3.Katie Halbach — Direct/Cross
186 linesCOURT CLERK: Raise your right hand.
KATIE HALBACH, called as a witness herein, having been first duly sworn, was examined and testified as follows:
COURT CLERK: Please be seated. Please state your name and spell your last name for the record.
KATIE HALBACH: Katie Halbach, H-a-l-b-a-c-h.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY KRATZ:
MR. KRATZ: Katie, how old are you?
KATIE HALBACH: I'm 15.
MR. KRATZ: I'm sorry?
KATIE HALBACH: 15.
MR. KRATZ: And do you go to school?
KATIE HALBACH: Yup.
MR. KRATZ: What grade are you in?
KATIE HALBACH: I'm a sophomore.
MR. KRATZ: In what community do you live? What city do you live in?
KATIE HALBACH: I live in Hilbert, Wisconsin.
MR. KRATZ: And who do you live with, Katie?
KATIE HALBACH: I live with my family, Tom and Karen Halbach, and my sister, Kelly Halbach.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Before October 31st of 2005, did you have another sister?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Tell the jury who that was, please?
KATIE HALBACH: It was Teresa Halbach.
MR. KRATZ: Let me show you a picture of what has been received as Exhibit #1, tell us who that is?
KATIE HALBACH: That would be my sister, Teresa Halbach.
MR. KRATZ: Katie, can you describe your relationship with your sister? Where did she live, first of all?
KATIE HALBACH: Um, first, she lived in Green Bay, when she went to college. Then, later, she moved next door to us.
MR. KRATZ: Okay. When she lived next door to you, did you have occasion to meet with her, or see her a lot?
KATIE HALBACH: Yeah, she would come over sometimes and hang out with us, or sometimes on the weekend, me and Kelly would go over to her house.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Who's Kelly?
KATIE HALBACH: She's my little sister.
MR. KRATZ: How much younger is Kelly than you?
KATIE HALBACH: She's two years younger than me.
MR. KRATZ: And how much older was Teresa than you?
KATIE HALBACH: She was 11 years older than me.
MR. KRATZ: As sisters, and especially as sisters who lived literally next door to each other, what kind of things would you guys do when you hung out together?
KATIE HALBACH: We would watch movies, or watch TV, or like play card games, or just hang out.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Let me ask you, Katie, like most sisters, would you ever talk about shopping, or clothes, or things like that?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Did you ever go shopping with your sister, Teresa?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: And were you aware of the clothes that Teresa wore?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: I'm going to specifically ask you about Teresa's blue jeans, okay? Let me first ask you, Katie, if you were aware of any specific pairs of blue jeans that Teresa owned that she had at her house?
KATIE HALBACH: Well, she had a lot of Weatherly (phonetic) jeans just because she really liked their jeans and I know she had a pair of Daisy Fuentes jeans.
MR. KRATZ: Let me stop you there. How do you know that she had a pair of Daisy Fuentes jeans?
KATIE HALBACH: Well, one day she showed me a new pair of jeans she had. And I noticed that the brand was Daisy Fuentes. And I knew that Daisy Fuentes was an older person, so I told Teresa that she has old person jeans.
MR. KRATZ: As those of us that are my age, do you think Daisy Fuentes is a older person; is that what you told her?
KATIE HALBACH: Well, she's not old, but she's not young.
MR. KRATZ: But you commented, in fact, you teased your sister about wearing an old person's jeans; isn't that right?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: After your sister's disappearance, and after you learned that your sister had died, did you have occasion to go back to her house and look through some of her stuff?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes, we did.
MR. KRATZ: When you looked through her stuff, Katie, did you find her Daisy Fuentes jeans?
KATIE HALBACH: We did not.
MR. KRATZ: Sometime during this investigation, were you asked to join, or accompany, a police officer, I think it was Officer Fassbender, in trying to find that pair of jeans, or trying to find a pair that was just like those jeans?
KATIE HALBACH: I did.
MR. KRATZ: Where did you go to get those?
KATIE HALBACH: We went to Kohls.
MR. KRATZ: And do you know if Kohl's Department Store is a place that carries Daisy Fuentes jeans?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes, they do.
MR. KRATZ: Do you know if Daisy Fuentes jeans are carried anywhere other than Kohl's?
KATIE HALBACH: I do not know.
MR. KRATZ: Katie, I have handed you what's been marked as Exhibit No. 288. Can you tell the jury what that is, please?
KATIE HALBACH: They are a pair of Daisy Fuentes jeans.
MR. KRATZ: And have you seen those before?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes, I have.
