3.State's Opening Statement

MR. KRATZ: Can everybody hear me okay? As our tech guy comes up here, I wanted to say good morning. Thank you for the service that you have offered in this case. Uh, you are from Dane County. You're not a Manitowoc County jury, and so it's a great inconvenience, I know, for all of you to sit and listen to this very important case. But let me assure you that this process, the process that you've been going to in the next couple of weeks, um, may include one of the most important decisions, uh, that you're ever going to have to make.

Uh, it is a, uh -- a daunting task for citizens to go through, uh, but it is, uh, obviously important not just to Mr. Dassey, but to the, uh, Halbach family, to the friends of the family, uh, of Teresa Halbach, to the citizens of Manitowoc County, uh, where we currently, uh, are holding this trial.

Uh, the trial, itself, or my opening statement, itself, uh, is not intended to be evidence. The Judge already told you that. Um, but it will be a little bit lengthy, uh, in that we have to take what, uh, may be six or seven weeks of testimony into a trial, uh, and at least in this case fit it into about three days, uh, worth of testimony. And much of the evidence in this case is not contested, uh, will be stipulated to, meaning agreed to, uh, and so you, the jurors, since you don't have the same basis of knowledge that the lawyers do, uh, you have to be told the background and a lot of those facts, and so I'll be doing that in my opening statement as well as having some witnesses testify, uh, about that, uh -- about that as well.

Uh, you will notice around the courtroom are, um, screens, uh, which, um, do, in most regards, um, have the, uh, text or photos or the videotapes that you'll be watching. Uh, they are meant to assist you and give you different places to, uh -- to see those things, and so I wanted to encourage you to do that as well.

Let me also remind you that this is not, um, a closed system in that you can't, uh, participate. Uh, the one way that you can participate, uh, is if one of you needs a break for some reason. Uh, I need to let you know that if you need a break, uh, either, if you're, um, not concentrating well enough, or you just need a -- a regular, uh, kind of other kind of break, just raise your hand, all right? Get my attention or the Judge's attention, and we'll take a break.

And, certainly, during this opening statement, you'll get at least one, and perhaps two, breaks, uh, so that you're able to remain fresh, you're able to, um, listen to the very important statements that myself and the defense will be giving in this opening statement. All right?

First thing I want to talk about is an introduction of the prosecution team. That is, the people that are sitting at or near this table. My name's Ken Kratz. It's the first chance I've had to address each of you. Uh, I am a district attorney. I'm the D.A. of Calumet County, which is the county just east, uh, of Manitowoc, of, uh -- excuse me, just west of Manitowoc, uh, where we are, uh, right now.

Uh, and I am the lead counsel. Nothing special about that term. It just means that, uh, I have, uh, coordinated the, uh, investigation and prosecution of this case, uh, and will be assisting in the presentation of the case as well.

Um, Mr. Fallon, who you already heard from, is an assistant, uh, district attorney. Um, Mr. Fallon, uh, works for the Department of Justice in Madison. Uh, he's the gentleman in the middle, and, uh, will be another prosecutor in this case.

And, finally, Mr. Gahn is a Milwaukee County Assistant District Attorney. Uh, Mr. Gahn will be presenting the parts of the case, you'll notice, where Mr. Gahn has expertise. Uh, that is in DNA evidence, uh, and in the sciences and some of the other places. So I at least wanted to let you know why we're involved.

We, by the way, are helping, we're doing a favor, if you will, for Manitowoc County. Uh, the three prosecutors that have been assigned responsibility for this, uh, important case and the case involving Steven Avery, uh, which were the same prosecutors, the same prosecution team, uh, assisted Manitowoc in, um -- in the efforts of the prosecution. Two lead investigators were involved in this case. Uh, they are, um, Mr. Mark Wiegert, who is the gentleman in the glasses. Mr. Wiegert is an investigator with the Calumet County Sheriff's Department. And Mr. Tom Fassbender, who is seated next to him, works, again, for the Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation.

You're going to learn in this case that several hundred law enforcement officers were involved. Um, that the personnel and the search efforts in this case were, uh, overwhelming. In fact, you're probably going to learn that this was one of the largest, if not, the largest, at least by resources, investigation, criminal investigation, homicide investigation in Wisconsin history. And because of the scope of this case, because of the size of this case, it required investigators to coordinate or to make sure that everything was done, uh, not only properly, but leadership, uh, and direction was, uh -- was certainly required in this case.

If I could have, uh, just a minute. We're going to try to fix at least these two screens so that all of the, uh, text shows, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop. I'm a lawyer so I can -- I can just keep, uh -- keep talking.

Opening statements, as the Judge told you, are an opportunity to tell you what we think the evidence is going to show. But more than that, it's a, uh -- it's a roadmap. It's an overview. Since evidence comes in in bits and pieces, some people describe, uh, trials as, um, puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, if you will, and how evidence may fit into there.

You need to know how each little piece of evidence in this two-week trial is going to fit into the big picture. Is going to fit into whether or not Brendan Dassey is guilty of the three offenses for, uh, which he has been charged.

Uh, I've told you, and you know, and most of you, in fact, I think all of you, uh, have indicated in your questionnaires that you were at least somewhat familiar with the Steven Avery, uh, case. But you didn't hear the evidence in that case. Um, and some of that evidence, as I mentioned, may or may not be contested, but because of the importance of this case, it's still necessary to tell you the whole story. It's necessary to explain all of the physical evidence, as well as the evidence that may be directed towards, uh, Brendan Dassey, and some of that evidence, again, will be physical evidence and some is going to be statements. Uh, and so we intend, uh, to tell you about all of that, certainly, during this opening statement and, uh -- and during this process.

The Judge told you that Mr. Dassey's been charged with three separate offenses; first degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse and first degree sexual assault. He told you the elements. That is, what it is the State has to prove. And we certainly intend to do that.

