me he'd been
unable to speak to Avery,

didn't know where he was
and feared what might happen to him

when he was questioned about
Teresa Halbach's disappearance.

[Kelly on phone]
I spent the entire afternoon,

including direct conversation
with Sheriff Pagel,

trying to locate my client.

My colleague Steve Glynn
was in an automobile in the area

trying to find him.

I think they purposely
have kept him away from us.

I think they want to question him
in our absence.

[female reporter] Where is Avery
right now? Which jail? Do you know?

-I don't. I'm sorry.
-I don't know which jail. I--

[female reporter]
You don't know where Steven Avery is?

We know where he is, but we are
not releasing that information

because we do not have contact...

-[female reporter] He's entitled to...
-[indistinct chatter]

[Wiegert] You know how this works.

You can't beat the evidence.

-[Fassbender] Work with us a little.
-[Wiegert] Think of your family.

I did not do it.

How's your family gonna be when
they think you're a cold-blooded person?

-I did not do it.
-If you made a mistake,

they'll understand that.

Yeah, but if there's a crooked cop...

So you're telling me
somebody planted the body?

-I didn't do it.
-Who did it?

-I don't know.
-Steve.

I do not know.

Steve, think of your family here
for a second.

-I am thinking of my family!
-No, you're not.

-You're thinking of yourself.
-No.

You're thinking of yourself.

[Fassbender]
And we don't blame you for doing that.

Goddamn it, you had 17 years in prison
for something you didn't freaking do.

-I didn't do this one.
-And we understand that.

-You made a mistake. You made a mistake.
-No, I did not. I didn't do nothing.

-How could I make a mistake?
-So you intentionally killed her.

-That what you're telling me?
-No, I didn't. I didn't do nothing.

How did it happen?
Explain to me how it happened.

[Pagel] I would like
to introduce two individuals

who I feel have done a fantastic job
in this investigation.

Investigator Mark Wiegert from my office
and Special Agent Tom Fassbender,

from the Department
of Criminal Investigation.

[male reporter] You said yesterday
and earlier in the week

"there's only one victim in this case."
Can you explain why you said that?

Sheriff Pagel said that. I've said that
before, but go ahead, Sheriff.

OK. There is only one victim in
this matter and that is Teresa Halbach.

She is the individual who lost her life.

And that is the one
and only victim in this matter.

[Kratz] It-- I'll comment further.
I don't have a problem with this.

I've heard many reports

and have seen images
of a specific suspect in this case,

now Mr. Avery, on the various media,

suggesting that,
"Why are they looking at me?"

"Why would I be asked questions
about Teresa's death and disappearance?"

I hope with the DNA positive analysis
and the other surrounding circumstances

that that question
doesn't have to be asked anymore.

[Wiegert] I know you're scared, Steve.
I know you're scared.

-I'm not scared.
-Because you didn't mean to kill her.

-I don't think you meant to kill her.
-No, I did not kill her.

-This wasn't a planned thing.
-No.

-Did you plan it?
-No.

OK, I didn't think so.

I didn't think you're that kind of a guy
from meeting you.

I think what happened,
you come out of prison

for serving time
for something you didn't even do...

-I did not do it.
-...and it screws you up in the head.

Like it screws everybody up.

They didn't give you any counseling.
You said before they gave no counseling.

-I did not kill her.
-The body's on your property.

The key is in your bedroom.

You know the key is there
because you put the key there.

-That's the only way the key gets there.
-No.

Yes, Steve. Yes. That's the fact.

You can deny it all you want.
The evidence will show that, OK?

-That's the way it is.
-But the cops got the evidence.

Yeah. Two independent investigators
that have never met you.

Two people who have never met you.

Have nothing against you.

-I know nothing about you.
-No, you see,

if somebody else plants that shit there,
you ain't gonna see it--

Then why are your--
Why is your DNA in there?

Why is her blood in your house?

How are they going to get that blood
in your house?

How is her blood in my house?
It can't be.

I used to leave my house open
all the time.

How does your DNA get inside of her truck?

My DNA ain't.
That's because they got blood out of me.

How much blood do they get out of me?
A lot of blood.

-Steve.
-They got a lot of blood outta me.

-That sheriff?
-Steve. Come back to reality here.

-I am.
-No, you're not.

I did 18 years.
You think I want to do any more?

As special prosecutor,
I have also been asked to comment

upon any possibility of tainted evidence

or of something along those lines.

There was some mention, in the media,

that this key in his bedroom could've been
left or planted or something of the like.

Now that Mr. Avery's DNA
is found on that particular key,

I was left to question whether or not
people would have me believe

that not only are they carrying
around keys for Teresa's vehicle,

but they're also carrying around vials
of Mr. Avery's DNA with them,

whether it's perspiration or whatever.
It's absurd.

Because DNA evidence from the suspect,
Steven Avery, was found on the key

and Mr. Avery's blood is found
inside of Teresa Halbach's vehicle,

it is no longer a question, at least in my
mind as a special prosecutor in this case,

who is responsible
for the death of Teresa Halbach.

[female reporter] Hey, Steve! Everybody's
listening! What do you want to say today?

I'm innocent.

[female reporter] What else do you want to
say, Steven? We can't tell it without you.

[Steven on phone] You know, last time,
it took me 18 years and six weeks

to prove my innocence.

This time, I don't know how long.

[theme music plays]