3.Peter O'Connor — Direct/Cross/Redirect/Recross
246 linesMR. KRATZ: Thank you, Judge. State will call Pete O'Connor to the stand.
DEPUTY PETER O'CONNOR, 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.
PETER O'CONNOR: Peter O'Connor, O-'C-o-n-n-o-r.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY KRATZ:
MR. KRATZ: Good afternoon, sir. Could you tell us how you are employed, please.
PETER O'CONNOR: I'm employed as a deputy with the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department in the Patrol Division.
MR. KRATZ: How long have you been so employed?
PETER O'CONNOR: Just over 18 years.
MR. KRATZ: And were you employed on that capacity on November 5th of 2005?
PETER O'CONNOR: Yes, I was.
MR. KRATZ: Deputy O'Connor, on November 5th, were you asked to respond to a call at the Avery Salvage Yard?
PETER O'CONNOR: Yes, I was.
MR. KRATZ: Can you tell us where that is located, please.
PETER O'CONNOR: It would be off of Highway 147 and Avery Road. I believe it's in the Town of Gibson, in Manitowoc County.
MR. KRATZ: Is that also in the State of Wisconsin?
PETER O'CONNOR: Yes, it is.
MR. KRATZ: Did you, in fact, respond to that scene?
PETER O'CONNOR: Yes, I did.
MR. KRATZ: And about -- First of all, when did you get the call to go to that property?
PETER O'CONNOR: It would have been approximately 10:50 a.m.
MR. KRATZ: Did you proceed to that scene?
PETER O'CONNOR: Yes, I did.
MR. KRATZ: About what time did you get there?
PETER O'CONNOR: I arrived at approximately 10:54.
MR. KRATZ: At 10:54 a.m., then, could you tell the jury what you did and what, if anything, you saw?
PETER O'CONNOR: At first I took up a position on what would be the north side of Highway 147 at the intersection of Avery Road. I was instructed by Detective Remiker to monitor the scene and see if anyone was attempting to leave the scene.
A short time later I did notice some vehicles driving down Avery Road onto Highway 147. I did advise Detective Remiker of this, at which point he instructed me to go onto Avery Road, just off of 147, and put up a roadblock and detain anyone who was attempting to leave off of Avery Road.
MR. KRATZ: Were you able to perform that duty?
PETER O'CONNOR: Yes, I was.
MR. KRATZ: About what time did you set up this roadblock?
PETER O'CONNOR: Approximately 10:56 a.m.
MR. KRATZ: So within the two minutes from when you arrived and when you set up the roadblock, had you observed any vehicles leaving or entering the Avery salvage property itself?
PETER O'CONNOR: There were none that entered. I believe there were two that had left.
MR. KRATZ: All right. At 10:56, then, could you tell the jury what you did.
PETER O'CONNOR: I set up the roadblock on Avery Road, just off of Highway 147. The primary duty at that time was to prevent anyone from leaving the property and prevent anyone, other than law enforcement personnel, from entering the property. During the time I was there, I did detain six vehicles in total.
MR. KRATZ: Six vehicles entering or leaving?
PETER O'CONNOR: They were -- They would have been leaving the property.
MR. KRATZ: All right. And at that time, at least at that early stage, did you individually know what was happening; in other words, did you know what the purpose of the call was?
PETER O'CONNOR: Not totally. Detective Remiker apparently had some information that there was an individual, or individuals, on the property and they had possibly found the vehicle belonging to Teresa Halbach.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Deputy O'Connor, the road, Avery Road itself, can you describe that for the jury?
PETER O'CONNOR: It's a small town road. I believe it's paved. It runs basically south off of Highway 147. Runs back to the Avery property. It's a small two lane road.
There's also some large LP gas tanks just off of Avery Road. I believe they use it as a filling station for trucks.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Deputy O'Connor, to your knowledge, were you the first law enforcement officer of any county to arrive at that scene?
