6.Karen Halbach — Direct/Cross
222 linesMR. KRATZ: State would call, uh, Karen Halbach.
KAREN 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.
KAREN HALBACH: Karen Halbach, H-a-l-b-a-c-h.
DIRECT EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY KRATZ:
MR. KRATZ: Good afternoon, Mrs. Halbach. Could you tell the -- the jury, please, uh, whether or not you knew a young lady by the name of Teresa Halbach?
KAREN HALBACH: Yes, I did.
MR. KRATZ: You have to pull the microphone down nice and close for us, please. Who was Teresa?
KAREN HALBACH: She was my daughter. The second oldest in my family of five children. Um, she's a very caring and very loving young woman. She was very dedicated to her family and friends. She was a hard worker. Um, she had a great sense of humor. Uh, she was also the life of the party.
Um, she, um -- She had an ability -- ability to make people smile, and I think that's why she enjoyed photography, because kids really responded to her.
MR. KRATZ: All right. You told me that, uh, there were other, uh -- other children, um, in your family as well. Could you identify them?
KAREN HALBACH: Tim is the oldest, and then there's Teresa, and then Mike, and then I have two younger girls, Katie and Kelly.
MR. KRATZ: Could you tell the jury, please, where Teresa lived?
KAREN HALBACH: She lived next door to -- to us. About a quarter mile west of us. My husband and I own the farmhouse and she lived there about a year before she died.
MR. KRATZ: Going to hand you what's been marked for identification as Exhibit No., um -- No. 1. Could you tell the jury what that is, please?
KAREN HALBACH: It's a picture of Teresa.
MR. KRATZ: We'll be showing the jury, uh, photographs as well. When you say that Teresa lived next door to you, can you describe that a little further, please?
KAREN HALBACH: Well, she lived a quarter mile west from us ina farmhouse that we own. She -- her -- her rent was going to go up. She wanted to live someplace cheaper so I said, why don't you move closer to home, so we'd really give you a deal on rent. So she took us up on it and, you know, we enjoyed having her there.
MR. KRATZ: All right. I know you mentioned briefly about Teresa's background, but did she have, um, um, post high school education?
KAREN HALBACH: She went four years to UW-GB. She graduated in '02 Suma Cum Laude.
MR. KRATZ: And GB, that's Green Bay?
KAREN HALBACH: Right.
MR. KRATZ: After that, I think you've already mentioned briefly, of the kind of work that Teresa went into, but can you describe that a little more fully? What, uh -- what type of employment did she have?
KAREN HALBACH: In her final semester at GB, she, uh, started an internship with Tom Pearce Photography in Green Bay, and then after she graduated, she continued working with him, and then she realized she wanted to own her own business, so she decided -- she started Photography by Teresa, and, uh, she also worked part-time for AutoTrader Magazine.
MR. KRATZ: All right. This, uh, photography studio, did she have any areas of, uh, expertise within that studio?
KAREN HALBACH: Um --
MR. KRATZ: Any kind of, uh, portraits that she enjoyed more than others taking pictures of?
KAREN HALBACH: Well, she especially liked taking picture of kids. She was good with kids. But she also did weddings, graduation photos. Um, if you had an event that you wanted pictures taken, she would gladly do it for you.
MR. KRATZ: Mr. Wiegert's going to hand you what's now been marked as Exhibit No. 2, if I'm able to do this. Tell us what that is, please?
KAREN HALBACH: It's, um, a picture of Teresa.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Now, Teresa's photography business, you said, also included working, uh, at least part-time for AutoTrader Magazine. Um, what were you aware of her duties with that magazine?
KAREN HALBACH: It -- Just know people would call AutoTrader to have pictures of their vehicles taken. And a photographer would have a certain area. And then Teresa would go -- When somebody in her area would want a picture taken, she would set up a -- an appointment with them and then go take the picture of the vehicle for them.
MR. KRATZ: Would Teresa ever discuss or describe with you, uh, where some of her clients were that she took pictures of?
KAREN HALBACH: Once in a while she would, yeah. If she was over and talking about -- talking with us.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Had you ever heard -- At least before the 31st of October of '05, had you ever heard the name Steven Avery?
KAREN HALBACH: Yes, I did.
MR. KRATZ: And Teresa, uh, did she ever mention being at Mr. Avery's property before?
KAREN HALBACH: Two times she had told me she had taken pictures at the Avery Salvage Yard.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Mrs. Halbach, were you familiar with the kind of vehicle that, uh, Teresa drove?