All right. The first legal concept that I want to talk about is party to the crime. The Judge has instructed you that party to the crime is a, uh -- a concept, a -- a form of criminal liability, that, uh, is committed either when somebody commits a crime, themselves, or when they aid and abet the commission of the crime.

Now, this is the law. Judge Fox will tell you what the law is. So whether you think this is a good idea or a bad idea, it's the law and you have to follow this law. And so the description or the explanation of, as an example, what aiding and abetting means, is important for you to know.

The Judge has told you that a defendant can aid and abet the commission of crime, um, if he assists somebody who commits it or, importantly, and what you might hear in this case, as the evidence may show in this case, uh, quite a bit, is that the individual, in this case, Brendan Dassey, stood ready and willing to assist, and that the actor, in this case, Steven Avery, uh, was an individual who knew of Brendan's willingness to aid and abet. All right?

Now, I'm telling you that this early in the case because this is an important concept. It's important for you to understand what the criminal liability is, and, again, whether you agree with or don't agree with that concept, with the concept of party to the crime, it's something the Judge tells you you have to accept and you have to adopt. I'm going to introduce you to a lovely young woman. This is Teresa Halbach. Ms. Halbach was 25 years old on Halloween of 2005. You're going to hear evidence in this case that Ms. Halbach was single. That Ms. Halbach was a college graduate. Ms. Halbach was a freelance photographer. She was a daughter. She was a sister. She was a friend. And she had her whole life ahead of her.

You're also going to hear evidence that all of that came to an end on Halloween of 2005. This story, this case, begins at about 8:12 a.m. on Halloween Day of 2005 when the plan was set into motion to take this young woman's life. The plan was set into motion to rape, and to kill, and to mutilate this 25-year-old innocent, young woman.

The investigation of this case begins when we learn that Ms. Halbach was reported missing on Thursday, the 3rd of November, 2005. She was a photographer. One of her contracts, one of the reasons, uh, that she was a photographer was she worked for a magazine. She worked for something called AutoTrader Magazine, which was a magazine that sells cars. It -- it, uh, put ads in the cars, and it requires photographers to go around and take pictures, uh, of those cars.

Uh, and so learning about Ms. Halbach, or learning how she worked for AutoTrader Magazine, is important for you to understand about the investigation, because you will learn that the investigation, or at least the missing persons investigation, determined that the last place that Ms. Halbach was on the 31st was a place called the Avery Salvage Yard.

Uh, this is a place located here in Manitowoc in a place called the town of Gibson. It's rural Manitowoc. It's kind of the northern edge, uh, of Manitowoc, uh, but it's a -- a junkyard, a -- a salvage business that has junked cars. Uh, and the, uh, other determination early on in this case was that a man by the name of Steven Avery made an appointment at 8:12 that morning to have Ms. Halbach come to that residence, or to come to that property, which was the Avery salvage property.

I've alluded a little bit earlier about the case against Steven Avery, and you first need to know about the case against Steven Avery, the investigation, uh, that pointed towards Steven Avery being involved in this case.

You may already know, and many of your jury questionnaires told us that you knew, at least some things about this man, about Steven Avery, that he had achieved some degree of notoriety in 2003 when he was exonerated, when he was released from prison for a 1985 sexual assault.

You may know that Mr. Avery, or you'll hear in this case, that Mr. Avery was exonerated or set free because of something called DNA evidence. Because there was some DNA evidence from the '85 case that didn't match, uh, in that case, and that an analyst from the State Crime Lab, one particular analyst, found DNA on one piece of evidence, on a hair that was collected from the 1985 case, that didn't match. That didn't match Steven Avery. And so Mr. Avery was released. He was released from prison.

Ironically, you will hear, that that, um, analyst from the Crime Lab, the DNA, um, specialist who exonerated Steven Avery, was a woman named Sherry Culhane. You're going to hear her name later on in this case, because Ms. Culhane, as evidence is developed in this case, happens to be the very same analyst that does the DNA, um, workup. That does all of the testing of the DNA case.

All right. I'm going to -- Because the side screens are not quite as large, the bottom's cut off or the top is cut off, you're going to have to look behind me at least until we take our break when we fix, uh, these side screens.

But this is the very first time, and the very first important photo that I want you all to look at. This is the Avery salvage property. The Avery Salvage Yard. It consists of about 40 acres of junked cars. It consists of four different residences. Four trailers on this peep -- piece of property.

The Steven Avery trailer, which is located in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen, or which would be the northwest corner of the property. Right next to Mr. Avery's trailer is his sister's, uh, property. Her name at that time was Barb Janda. Also living with Barb at the time were her sons, four sons, all with the name of Dassey. Uh, they included, uh, the defendant, Brendan Dassey, uh, his brothers, uh, Blaine and Bobby and Bryan. They all lived on that property as well. Another trailer that's located on this property was the Allen and Delores Avery trailer. These were the grandparents of Brendan, or the mom and dad, if you will, of, uh, Steven and, uh, his sister, Barb.

And also on the property was the -- his brother, Chuck's, trailer. So there's four residences. You can see of the buildings that are on this massive, um, um, property for them are businesses. You'll also notice on these, um, aerial photographs that there's lots of buildings. There's outbuilding, there's business buildings, there's, uh, a lot of sheds and those kind of things that, uh, you need to be familiar with as you hear about some of the searches and where some of the evidence, uh, is -- is found. All right?

Well, the investigation takes a dramatic turn on the morning of, uh, Saturday, November 5, when, uh, two citizen searchers, uh, uh, Nikole and Pam Sturm, uh, when given permission to search the Avery salvage property, these 40 acres, uh, happened to find the picture that you've seen here. They happened to find Teresa Halbach's SUV.

Uh, you'll notice, uh, Teresa Halbach's SUV is covered. It is concealed. Uh, there'll be testimony that it was intentionally concealed, uh, with branches of debris and this very large, um, hood for a vehicle. A -- a -- a large, uh, either car or truck hood is -- is leaned up against it.

