4.Kevin Heimerl — Direct/Cross/Redirect/Recross
587 linesCOURT CLERK: If you would raise your right hand.
SPECIAL AGENT KEVIN HEIMERL, 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.
KEVIN HEIMERL: Kevin Heimerl, H-e-i-m-e-r-l.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY KRATZ:
MR. KRATZ: Mr. Heimerl, how are you employed, sir?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I'm a special agent with the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation.
MR. KRATZ: How long have been a special agent?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Three years.
MR. KRATZ: Prior to that employment responsibility, did you have other law enforcement experience?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, sir.
MR. KRATZ: Could you describe that for the jury, please.
KEVIN HEIMERL: I worked for the Columbia County Sheriff's Department for approximately 14 years. I began as a non-sworn jailer and dispatcher for approximately one and a half years, then worked in a uniform patrol deputy sworn position for approximately one and a half years. And I, then, was promoted to a detective investigator position for the remainder of 11 to 12 years.
MR. KRATZ: During November of 2005, did you work for the Division of Criminal Investigation?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I did.
MR. KRATZ: And is one of your colleagues, Special Agent Fassbender?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Sometime after the 5th of November, 2005, were you asked to participate in an investigation at the Avery salvage property?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I was.
MR. KRATZ: And let's start with an overview, first of all, what days were it that you were actually on that property, if you recall, that week?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I was initially assigned to assist with the investigation on Sunday, November 6th, I believe it was. And I remained active and involved in the initial investigation there at the scene for approximately the first week.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Were there specific responsibilities that you were given, and if so, who were those directed to you by?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I was given assignments and responsibilities by the lead investigator, Special Agent Fassbender, or Detective Wiegert.
MR. KRATZ: The first day that you were there, I think you said was Sunday, the 6th of November, could you tell the jury what your responsibilities were that day.
KEVIN HEIMERL: My first assignment was to follow up on an investigative lead. And I traveled into the city of Manitowoc to interview a citizen regarding a previous contact that citizen had had with Teresa Halbach.
MR. KRATZ: Now, I think you are the first law enforcement officer that we have heard about that was actually doing interviews of people off site; in other words, off the Avery property. Was that a responsibility, or series of responsibilities, that you were aware that other law enforcement officials had, as well as you?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I was aware that other investigators were doing interviews elsewhere.
MR. KRATZ: Are you familiar with the term neighborhood canvas?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I am.
MR. KRATZ: What does that mean?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Neighborhood canvas is something that is quite often done in investigations of all magnitude, if you will. And it essentially involves contacting all individuals who reside in homes, or work in businesses, within the immediate vicinity of the crime. To make contact with all of those people and interview them to see if they had information that may be relevant to the investigation or may assist in the investigation.
MR. KRATZ: During that first week of involvement in this investigation, were many of your responsibilities involving those kinds of interviews, the neighborhood canvasses?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, it was.
MR. KRATZ: Agent Heimerl, I am going to direct your attention to Monday, the 7th of November, and ask if you were on the Avery property on the 7th?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I was.
MR. KRATZ: On the 7th of November, do you recall having contact with and actually taking control of a burn barrel located outside of Mr. Avery's trailer?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I do.
MR. KRATZ: Let me show you what's been received as Exhibit 51; can you tell us what we're looking at here, please.
KEVIN HEIMERL: That is a steel burn barrel.
MR. KRATZ: Does this look familiar to you?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, it does.
MR. KRATZ: What steel burn barrel is this?
KEVIN HEIMERL: This is a steel burn barrel that is essentially in the front yard of Steven Avery's trailer.
MR. KRATZ: After initially being discovered, were you asked to take control of, or begin, what's commonly referred to as the processing of this piece of evidence?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Describe what that entailed for the jury, please.
KEVIN HEIMERL: At the time, I was present at the Command Post and was contacted by Agent Fassbender and informed that a burn barrel in front of Steven Avery's residence had been found to potentially contain items of evidence. Myself and Special Agent James Sielehr were assigned to walk down to the trailer, meet with the law enforcement officers that had discovered it, and to begin -- basically to secure it and to begin documenting.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Now, evidence this burn barrel included eventually was taken off site or to a central repository, or a central place where it was held; is that your understanding?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Do you know where evidence in this case, after it was taken off site, was retained?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I believe it was either transferred to the Calumet County Sheriff's Department; in some instances, I believe that some items went directly to the State Crime Lab. I do not specifically know where this one went.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Agent Heimerl, were you also, later in the week, made aware of an area behind Mr. Avery's garage, which has been referred to as a burn area, or a burn pit?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I was told of it.
MR. KRATZ: The questions that I have of you, though, were after processing, that is, after that burn area was processed by agents of DCI Crime Lab and others, in the weeks thereafter, were you asked to assist in examination of the contents of that particular burn area?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I was.
MR. KRATZ: So that the jury knows what we're talking about and, although a little bit out of order, we'll be hearing from witnesses about this, but do you recognize Exhibit No. 47?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I have seen that photograph before, yes.
MR. KRATZ: Now, the items seized therefrom, in other words the items that were recovered from this burn area, you mentioned that you participated in examination of; could you tell us where that occurred, please.
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, it occurred on two separate occasions. The first occasion was at the Wisconsin State Crime Laboratory in Madison. And the second occasion, that occurred here at the Calumet County Sheriff's Department.
MR. KRATZ: Could you describe, just generally, and, again, we're going to hear more specifically about this, but to get your part of the case in, for lack of a better term, can you describe, generally, what you did or what you were asked to do, in that examination?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, myself and several other investigators were given the assignment or the responsibility to examine all of the debris that was removed from the burn area or the burn pit. And that debris was collected by other investigators and was packaged and, ultimately, brought to the State Crime Laboratory in Madison.
There we set up a processing station, if you will, which simply involved table top platforms that were covered with tarps. We had all of this loose debris, material, that was a mixture of soil and ash and burned items.