MR. KRATZ: Tell the jury how you have seen those before?
KATIE HALBACH: I went with Mr. Fassbender to Kohl's one day and he asked me to pick out a pair of Daisy Fuentes jeans that I thought Teresa would have worn.
MR. KRATZ: The same style, the same brand; is that right?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Did you try to also pick out the same size that she would have worn?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes, I did.
MR. KRATZ: Why don't you hold those up and show the jury. I want you to hold up and show the jury the front and the back of those jeans, if you would, okay. Now, on the back pocket of those jeans, there's some stitching; do you see that?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Do you know what that stitching is called on the back pocket?
KATIE HALBACH: No, I don't.
MR. KRATZ: Okay. Katie, let me ask you, do you know what holds a pair of jeans together?
KATIE HALBACH: Rivets maybe.
MR. KRATZ: Okay. When looking at Exhibit No. 288, does -- do those jeans have rivets?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes, they do.
MR. KRATZ: And on those jeans, do those rivets say anything?
KATIE HALBACH: They say Daisy Fuentes.
MR. KRATZ: Mr. Wiegert is going to grab those from you, as I ask you one or two other questions. Do you know when the last time when you saw Teresa wearing her Daisy Fuentes jeans was?
KATIE HALBACH: I don't remember.
MR. KRATZ: Do you remember what size jeans your sister, Teresa, wore?
KATIE HALBACH: She probably would have worn anywhere between like a five or an eight.
MR. KRATZ: Some clothes, I don't know much about girls clothes, but they run different sizes; is that right?
KATIE HALBACH: Yeah, depends on like the store, whatever.
MR. KRATZ: I'm going to have Mr. Wiegert turn on a machine which is called an ELMO machine. Mr. Fallon is going to help him as well.
MR. KRATZ: You can probably zoom in a little bit more, too.
MR. KRATZ: (By Attorney Kratz)~ Katie, is that one of those rivets that you saw?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes, it is.
MR. KRATZ: What does it say on it?
KATIE HALBACH: Daisy Fuentes.
MR. KRATZ: Thank you, Mr. Wiegert.
MR. KRATZ: (By Attorney Kratz)~ Katie, the other thing that I want to talk to you about is an exhibit that I have handed you. It's blue, in front of you. I think it's Exhibit No. 287. Have you ever seen that before?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes, I have.
MR. KRATZ: And unwrap that, please, and show it to the jury and tell the jury what it is.
KATIE HALBACH: It's a blue lanyard.
MR. KRATZ: Does it say anything on it?
KATIE HALBACH: It says Air National Guard.
MR. KRATZ: Katie, does that look familiar to you?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes, it does.
MR. KRATZ: And how does that look familiar?
KATIE HALBACH: I was at the EAA convention two summers ago, and I was at an exhibition building. And it was the Air National Guard had like a little stand, and they had free lanyards and I picked it up.
MR. KRATZ: Now, a lanyard -- or at least that part of the lanyard, and I'm going to show you a picture of it here, there are two pictures in front of you, let's just identify those real quickly. Do you see those pictures in front of you?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Can you look at Exhibit No. 285, and tell me if that's what we're looking at up on the big screen?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes, it is.
MR. KRATZ: That lanyard that you got at the Air National Guard, was there another part that went with it?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes, there was a little clip that clipped on, on the end.
MR. KRATZ: Do you know what went on that little clip?
KATIE HALBACH: A key chain.
MR. KRATZ: Now, a couple summers ago, Katie, when you picked up that -- that lanyard and that key chain, did you give that to anybody?
KATIE HALBACH: I gave it to my older sister, Teresa.
MR. KRATZ: Let's look at the next picture. Okay. That's Exhibit No. 286, do you see that picture?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Tell the jury what that is, please?
KATIE HALBACH: It is a picture of the lanyard and the connecting piece that was with it.
MR. KRATZ: I'm going to show the jury, now, Exhibit No. 286. Do you recognize the piece -- or the other piece of the lanyard, the thing that's called the fob? Do you know that that's called a fob?
KATIE HALBACH: Yeah.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Do you recognize that?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes, I do.
MR. KRATZ: And what is that?
KATIE HALBACH: It's the little connecting piece with the key chain and a key on it.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Mr. Wiegert is finally going to hand you an exhibit.
MR. KRATZ: What's the exhibit number, Mr. Wiegert?
MARK WIEGERT: 211.
MR. KRATZ: All right. I'm going to ask Mr. Wiegert if he would be so kind as to, if it will, if those items could be placed together.