Suffice it to say, though, that at 10:30 in the morning on the 5th of November, this case takes a very dramatic turn. You'll hear that the VIN number, that is the Vehicle Identification Number, when they're looking for Teresa, when the citizens are searching for Teresa, actually matches, uh, and so they know at that time that the, uh, vehicle is, in fact, the vehicle in question.

Importantly, you'll hear evidence about where the vehicle was found. Ms. Halbach's vehicle was found in the opposite corner of both the Avery and Dassey, uh, trailer. Uh, and, again, it's behind kind of a pond, but it's immediately adjacent to or close to a car crusher.

Uh, that, uh, car crusher is equipment, you will hear in this case, evidence will show, uh, is the kind of equipment designed to crush cars. It kind of makes sense. It's -- it's called a -- a car crusher. But to make vehicles, um, very, very small, almost unidentifiable, and easily removed, uh, from the property. And you'll see why, and you'll hear why, uh, Teresa Halbach's vehicle is placed, uh, in that location. That is, that proximity to the car crusher.

You'll also hear later on that night, after search warrants are obtained -- You'll hear what search warrants are. Search warrants are judicial authorization. Uh, that is, a judge tells law enforcement that you can go ahead and search a property for, um, evidence of a crime.

Uh, and after those search warrants were obtained, you're going to hear that first evening that, uh, some K-9 units, what are called cadaver dogs, at least insentence -- insensitively called cadaver dogs, uh, dogs that are trained to find and detect human remains, um, they, in fact, uh, hit on, uh, the, um, vehicle of, uh, uh, Teresa Halbach, uh, alerting, indicating that there was either a deceased individual in the back of that car, or that there's human blood, uh, in the back of the car.

You're going to hear evidence that this vehicle was loaded onto an enclosed trailer. It wasn't processed there at the scene. It was actually driven to Madison, to the Madison Crime Lab, for processing at that time. All right?

Now, let me just tell you, again, this is a lot of information. This is, uh, days and days and days worth of, uh, testimony that, again, we're going to try to, uh, kind of fit into a short period of time because, uh, it's important to get to the crux of this case, uh, what we'll be able to show a little bit later.

But on Saturday, residences and places are starting to be searched. All right? The first place, or at least one of the first places to be searched, is the trailer of, uh, Steven Avery.

You'll hear from Agent Fassbender, and others that are involved in this search effort, that they want to find Teresa. Their first efforts -- And early on in this case, uh, even though they found her vehicle, Teresa hasn't been found yet. And so they're desperately looking for Teresa Halbach, hopefully, alive. They're hoping to find her on this property alive. And so you're going to hear of the law enforcement effort to search all of these residences, again, which include the trailer, which include the garage of Steven Avery, and other residences, including Brendan Dassey's, uh, home, uh, business, uh, properties, uh, on the property, uh, and also other, um, vehicles. In fact, all of the junked cars. Uh, you'll see photos of 4,000 junked cars.

I hope at the end of this case you'll be able to appreciate just how many cars that is to search, each and every one of those cars, on at least two or three different occasions, by not only law enforcement, but volunteer firefighters and other, uh, citizen searchers. All right?

Um, also, on, uh, the next day, that is on the 6th, that Sunday, the 6th of November, you're going to hear that every one of those junked cars is opened, is searched. Again, they're looking for Teresa Halbach's body.

You're going to hear that a rifle, one of the two rifles that was in Steven Avery's residence was seized that Sunday. Uh, this rifle is a .22 caliber Marlin Glenfield semi-automatic, uh, rifle. You'll hear about the significance of this rifle, but you'll hear that it was actually hanging on the wall -- at least when officers found it -- hanging on a gun rack right on the wall in the bedroom of Steven Avery.

You're going to hear about, uh, a phone message, uh, that was, uh, recovered. Uh, this phone message was recovered from Brendan Dassey's, uh, home. Uh, you're going to hear in this case -- and I know that I've advanced a little bit quickly for you, but when Steven Avery made the appointment to lure Teresa Halbach to the property, evidence will show that he used the name, B. Janda. His sister's name is Barb Janda.

So using his sister's name, using his sister's phone number, or the call back number, uh, you're going to hear, uh, this -- or expect you'll hear this, uh, tape, this, um, uh, voice recording of Teresa, indicating that she got the message, uh, that, uh, the time that, uh, she would be able to come and take photographs of a van that was for sale was sometime after 2:00, uh, on that day. But, again, it was recovered and you'll be able too hear, um, that evidence.

On Monday, uh, the 7th, the Crime Lab -- uh, and, again, it's a little bit better if you look at -- at this -- um, they make a startling discovery. Remember the SUV of Teresa was taken to the, um -- the Crime Lab for processing? They found male blood in six different locations in the SUV and they found a great deal of female blood in the back, or what's called the cargo area, of Teresa's, uh, SUV. These were the first results, uh, they had gotten. They didn't get any D re -- DNA results back yet, but they could tell it was male blood, and they could tell that it was both, uh, female blood.

You'll hear from investigators, from Mr. Fassbender, and even from some of the Crime Lab people, that when you find male blood and you find that amount of female blood, uh, in the back or in the cargo area of an SUV, it became very obvious on Monday, the 7th, just a couple of days into this investigation, that something terrible had happened. That a crime had happened. Criminal behavior, uh, was afoot, and that, uh, the search then began for what person or persons were involved in committing these crimes.

Also, on Monday, you're going to hear about a burn barrel that was recovered from just outside of Steven Avery's, uh, residence. Uh, the Steven Avery and the Brendan Dassey, uh, residences, again, are next to each other, kind of between them, closer to Mr. Avery's house, is an Avery, um, burn barrel.