We would take a quantity of it and place it on the table in front of you, on the tarp, and using various instruments, begin sifting through it and layering it out very thinly in front of you and visually examining the material, attempting to locate any items that you feel may be items of evidence, such as human remains, bone material, items of metal that you feel may, in some way, shape, or form, be related as an item of evidence.
MR. KRATZ: Let me ask you, Agent Heimerl, as part of your law enforcement training, in addition to general investigative training, do you have any specific or specialized training in areas of arson or arson investigations?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I do.
MR. KRATZ: Can you just, generally, tell us about that training or experience, please.
KEVIN HEIMERL: My assignment at the Department of Justice, DCI, is in the Arson Bureau. My primary assignment is to conduct fire arson investigations. And I have received rather extensive training through -- both at local, state, and national levels, in fire investigation aspects and determining the origin and cause of fire incidents.
But that also includes fatal fire investigations. I believe that some of the -- probably the most important experience or training that I have received has been on the job training, if you will, in processing fire death scenes, where people have perished in fires. Our office is frequently called to fatal fire investigations and we often have to recover human remains from fire scenes.
MR. KRATZ: All right. So you are familiar with this process, it's term I call sifting and sorting, but that's a clumsy term, but is that, generally, part of the process of what you engaged in in this case?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, it is. And you are exactly right, there are different terms to use. And is some cases sifting is actually done with sifting screens. In this case, we did not use the sifting screens, but it was more just a thin layering out and a visual examination. If an item strikes you as possibly being something that you may need to collect. It's maybe brushed clean, or cleaner, to remove some of the debris that's attached to it, to allow for a better examination.
MR. KRATZ: During this examination process -- and by the way, I would ask you to look at some of the photographs that are in front of you. I want you to first find Exhibit 273; it is one of the last pictures, I think, that we have given you. Tell me if you recognize that, please.
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I do.
MR. KRATZ: What is that?
KEVIN HEIMERL: This is a photograph of several individuals, to include Investigator Wiegert, myself; I recognize Special Agent Rodney Pevytoe. And this was taken in the basement of the State Crime Laboratory, as we were going through this processing of this debris.
MR. KRATZ: The processing, or the sifting or sorting activity, is that a quick process, or does that take a lot of time? Is it time intensive?
KEVIN HEIMERL: It is very time and labor intensive. It is a very tedious process. It cannot be done quickly, otherwise you miss things, because it's all being done visually.
And in this instance, this task was completed over the course of four full days.
MR. KRATZ: Do you know if that was under the direction or supervision of any other professionals, any degreed professionals?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Who is that, do you know?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Dr. Leslie Eisenberg, a forensic anthropologist for the State of Wisconsin was present on two of the days. And in my -- in my opinion, Special Agent Pevytoe, is one of the leaders in this field --
MR. BUTING: Objection to that.
KEVIN HEIMERL: -- who was present as well.
MR. KRATZ: We'll actually hear from him and his qualifications, later in the trial, Judge, but I appreciate the objection.
THE COURT: I'll sustain the objection with respect to the comment about the individual's qualifications.
MR. KRATZ: Thank you, Judge.
MR. BUTING: Move to strike.
THE COURT: And I move to strike that portion of the answer.
MR. KRATZ: That's fine. Thank you.
MR. KRATZ: (By Attorney Kratz)~ I'm showing you Exhibit 274, just another photo of the same event. What is this that we're looking at here?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Again, this is a similar process occurring; however, I believe this occasion is probably in April of 2006 here at Calumet County Sheriff's Department.
MR. KRATZ: All right. I will go back to the other exhibit then, since it included you -- or at least a photo of you. You said during this process you look for not only items of human remains, bone fragments, to be specific, but also non-human items; is that correct?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. KRATZ: During this sifting and sorting process, did you individually detect and observe any of these non-human items that were within those burn area remains, or materials that were collected?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I did.
MR. KRATZ: Could you -- Do you have an independent recollection of what it is that you found?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Could you tell the jury about that, please.
KEVIN HEIMERL: As I look at this photograph, if I could explain further, I see an object, a black rectangular object, which is a magnet. And one of the tools that we used in this process as well was a magnet, to move it through the debris, to pull out all non-combustible metal objects. We would then remove all of those items from the magnet and visually examine those items, looking for additional items that may be --
(Court reporter couldn't hear.)
KEVIN HEIMERL: I'm sorry.
MARK WIEGERT: I just got one more bag to open and I'll be done with that noise. Sorry.
THE COURT: Let's do the bag first and then we'll continue.
MARK WIEGERT: Okay.
MR. KRATZ: Go ahead.
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, all of the metallic objects that stuck to the magnet were then removed and they were visually examined to determine if they were potentially of evidentiary value.
MR. KRATZ: Now, these metallic items, or at least some of the items that you found, were you able to visually identify them; in other words, to visually make a determination of what these items were?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Could you describe the kinds of items that you found, please.
KEVIN HEIMERL: Well, there were many different types and variety of metal objects, but to include hardware: Screws, nails, wires, many wires from what appeared to be from tires. We found rivets, clothing rivets, normally associated with denim jeans.
I believe that we were able to find and identify teeth from a zipper, ammunition casings, shell casings, a large variety of different types of objects.
MR. KRATZ: The items that were associated with clothing, the clothing rivets and the zippers, or parts of the zippers, were these metallic items mixed within the human remains, or the other items that you were examining?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Mr. Wiegert, have we marked that exhibit?
(Exhibit No. 279 marked for identification.)
MARK WIEGERT: Just working on it, it will take just two seconds here.
MR. KRATZ: Show it to Mr. Buting first, please.
MARK WIEGERT: 279.
MR. KRATZ: (By Attorney Kratz)~ Mr. Wiegert is going to hand you what's been marked for identification as Exhibit No. 279. Tell us what that is, please.
KEVIN HEIMERL: That appears to be a clothing rivet, similar to what I described that you would find on a pair of denim pants, for instance.
MR. KRATZ: And was this clothing rivet that was identified, easily identified, or at least identified with writing right on the rivet?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: And what does the rivet say?
