Transcripts For MSNBCW Dateline 20200906 : vimarsana.com

MSNBCW Dateline September 6, 2020

World. Steven avery and his nephew convicted of murder in the killing of a young photographer. Were they really innocent . I didnt do it. Somebodys doing a good job against me. Did you have a vendetta against steven avery . Absolutely not. For the first time on television, a lead an investigate defends his interrogation which led to a conviction overturned. It was seen as a false confession. It was a real confession. Those officers wanted that information in the worst way. And they got it in the worst way. The prosecutor fights back with an explosive book. People will hear the other side of the story. And a promise from Steven Averys new attorney. Do you think you have evidence that can free steven avery . We do. Welcome to dateline. Its an extraordinary case that defies easy answers. At the center of it all, steven avery. He and his teenage nephew were convicted in the brutal murder of photographer Teresa Halbach. Then a documentary series with information so explosive that investigators have been forced to fight back. Two sides, one truth. Who will you believe . The mystery of what happened here in rural wisconsin has captivated the country. We find the defendant steven avery guilty. Reporter in 2015, the Netflix Series making a murderer, convicted of murder. It convinced that they were railroad by Law Enforcement. Its a case dateline has been following for a decade. As the lawyers work tirelessly to free them from prison, we pose the questions that everyone has been asking of the people that put steven avery behind bars. Why would steven avery do this . Thats a good question. Reporter we asked ken katz, who wrote a book about this. That steven avery made himself a murderer. He started planning this event the first day he went to prison. Reporter and we talked with a lead investigator of the case, who has come under fire for this controversial interrogation. Youve stayed silent through this firestorm. Why are you sitting here today . I realized that someone needed to speak out to tell the truth of what happened. Reporter so, what did happen here . The story begins with the woman at the heart of this case, a 25yearold photographer from wisconsin named Teresa Halbach. She loved being behind the camera. Kim and teresa were friends in college. Both were photographers working at the same studio in green bay. Kim says teresa had a special way with her subjects. She could make them smile. I think thats what she loved to do. Make other people smile. Reporter the two stayed in touch after they launched their careers. But that would change suddenly on october 31st, 2005. The story on the local news, she was missing. Investigators say the photographer was on assignment for auto trader magazine when she disappeared. I just kind of dropped knowing it was somebody i knew. Reporter what do you do at that moment . I felt helpless. You want to try to deny it and get in touch with her. Reporter did you try to call her . I tried to text her. Reporter no response . No response. Reporter Wisconsin Police put on a massive search, bolstered by volunteers. After two days, a big break. We have found a rav 4. They found teresas vehicle on the avery yard. Reporter tom fast bender, then a special agent with the Wisconsin Department of criminal investigation hustled over to the land in Manitowoc County. Had you heard his name before . Only through the media. Reporter steven avery was a big story. He was convicted of rape in 1985. But 18 years later, dna evidence exonerated him and he was freed. A wrongfully convicted m man welcomed back into society with open arms. Were you aware he had filed the lawsuit against the local Sheriffs Department . I heard that. Reporter avery was hoping winning the lawsuit could help him get back on his feet. He had an opportunity to make something of his life. It appeared he was headed in that direction. Reporter now, two years after the conviction, he was back in the news and not in a good way. I hope she comes back. When fassbender arrived on site, he learned Teresa Halbach had an appointment on october 31st. She was there to take photos of this van. This is teresa with auto trader magazine. Im the photographer. Just giving you a call to let you know that i can come out here today, in the afternoon. It will be around 2 00. Reporter steven avery confirmed to investigators that teresa had been on the property that day and lift around 2 30 p. M. Avery didnt tell them much more. But for investigators, a dark tale started emerging from the physical evidence, especially when they made a gruesome discovery in the back of teresas suv. We find teresas blood in the vehicle, primarily in the cargo area of the rav4. And in the front, more blood. There was blood on some of the upholstery and a very telling swipe of blood near the ignition switch of the vehicle. Tests showed that blood was Steven Averys, taking him from person of interest to prime suspect. You believe you can explain the blood from steven avery . Well, yes, absolutely. Steven avery had a cut on his right hand, middle finger that was freshly scabbed over. If you took that key and put it in that ignition switch, it lined up perfectly with a contact pattern swipe. How did he explain that cut . Im not sure i remember. I think he claimed he cut in the junkyard doing work on vehicles he feared the worst. And after days of searching, his team found something disturbing in a fire pit