Uh, this is another photograph to kind of give you a -- an idea of how close not only the burn barrel is to the Steven Avery trailer, but also, and more importantly, how close this burn barrel is to the van. This is the maroon van that Teresa Halbach, the evidence will show, was asked to come and take pictures of on Halloween Day on 2005, and so you'll hear about, uh -- about all of those things.

The next day, Tuesday, uh, the 8th, you're going to hear that a thorough search was, um, performed of Steven Avery's trailer. Uh, and found in Steven Avery's bedroom was a key. This was a Toyota key. You will hear evidence that later this Toyota key matches the key of Teresa Halbach's SUV. It starts the ignition. It turns, uh, um, the ignition. The second important finding on the 8th was Teresa's license plates. These are found in a junked vehicle, uh, kind of on the path on the way to Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey's, uh, residence.

And the third, and most chilling, discovery, uh, on the 8th, the evidence will show, is, uh, this burn area.

Now, to give you an idea or an overview, again, of this corner, this quadrant, of the Avery property, again, the, uh, Dassey and Janda trailer, Steven Avery trailer, the van that was for sale, you'll be able to see that, uh, this burn area, uh, was found just a -- a few feet behind the garage of Steven Avery.

You're going to hear evidence that within this burn area, um, obvious human bone fragments were found. You're going to hear that the Crime Lab came to process this scene, that arson investigators came to process the scene. They recovered, uh, at least on that first day, that is, Tuesday, the 8th, as many of the bones that they could recover from this obvious, um, uh, destructive, uh, area, this burn area, and the evidence will, uh, show that, um, uh -- how the bones were, uh -- were recovered and transported for identification and examination.

You're going to hear that officers -- Remember, this is Tuesday. They had gotten there Saturday already. That officers weren't able to, um, recover or to even examine this area. Uh, either police officers, themselves, humans, or with the assistance of K-9s, cadaver dogs, or bloodhounds, or any kind of search dogs, were not able to, uh, inspect this particular area, um, because of a German Shepherd that was, uh, vicious and that was guarding that particular, uh, area. That particular burn area.

This is a photo that just assists you and explains why it took until Tuesday to find these, um, human remains in that area. All right?

We'll move a little bit more quickly into the following -- or into the balance of that week. Uh, the recovery of those bones, you will hear, were in very, very, uh, small, um, size. They were also very, um, degraded. They were charred. Um, but they were all examined, um, by a forensic anthropologist. We'll talk about that a little bit, uh, later in the case. But what you need to know on Wednesday is that they were able to say that they're human bones and that they're from an adult female.

Uh, officers, obviously, at this point believe that this is the site of the mutilation and the disposal of Teresa Halbach.

Later, on the next day, on Thursday, uh, this burn area -- this is a little computer-generated image of the burn area, uh, officers, um, are able to further excavate and, um, recover all the rest of the bones that, uh, are found in that area.

And let me just take a -- a moment, uh, to tell you about these computer-generated images, uh, that you're going to see. There's a gentleman by the name of Tim Austin. He is a, um, employee with the Wisconsin State Patrol. Uh, Tim Austin was at the scene for, uh, at least seven of the days, uh, that led up to or included the processing of the scene, and Mr. Austin -- you're going to hear evidence he took at least 4,100 measurements and later created, uh, not only still images, uh, of the exterior of the property, exterior of Mr. Avery's, uh, garage, and trailer, and the burn area, and, uh, the Janda and Dassey areas, um, but also some of the interiors.

Because you're not going to be able to go out there, because you're not going to be able to do a -- a scene visit, um, Mr. Austin created for you, uh, kind of a tour. Um, many of you might be familiar with at least with some kind of computers, virtual tours, that you're able to kind of tour the area and -- and get kind of a -- a -- a lay of the land, if you will, and you'll hear how accurate, uh, the depictions are. You're going to see it. You're going to see the virtual tour so that you get a better flavor or feel for where one item might be in relation to another. All right? So, uh, we also have for you these computer-generated images, um, that you'll see.

Now, you heard about Sherry Culhane. You heard about her doing some DNA work in this case. Now, you're going to hear that Ms. Culhane received from law enforcement 180 items -- 180 items of evidence, uh, where officers asked that a DNA profile be developed. Uh, you're going to hear that that is the largest submission of evidence, ever, at the Wisconsin State Crime Lab, uh, and that the amount of DNA work in this case, uh, was absolutely overwhelming. Ms. Culhane, and although not as important, uh, in, uh, this case, uh, will still tell you about all of the profiles that she was able to develop. She'll tell you what DNA is, and it's a genetic fingerprint, and how you can make matches and all those kind of things. All right?

With that having been said, though, you're going to hear that one of the bones that was recovered, one of the bones that was recovered in the pit, still had some tissue on it. So it had some muscle tissue on the bone. It wasn't completely burned. It wasn't completely degraded. This allowed Ms. Culhane, uh, to develop a DNA profile, uh, and, in fact, positively match this leg bone, uh, to the sample, to the exemplar, to the standard of Teresa Halbach.

So after that, um, bone is examined, and after a DNA profile is established, there isn't any more question as to who this female skeleton is, this mutilated, um, fragmentary skeleton belongs to, and that is, with 100 percent certainty, Teresa Halbach.

So the investigative timeline, that is, the first, um, eight or ten days of this case, um, includes -- These aren't going to help you because we have stuff on the bottom. So you're going to have to look forward. Again, I apologize for that. That will be fixed at, uh -- at the break.

But on the 31st of October, um, Teresa Halbach is killed. You're going to hear about the timeline of October 31. You're going to hear that at 8:12 in the morning on the 31st, Steven Avery lures or calls, um, AutoTrader Magazine, and Teresa Halbach is asked to come out to the scene. You're also going to hear she'd been there five times before, um, but always with the name of, uh, Steven Avery. Uh, at least I think that's what the evidence is going to show. But Mr. Avery used a different name, uh, that is, B. Janda, to get her to come out on that afternoon.