MR. KRATZ: (By Attorney Kratz)~ Now, Katie, just touching the lanyard; that is, just touching the blue area, which would be to your left, could you hold up that entire key for us, please. Hold it up nice and high so we can see it. Is that lanyard -- or does that fob fit into that lanyard?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes, it does.
MR. KRATZ: And does that look the same as when you gave it to your big sister, Teresa?
KATIE HALBACH: It does.
MR. KRATZ: I would move the admission of Exhibits 287, 288, 285 and 286 at this time. And I have no further questions.
THE COURT: Any objection?
MR. STRANG: I don't think so. I missed 285, though.
THE COURT: That is a photo, I believe, of the lanyard, without the key fob.
MR. STRANG: Thank you, no objection to any of those four.
THE COURT: Very well, those exhibits are admitted. Mr. Strang, are you going to be doing the questioning?
MR. STRANG: I am. Thank you.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY STRANG:
MR. STRANG: And good morning. I'm going to call you Ms Halbach.
KATIE HALBACH: Okay.
MR. STRANG: Because we don't know each other and we're in a formal sort of place, okay? And I'm Mr. Strang, you probably figured that out long ago.
The jeans, Exhibit 288, now when guys buy jeans, typically, it's by waist size and then an inseam -- yeah, an inseam length. And -- Okay. And these things look like they just have a Size 6.
KATIE HALBACH: Yeah.
MR. STRANG: Okay. When -- I don't know if you can answer this, give it a whirl. When women, or for that matter, girls, buy blue jeans like these Daisy Fuentes jeans, does the leg always just come in one length?
KATIE HALBACH: Sometimes there could be a 6 short, 6 regular, and a 6 long.
MR. STRANG: Okay. And do you know what your sister, Teresa, wore in terms of a short, regular, or long?
KATIE HALBACH: Probably a regular.
MR. STRANG: Okay. And, then, sometimes, then, you know, if it's you, or another woman, or girl, do you have to hem the pants or change the length of them?
KATIE HALBACH: Sure.
MR. STRANG: Because there's just the three sizes, basically --
KATIE HALBACH: Yeah.
MR. STRANG: -- of length, in the leg?
KATIE HALBACH: Yeah.
MR. STRANG: Okay. And you don't know whether on the Daisy Fuentes jeans Teresa had to either roll up the pants leg, or hem it, or something?
KATIE HALBACH: No, I don't know.
MR. STRANG: Okay. So, you showed us the rivets. What -- What do you close the waist with on these jeans?
KATIE HALBACH: A button.
MR. STRANG: Does that kind of look like -- more or less, like the rivet, except a little bit bigger.
KATIE HALBACH: Yeah.
MR. STRANG: Okay. It seems to be metal; does that seem right?
KATIE HALBACH: Yeah.
MR. STRANG: Is that the button you just described?
KATIE HALBACH: Yeah.
MR. STRANG: Okay. What -- Did you ever see Teresa use the lanyard you bought her?
KATIE HALBACH: Yes, I did.
MR. STRANG: Did she keep any other keys on there?
KATIE HALBACH: I'm not sure.
MR. STRANG: One way or the other?
KATIE HALBACH: She might have, I don't know.
MR. STRANG: Do you know, did she -- did your sister, Teresa, typically carry a purse when she was going somewhere in her car?
KATIE HALBACH: I believe she did.
MR. STRANG: But you don't no where she carried keys or other things that might go on a key chain?
KATIE HALBACH: No, I don't.
MR. STRANG: Ms Halbach, do you have any -- any memory at all of about how long ago you would have seen this pair of old person's jeans, you know, the pair of Daisy Fuentes jeans that you actually saw Teresa have?
KATIE HALBACH: Um, it was probably more recent because it was fresh in my memory.
MR. STRANG: Mm-hmm. But you didn't -- I mean, you don't remember now what year, or what time of year, that kind of thing.
KATIE HALBACH: No, I don't.
MR. STRANG: I assume at the time it didn't make a big impression on you, this was just a new pair of jeans or something?
KATIE HALBACH: Yeah.
MR. STRANG: Okay. You weren't with Teresa when she bought them?
KATIE HALBACH: I wasn't.
MR. STRANG: Okay. That's all the questions I'm going to ask you. Thanks.
MR. KRATZ: I have got nothing further, Judge. Thank you.
THE COURT: Very well, you are excused. And, Mr. Kratz, you may call your next witness.
MR. KRATZ: Actually, it's Mr. Gahn.
THE COURT: Sorry, Mr. Gahn.