KAREN HALBACH: Yes, I was.
MR. KRATZ: Could you describe that for the jury, please?
KAREN HALBACH: It's a Toyota RAV 4.
MR. KRATZ: I'm showing you what's been marked as Exhibit No. 3. Can you tell us what that is, please?
KAREN HALBACH: It's a picture of Teresa in front of her vehicle.
MR. KRATZ: Before, um, moving into the investigation, um, itself, you, I think, had mentioned that Teresa had some younger sisters. Uh, could you tell me their names, please?
KAREN HALBACH: Katie and Kelly.
MR. KRATZ: I'm sorry?
KAREN HALBACH: Katie and Kelly.
MR. KRATZ: How much younger were Katie and Kelly than she?
KAREN HALBACH: Um, I think there's 11 years difference between Katie and Teresa, and then Kelly's two years younger than Katie.
MR. KRATZ: And could you describe the kind of relationship that Teresa had with her younger sisters?
KAREN HALBACH: Um, they were very close. Teresa always wanted a Sister. And they spent a lot of time together shopping or watching movies or...
MR. KRATZ: All right. Did Teresa spend, uh, time with her Sisters, um, at your home ever?
KAREN HALBACH: Yeah, they did, and, um, Teresa would come over Sunday nights a lot, because their three favorite shows were on, so they'd watch it altogether and goof off and...
MR. KRATZ: All right. Were Sunday nights kind of a, um -- a -- a family night or regular time for all of you to get together?
KAREN HALBACH: Right. The kids would always stop in on a Sunday sometime during the day.
MR. KRATZ: Karen, I'm going to direct your attention to Sunday, October 30 of 2005. Do you remember that day?
KAREN HALBACH: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Could you tell. the jury what you remember about Sunday, the 30th of October?
KAREN HALBACH: Um, my dad's birthday is October 31, Halloween, so the day before, my whole family got together at his house and we just celebrated his birthday during the day.
MR. KRATZ: Was Teresa in attendance at that party?
KAREN HALBACH: Yes, she was.
MR. KRATZ: Were the rest of, uh, the siblings there as well?
KAREN HALBACH: Yes, they were.
MR. KRATZ: What happened that night if you recall?
KAREN HALBACH: That night, um, we milked cows, and then Teresa came home from -- about seven, because Extreme Makeover Home Edition was coming on and she wanted to watch it with the girls.
MR. KRATZ: She was at your house?
KAREN HALBACH: Right. At our house.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Do you know about what time Teresa left your home on the 30th?
KAREN HALBACH: I would say it was after ten.
MR. KRATZ: Um, did you know what Teresa's, um, work schedule was the next day? That is, the 31st?
KAREN HALBACH: No, I did not.
MR. KRATZ: How often during the week would you speak with your daughter, Teresa?
KAREN HALBACH: She might stop in once or twice, or call, depends on how busy she was, or if we were busy on the farm, you know.
MR. KRATZ: On the 31st of October, 2005 how old was Teresa?
KAREN HALBACH: Twenty-five.
MR. KRATZ: Had Teresa ever been married?
KAREN HALBACH: No.
MR. KRATZ: And at that time, that is, on the 31st of October, 2005 was Teresa involved ina relationship? Did she have a boyfriend or anything?
KAREN HALBACH: No.
MR. KRATZ: Mrs. Halbach, when was the first time that you had heard that Teresa was missing?
KAREN HALBACH: On Thursday, November 3, about one o'clock, Tom Pearce called me and he was concerned about Teresa because she hadn't showed up at the studio Tuesday or Wednesday, and -- because she always stopped in at least once a day, even if she wasn't really busy that day. But he said what -- what -- what really worried him was that her cell phone, her voice mail, was full. He got a message saying that, and that was very unusual for Teresa because that was her business phone als -- also, and for her not to return somebody's message was a very odd -- so that worried me too.
MR. KRATZ: Do you know what kind of, uh, cell phone Teresa had?
KAREN HALBACH: Yes, I do.
MR. KRATZ: Tell the jury, please?
KAREN HALBACH: She had a Motorola RAZR V3 or something like that.
MR. KRATZ: I'm going to hand you what has been marked for identification as Exhibit No. 8. Tell the jury what that is, please?
KAREN HALBACH: It's a receipt for her cell phone.
MR. KRATZ: And do you know if that receipt has a date on it? That is, when she purchased her Motorola RAZR cell phone?
KAREN HALBACH: Yes. It says August 30, 2005.