PETER O'CONNOR: Yes, I was.
MR. KRATZ: Did you observe any other law enforcement officers arrive at that location?
PETER O'CONNOR: A short time later, probably within a couple of minutes of my arrival, Sergeant Orth of our department arrived, followed shortly thereafter, probably by a minute or two, by Lieutenant Hermann. And he was followed almost immediately by Detective Remiker.
MR. KRATZ: All right. The location that you were stationed at, how far is that from the Avery salvage property itself; in other words, the 40 acre salvage yard, if you know?
PETER O'CONNOR: I'm not real sure how far up the property comes to Highway 147; however, based upon, like, where the office area would be and the residences, I was probably, I'm going to just guess, a quarter of a mile.
MR. KRATZ: All right. You said Sergeant Orth would have been the second to arrive; is that right?
PETER O'CONNOR: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Would he have been the first officer to actually drive into the property itself?
PETER O'CONNOR: Yes, he would have.
MR. KRATZ: And you didn't do that?
PETER O'CONNOR: No, I did not.
MR. KRATZ: You stayed on the highway?
PETER O'CONNOR: I stayed up at that position until I was relieved by Deputy Haese at approximately 2:02 p.m.
MR. KRATZ: All right. You said after Sergeant Orth and Lieutenant Hermann and then Detective Remiker arrived; did you see any other law enforcement presence?
PETER O'CONNOR: There was various people coming at various times. I recall yourself being there eventually. Investigator Wiegert, I believe his name is, with your department, came by. Assistant District Attorney Griesbach from our District Attorney's Office arrived. So there was -- I remember your sheriff from this county arriving, Deputy Inspector Greg Schetter.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Let me just -- Let me just stop you there. The Calumet presence, that is Calumet County Sheriff's investigative staff; do you know about how long after Detective Remiker got there that they arrived at that location?
PETER O'CONNOR: No, but I wouldn't think it was very long, probably within a half an hour or so.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Lastly, Deputy O'Connor, other than that first late morning and into the afternoon of Saturday, the 5th of November, did you have any other involvement in either search efforts or any other law enforcement efforts at that location?
PETER O'CONNOR: I was not involved in any search efforts. After I was relieved by Deputy Haese, I did go back to Manitowoc. I was instructed to pick up some supplies and bring them back. I arrived back on scene at approximately 3:23 p.m. to drop off the items. I left approximately 20 minutes later.
MR. KRATZ: Let me just stop you. What kind of supplies are we talking about?
PETER O'CONNOR: I was instructed to take some ropes, bungee cords, and tent stakes out to the scene.
MR. KRATZ: All right.
PETER O'CONNOR: And then on November 10th, I was instructed to do basically the same thing I had done. I set up on Avery Road. This time, however, I was keeping a log of the personnel coming in and leaving the scene. I arrived there at approximately 7:00 a.m., leaving at approximately 5:00 p.m. that day.
MR. KRATZ: Other than logging individuals coming in and going out, did you have any other involvement that day?
PETER O'CONNOR: No, I did not.
MR. KRATZ: That's all I have of Deputy O'Connor, Judge.
THE COURT: Mr. Strang.
MR. STRANG: Thank you.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY STRANG:
MR. STRANG: When you arrived on November 5, you actually go no further than just off of Highway 147?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: And during your time there, you are not keeping any log of who's coming or going at that time?
PETER O'CONNOR: No, I'm not.
MR. STRANG: Okay. You -- You suggested that there may have been two vehicles that left before you started stopping people coming or going. Could that have been -- Are you referring maybe to three pickup trucks?
PETER O'CONNOR: I recall one of them being a pickup truck. I don't recall what the other vehicle would have been.
MR. STRANG: This may help. Let's see if I can make a short tape play for you. We should hear it if things work right. And it's on a CD. I'm just going to suggest to you that it's a -- it's a radio dispatch tape from November 5. Let's see if I can make it go and see if that helps.