KEVIN HEIMERL: The rivet is stamped Daisy Fuentes.
MR. KRATZ: I'm going to ask you to look at Exhibit No. 275, ask if you recognize that photo?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I do.
MR. KRATZ: What is that?
KEVIN HEIMERL: This is a photograph of one of those very rivets that has been cleaned and brushed to remove the debris.
MR. KRATZ: Now that we're showing the jury, are you able to read the inscription on that clothing rivet?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: What does it say?
KEVIN HEIMERL: It says Daisey Fuentes.
MR. KRATZ: At least 275 actually shows the inscription, or lettering, Daisy Fuentes, in two different places, one on either side of the rivet; is that a fair characterization?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, sir.
MR. KRATZ: Now, Mr. Heimerl, these non-human remains, or these metallic items, after they were sorted, were they removed from the -- what were thought to be human remains?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Do you know what was done with them then?
KEVIN HEIMERL: If I recall correctly, there were metallic objects that would be found that investigators felt relatively confident were not going to be items of evidence, whether they were wires from a tire, those would -- we would collect those separately and place them back into a plastic bag and it would then be returned into the original container that the material was contained in.
MR. KRATZ: I see. Were some items that investigators believed had specific evidentiary value removed or separately packaged?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, sir.
MR. KRATZ: And would something like Exhibit No. 275, or 274, the actual item -- or excuse me, 279, the actual item itself, the rivet, would be one of those items that would be separately packaged?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: How many law enforcement individuals do you believe were involved in this sorting or sifting process, that you were personally accompanied?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Over the course of the first two days, in Madison, I believe there was approximately eight or nine. On the second two days, here in Chilton, I believe there was a similar number.
MR. KRATZ: All right.
MR. KRATZ: That's all for this witness. I meant the investigator, and not you, Judge. I'm sorry.
MR. KRATZ: (By Attorney Kratz)~ Mr. Heimerl, do you recall also being asked to participate in investigative efforts on March 1st and 2nd of 2006?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I do.
MR. KRATZ: And tell the -- tell the jurors, if you would, what it was that you were asked to do on those two days.
KEVIN HEIMERL: I was asked to assist with the search of Steven Avery's garage.
MR. KRATZ: And did you, in fact, assist in that process?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I did.
MR. KRATZ: Could you tell the jury what your role in that search project was, please.
KEVIN HEIMERL: I worked with several other investigators. We worked as a team to search the garage -- I'm sorry, initially to document the garage through photographs and video; and to search the entire garage and contents for any additional items of potential evidence; to document the location of those items through photography and measurements; and to package, label and preserve those items of evidence for ultimate retention by the Calumet County Sheriff's Department.
MR. KRATZ: And did you do that on the 1st and 2nd?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, we did.
MR. KRATZ: Steven Avery's property, or at least his curtilage, includes a trailer and a garage; is that your understanding?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: And in which of those buildings did you have responsibility?
KEVIN HEIMERL: In the detached garage.
MR. KRATZ: Let's talk about that search effort, or March 1st and 2nd, the search of the garage. First of all, could you describe the interior of the garage; how did it look to you?
KEVIN HEIMERL: It was very cluttered, with a large amount of miscellaneous property, a lot of it associated with automobile repair and just general garage storage items. It was not clean. It was quite dusty.
MR. KRATZ: Who performed the photography on the inside of the garage on that two day search?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I did.
MR. KRATZ: I'm going to have you take a look at an item in front of you, Exhibit 265, tell the jury what that is, please.
KEVIN HEIMERL: This is a photograph that I took on the evening of March 1st, after certain items of evidence had been found, or areas on the floor had been documented with a grease pencil and then subsequently labeled with these photo markers. And this is a general overview photograph of the interior of the garage, standing, which you can see outside the open overhead garage door.
MR. KRATZ: And the very foreground, what is that we see that's white?
KEVIN HEIMERL: A snow bank.
MR. KRATZ: All right. So this is actually taken outside the threshold of the garage itself; is that fair?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. KRATZ: Now, these yellow markers, again, what significance, if any, do those have, at least in this photo?
KEVIN HEIMERL: The yellow markers in the rear of the garage, were placed near white circles that were on the concrete floor when we entered the garage on that day. I believe that they were as a result of a previous search.
And additional -- some of those additional markers were identifying areas that we felt may be areas of potential further examination, based on an evidence process that was completed under dark.
And finally, one additional evidence marker in the foreground was identifying the location of a specific item of evidence. That had already been found when this photograph was taken.
MR. KRATZ: We will talk about that in just a minute. There are some other photos I just want you to identify and we will talk about them. What's Exhibit 266, please.
KEVIN HEIMERL: That is a photograph of a Blackjack brand creeper. A piece of equipment normally used by someone who wants to work under a automobile.
MR. KRATZ: To the immediate right of the creeper, do you see a piece of equipment?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I do.
MR. KRATZ: And do you know what that piece of equipment is?
KEVIN HEIMERL: The green cylindrical item with the wheel, I assume you are referring to, is an air compressor.
MR. KRATZ: We'll talk about that much more in just a moment, but tell us what Exhibit 267 is, please.
KEVIN HEIMERL: That's a photograph of a plastic jug with the label identifying it as paint thinner.
MR. KRATZ: As part of this search, were you asked to identify either cleaning products or items of -- or having properties that could mask or destroy evidence?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: And were paint thinner and bleach and other reagents like that the type of items that you were asked to identify and photograph?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: What's Exhibit 268? Oh, before we get to that -- I'm sorry. You had mentioned previously that there was a tent, or an evidence tent number or a marker that was closer in the foreground in Exhibit 265, and I rudely interrupted you, but let's go back to 265. What marker was it that you were talking about?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Marker No. 9.
MR. KRATZ: Describe, if you will, for the jurors, what, if anything, was found at or near marker No. 9?
KEVIN HEIMERL: In that location, we found a -- what appeared to be a flattened or -- a flattened bullet.