MR. KRATZ: I'm going to show you, also, what's been marked as Exhibit No. 9. I'm going to have you turn to the last page of that exhibit and ask if you, um, can identify this as the cell phone, um, provider contract with a Cingular phone?
KAREN HALBACH: Yes, it is.
MR. KRATZ: Does that include -- And, by the way, is that the same date of October 30, 2005?
KAREN HALBACH: Yes, it is.
MR. KRATZ: And does it include the make and model of her phone towards the bottom? That is, a, uh, Motorola V3 --
KAREN HALBACH: Yes, it does.
MR. KRATZ: -- phone? Mrs. Halbach, on the 3rd of November, after being informed by Teresa's business partner that, uh, she was missing, could you tell the jury what, uh, you, uh, and other family members did?
KAREN HALBACH: Um, I called Teresa's two brothers, Tim and Mike, to ask if they had heard from her. They said, no. And I told them about Tom Pearce calling me, so they got worried, too. And then, um, they started calling people around. And in the meantime, my husband was out plowing in a field, I went and brought him home and I said, we need to look for Teresa to find out where she is. And then, um, he went and -- Teresa had a roommate. He went and talked to the roommate, asked if he saw -- if he had seen her in the last three days. And while he did that, I called AutoTrader Magazine to see if -- when the last time they had heard from her, and I didn't get an answer right away, so then I called the Calumet County Sheriff's Department.
MR. KRATZ: Were there other citizens -- not only family members but other citizens -- uh, even on that first day, even on the 3rd, that were trying to help locate Teresa?
KAREN HALBACH: Right. We called Teresa's friends, or Tim and Mike started, and they, in turn, called other people. We had a lot of people looking for her by phone.
MR. KRATZ: Were you able, even on that first day, even on the 3rd of, uh, November, to try to retrace her steps from when she was last seen? That is, on the 31st of October?
KAREN HALBACH: Yes. Mike -- my son, Mike, was able to get into Teresa's cell phone records, and he knew that she -- I'm not sure how to say it or --
MR. KRATZ: Just go ahead.
KAREN HALBACH: He knew that she hadn't looked at her messages or where her -- when she -- when her last call was, and that was on Monday, so he knew that was odd. So we knew something was up so we kept looking for her.
MR. KRATZ: All right. The fact that Teresa hadn't retrieved her voice mail messages since the 31st, um, obviously that worried you?
KAREN HALBACH: Right.
MR. KRATZ: Were you able, or were you, with the assistance of your sons, able to determine the last stops or the last places that Teresa was on the 31st?
KAREN HALBACH: Um, I know the boys knew where her last stops were on the 31st, but I'm not sure how they found that out.
MR. KRATZ: Okay. Do you know if they were using cell phone records to try to retrace her steps on the 31st?
KAREN HALBACH: They were doing that, yes.
MR. KRATZ: Were you told and did you have any discussions with them that, uh, her last appointment that afternoon, that is the 31st, was with, um, Steven Avery, or at least with that property?
KAREN HALBACH: Yes, I was.
MR. KRATZ: mrs. Halbach, between the 3rd of November and the 4th of November, did you work with any outside agencies in trying to search for Teresa? In other words, did you work to develop any missing person posters?
KAREN HALBACH: Yes, we did.
MR. KRATZ: Can you describe that process for us, please?
KAREN HALBACH: On Thursday night Jay Breyer called us. He works with Y.E.S., Youth Educated in Safety. And helped us put together a missing person poster for Teresa.
MR. KRATZ: Have you look at the back of that exhibit that I've given you. What number is that?
KAREN HALBACH: Five.
MR. KRATZ: Exhibit No. 5, can you tell us what that is, please?
KAREN HALBACH: This is Teresa's missing person poster.
MR. KRATZ: All right. On the 3rd, and especially on the 4th, of November, do you recall citizens, um, distributing thousands of these posters throughout Northeast Wisconsin?
KAREN HALBACH: Right. Yes, we did. That was mainly what we did on Friday, was distribute posters.
MR. KRATZ: Do you remember what other efforts citizens, that is, family members and other citizens, engaged in, uh, that Friday? We're talking Friday, the
KAREN HALBACH: Um, my understanding -- I stayed home with our two younger daughters, but they would hand out posters, but they'd also keep their eyes open alongside of the road, you know, in case she had an accident or, um -- I believe they -- if -- they thought she went to Green Bay and back and had an accident, they followed them roads, looked in the ditches.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Were you aware that law enforcement, that is, the police departments, um, were also performing aerial, that is, uh, airplane searches?