near averys trailer. What appeared to be bone fragments. Human bones. Most interesting because family members told investigators steven avery built a bonfire hours after teresa had been at the yard that day. It was a huge bonfire, flames as high as the roof on the garage. Was it all making sense to you . Looking at the whole picture, absolutely. And that picture came into sharper focus when fassbenders team found another clue, teresas key in averys bedroom. The toyota key, with the fob. This is huge. Especially when the crime lab later found averys dna on it. It was a highly controversial clue. The evidence was stacking up against steven avery and fassbender said the rav4 would tell investigators one last thing. We had tested the hood latch and found dna matching steven on the hood latch. Fassbender believed avery had explaining to do. Nine days after teresas disappearance, he and his partner brought avery in for an interview. Dateline filed a freedom of information request to obtain the video. You know the key is there because you put the key there. Thats the only way the key gets there. No. Yes, steve, yes. Avery was defiant and even claims cops were framing him, planting evidence. The cops have evidence. Fassbender and wiegert werent buying it and placed him under arrest. I didnt do it. Somebodys doing a good job on me. Investigators were convinced they had their man. Still, they didnt know how or why teresa had been killed. Coming up shackles, handcuffs, strange behavior. Teresas creeped out. Could something in his past have led him to murder . When dateline continues. [ ] did you know you can shorten your cold with coldeezeĀ® lozenges. ColdeezeĀ® can shorten your cold by 42 . It releases zinc ions that some scientists believe inhibit cold viruses from replicating. Try coldeezeĀ® the number one bestselling zinc lozenge. Introducing the future of fitness. Its every class you can imagine, live. Welcome back to the mirror. Youve got this john. And on demand. Its boxing. Cardio. Yoga. And more. Its an interactive, goal crushing. Whole family. Whole body fitness machine. Its so cool the future of fitness is at home. The mirror. 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And them you become a flu fighter. Do your part and defend your crew against the flu. Walgreens start your day with secret. Secret stops sweat 3x more than ordinary antiperspirants. With secret, youre unstoppable. No sweat try it and love it or get your money back. In january 2006, steven avery pleaded not guilty of killing Teresa Halbach. And ken kratz began chronicling his case. Its all in his book, avery. What do you feel people know the least about in this case . The book is about steven avery that is setting forth a better representation of what the real evidence was. Better, he says, than the way the evidence was presented in making a murderer. For the first time, kratz lays out his theory with new details hes never shared before. For one thing, kratz told dateline he believes steven avery had set his sights on Teresa Halbach in the weeks leading up to her murder. As we move closer to october 31st, we see stevens behavior changing. As kratz got auto traders records, he learned teresa had made five earlier visits to the salvage yard to take photos, some at Steven Averys request. He starts making calls directly to Teresa Halbach rather than going through auto trader. And kratz determined on the day before one of these visits, avery purchased these shackles and handcuffs. When teresa arrives he answers the door wearing a small white towel. And teresa, we know is creeped out by that behavior. She tells friends and coworkers about that. Kratz believes averys behavior shows signs of a sexual obsession with teresa that led to murder. Why would steven avery do this when he was on the verge of getting this big windfall, potentially millions of dollars . Thats a great question. You know, i dont know. We know hes a psychopath. We know that he has do we know that . Well, i lets say, i allege that. I believe that, deep down. Kratz discovered more in averys past. 18 years before teresas murder, avery wrote this letter to his estranged wife from prison, saying, i will kill you. And a former fiancee told police he had physically abused her. And kratz said he learned something even more disturbing. This 2006 Police Report accuses avery of raping a teenage girl a year after he was released from prison. It all came together for him. He believed avery had developed a deep resentment of women which had started with his Wrongful Conviction and had only grown over the years. He has no remorse for his behavior, feels incredibly entitled. But as he continued to investigate the case, kratz had a problem. You still didnt know how she was killed, exactly where she was killed. Was that bothering you . Yes, but sometimes you have what you have. It was all coming together in bits and pieces. He and his team kept digging until they got a big lead. Have a seat. In march 2006, four months after teresas murder, Tom Fassbender and his partner spoke with averys 16yearold nephew in a series of highly scrutinized interviews. What was your opinion of Brendan Dassey . A shy kid, somewhat introverted. But once he opened up, the details he revealed would stun investigators. What else did he do to her . Raped her. Did he tell you that . Fassbender says dassey described a brutal scene. On that halloween afternoon, his uncle asked him to come over to his trailer. Dassey said they each sexually