MR. KRATZ: Could you tell the jury from where that was found; do you recall how it was found?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes. This was on the evening of March 1st, after we had made entry into the garage. The videotaping had been completed, I believe. I had -- I'm sorry -- done initial overall photography in the interior of the garage. And we then spent some time just kind of walking around the garage, looking for anything that we saw that stood out, things that we knew that we were going to collect as evidence.
I was standing in the garage and I looked down at the floor, in front of me there was a crack in the concrete, and I observed this round, gray object that resembled a -- like the head of a roofing nail.
MR. KRATZ: I'm going to have you take a look at Exhibit No. 268; tell the jury what we're looking at here, please.
KEVIN HEIMERL: That is the crack in the concrete with what ultimately was found to be a bullet. It's the round gray object directly in front of the front edge of the photo marker.
MR. KRATZ: Is Exhibit No. 268 similar to how you found what you believed to be a bullet fragment near tent no. 9?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: I assume tent no. 9 was placed there after you found this?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: In other words, you didn't just get lucky and put the tent marker there, did you?
MR. KRATZ: I'm going to show you a closer version of that Exhibit 269; what are we looking at, please?
KEVIN HEIMERL: As you just stated, it's a close up view of the same photograph from 268, it, again, depicts that bullet fragment in that crack in the concrete.
MR. KRATZ: Using the laser pointer that you have with you, Investigator Heimerl, could you show the jury where the bullet fragment is at what we are looking at?
KEVIN HEIMERL: That would be it right here.
MR. KRATZ: That fragment appears to be within a crack in the concrete; am I viewing that correctly?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: What was done, if you recall, to process or collect that item of evidence?
KEVIN HEIMERL: We took measurements to document it's physical location within the garage. And it was then collected or packaged by Investigator Steier.
MR. KRATZ: I'm going to go back to Exhibit No. 266. We can just look on the large screen, that's fine. This green compressor that we're viewing here, on the next day, that is, on March 2nd of 2006; did you and other investigators begin or continue the process of actually moving items within this garage?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: And so that I can allow you to completely explain that process, describe this search, how thorough was this search of this garage?
KEVIN HEIMERL: If you recall from the first photograph, the overview photograph of the interior of the garage, the majority of the contents of the garage was around the exterior perimeter of the garage, along the walls.
And that included a couple of snowmobiles, which would then have multiple tools and boxes and items just stacked on top of the snowmobile. And there were chests, their were containers, their were large items of equipment.
And basically started in the northeast corner of the garage and began to remove items, look at them, turn them over, look inside them, examine them visually to see if there was any obvious sign of some type of potential trace evidence on them, or biological evidence.
And it would be set down, out of the way. We would move to the next item, whether it was large or small, whether it was a box. If it was a box you would open the box and remove everything from it. And it was a very slow process. And we worked south along the east wall and continued around until we finished the garage, late in the day on the 2nd.
MR. KRATZ: Looking, again, at Exhibit No. 265, are you telling this jury that every one of those items, in fact, around the entire perimeter and, in fact, in the middle of the garage, was handled by law enforcement and examined?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Virtually every item, yes.
MR. KRATZ: Let's go back, then, to item 266. During this process then and, specifically, on the second day, the 2nd of March, you were again involved in search of this garage?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: And during those efforts, that is, on the second; did you generally have the same searching responsibilities that you did on the first?
KEVIN HEIMERL: What do you mean by searching responsibilities, my responsibilities?
MR. KRATZ: Yeah. Were you still the guy taking the photos?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yeah. Yes.
MR. KRATZ: All right. And, also, were you actively searching, were you one of the investigators who's actively searching for items of evidence?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: On the 2nd of March, then, and specifically looking at Exhibit No. 266, did you find any items of evidence that was noteworthy?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I'm sorry, that was noteworthy?
MR. KRATZ: That you believed was noteworthy. As you look at this picture, did you find anything near that compressor that you thought was interesting?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Tell the jury about that.
KEVIN HEIMERL: We had been processing this garage, searching this garage. As you look at this photograph, we approached the compressor from its left. And it was a large object. As we reached this area, I had to get onto my hands and my knees in front of the compressor and utilized a flashlight to look under the compressor. And I found -- I saw what appeared to be a bullet.
MR. KRATZ: What did you do then?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I told the other investigators that I may have found a bullet.
MR. KRATZ: What happened then?
KEVIN HEIMERL: We then removed, basically from the top down, we unstacked the things and items that were on top of the air compressor, pulled the air compressor out so that we could adequately document and photograph what we found.
MR. KRATZ: Before I move on to other photos, I want to orient the jury, that red item immediately to the right and to the right edge of Exhibit 266; do you know what that is?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I do.
MR. KRATZ: What is that?
KEVIN HEIMERL: That is the edge of a large upright tool chest.
MR. KRATZ: After the compressor was removed and all the items thereon, was that tool chest moved at all? That you recall.
KEVIN HEIMERL: I don't recall that we needed to move it.
MR. KRATZ: Okay. Let's look at Exhibit No. 270, please. Tell us what we're looking at here.
KEVIN HEIMERL: This is generally a medium view photograph of what was ultimately identified with marker no. 23, as the bullet that was found underneath the air compressor.
MR. KRATZ: Can you identify the individuals in this photograph, please.
KEVIN HEIMERL: The individual on the left is Detective Dave Remiker, from Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department.
MR. KRATZ: Do you know who is kneeling on the right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I would have to guess, but I do not know specifically.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Well, it can only be one of a couple people; is that right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Right.
MR. KRATZ: I mean, you don't have to -- You would still have to guess who it was?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I believe that it's Investigator Dedering.
MR. KRATZ: We see a yellow tent, exhibit tent no. 23. I have actually zoomed into that area. Tell the jury what we're looking at here, please.
KEVIN HEIMERL: As I stated, this is after the air compressor has been removed. The linear object here is a metal photographic scale. And right in this area it's very difficult to pick out in this photograph, but the bullet was right between the tent and the scale.
