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Steven Avery & Brendan Dassey— Case Archive
Steven AverytranscripttranscriptDavid Beach — Direct/Cross - Day 1 - Steven AveryDavid Beach testified about his search for Teresa Halbach's Toyota and his conversation with Steven Avery at Avery Salvage Yard.
Thomas J. FallonKenneth R. KratzJerome F. ButingDean A. StrangPatrick L. WillisDavid BeachCourt ClerkDavid BeachTHE COURTMR. KRATZMR. STRANGMR. BUTINGMR. FALLONdirectcross
Steven Avery/Day 1/February 12, 2007
10 pages·3 witnesses·756 lines
The court gave preliminary instructions, and both sides presented opening statements. Michael Halbach, Thomas Pearce, and David Beach testified about Halbach’s work, the search for her, and her reported visit to Avery Salvage Yard.
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DirectCross

10.David Beach — Direct/Cross

Kenneth R. Kratz Dean A. Strang David Beach
110 lines
DirectDirectDavid Beach — Direct David Beach Kenneth R. Kratz
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COURT CLERK: Please raise your right hand.

DAVID BEACH, called as a witness herein, having been first duly sworn, was examined and testified as follows:

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COURT CLERK: Please be seated. Please state your name and spell your last name for the record.

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DAVID BEACH: My name is David Beach. My last name is spelled B-e-a-c-h.

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THE COURT: Mr. Beach, I'm going to ask you to get a little closer to the microphone.

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DIRECT EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY KRATZ:

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MR. KRATZ: Mr. Beach, do you know a woman by the name of Teresa Halbach?

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DAVID BEACH: Yes, I did.

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MR. KRATZ: How did you know her?

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DAVID BEACH: She was my cousin.

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MR. KRATZ: Sometime on Friday, the 4th of November, did you volunteer to assist in a search for Teresa?

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MR. KRATZ: And in that regard, were you with somebody else, or paired up with somebody in that search?

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DAVID BEACH: I was paired with my older sister, Sarah Beach.

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MR. KRATZ: On Friday, the 4th of November, did you make any stops, or what was your -- or what did your search efforts entail?

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DAVID BEACH: I met up with my sister and our search effort was to look for her vehicle. So we got some information from the Halbachs about what her schedule was, where she had -- the area that she was going to and we just tried to track down the Toyota.

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MR. KRATZ: All right. In that effort, Mr. Beach, did you find your way to the Avery Salvage Yard property?

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MR. KRATZ: And could you tell the jury, please, what occurred once you got to that property.

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DAVID BEACH: We came to the property. I was the passenger in the vehicle. I stepped out, I went into the garage. There was a lone desk. There was a person sitting at the desk talking on the phone.

Another person came to the desk to greet me and then at that time point I asked the person if -- if they ever had any photographers come to the salvage yard to take pictures of vehicles. And he said he didn't know. And then I came back and I mentioned that my cousin was missing. She was a photographer. And that was the reason for my visit.

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MR. KRATZ: All right. Let me ask you, Mr. Beach, do you know the defendant, Steven Avery, the gentleman seated in the courtroom today?

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DAVID BEACH: At the time I did not; today I do.

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MR. KRATZ: When you got to the salvage yard on the 5th of -- excuse me -- on the 4th of November, that Friday; was Steven Avery one of the people that you talked to at the office or in what you call the garage?

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DAVID BEACH: Yes, he was the second person.

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MR. KRATZ: Did you specifically ask Mr. Avery whether or not your cousin, Teresa, had been to the salvage yard?

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MR. KRATZ: What did Mr. Avery tell you?

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DAVID BEACH: He said that she was there; roughly about 2:00 in the afternoon.

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MR. KRATZ: All right. Just, back up just a second. Mr. Avery himself told you that Teresa was there that day or the day that she had come to take pictures?

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MR. KRATZ: At 2:00 in the afternoon, right?

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MR. KRATZ: This would have been three days after her appearance there; is that right?

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DAVID BEACH: Yes, this was a Friday.

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MR. KRATZ: Okay. Mr. Avery give you any more details about what Teresa had done while at the property?

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DAVID BEACH: He told me that she was there, there was a vehicle behind the office garage and she was taken to the vehicle to be photographed. That was about -- That was her purpose for being there.

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MR. KRATZ: Let me ask you, Mr. Beach, upon your stopping at this Auto Trader or -- excuse me -- at the Avery salvage lot, did you provide any information or any literature to the -- either Mr. Avery himself or to the Avery salvage business?

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DAVID BEACH: No, I did not.

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MR. KRATZ: How long was it that you discussed your cousin with Mr. Avery?

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DAVID BEACH: Five minutes.

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MR. KRATZ: Finally, Mr. Beach, did Mr. Avery know who you were talking about; in other words, did he indicate whether or not this woman had been there before?