You're going to hear at 11:43 that morning, so sometime just before noon, Teresa Halbach makes that call, that's recorded, to Brendan Dassey and Barb Janda's answering machine saying, I can come out. Uh, I'll be out there sometime after 2:00, uh, today.

You're going to hear about the two stops she made before Steven Avery's and Brendan Dassey's residence. That is, at the Steven Schmitz residence about 1:30, and sometime between 2 and 2:30 at a woman by the name of JoEllen Zipperer's. Uh, the similar kind of stops. She stops, she takes pictures of the cars, she gives them an AutoTrader Magazine, a bill of sale, she completes the transaction before taking the photo for AutoTrader, and then she goes on to her next stop that day.

Well, her next stop that day, uh, was that of, um -- at the Steven Avery salvage property. You're going to hear at 2:27 p.m. a woman from AutoTrader, Dawn Pliszka, talks to, uh, Teresa Halbach. You're going to hear that during that conversation, um, Ms. Halbach says, I'm on my way. I'm on my way to the Steven Avery property. So when we talk about a timeline, when was she there? About when does she get there?

You're going to hear that the Zipperer residence is less than ten minutes from the Avery property. And if at 2:27 she says, I'm on my way, it can be no longer or later than 3:27 or about 3:40. Excuse me, 2:27 or about 2:40 in the afternoon, 20 to 3, that Teresa Halbach gets to Steven Avery's property where the photos are taken.

You will hear evidence that she completes the transaction. She takes the photos of the van just like she's been asked to do. Uh, you will then hear, uh, in, unfortunately, graphic detail, what happens at Teresa Halbach after 2:40 in the afternoon.

Let's go back to the investigation for just a minute, though. Teresa doesn't show up for work on the Ist or 2nd of, um, November. On the 3rd, the Halbach family and friends become understandably concerned, and they begin to retrace Teresa's steps. Where is Teresa? How can we find her?

On the 4th, both the citizen efforts and the law enforcement efforts to find Teresa are kind of ramped up. Um, they do aerial searches, uh, they look at financial transactions, they check out her cell phone records, and which towers that her cell phone kind of ping off of, or bounce off of, and also you'll hear about the distribution of missing person posters at that time by citizens. You'll hear that on the morning of the 5th her vehicle is found at 10:30 in the morning by the Sturms. At about 2:00, investigators, uh, become actively involved in searching, or at least in obtaining search warrants, and then, uh, searching the property, and you'll then hear about the searches continuing.

Uh, very quickly, on Sunday, the, um, firearms and garage is searched, and you'll hear about the evidence, uh, that is obtained.

On the 7th, it becomes more full scale. Lots and lots, in fact, hundreds of law enforcement officers and volunteers and citizens become involved in the search of this massive 40-acre property. Uh, at that time all the junked vehicles, uh, are searched, and you'll hear about the discovery of the burn barrel.

On the 8th, those three critical discoveries that we talked about, uh, that is, the Toyota key being found in Steven Avery's bedroom, uh, SUV plates are found at that time, and the burn area is discovered, which -- excuse me -- contains, uh, those human remains.

The 9th becomes an important day. Steven Avery's arrested. Steven Avery's arrested for a weapons charge. On the 9th, he's interviewed. But what you'll also hear about the Steven Avery contact on the 9th, uh, is that officers take some photographs. They do a, uh, physical examination of Steven Avery, and they find a cut that you'll see in just a few minutes.

On the 10th, the burn area is further, um, examined. On the key, itself, on the key that was found in Steven's bedroom, they find his DNA. We'll talk about that a -- a -- a little bit, uh -- a little bit further.

On the 11th, um, the victim's blood, that is the female blood, from within the SUV -- Remember the big pool? Or the big, uh, stains in the cargo area in Teresa's, uh, SUV? Uh, those now match, uh, a soda can that Teresa had up in the front of the vehicle. It's then presumed, uh, to be that of Teresa Halbach's.

So those are the first, uh, eight days or so of the investigation and what you need to know. Again, that's probably, you know, two-and-a-half or three weeks, or could be, of testimony that, in this case, we're going to try to fit into a layer of evidence, try to fit into about two days, maybe two-and-a-half days. So it's going to go quickly, but it's meant to give you a flavor of the size of this case, the scope of this case, uh, and also, to the credit not only of the Halbach family and to the memory of Teresa, but you need to hear it. You need to hear the whole story, uh, of the investigation.

We talked about those DNA matches that, uh, Ms. Culhane developed at the, uh, Crime Lab. You're going to hear that Teresa's, um, blood, uh, is, in fact, later positively identified, positively matched, to a standard in the cargo and -- and panel, uh, area.

The back cargo door. You're going to hear about, uh, blood having been actually flung, uh, onto that door. You're going to hear from a person by the name of Nick Stahlke, a blood spatter expert, as to how those kind of blood spatters, uh, can be left in a very violent, uh, kinds of -- uh, of episodes.

You're going to hear her blood was found on the rear tailgate, uh, the door handle, and, again, on the -- on the soda can.

Uh, Steven Avery's blood, uh, is found, like I told you, in six different places in the vehicle. Positive matches, uh, for Steven Avery, on the, uh, rear passenger door, near the ignition area, um, where Steven Avery's actively bleeding finger actually leaves some DNA, uh, in the ignition area. Also, in the front, that is the front passenger part, of the SUV, that is on the, uh, CD case and, uh, on both of the front seats.

I told you before about the cut, the actively bleeding cut, on Steven Avery, uh, on the 9th. We will show you pictures, uh, of the remnants of that cut. It was healing, uh, but just how deep that cut was. And you can draw the conclusions, and, in fact, uh, it may or may not even be contested that his finger was actively bleeding on the 31st when he struggled with Teresa, uh, and when he, uh, loaded her in the back of, uh, uh, the vehicle, uh, and helped and dispose of the vehicle to, uh, conceal that particular crime. And, finally, you're going to hear evidence of the DNA of Steven Avery being found on Teresa Halbach's key. You're going to hear about how DNA is the same whether it's in your blood, whether it's in other bodily fluids, um, perspiration, skin cells, semen, uh, other kinds of places. It's the same genetic code. It's the same DNA that's found. And when Steven was handling, uh, that, uh, key, uh, he left his perspiration, he left his sweat on that key, and Ms. Culhane, excuse me, was able to develop a full profile. All right?