MR. KRATZ: Now, as the tent -- the evidence tent is placed near the bullet, was the bullet moved at all?
MR. KRATZ: This photography was done before any manipulation or movement of the bullet?
KEVIN HEIMERL: That's correct.
MR. KRATZ: I'm going to show you a better photo, Exhibit 271; tell me what that is, please.
KEVIN HEIMERL: That is a closer view of that bullet, in the same location.
MR. KRATZ: Can you take your laser pointer and show the jury what we're looking at.
KEVIN HEIMERL: The laser pointer is on the end of the bullet.
MR. KRATZ: Once again, Exhibit 271, that photograph, does that depict the bullet in the same or similar view as you saw it on the 2nd of March?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Actually, I'm going to leave that Exhibit up for just a minute. When you observed this particular item, did it appear to be a full, that is, an intact bullet or a bullet fragment?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I guess that depends on what a person were to consider a bullet fragment. That being, if a very tiny part of that bullet has come off of the main bullet, is the main bullet then a fragment. I considered this -- When I recognized this and looked at this, I recognized it as what appeared to be a nearly intact bullet.
MR. KRATZ: So it was something other than just a little chip of a bullet.
KEVIN HEIMERL: Exactly.
MR. KRATZ: Investigator, was care taken to process and recover this bullet?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: And tell the jury what care was taken to do that?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Well, it was handled only to the amount -- or to the degree to which it needed to be handled. As much as I myself wanted to pick it up and visually examine it, it wasn't done. It was picked up, I believe, with tweezers and placed into a box and sealed.
MR. KRATZ: Now, are you familiar with a term called DNA?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, sir.
MR. KRATZ: At that time, in processing of evidence, were you familiar with the process by which DNA could be extracted, especially from items such as bullet fragments?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Was care taken not destroy or eliminate whatever DNA might be on this bullet?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: As I understand from the last witness, after this bullet was packaged, it was provided to Investigator Steier, from Calumet County, for transport and receipt into evidence; is that your understanding?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, it is.
MR. KRATZ: I feel compelled to ask these next two questions and so I will. At any time, inside of that garage, on the 2nd, or even on the 1st, did you see an individual by the name of James Lenk?
MR. KRATZ: At any time on the 1st or on the 2nd, did you see an individual by the name of Andrew Colborn?
MR. KRATZ: By the way, do you know those people, and if they were in that garage or rummaging around or placing something in that garage, would you have seen it?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: I will move the admission, Judge, of exhibits -- I will have to -- I will have to identify them or ask the clerk, the photographs and the physical evidence that has been marked and identified by this witness and Investigator Steier. And I will pass the witness to Mr. Buting.
THE COURT: All right.
MR. BUTING: Do we have 272 and 278? You don't have that, do you?
COURT CLERK: No.
MR. BUTING: Okay.
THE COURT: You're moving which exhibits, Mr. Kratz?
MR. KRATZ: I'm moving everything that's been identified. Let me just have this witness look at 272, since he has that right in front of him.
MR. KRATZ: (By Attorney Kratz)~ It's just a photograph; can you tell us what 272 is.
KEVIN HEIMERL: By the tag, it's identified as number 19, a bullet fragment.
MR. KRATZ: The actual item of that is actually, I think, right in front of you; is that right? It's an evidence tech photo; is that right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, it is.
MR. KRATZ: And do you have Exhibit 278?
MR. BUTING: Just so the record is clear, your Honor, there's also a number FL or identification in yellow, FL, in the center of that. Would you agree?
MR. KRATZ: Yes, that's a Crime Lab designation, Judge.
THE COURT: It is.
MR. KRATZ: And 278 has not been offered or identified. With that exception, I would move the rest of the exhibits, your Honor.
THE COURT: Any objection?
KEVIN HEIMERL: No objection.
THE COURT: All right. Mr. Buting, how long do you think you are looking for?
MR. BUTING: I'm hoping we can finish at 4:30. But if the jurors want to stretch for a moment, that's ...
THE COURT: All right. Let's do this, let's take a 10 minute break. If we have to go a little past 4:30, we will, since we got a little late start today, but we'll finish up with this witness.
MR. KRATZ: That's fine.
THE COURT: Let's give everybody a break.
(Recess taken.)
THE COURT: All right. Mr. Buting, at this time you may begin your cross-examination.
MR. BUTING: Thank you, Judge.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY BUTING:
MR. BUTING: Agent Heimerl, you first became involved in this Avery investigation on November 6th; is that right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, on Sunday.
MR. BUTING: Sunday.
KEVIN HEIMERL: November 6th.
MR. BUTING: And I appreciate your professionalism, because you must have done close to 50 reports, I would say; does that sound about right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I believe so.
MR. BUTING: You were out investigating, doing this canvassing, this neighborhood canvas, on the 6th, 7th, maybe even part of the 8th; does that sound right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes. And it continued for a few days afterwards.
MR. BUTING: Okay. And in the process of doing that you interviewed -- you are going around to all the surrounding properties and interviewing door to door, basically, everybody, to see if they heard anything, saw anything, that kind of investigation, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: You did come to the scene, the Avery property scene, though, on the 7th, as I recall your testimony, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And that's when you took custody, or did you just examine this burn barrel that we saw up on the screen awhile ago?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I did not take custody -- custody of it; I photographed it.
MR. BUTING: All right. At any time on the 6th, 7th, 8th, or any time after that, actually; did anyone ask you to participate in a search of Mr. Avery's residence?
MR. BUTING: Or garage?
MR. BUTING: You work for DCI?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: Have you ever met Mr. Avery before that day?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I'm sorry?
MR. BUTING: Did you ever meet Mr. Avery before November 6th?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Never.
MR. BUTING: Have any contact with him at all?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Never.
MR. BUTING: Not involved in his lawsuit?
KEVIN HEIMERL: No, sir.
MR. BUTING: Completely independent and objective, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: And you are very well trained in searches of scenes, for evidence collection, correct?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. BUTING: All right. Now, I know that you -- if I understood correctly, you did not actually see the interior of Mr. Avery's garage on November 5th, 6th, or any of those days when you were there in November?