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DAVID BEACH: Yes, I described her build, her -- what she looked like, what she drove. And he confirmed all that. And he confirmed that she was there to take photographs.

CrossCrossDavid Beach — Cross David Beach Dean A. Strang
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MR. STRANG: Had she been there before?

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DAVID BEACH: Had she been there before?

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MR. STRANG: Did he tell you?

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MR. STRANG: What did he say, if you can remember?

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DAVID BEACH: In my line of questioning about my cousin, she was missing, he said that, yes, Teresa Halbach came there on a regular basis.

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MR. STRANG: So that the jury is clear, Mr. Beach, after that five minute -- that brief contact with Mr. Avery; did you return to the Avery salvage property or did you have any other conversation with Mr. Avery?

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MR. KRATZ: That's all I have of this witness, then, Judge.

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THE COURT: Mr. Buting.

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MR. BUTING: Thank you, Judge.

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CROSS-EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY BUTING:

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MR. STRANG: Now, Mr. Beach, do you know what time it was that you came to see Mr. Avery at the Avery Salvage Yard?

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DAVID BEACH: About 4:00.

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MR. STRANG: On Friday afternoon?

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MR. STRANG: And by that time, of course, there had been reports about your sister in the media, right -- I'm sorry, your cousin, with the media about her being missing and all of that?

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DAVID BEACH: I do not know; I did not hear that.

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MR. STRANG: So you didn't see any of the news report about your cousin?

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MR. STRANG: Okay. So how was it that you ended up at the Avery salvage lot?

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DAVID BEACH: Friday morning, I received a phone call from my parents. They told me about my cousin, Teresa, was missing. I -- Later that afternoon, I came up, I met up with my sister. We then got information from the Halbachs. After that we just drove around and we started from Mishicot and we worked our way north.

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MR. STRANG: Okay. My question, I guess is, did somebody give you information about what her appointments were that day?

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DAVID BEACH: The Halbachs told me the general area she had work in, but they did not give me any idea of where her stops were.

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MR. STRANG: So no one told you that she had an appointment on Monday, the 31st, at the Avery salvage lot -- yard?

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MR. STRANG: You just stumbled on that?

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DAVID BEACH: Yeah, by incident. It was incidental.

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MR. STRANG: Okay. And when you got there, Steven Avery, the person sitting to my left, who you now know, came up and seemed concerned about what you were asking about, right?

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MR. STRANG: Seemed calm?

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MR. STRANG: Did not appear to be holding anything back?

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MR. STRANG: Correct?

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MR. STRANG: In fact, I think you described him as being very forthright, didn't you?

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MR. STRANG: Expressing genuine concern about, you know, what happened to your cousin?

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MR. KRATZ: Objection, Judge, calls for speculation, how genuine it may be.

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THE COURT: Well, he can testify as to his impression.

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DAVID BEACH: He said that he was concerned.

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MR. STRANG: (By Attorney Buting)~ Okay. And you accepted that?

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MR. STRANG: And he told you -- You described his vehicle -- I'm sorry, you described her vehicle, the RAV4?

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MR. STRANG: And he said, yes, I do recall, she was driving that. And she came -- he actually said she came some time mid-afternoon, didn't he?

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DAVID BEACH: Yes, he said that she was at his garage, salvage yard, around 2:00.

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MR. STRANG: But he actually -- he qualified that by saying approximately mid-afternoon?

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MR. STRANG: Okay. Wasn't exact on the time?

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MR. STRANG: And he said that she did take photo of the vehicle, right?

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MR. STRANG: And that he did not know her next stop, right?

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MR. STRANG: And he told you that when the RAV4 pulled out of the driveway, that it went to the left from the Avery property?

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MR. BUTING: All right. I have no further questions.

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DAVID BEACH: Thank you.

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THE COURT: Anything else? Very well, you are excused.

Members of the jury, that's going to conclude the court proceedings for today. I will remind you again not to discuss this case with anyone, before we resume tomorrow. And we'll see you tomorrow morning.

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(Jury not present.)

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THE COURT: Counsel, I would just ask that tomorrow morning the attorneys meet in chambers at 8:20 before the day begins, just to let me know what's coming.

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MR. BUTING: What time did you say the jury is coming, 8:45?

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THE COURT: Okay. Meet at 8:30. We'll find out from experience what time they normally get here. I believe you are right, meet at 8:30.

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MR. FALLON: Excuse me, Judge, did you want to take up that other matter today or tomorrow morning?

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THE COURT: I have a number of other matters listed, I'm not sure which one you want, but we'll discuss that tomorrow morning.

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MR. FALLON: All right.

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(Proceedings concluded.)

Continue to Day 21.Objections and Rulings on the Defense Opening Statement
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