Transcripts For MSNBCW Dateline Extra 20190610 : vimarsana.c

MSNBCW Dateline Extra June 10, 2019

Photographer. But were they really innocent . I didnt do it. Did you have any kind of vendetta against steven avery . Absolutely not. A lead investigator defends his interrogation, which led to a conviction overturned. This was seen by many. Those officers wanted that information in the worst way. They got it in the worst way. The prosecutor fights back with an explosive book. Youre going the hear the other side of the story. And the promise from Steven Averys highpowered attorney. Do you think you have new evidence that could free steven avery . We do. Return to Manitowoc County. Hello and welcome to dateline extra. Im craig melvin. Photographer teresa was out on a work assignment when suddenly she vanished. The investigation into her disappearance marked the beginning of what became a hotly contested murder case against steven avery and Brendan Dassey. Dateline covered the story and disturbing allegations of police corruption. Then the investigators fought back. Two sides, one truth. Who will you believe . Here is andrea canning. The mystery of what happened here in the sprawling fields of rural wisconsin has captivated the country. We the jury find the defendant steven a. Avery guilty. Reporter in 2015, the Netflix Series making a murderer convinced many viewers that steven avery and Brendan Dassey, both convicted of murder had been railroaded by Law Enforcement. Free steven avery its a case dateline has been following more than a decade, as their lawyers worked tirelessly to free them from prison, we pose the questions everyones been asking to two men who helped put avery and dassey behind bars. Why would steven avery do this . Thats a great question. We speak with former prosecutor ken kratz, who has written a book that reveals his provocative theory, that steven avery made himself a murderer. Stephen avery started planning this event on the very first day he went to prison. And we talk with Tom Fassbender, a lead investigator in the case who has come under fire for this controversial interrogation. Youve really stayed silent through this firestorm. Why you sitting here today . I finally realized that someone needed to speak out, to bring forward the truth of what happened. So what did happen here . Our story begins with the woman at the heart of this case. A 25yearold photographer from wisconsin named Teresa Halbach. She just loved being behind the camera. Kim and teresa became fast friends in college. Kim says teresa had a special way with her subjects. She could make them smile. That was one thing that i think she really loved to do is just make other people smile. Reporter the two stayed in touch after graduation as they launched their careers. But that would change suddenly on october 31st, 2005. Kim caught a story on the local news. Teresa was missing. Investigators say the 25yearold photographer was on assignment for autotrader 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 you want to try to get in touch with her. Reporter did you try to call her . I did try 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 salvage yard. Reporter tom pass bender, then an agent with the wisconsin criminal investigation hustled over to this land in Manitowoc County, home to the mechanic steven avery. Had you heard his name before . Only through the media. Reporter steven avery was a big story. He had been convicted of rape in 1985, but 18 years later, dna evidence exonerated him, and he was freed, a wrongfully convicted man welcomed back into society with open arms, and looking for justice of his own. Oh, steve were you aware he had filed the lawsuit against the local Sheriffs Department . Yes, i heard that. Reporter avery hoped winning the 36 million lawsuit would 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 his release from prison, this poster boy for Wrongful Convictions was back in the news, and not in a good way. I hope she comes back, so she could go back to her family. Reporter when fassbender arrived at the site, he realized teresa had a date to take photos of this van averys sister was selling. Teresa had left a message this morning. Hello, this is teresa with autotrader 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 left around 2 00 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 fassbender feared the worst, and after four 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 edge of 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. Connector to it. This is huge. Yes, its huge. Especially when the crime lab later found averys dna on it. It would become a highly controversial clue in this case. The evidence was stacking up against steven avery, and fassbender says that rav4 would later tell investigators one last thing. We had tested the hood latch and found dna matching steven on the hood latch. Fassbender believed avery had some explaining to do. So nine days after teresas disappearance, he and his partner, mark wiegert 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. Why would steven avery do this . We know he is a psychopath. We know that he has do we know that . When return to Manitowoc County continues. Ues. D ice mint. Layered with flavor. Its the first and only coated nicotine lozenge. For an amazing taste. That outlasts your craving. New nicorette ice mint. You wouldnt accept an incomplete job from any one else. Why accept it from your allergy pills . Flonase sensimist relieves all your worst symptoms, including nasal congestion, which most pills dont. And all from a gentle mist you can barely feel. Flonase sensimist. You can barely feel. At comcast, we didnt build the nations largest gigspeed network just to make businesses run faster. We built it to help them go beyond. Because beyond risk. Welcome to the neighborhood, guys. There is reward. Beyond work and life. Who else could he be . There is the moment. Beyond technology. There is human ingenuity. Every day, comcast business is helping businesses go beyond the expected, to do the extraordinary. Take your business beyond. Welcome back. Steven avery had within exonerated from a wrongle rape conviction and was trying to make something out of his life. Then investigators uncovered other dna evidence linking him to the meurder of 25yearold Teresa Halbach. Now detectives were about to interview averys nephew, Brendan Dassey. The grisly details he would share would send the case into overdrive. Once again, andrea canning. Reporter in january 2006, steven avery pleaded not guilty to the murder of Teresa Halbach, and special prosecutor ken kratz began building his case. He chronicles it all in his book, avery. What do you feel people know the least about in this case . The book is about the case against 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. In his book, kratz laid out his complete theory of the case with new details hed never shared before. For one thing, kratz told dateline he believes steven avery 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. Reporter as kratz got autotraders records, he learned teresa had actually made five earlier visits to the avery salvage yard to take photo, some at Steven Averys request. He starts making calls directly to Teresa Halbach rather than going through autotrader. And kratz determined on the day before teresas visits, avery purchased these shackles and handcuffs. When teresa arrived. He answered the door that day wearing a small white towel, and teresa we know is creeped out by that behavior. She tells friends and coworkers about that. Kratz believe that shows signs avery had a sexual obsession with teresa that led to her murder. Why would avery do this, on the verge of getting this great windfall, millions of dollars. Thats a great question. We dont know. We know he is a psychopath. Do we know that . Lets say i allege that, okay. 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 says he learned something even more disturbing. This 2006 Police Report shows a teenaged girl accused avery of raping her a year after his release from prison. It all came together for kratz. He believes 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, where she was killed. Was that bothering you . Yes. But sometimes you have what you have. It was all coming together in bit bits and pieces. Reporter he kept digging until they got a big lead. Why dont you have a seat, brennan. Reporter in march, Tom Fassbender and his partner spoke with averys 16yearold nephew, Brendan Dassey in a series of now highly scrutinized interviews. What was your First Impression of Brendan Dassey . A shy kid. 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. And 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 heartbreak. 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 in separate trials 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 . A lead investigator answers allegations. Did you have any kind of vendetta against steven avery . Absolutely not. When return to Manitowoc County continues. To Manitowoc County continues. Every innovation, every feeling. A product of mastery. Lease the 2019 es 350 for 379 month for 36 months. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. But allstate actually helps you drive safely. With drivewise. It lets you know when you go too fast. And brake too hard. With feedback to help you drive safer. Giving you the power to actually lower your cost. Unfortunately, it cant do anything about that. Now that you know the truth. Are you in good hands . Intand ux f sport,rst of its kind lexus ux also available in hybrid allwheel drive. Lease the 2019 ux 200 for 329 month for 36 months. Experience amazing at your lexus dealer. 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 didnt have to pay nothing out. Did they plant evidence . Sure they did. Kim du cott 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 ended up settling that lawsuit for four 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. Its very difficult. 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 Manitowoc 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. A little tiny hole. 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 the local

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