KEVIN HEIMERL: That's correct.
MR. BUTING: I'm going to first have you identify Exhibit 262 and 263. These were kind of left hanging from the prior witness. Do you recognize those?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I do.
MR. BUTING: And are those photographs that you took on March 1st or 2nd?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, they are.
MR. BUTING: And they show the -- the interior of the garage, pretty much as you found it when you first got there?
KEVIN HEIMERL: That's correct.
MR. BUTING: Okay. These are interior shots that you are already standing, looks like inside the garage, and you don't have the full view, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: I'm going to use the ELMO. I don't have as much digital stuff, I'm afraid. All right. Thank you, very much. We'll go through this quickly, but I just want you to identify, so the jury can see what it is you are identifying. This is a photograph of Mr. Avery's -- or the detached garage on March 1st or 2nd, probably March 1st, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And there's a vehicle in there, some sort of an automobile. And it's not in one of the later photographs you were shown, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: And, then, what's that large item in the front of it.
KEVIN HEIMERL: That is an engine hoist.
MR. BUTING: Okay. And that's something that you use to be able to lift up a full engine, right out of a car, or into it, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I believe so.
MR. BUTING: That was 263. And now I'm showing you 262, just a little bit of a different view, but the -- also inside of his garage on March 1st, showing the automobile and that large hoist, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: Okay. Actually, I think I will just do it right here from the ELMO, since you identified them already. I want to show you some photographs quickly, from November, that were taken by somebody else, that are in evidence. So I just want you to -- I don't know if you had an opportunity to look at these before, but the first one is Exhibit 232; do you recognize that as the same garage?
KEVIN HEIMERL: It appears to be, yes.
MR. BUTING: All right. Do you see an engine hoist anywhere in this photograph? I should say, the same engine hoist that we saw in those March photographs; do you see one here?
KEVIN HEIMERL: No, but this photograph does not depict the entire garage.
MR. BUTING: I understand. Let's look through some more. Does that appear to be the same garage?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, sir.
MR. BUTING: Now, there's a Suzuki Samurai that's been identified that's in there and also a snowmobile, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. BUTING: And neither one of those vehicles were in the garage when you came on March 1st?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: They were both gone and there was some kind of a maroon sedan, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: And, again, any engine hoist that you see?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Not in this photograph, no.
MR. BUTING: How about in -- Oh, I showed you that one. How about in 233? Look like the same garage?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. BUTING: No engine hoist?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Not in this photograph.
MR. BUTING: How about this one?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Again, it appears to be the same garage.
MR. BUTING: No engine hoist visible?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Not visible in this photograph.
MR. BUTING: And that last one was 234. 235, do you recognize the entrance service door there?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I do.
MR. BUTING: No engine hoist in that one?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Not visible in the photograph.
MR. BUTING: Or in 236, which appears to be the east wall?
KEVIN HEIMERL: That's correct, not visible.
MR. BUTING: Okay. And just one more, 241, appear to be the same garage, no engine hoist, would you agree?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I would agree. Little bit dark but.
MR. BUTING: Okay. So from those pictures alone, would you agree with me that the scene had been altered between November and March 1st when you came.
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. BUTING: Now, you did a very nice professional job of taking measurements of everything that was found, right, everything you had anything to do with?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, we took measurements of the items of evidence that were collected.
MR. BUTING: All right. And very thorough measurements, for instance, the tent 23, that marker there, 23, you measured as 8' 9" west of the east wall; 12' -- actually later changed to 12", that was a typo -- 12" north of the south wall, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: So you did a very nice job of measuring where every item was found by coordinating its distance from one wall to the next, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: That's what we did, yes.
MR. BUTING: And that's how you have been trained to investigate a crime scene, potential crime scene, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Well, that's one of the methods to use.
MR. BUTING: All right. Problem is, you came four months later, after the scene had been altered, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I was there four months later, yes.
MR. BUTING: So none of these measurements tell us where any of these items were on November 5th, 2005; isn't that right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: That's correct.
MR. BUTING: Including the location of that bullet, number 23, that you showed, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct. The measurements that we took were of the location of the bullet on March 2nd.
MR. BUTING: All right. You also were looking for, I believe, Mr. Kratz said, any agents of -- reagents, I guess was the term, that could in some way destroy or damage that evidence, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: And he mentioned specifically paint thinner or bleach, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: And there was a photograph of a bleach bottle, which I don't see here. Do you still have that up there?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I only have one photograph here.
MR. BUTING: Oh, I have got it, sorry. I'm showing you 267. This is actually a paint thinner bottle, I'm sorry. So you found no bleach any where in the garage?
KEVIN HEIMERL: At this time, I don't recall if we found bleach or not.
MR. BUTING: Well, do you need to refresh your recollection with anything or ...
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, the report that was completed concerning the garage search would refresh my memory.
MR. BUTING: Okay. Now, you didn't actually prepare a report of that search, right, of your own?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I did a very brief report regarding the fact that I photographed the garage during the course of this search.
MR. BUTING: Okay. All right. But Investigator Steier was the one who was documenting the times and, you know, he was kind of following along with you when you were doing those searches, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: I'm not going to mark this, but it's page 702 and 708, through 708. If you would just take a moment maybe this will refresh your recollection as to whether there was any bleach in the garage.
KEVIN HEIMERL: I'm completed, sir.
MR. BUTING: Did you see any entry of any recovery of bleach?
KEVIN HEIMERL: No, I did not.
MR. BUTING: Okay. But you did find this paint thinner. Would you agree with me that this paint thinner appears to be an older bottle, not a brand newly purchased item?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Well, that bottle is dirty; I guess I can't comment as to its age.
MR. BUTING: Nothing about it that looks like it was just bought and used a few days before it was -- the search?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I guess that would depend on what kind of conditions it would be used in.
MR. BUTING: All right.