KAREN HALBACH: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: Um, was, uh, Teresa or her vehicle found either that Thursday or that Friday?
MR. KRATZ: Tell us, then, what the, um, family and friends of Teresa planned for Saturday, the 5th of November?
KAREN HALBACH: Teresa had a good friend, um, Ryan Hillegas, and he got a group of people together at Teresa's house, and they organized searches in the area in Manitowoc County where she was last seen, or her last three appointments on Monday, so they wanted to search them areas for sure, and they searched all along roadways, under bridges. You know, our main thought was she had -- had a car accident, and, um, I think that's what they focused on.
MR. KRATZ: You had mentioned that, uh, your, um, husband and you had, um, milked cows at least during one of the -- the days. Could you describe whether or not that's the family business? That's what you guys do?
KAREN HALBACH: That's what we do, yeah. We're dairy farmers.
MR. KRATZ: On Saturday, the 5th of November, um, were you aware of a young, uh, woman, um -- actually two women, um, Pam and Nikole Sturm being involved in the search efforts?
KAREN HALBACH: Yes, I was.
MR. KRATZ: Could you tell the jury who is Pam Sturm?
KAREN HALBACH: Pam Sturm is my husband's first cousin.
MR. KRATZ: All right. And do you know where Ms. Sturm and her daughter, Nikole, were searching?
KAREN HALBACH: Um, they had asked Ryan Hillegas if, um, anybody was searching the Avery Salvage Yard. He didn't think so though. So she said her and her daughter were going to go search the junkyard.
MR. KRATZ: All right. I know this is difficult, Ms., uh -- Ms. Halbach, but later that day did you receive any news?
KAREN HALBACH: Pam and Nikole stopped at our house later in the day and told us that they had found Teresa's vehicle.
MR. KRATZ: Were you asked at all to either identify, um, the vehicle or, uh, to further assist in law enforcement efforts that day? That is, Saturday?
KAREN HALBACH: Yes, I was.
MR. KRATZ: And what did you do Saturday, if you remember?
KAREN HALBACH: Um, I think Investigator Wiegert -- Wiegert called me after he was in contact with Pam Sturm and he asked me if Teresa's RAV 4 had a Lem -- LeMieux Toyota sticker on it.
MR. KRATZ: If her what? I'm sorry.
KAREN HALBACH: If her RAV 4 had a LeMieux Toyota sticker on it.
MR. KRATZ: Her vehicle?
KAREN HALBACH: Yeah.
MR. KRATZ: All right. What is a LeMieux Toyota sticker?
KAREN HALBACH: That's where she bought it. In Green Bay.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Do you know if you were able to assist them in that?
KAREN HALBACH: I didn't know for sure, but I knew Mike did, so I called Mike and asked him, and Mike called me back or -- or he said, yes, it did, and then I told Mr. Wiegert it did.
MR. KRATZ: All right. What's the next you heard from law enforcement?
KAREN HALBACH: I -- I draw a blank. I can't think.
MR. KRATZ: Okay. Um, how often was it that law enforcement was contacting you or keeping you informed about the investigation?
KAREN HALBACH: Very often. They kept us well-informed.
MR. KRATZ: Let me just ask you, Mrs. Halbach, uh, we'll get into some other, um, easier areas, but, uh, within the next day or two, uh, were you informed that human, uh, remains were found that they believed to be your daughter Teresa?
KAREN HALBACH: Right. Yeah.
MR. KRATZ: Do you remember when you were told that?
KAREN HALBACH: I think we knew human remains were found Tuesday, but I think on Wednesday, the 9th, we were told that they were identified as Teresa's.
MR. KRATZ: All right. Mrs. Halbach, were you aware of a, um -- a camera, a digital camera, that your daughter had provided to her by AutoTrader Magazine to take pictures of her cars at least for that part of her job?
KAREN HALBACH: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: I'm going to show you what's been marked as Exhibit No. 6, ask if you can tell the jury what that is, please?
KAREN HALBACH: It's the box for the digital camera.
MR. KRATZ: Now, Exhibit No. 6 indicates a, um, PowerShot A310 by Canon. Do you know, um, where this box was located?
KAREN HALBACH: In Teresa's house.
MR. KRATZ: Teresa tend to keep boxes and receipts and things like that?
KAREN HALBACH: Yep, she did that.
MR. KRATZ: Kind of a pack rat?