"10858, just received a call from Cal County, there's an individual on the property off of 147 -- "
"Mm-hmm."
"-- that may be out with that vehicle
(inaudible).
MR. STRANG: Let me just stop it right there. Do you -- do you recognize any of the voices we have?
PETER O'CONNOR: The primary one sounds like it's Detective Remiker and 496 would have been Lieutenant Hermann.
MR. STRANG: What is -- what's 496?
PETER O'CONNOR: That's our call numbers, when dispatch assigns a call, our numbers are given to the officer to respond.
MR. STRANG: Is this like a badge number?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: Okay. And are you reasonably familiar with who is who by call number?
PETER O'CONNOR: Pretty much.
MR. STRANG: So we heard Detective Remiker who is 278, right?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: And I'm sorry, 496 was Lieutenant Hermann?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: There are two Hermann's in your department, right?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: The lieutenant is Todd, if I'm remembering right?
PETER O'CONNOR: He was lieutenant at that time; he's since been promoted to deputy inspector but, yes, that would be Todd.
MR. STRANG: And there's a Robert, who was the deputy inspector that is now the elected sheriff, is it?
PETER O'CONNOR: At that time he was the inspector and now he is the elected sheriff.
MR. STRANG: Okay. And this is Todd, the lieutenant, we're hearing?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: Okay.
(Inaudible.)
MR. STRANG: "Dispatch, copy."
"405-278."
MR. STRANG: (By Attorney Strang)~ 405 is you?
PETER O'CONNOR: That's me.
"147" (Inaudible.)
"Okay. Get over there, don't have a lot of details. Got a call, Cal County is heading that way also."
MR. STRANG: (By Attorney Strang)~ Now, what are you getting there?
PETER O'CONNOR: Well, 405 is me. And I was just saying where I was. I was not real far from the Avery property at that time. The other officer was Detective Remiker and he was just informing me that they didn't have a lot of information, but I should head that way.
MR. STRANG: Okay. You essentially answered my question, but let's just nail down, you recognize the tape?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: I mean, this comes back to you as events --
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: -- of about the time on November 5 you have described?
PETER O'CONNOR: Yes.
MR. STRANG: Okay.
(Inaudible.)
MR. STRANG: (By Attorney Strang)~ That's the dispatcher calling?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: To Detective Remiker?
PETER O'CONNOR: Yes.
MR. STRANG: Asking for a 21, which is a location?
PETER O'CONNOR: No, 21 is a telephone call.
MR. STRANG: Telephone call. 1021.
PETER O'CONNOR: 1020 would be location. 1021 is a telephone call.
MR. STRANG: Okay.
"278."
(Inaudible.)
MR. STRANG: "I have a pickup truck coming out of there."
MR. STRANG: (By Attorney Strang)~ That's Remiker.
"Why don't you go in and try and make contact. Unknown who she is, female party, possibly just a citizen who is out there. She received permission from the property owner to look around. We're not even sure where she is. I'm going to give her a call; I just got a cell phone number.
MR. STRANG: (By Attorney Strang)~ Okay. So you are the one who says there's a pickup truck coming out of there?
PETER O'CONNOR: I remember saying that, yes.
MR. STRANG: And then Detective Remiker is saying, why don't you go in and try to make contact with the citizen?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: Is that -- I mean, that's the gist of what we're hearing?
"So this is a private party that's supposed to be back there?"
"It might be, I didn't get a lot of information from Cal County. That's all they could give me."
"10-4."
MR. STRANG: (By Attorney Strang)~ That's you?
(Inaudible.)
MR. STRANG: "405, get in there to get more information, looks like it might be the vehicle."
(Inaudible.)
MR. STRANG: "I have three pickup trucks coming out of there."
(Inaudible.)
MR. STRANG: (By Attorney Strang)~ That was you?
PETER O'CONNOR: Saying the pickup truck is coming out, yes.