KEVIN HEIMERL: It appears as though it's quite dirty.
MR. BUTING: Okay. We'll stick with that. And, finally, paint thinner, in someone's garage, is not at all unusual, is it?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I would say that is not unusual.
MR. BUTING: It's a very common item that many people have and use around the house, especially in a garage; wouldn't you agree?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. BUTING: Exhibit 265, this is a photograph that you took, very helpful photograph, now that is taken after the maroon automobile was removed?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, sir.
MR. BUTING: Were any other items moved before that photograph was taken, to your knowledge?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Did you say moved or removed?
MR. BUTING: I'm sorry. Were any other items moved on that day, March 1st, before that photograph was taken, other than just taking the car out?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Will you step to the side, please.
MR. BUTING: I'm sorry.
KEVIN HEIMERL: In an early photograph, specifically the previous photograph of the paint thinner, I know in the foreground of that photograph, the yellow stepladder was present and that is in the back right corner directly in front of the ceiling mounted furnace. But I don't see it in this photograph. So it may have been moved out of the way or collapsed and leaned somewhere so that we could collect the paint thinner.
MR. BUTING: All right. But I guess my point is, this photograph was -- was taken largely before you -- you altered the scene as you saw it. And other than putting these items, these markers there, for -- for items already found, or were these some of the ones that you found? Perhaps I have this wrong. Was this taken later, during the search?
KEVIN HEIMERL: This was taken on the evening of March 1st.
MR. BUTING: Okay.
KEVIN HEIMERL: Obviously after the vehicle was removed. And it was taken after, I believe, the first initial few items of evidence had been found.
MR. BUTING: I see. Yeah, there's a 9, a 10, and an 11 in there that wasn't there before?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: Okay. I'm going to show you that right now. Exhibit 284 and 282. I'm sorry, 283, can you identify those?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I can.
MR. BUTING: And what are they?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I believe that's 283.
MR. BUTING: It is, yes.
KEVIN HEIMERL: It's a photograph of evidence -- or I'm sorry photographic marker No. 10, in the crack in the concrete in front of it is what was later found to be a shell casing.
MR. BUTING: All right.
KEVIN HEIMERL: 284 is photo marker No. 11. And directly in front of the front edge of that, again, is a shell casing.
MR. BUTING: All right. Now, I'm going to put these up here for a moment, but if you could, first, use your laser pointer and show us, on the exhibit that's on the screen, where 9, 10, and 11 are.
KEVIN HEIMERL: There's 9, 10, and 11.
MR. BUTING: Showing you 283, that is a close up view of where No. 10 is -- or what you found in No. 10?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: Pretty obvious shell casing, empty shell casings laying right there in the open, in the crack?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I don't know if I would say it's obvious.
MR. BUTING: Well --
KEVIN HEIMERL: It's a relatively small shell casing as far as shell casings go and ...
MR. BUTING: Let me ask you this, if you searched this garage before and found 11, or 10, shell casings, do you think you would have found this one, given its location?
MR. KRATZ: Objection, speculation, Judge. And I would ask him to show the picture of how it looked on the 5th, so we can see the Suzuki Samurai right over this location.
THE COURT: I will sustain the objection.
MR. BUTING: (By Attorney Buting)~ So Exhibit No. 265, counsel is correct, we haven't had any testimony about whether the Samurai was ever moved during their search so we'll move on. That is No. 10, it appears to be in the eastern bay of the garage, correct?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Marker No. 10?
MR. BUTING: Yes.
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. BUTING: Now, let's move over to marker No. 11; do you see where that is?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I do.
MR. BUTING: Pretty much right in your pathway as you walk into -- through the service door; would you agree?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Well, it's at the edge of the pathway.
MR. BUTING: Okay. Let's look at a close up of that one. Now, there's another shell, empty shell, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, sir.
MR. BUTING: Just laying right out in the open, not in a crack, just sitting right on the surface of the concrete, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. BUTING: Now, that was either not there on November 5th, or somebody completely missed a shell sitting right out in the open, because it's not in any of the other photographs?
MR. KRATZ: Objection, speculation, and there would be other explanations.
THE COURT: Sustained, I think that's a question for the jury.
MR. BUTING: (By Attorney Buting)~ Well, would this be an indication that perhaps -- another indication that the scene had been altered from November, if you're finding a shell casing pretty much right out in the open of this garage?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I don't know if I can draw that conclusion because I don't know the condition of the scene in November; I was never in the garage, so.
MR. BUTING: No. 9, that snow bank is kind of hiding it, but would you agree with me that it's pretty much right in the middle of the opening to the -- to that bay of the garage, right? Do you want me to zoom back out?
KEVIN HEIMERL: No, that's okay. What are you referring to as that bay?
MR. BUTING: Well, this is a two car garage, we would be referring to an east bay and a west bay. This would be the west bay of the garage. And it's really just a couple feet or so inside the big overhead garage door?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: And the close up that you showed of this, I will do the not the close up one, 268. This isn't so good on the ELMO. This is the other bullet that you found, in the garage, the only other bullet, correct?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: You found just these two bullets, No. 9 and No. 23?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: And this one you found just walking around, but still in the early stages of the search, after you had taken photographs of everything, just kind of walking around and looking down and there you see this, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. BUTING: You weren't on your hands and knees?
KEVIN HEIMERL: No, I was not.
MR. BUTING: Okay. Now, this very thorough search also included a jackhammer, didn't it?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I don't understand your question, sir.
MR. BUTING: The search of the garage, on March 1st or 2nd, included the use of a jackhammer?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, the use of a jackhammer, correct.
MR. BUTING: I'm sorry I was maybe not clear. And what they actually did with that jackhammer was to remove an entire area, 15 feet or so, where the crack runs north and south down the middle of that eastern most bay of the garage, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: And all of those pieces of concrete were broken into sort of chunks all the way down the line, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: They were all collected?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: And they were all preserved?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: For testing, if possible?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. BUTING: To your knowledge, were they sent to the Crime Lab?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I do not know.