Everybody take a deep breath, because we're now going to start talking about the reason that you're here. That was all of Steven Avery's case where the evidence that pointed -- excuse me -- to Steven Avery.

Uh, this is going to be a time when the Judge is going to allow you to take a few minute break, your morning break. Excuse me. After you return, we will then tell you about what evidence it is that the State intends to show, uh, and why it is, uh, that the State intends to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that that man, uh, that Brendan Dassey -- excuse me -- committed the crimes of first degree intentional homicide, mutilation, and sexual assault.

So if we may, Judge, a -- a 10- or 15-minute --

MR. KRATZ: The screens have been fixed. The reason we're here is for Brendan Dassey. For the jury to consider Brendan Dassey's behavior. Uh, that is whether he participated in criminal behavior.

The Judge instructed you that you're going to be able to take notes during the testimony in this case, during the presentation of -- of the evidence. Um, and as you take notes, um, it oftentimes is a suggestion from the lawyers, Mr., um, Fremgen or -- or Edelstein, whoever is giving their opening statement, may have suggestions, uh, for you as well.

But in note taking, in taking detailed notes, which you're going to be able to use

during your deliberations, the two questions at least that the State is going to ask, or present evidence, that's going to ask you to answer are these: Number one, was he there? And, number two, did he help? Was he there? And did he help?

On November 6, Brendan Dassey, right after this case began, right after the investigation began in this case, denied any knowledge of Teresa Halbach's death. Uh, indicated some version that he had seen his Uncle Steve talking with, uh, Teresa, but the investigators pretty much discarded that, because it wasn't consistent, it didn't fit with the timeline. Didn't fit with the evidence.

Remember, Teresa got there about 2:40. You're going to hear evidence that Brendan didn't get off the bus from school until 3:45, a full hour after that meeting, after Teresa would have been talking out on a porch with, uh, Mr. Avery. And so Brendan was nowhere on the radar screen. He was nowhere, uh, a suspect. He was a -- a witness, like any other witness, who might have been on the property.

That tends to change on February 27 when Brendan starts giving new details. He's reinterviewed, uh, based upon some, uh, other information that was obtained by Mr. Fassbender and Mr. Wiegert, and he then becomes a much more important witness. He's a witness at this point.

He says he sees Steve standing near the fire. He sees body parts of Teresa Halbach in the fire. He helps put fuel on the fire to help kind of stoke up the fire, if you will. And Uncle Steve makes some admissions that, uh, Uncle Steve stabbed Teresa Halbach, but that also that Mr. Dassey saw some clothing. And, interestingly, he said he saw Teresa's clothing in a bag and he saw them in a bag in the garage.

Well, as officers, you will learn, kind of reconstructed that February 27 statement. They started saying, as investigators do, well, wait a second, that can't happen that way. How can he describe Teresa Halbach's clothing if they're in a bag?

Forensic interviews, you will hear -- you'll hear testimony from, uh, Investigator Mark Wiegert -- uh, are designed for witnesses. Witnesses give interviews, and forensic interviewing, uh, you will hear, um, some version of what's called the funnel technique. And I'm not going to bore you right now, because I'll let Mr. Wiegert bore you, uh, later with, uh -- with what the funnel technique is.

The theory, though, is that witnesses when you're trying to get details, the evidence will show, is that you start with a free narrative. A narrative. Tell me everything you know about what happened in the case. And then it becomes more and more directed. Uh, you can ask direct questions, or more focused questions, or even, in the rare case, you can ask leading questions, to try to draw out of witnesses what they know about the case. That makes sense. It makes sense that you want them to tell you everything, but you're going to have to follow up with, um -- with questions.

You're also going to hear, though, that there's a difference between interviews and interrogations. Interrogations are designed for suspects. They're not designed for witnesses. And you're going to hear in this case -- in fact, you're going to hear a lot in this case -- about interrogations, about the interrogative process, about the process of asking questions, and the

process of obtaining truthful information from suspects.

You're going to hear that confessing to a crime, and, in fact, the most serious crime is murder, but confessing to any crime is an unnatural act. It goes against a human's, um, feeling of self-preservation. Okay? That should make sense to -- to everybody, and the evidence is going to show that. That it is difficult to have somebody admit to a very, very serious, um, crime. And so there are techniques that are developed to encourage suspects. Again, these are interrogations, these aren't interviews. But to encourage suspects to provide truthful information. You're going to hear about those techniques, that those techniques include some kind of an accusation that the person's not telling the truth. And in every confession, every admission that Mr. Wiegert, and perhaps other witnesses, will tell you about, they always start with a denial. I wasn't involved in the case.

You will then hear how confessions or admissions move from denials to admissions. It's called shifting from denials to admissions. You're going to hear about the stages where an individual will become in a very passive mode, will allow the investigator to do most of the talking. In fact, you'll hear about body language, and looking down, and -- and, uh, really kind of, uh, allowing the investigator to give their version about what happened.

And you will see a point -- They'll describe a point -- that is, investigators will describe a point -- in every interrogation where this happens, but in Mr. Dassey's case, you will see a point where that first admission occurs. The first acceptance of some responsibility for being involved in the case. All right? Then the rest of the interrogation is drawing out as many details as you possibly can.

Now, I told you that, um, moving from denials to admissions are unnatural. It's a difficult kind of thing to do, and there's two techniques in this case, and you'll see evidence in this case, um, that you'll hear a lot.