MR. STRANG: I got three pickup trucks coming out of there sometime. And this is Remiker, right before that, telling you get in there?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: Meaning go onto the property?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: But you didn't?
PETER O'CONNOR: No, I did not.
MR. STRANG: Okay. And just tell us -- tell us why that is?
PETER O'CONNOR: I believe once I said that those pickup trucks were leaving, I believe that he said that I should stop the traffic and identify.
MR. STRANG: Yeah, and actually, you're exactly right.
"As of right now, block off that road; nobody goes in, nobody comes out. Get license plates. Coming into Mishicot."
"405, dispatch."
"I copy."
"Ford Lincoln 38152."
(Inaudible.)
MR. STRANG: (By Attorney Strang)~ Now, that's exactly what I think we heard Remiker say, as of right now block off that road?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: Nobody goes in, nobody comes out, get license plates?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: And then the next thing we hear is you calling dispatch with a license plate?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: Okay. And it goes from there and then within just a few minutes, is it Sergeant Orth and Detective Remiker and Lieutenant Hermann all arrive?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: In something like that -- Orth, Hermann, Remiker, in that order?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: Okay. So -- So we got our -- one pickup truck coming out of there earlier and then you say there have been three pickup trucks coming out there sometime?
PETER O'CONNOR: The one that I ran the plate on, I believe got out before I was able to get set up. So I just ran the plate as he went by me.
MR. STRANG: Okay.
PETER O'CONNOR: There was other vehicles that I could see coming down Avery Road; those I do believe I was successful in stopping.
MR. STRANG: And did there come a time shortly after this where you -- one of the people you stopped you found had something called a body only warrant?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: What's a body only warrant?
PETER O'CONNOR: It's put out by the Courts. Generally speaking, it's for if they don't show up for a court appearance or some sort of a matter. They will put out a body only, which means that they cannot bail themselves out, they have to go before the court to satisfy the warrant.
MR. STRANG: Right. So you have got an active open warrant for someone; you as a sworn law enforcement officer are allowed to take them into custody once you have them and you know there is a warrant for them?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: Okay. And that just -- that was somebody who was coming out?
PETER O'CONNOR: Yes, it was.
MR. STRANG: Not a member of the Avery family?
MR. STRANG: Just somebody who happened to be there?
PETER O'CONNOR: Just somebody who happened to be there and coming out.
MR. STRANG: And, in general, were these -- did these appear to be customers coming out that Saturday morning?
PETER O'CONNOR: Yes.
MR. STRANG: The business was open?
PETER O'CONNOR: I believe it was open until noon that day.
MR. STRANG: And so I'm just -- I'm not entirely clear. You think it's four pickup trucks that left before you started stopping the traffic or is a total of three? Are you clear anymore?
PETER O'CONNOR: I thought it was only one that actually got -- I think it was two that got past me. I could not get the first one's license plate. The second one was the one that I called out, I believe. I believe anything else I was able to stop before they were able to get out, as best as I can recall.
MR. STRANG: Maybe I misunderstood. I'm going to go back just a little bit.
"As of right now, block off that road; nobody goes in, nobody comes out. Get license plates."
MR. STRANG: Going back a little more.
(Inaudible.)
MR. STRANG: "405, get in there to get more information, looks like it might be the vehicle."
(Inaudible.)
MR. STRANG: "I have three pickup trucks coming out of there."
(Inaudible.)
MR. STRANG: (By Attorney Strang)~ Am I hearing that right, that's you saying, I have had three pickup trucks come out of there sometime?
PETER O'CONNOR: Sounds garbled to me on this end, so I can't tell what number I'm saying.
MR. STRANG: Okay. And in any event, though, first you are being told to get in there. And then, now, immediately after this, you are being told, as of right now, block off that road?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
"As of right now, block off that road. Nobody goes in, nobody comes out. Get license plates. Coming in to Mishicot."