MR. BUTING: Okay. All right. Just a couple of other quick things. You showed us the rivet that you had found through the processing, not the sifting, but the stirring up of materials on -- you mentioned two occasions, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: Do you remember those dates? I don't know that we ever established that.
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, December 19 and 20, of 2000 --
MR. BUTING: Five?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Five. Thank you. Occurred in Madison. And the Chilton dates were April 10 and 11, of 2006.
MR. BUTING: Okay. And the materials that you were going through on both days were -- was debris that had been removed from the so-called burn pit area; is that right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes. And, actually, I believe it was the burn pit as well as other areas from around the property where burned debris had been found.
MR. BUTING: Okay. But all in that same general area and not a burn barrel or anything; you weren't mixing the two together?
KEVIN HEIMERL: No, the burn barrel was searched on those dates -- or on one of those dates in Madison, but I was not involved in the search of the burn barrel.
MR. BUTING: Okay. But as far as the burn pit area goes and the immediate surrounding vicinity, all that debris that you went through, you said you found a rivet?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I'm sorry?
MR. BUTING: You say you found a clothing rivet; how many?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I believe there were five rivets found.
MR. BUTING: Okay. You did not find a button, the clasp of a big button that you use to button your jeans at the waist, did you?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I know from reviewing evidence documents and reports regarding that, that there were items found that were described as close snaps, but I don't specifically recall that they were --
MR. BUTING: Right.
KEVIN HEIMERL: -- what you were referring to.
MR. BUTING: Okay. Well, for instance, you mentioned the rivet that says Daisy Fuentes, sort of stamped into it, a brand name of some sort, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, sir.
MR. BUTING: You have never seen a button that would be used to clasp the waist of a pair of jeans or denim that says Daisy Fuentes on it, did you?
KEVIN HEIMERL: I don't recall seeing that, no.
MR. BUTING: And that's through your entire search of the burn pit area, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Well, the material that came from that burn pit area.
MR. BUTING: That's what I mean, yes. Okay. And, finally, you mentioned that investigators basically handled, picked up, looked at, and moved every single -- almost every single item in that garage, if not every single item?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, almost every item there.
MR. BUTING: March 1st and March 2nd, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, sir.
MR. BUTING: And though not one single piece of those items, not one single item, showed any evidence of any blood spatter, did it? Or did they?
KEVIN HEIMERL: To my knowledge, as to what conclusions could be drawn at the end of March 2nd, no. But I know that additional items of evidence removed from that garage were sent to the laboratory and I may not be privy to that.
MR. BUTING: You may not be privy to that.
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: But, as far as you know, no physical items showed evidence of blood spatter; do you know what blood spatter is?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I do.
MR. BUTING: Do you know what high velocity blood spatter is?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes.
MR. BUTING: That's what we get when someone is shot with a bullet?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Correct.
MR. BUTING: And you saw no evidence of it at this scene at all, did you?
MR. BUTING: Thank you, very much, sir.
THE COURT: Mr. Kratz?
MR. KRATZ: Just one area of follow-up.
REDIRECT EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY KRATZ:
MR. KRATZ: Because we have heard that this was a two day search, do you know if that garage had been secured between Day 1, that is, the 1st of March and Day 2, the 2nd of March?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Are you saying over the evening hours between our two day search?
MR. KRATZ: Yes.
KEVIN HEIMERL: Yes, I do.
MR. KRATZ: And how was that secured, do you remember?
KEVIN HEIMERL: It was secured with a padlock.
MR. KRATZ: Is that a picture of the padlock, the locked garage, between the 1st and 2nd of March?
KEVIN HEIMERL: Well, that's either the picture of the padlock on the morning that we arrived, on March 2nd, or it's a picture of the padlock that we found on the garage on March 1st, when we arrived to do the search.
MR. KRATZ: In any event, the garage was secured; in other words, people couldn't just walk in and out of the garage in between those two days; is that right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: That's correct.
MR. KRATZ: That's all I have of Mr. Heimerl for today, Judge.
MR. BUTING: Just one last follow-up, then.
RECROSS-EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY BUTING:
MR. BUTING: With regard to the security of the garage and who could have come and gone, Mr. Avery certainly couldn't have been one of those who came and went into that garage, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: When, sir?
MR. BUTING: Well, let's just -- we'll just talk about it. Mr. Avery was arrested in November of 2005, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: That's my understanding and that's why I asked you to clarify the dates.
MR. BUTING: And you understand that he was in jail continuously from that date, at least through March 1st and 2nd, right?
KEVIN HEIMERL: That's my understanding.
MR. BUTING: So anybody who may have been in and out of that garage during that time period, could not have been Steven Avery?
KEVIN HEIMERL: That's what I would conclude.
MR. BUTING: Thank you.
THE COURT: All right. The witness is excused for the day. Members of the jury, that concludes our proceedings today. I will remind you again at this time that you are not to discuss the case with anyone, watch any news media accounts about it, or discuss it with anyone in any way. You are excused for today. We'll see you tomorrow morning.
MR. BUTING: Your Honor, I always forget to move the exhibits. Could I move in the last two exhibits?
THE COURT: Any objection?
MR. KRATZ: No. That's fine.
THE COURT: Those exhibits are admitted. They are numbers ...
MR. BUTING: 283 and 284.
THE COURT: Very well.
MR. BUTING: Thank you.
MR. KRATZ: I keep promising, Judge, to ask for an accounting of what exhibits aren't in yet. Perhaps the Clerk, then tomorrow morning, first thing, we can discuss that, make sure that they're all in.
THE COURT: All right. We'll do that then.
MR. BUTING: Judge, as long as everybody is still here, could we -- I guess 262 and 263 were marked and not admitted earlier. I had this witness identify them. Now I would like to move them as well.
THE COURT: 262 and 263?
MR. BUTING: Those are photographs with the engine hoist, that he took in March.
MR. KRATZ: That's fine.
THE COURT: Okay. Those two exhibits are admitted.
(Proceedings concluded.)