The first technique, uh, is something called expressing superior knowledge. Investigators oftentimes -- and if you think

about it they have to -- they oftentimes express that they know more than they do. Uh, that they have more information than they really have.

You're going to hear evidence, you're going to hear testimony, when officers say things like, it's all right, we already know what happened, or words to that effect, in this case, you're going to hear that over and over and over again, it's all right, we already know what happened, understand that the officers will explain that that is a technique. It isa technique to encourage that unnatural act. To encourage the act of going from a denial, uh, to, uh, an admission.

You'll also hear testimony about how guilty people, that is, people who really do commit crimes, how they hear that very phrase, it's all right, we already know what happened, how they hear that differently than somebody who's innocent, or somebody who may not have committed a crime. All right?

So you can kind of figure it out yourselves. I mean, jurors, you'll be able to figure this out, and the evidence will help you with that, but guilty people, when they hear we already know what happened, will tend to make admissions. Innocent people, who weren't involved at all, who hear we already know what happened, will think, good, then you're going to know I wasn't involved, and so how it plays on, and you'll need to kind of understand that difference in the dynamic.

The last, um, concept that you'll hear about, that I want to talk about in opening statement, is giving a suspect a reason to admit. We talked about that before. Uh, is a suggestion that they will feel better. That they will have some moral acceptance. All right? Some real or perceived better feelings about themselves if they get it off their chest. So whether you'll sleep better, or you'll feel better, or you'll get it off your chest, or words to that effect, when you hear that in this case, know, and you'll hear evidence about, that this is a technique -- an interrogation technique -- and you'll hear a lot about that.

Well, there's safeguards, too, that you're going to hear about. We don't just, uh, base your case on admissions or confessions of people, but you have to try to verify what it is

that somebody says. And this screen explains some of those things that the testimony will show in this case.

Can that person's statement be verified, or what's called "corroborated", through physical evidence or other known facts? Right? That makes sense.

Number two, were the details not yet known to the public, and, more importantly, I'm going to throw in here, were they not yet even known to the law enforcement officers who were asking the question?

And, number three, the ability of the suspect to resist false suggestions. Not to resist suggestions, but to resist false suggestions. We'll talk about that when we talk about these March 1 statements.

Now, you're going to hear in this case that there was nothing unique about the March 1 interrogation of Brendan Dassey other than it started off as a witness' statement. Remember, on March 1 Brendan Dassey was still a witness. He was not a suspect at all. He wasn't on, uh, the radar screen. All Brendan did at that point,

or all the police knew at that point, is that he may have seen some things in a fire of his Uncle Steve, Steven, um, uh, Avery. And you're going to see that entire March 1 statement given by Brendan Dassey.

Now, some of it is going to be difficult to watch for a couple of reasons.

Number, one, some of it's really boring, um, but we're going to show you start to finish the entire admission. I think it's about four hours long. So as you think later in this week, um, just prepare yourselves, you're going to have four hours of sitting and watching, um, a lot of times, not very interesting, um -- interesting questions.

But let me also warn you, because it's fair for me to do this, that some of the details may be disturbing. Uh, they are statements made by a young man who involved himself in some very, very serious behavior, some very serious choices. And you're going to hear how he made those choices, and the kinds of things that he and his uncle did to this 25-year-old girl. All right?

Now, we have to give you those details. We have to play the entire, um, statement for

you. You're the jury in this case. You have to determine whether or not this makes sense, the degree of detail that Brendan gives, the words that Brendan uses, whether or not they ought to be believed. That's your job. Your job at the end of this case will decide whether that statement ought to be believed.

I'm going to briefly go through what Brendan Dassey says on March 1, the version -- Brendan's version of what happened to Teresa Halbach.

Brendan Dassey, in, again, sometimes graphic detail, will talk about approaching Uncle Steve's trailer, and before he even knocks on the door, he hears screaming. He hears screaming from inside of the trailer, and he knocks on the door.

Now, remember what I told you before about, um, Brendan's statements and should they be believed, and the things that, uh, was he there, uh, and did he help?

Uh, remember, also -- And at the end of my opening, we're going to talk about some choices and the evidence of some choices that Brendan makes. But the choice to knock on the door, even though you hear screaming from a young woman inside, uh, is the first choice that Brendan makes.

You're going to hear that Steven Avery answers the door. You're going to hear that he's sweaty, and that he tells Brendan Dassey that he has raped this woman that he has in the back of his bedroom. These are difficult, hard images to kind of wrap your mind around. But this is the version that Brendan Dassey gave on the 31st of October.

Brendan actually sees Teresa tied up. He sees her shackled with handcuffs and leg irons to the back bed -- in the back bedroom. And, here, when we talk about decisions, Mr. Avery, himself, asks Brendan if he wants to have sex with the woman that's been restrained in the bedroom now.

Some of the language is very graphic, um, he -- they don't use the word, do you want to have sex. All right? They use some very, very crude, degrading language towards any woman, but certainly towards a young woman, uh, who is in this trailer already.

When we talk about those decisions that

Brendan gets to make at this point, Brendan says, yes, I want to do that.

You're going to hear that Brendan Dassey rapes Teresa Halbach. You hear that he walks into the bedroom while Teresa's restrained on the bed, and by force, and by violence, and with the use and threat of a weapon, he has sexual intercourse with this woman without her consent.

You're going to hear a lot more details that I'm not going to share with you at this time about that particular moment, that particular, um, event. I want you to listen to that young man's description of what Teresa Halbach says to him as he's doing that to her.

After the rape, Steven Avery praises his nephew, and says, that's how you do it. These are explanations, again, from Brendan. The repulsive expression, lack of empathy, lack of any kind of moral fiber, any kind of moral compass at all, for an uncle to tell a nephew, that's how you do it. Then Steven and Brendan discuss if they should, and how they should, kill Teresa Halbach. Again, the decision tree. What does Brendan decide to do? Steve says, will you help me? Brendan says, yes. You'll hear testimony about Steven and Brendan going into the bedroom. Steven Avery stabs the victim. Brendan Dassey, handed the knife by Uncle Steve, cuts Teresa Halbach's throat.