MR. STRANG: And that's what you do?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: And I'm sorry, what was the second day when you were out there for 10 hours, 7 to 5 and did keep a log?
PETER O'CONNOR: That would have been the 10th, I believe.
MR. STRANG: Your job that day was simply maintain a log?
PETER O'CONNOR: Just maintaining a log, logging people coming in, logging people going out, and making sure nobody comes in who wasn't supposed to be in.
MR. STRANG: All right. Very well. So that includes checking law enforcement officers' identification?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: And certainly checking citizens and probably screening and keeping most of them out?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. STRANG: That's all I have.
MR. KRATZ: Just one moment, counsel.
THE COURT: Mr. Strang, the court reporter was just telling me she had trouble hearing everything that was coming through on the audio. Is that an exhibit or is it going to become one?
MR. STRANG: Probably make sense to make it an exhibit.
THE COURT: I think that would be good, because otherwise I'm not sure that the record will be accurate.
MR. STRANG: Why don't -- Why don't we call it 126.
THE COURT: Okay.
MR. STRANG: And I -- it's on a CD with four tracks. I will dupe it overnight, burn a copy and we can leave this one with the Court.
THE COURT: Very well. Is that acceptable to the State?
MR. KRATZ: It is, in fact, we're about to do that with a photo, Judge. That's just fine.
THE COURT: Okay.
REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY KRATZ:
MR. KRATZ: This photo Deputy O'Connor, we're going to be calling Exhibit 127. We're going to be replacing the electronic version with a 4 by 6, but to help the jury understand what we're looking at, why don't you tell us what Exhibit 127 is.
PETER O'CONNOR: Looks like an aerial photo of the -- partially the Avery property. Looks like that would be Highway 147 there and Avery Road.
MR. KRATZ: There's a laser pointer up right next to you there.
PETER O'CONNOR: Okay.
MR. KRATZ: If you can show us Highway 147 and what would be Avery Road.
PETER O'CONNOR: I believe this would be Highway 147 here, the diagonal, and then this would be Avery Road coming in here.
MR. KRATZ: But 147 will be to the top of that exhibit --
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. KRATZ: -- and Avery Road goes from pretty much left to right towards the top of the exhibit; is that correct?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. KRATZ: And that exhibit really shows the entirety of the Avery Road, that is, what would be a service road or the entrance to the Avery salvage property; is that correct?
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. KRATZ: In other words, as we look at this exhibit from left to right, that's the whole road?
PETER O'CONNOR: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: All right. And the furthest right point on that exhibit, that's where the business is and, in fact, some of the residences --
PETER O'CONNOR: Correct.
MR. KRATZ: -- is that right? Now, could you just show the jury, just so they are oriented, where was it that you were stationed and where were you stopping the vehicles?
PETER O'CONNOR: This area right here would be the propane tanks I was talking about.
MR. KRATZ: All right.
PETER O'CONNOR: So it would have been just to the Highway 147 side of those tanks, right in this area.
MR. KRATZ: All right. So you are actually south of Highway 147 a ways, a couple hundred feet maybe?
PETER O'CONNOR: That would be a fair estimate, yes.
MR. KRATZ: Very good. That's all I have, then. And, Judge, when we get the hard copy of this, which may already be in the court file, but we will replace and have received Exhibit 127, I believe as admission.
MR. STRANG: That's works just fine. That works just fine.
THE COURT: All right. The exhibit is admitted.
MR. STRANG: I just will nail this down with one last question.
RECROSS-EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY STRANG:
MR. STRANG: So, between 10:56 and when you leave at about 2:00 p.m on November 5, there is no log of law enforcement people coming into or leaving the Avery property?
PETER O'CONNOR: I did not start one. I don't know if one of the other officers that were down below started one or not.
THE COURT: Very well, Mr. O'Connor, you are excused.
MR. KRATZ: My next witness, Judge?
THE COURT: Yes.