assaulted teresa in averys bedroom. And avery later shot her in his garage, burning her body in the bonfire. Its a gamechanger. He told us stuff we werent really aware of, like teresa was shot in the garage and had died there. And after speaking about dassey, fassbender had his team return to the avery property once more. And they found this in his garage, a bullet fragment. And that was missed the first time around. Well, i guess i could say it was missed. But youre talking about a bullet fragment, looks like a piece of dirt probably. And it was tested . It was tested. Yes, teresas dna was on that bullet. The bullet was shot from stevens rifle, the one above his bed. And do you now believe that teresa was shot in that garage . Yes. One strange thing, though, when they searched the garage for blood, they never found a drop. How could you clean up all that blood . Well, he did it to the best of his ability, i guess. Bleach, paint thinner. That cleans up blood. Teresas friend, kim, said when she heard the details about teresas final moments, she was heart broken. I remember crying and just hoping she was who she was and fought because she was a very strong person. Ken kratz charged Brendan Dassey as a coconspirator in her murder. I intend to hold each of these defendants accountable for the rape, the torture, and the murder of Teresa Halbach. But not so fast. Dassey recanted his statements. Just before averys trial, the judge dismissed the rape charge against him and didnt allow any of those allegations about averys treatment of women, saying they didnt prove anything about teresas murder. And avery was never charged with assaulting his exfiancee or with raping the teen. To this day, he denies all the allegations. And those handcuffs and shackles, no evidence ever linked them to teresa. Still, in the spring of 2007, juries convicted both dassey and avery of murdering teresa. They were each sentenced to life in prison. You are probably the most dangerous individual ever to set foot in this courtroom. It seemed like the avery saga had ended. But eight years later, making a murderer would put fassbender, kratz, and their entire team in the hot seat. Coming up did they plant evidence . Sure, they did. Was steven avery framed . Is it possible that that blood could have been planted . When dateline continues. Looks like they picked the wrong getaway driver. 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Tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if youve had a vaccine, or plan to. Serious allergic reactions may occur. Five years is just crazy. See me. Learn more at cosentyx. Com. In december 2015, netflix released making a murderer and it ignited a bonfire over the convictions of avery and dassey. Now many viewers believe the claims avery had been making all along, that he was framed by Law Enforcement. Who would want to set you up in Something Like this . The only thing i can think of it Manitowoc County with the money, so they wouldnt have to pay nothing out. Did they plant evidence . Sure they did. Kim is averys cousin. She said she predicted something bad might happen to him after he was exonerated in the rape case. Remember, he had recently filed a lawsuit against his local Sheriffs Department for his Wrongful Conviction. I did tell him, manitowoc wasnt done with him. Why did you think they werent done with him . Something told me they werent going to hand steve avery 36 million or any kind of money, that they were going to be watching him and look what happened. Avery settled that lawsuit for 400,000 before his trial. The county did not acknowledge any wrongdoing. He used the money to hire his defense attorneys, dean strang, and jerry butting. We knew going in it was going to be a difficult defense. We spoke to butting in early 2016. We had a very tough defense in this case, because nobody wants to try and use as a defense that the police deliberately tried to plant evidence or frame somebody. It goes against society. Those people are there to help us, theyre the police. Right. But its where we thought the evidence pointed. Averys attorneys believed the fact that officers from the county he was suing were part of the search, made for a huge conflict of interest and for possible mischief at the crime scene. What i can say from the evidence ive looked at, i think he was innocent, is innocent. Preparing for trial, butting learned about a vial of averys blood left over from his overturned rape conviction which had been sitting in the county clerks office. And saw that there was still a styrofoam box that had been slit open with evidence tape. Thats really the big aha moment . Yeah, it was. And for many viewers, it was the aha moment in making a murderer. The attorneys theorize that someone could have poked a hole in that vial and spread averys blood inside teresas suv. As for teresas car key . Your theory is that the key was planted in the residence . That is where we thought the evidence was pointing. By the police . By someone. It was not found in six or seven earlier entries to the trailer. Were talking about a trailer. It didnt add up. Colead investigator Tom Fassbender worked alongside local sheriffs deputies but was employed by a Different Agency the Wisconsin Department of justice. This is the first time hes responded publicly to the accusations against him and his Law Enforcement colleagues. Did you have any kind of vendetta against steven avery . A

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