KAREN HALBACH: Well, I -- I call it organized.
MR. KRATZ: Okay. Were you aware of a, um -- a personal, um, data assistance, something called a PDA, that, uh, Teresa also owned?
KAREN HALBACH: Yes, she had one of them.
MR. KRATZ: I show you what's been marked, uh, for identification as Exhibit No. 7. Tell us what that is, please?
KAREN HALBACH: It's the box for her PDA.
MR. KRATZ: And as long as Mr. Wiegert's up, I'm going to also give you Exhibit No. 10. Tell us what that is, please?
KAREN HALBACH: It's a receipt for PDA that she bought at Target November 15, 2004.
MR. KRATZ: Now, PDA, at least the most common version is, or sometimes it's called a Palm Pilot, do you know what these things do?
KAREN HALBACH: I think you can put your appointments in it, your schedules, that type of thing.
MR. KRATZ: All right. And the Palm Zire 31 brand, uh, the box that we're looking at, um, uh, in the Exhibit that you've just identified, um, was that, again, found in Teresa's apartment?
KAREN HALBACH: Yes, it was.
MR. KRATZ: Just a couple more questions, Mrs. Halbach. The investigation, um, into Teresa's disappearance and her death, uh, required DNA samples being provided. Were you asked for one of those?
KAREN HALBACH: Yes.
MR. KRATZ: And do you know, um -- Do you know about when you had to give a DNA sample to compare with some of the, um, materials that were --
KAREN HALBACH: I would -- I think it was in the spring.
MR. KRATZ: All right. But you did provide a -- a -- a sample of I think it was your saliva; is that right?
KAREN HALBACH: Right.
MR. KRATZ: The last question -- last, uh, difficult question I have for you, Mrs. Halbach, is at anytime after the 30th of October, that evening after 10:00 on the 30th of October, 2005, uh, had you ever seen or heard from your daughter, Teresa Halbach?
KAREN HALBACH: No, I did not.
MR. KRATZ: At this time, Judge, I would move the admissions of Exhibit 1 through 10.
THE COURT: Any objection?
MR. FREMGEN: What was 8 and 9?
MR. KRATZ: The two receipts and the contract.
MR. FREMGEN: No objection.
THE COURT: Mr. Kratz, did you -- did you introduce an Exhibit 4?
MR. KRATZ: That was, uh --
MR. KRATZ: (By Attorney Kratz) I did show you. That was the, uh -- it was a photo of your family. Do you still have it up there?
KAREN HALBACH: No, I gave it back.
MR. KRATZ: Oh. Mr. Wiegert, let's put it up there.
MR. KRATZ: (By Attorney Kratz) We were talking about your family, and I'll show you Exhibit No. 4.
MR. KRATZ: I apologize, Your Honor.
MR. KRATZ: (By Attorney Kratz) I'm showing you Exhibit No. 4. Tell us what this is, please?
KAREN HALBACH: It's a family picture that our daughter, Teresa, set up. She didn't take the picture, because she was --
she's in it, but she set it up.
MR. KRATZ: Uh, timers --
KAREN HALBACH: Uh, no. Mike's girlfriend took the picture. She snapped it.
MR. KRATZ: She just set it up. Can you identify just, uh, briefly for us the people in this picture?
KAREN HALBACH: Um, from left to right in the back row is my husband Tom, and then there's Katie and Kelly, and in the front row is Tim, and then myself, and Mike holding our dog, and Teresa's on the end on the right.
MR. KRATZ: All right.
MR. KRATZ: With that, and with that offer, Judge, that's all the questions I have of this witness. Thank you.
THE COURT: Any objection?
MR. FREMGEN: No, Judge.
THE COURT: All right. They're received. Cross?
MR. FREMGEN: I just have a few questions.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY ATTORNEY FREMGEN:
MR. FREMGEN: Prior to November 5, 2005, have you ever heard of the name Brendan Dassey?
KAREN HALBACH: No, I don't think I did.
MR. FREMGEN: Had Teresa Halbach ever mentioned -- Teresa, your daughter, obviously -- ever mentioned anything about a Brendan Dassey? You mentioned she had mentioned Steven Avery's name before; correct?
KAREN HALBACH: Right.
MR. FREMGEN: Had Brendan's name ever been mentioned by her?
MR. FREMGEN: Okay. Nothing else.
THE COURT: Any redirect?
MR. KRATZ: No. Thank you, Judge.
THE COURT: You may step down.
MR. KRATZ: State will call Katie Halbach to the stand.