You're going to hear that they take, um, this 25-year-old woman, unclothed, to the garage. They place her on the floor. Dassey waits with Teresa Halbach, who is not yet dead, laying on the floor, as Mr. Avery retrieves his .22 caliber Marlin Glenfield semi-automatic rifle, and Brendan says Uncle Steve shoots her ten times, at least twice in the head, including on the left side of her head.

The statement goes on that Avery and Dassey load Ms. Halbach, who's now been killed, thankfully, into the back of her -- cargo area of her SUV, and they decide how to dispose of her body.

Mr. Avery dis -- discusses and decides that, uh, we should burn the body. Should mutilate the body so that it can conceal the crime. Mr. Dassey will tell investigators that he helped. That he helped carry this unclothed young woman to this large bonfire in the back of

Steven's garage and throws this young girl on the fire.

You're going to hear that, um, Mr. Dassey describes burning, mutilating the body to conceal the murder, and taking this very large car seat -- remember, you saw that in earlier pictures -- and the two of them threw this car seat onto the fire.

By the way, let me just stop here, and, as you take notes, as you take notes during this trial, please remember to jot down the kinds of things that require two people. Please remember to jot down where it's a two-man job rather than a one-man job, to help you decide, was he there?

This is one of those places that requires a two-man job. This large, um, car seat that you'll see, this large metal frame, that's thrown on top of this young woman whose body's being mutilated.

You're going to hear Brendan tell the officers that the vehicle was driven down to that pit area that we, uh, talked about, that it was concealed with branches and a car hood, and the license plates were removed, and Steven Avery, for some reason, went underneath the hood of, uh,

Teresa's vehicle.

Brendan Dassey will tell you that the garage that, thereafter, when they walked back, that the garage was cleaned with bleach, was cleaned with gas, was cleaned with paint thinner, that Mr. Avery took the Toyota key, put it into his bedroom, that Teresa's clothes were thrown onto the fire.

They're statements from Brendan. Remember this. Brendan's telling you that her clothes were thrown on the fire, that Avery's finger was cut and actively bleeding at the time, that Teresa's cell phone and camera were burned in the burn barrel earlier that day, and that Steven's girlfriend, Jodi, Jodi Stachowski, had called Steven Avery's house at least twice while Brendan was at the house.

Those are the statements of an individual. The details of an individual who's committed rape and murder and mutilation. It's your decision, the jury's decision alone, whether or not he was there and whether or not he helped. And when you evaluate Brendan's testimony, you're going to have to come up with, um, those decisions. I can't tell you. There's no expert

witness, the Judge, uh, nobody can tell you, but the jury, collectively, will decide whether to believe Brendan or not.

Now, the police officers will provide you with some help to corroborate, to explain the confession, the evidence in this case. Uh, you'll have to ask yourself whether the police already know. Even though Mr. Wiegert keeps saying, it's all right, Brendan, we already know, you're going to find out they didn't already know, uh, what -- and were very, very surprised of, uh, what Brendan, uh, was telling them detail after detail after detail.

What did they suspect? Um, and what could the police verify? What later could they find, by physical evidence, to support or to corroborate what it was that Brendan was saying?

Later that same day, on March 1, you're going to hear that the officers -- they got a search warrant. They said, well, if Brendan says that Teresa was shot in the garage, we better go take a look in that garage. We better take a better look than we took last time. The evidence that will be presented to you that will verify Brendan Dassey's statements, the State believes, will be compelling, the State will -- believes will corroborate or verify what Brendan says. Again, we're not going to ask you take Brendan's word for it, all of these things, but all of these questions that I'm going to ask you now, and this is the last portion of my opening statement, uh, is meant to, um, explain to you the physical evidence that answers all of these questions.

When Brendan says that Teresa was in the trailer on 31st, do we believe that or not? Well, you're going to see evidence that, uh, an AutoTrader Magazine and the bill of sale, the completion of the transaction, the completion of the photography, and her business with Steven are found in the trailer. Found inside the trailer verifying what Brendan said.

Was Teresa restrained that day as Brendan says? You're going to hear that both handcuffs and leg irons were found in Steven Avery's bedroom during the search of his bedroom.

The most important question, perhaps, is was she shot in the garage? And that's where the March 1 search warrant becomes so critically important. You're going to see the snow, and the snow is kind of your cue that this is in March, rather than, uh, the November, uh, before.

Uh, this is Steven Avery's garage where they do a much more thorough search, uh, of, uh -- of the garage.

There are two -- These are called evidence tents, by the way, and No. 9 and No. 23, which is back here, which I'll show you in just a minute, are the important ones. Officers do, in fact, find two bullets. Remember? He said that she was shot in the garage.

The police, on March 1, as a result of Steve -- of, uh, Brendan Dassey's statements, after getting the search warrant, find two bullets in the garage. One where Tent No. 9 was shown, it's closer to the front of the garage, and one behind a compressor, where Tent No. 23, uh, is located. This is a better view for you of where, uh, those two bullets are found in the garage, but the most important finding is No. 23. Bullet No. 23 isn't just a bullet they find, but Sherry Culhane finds Teresa Halbach's DNA on that bullet.

This evidence, this bullet, is proof positive, 100 percent, something the police

didn't know, that Teresa was, in fact, shot in the garage, just like Brendan Dassey told the police.

Was she shot ten times? You're going to hear, on the 6th when they reviewed and they examined and collected evidence, there were 11 separate .22 caliber shell casings that were recovered. Very consistent. Was she shot with this very .22 caliber rifle? Again, of all the rifles in the world, Brendan said it was Uncle Steve's that was hanging on the wall that was used to shoot Teresa.

You're going to hear evidence from a man by the name of Bill Newhouse from the Crime Lab. Mr. Newhouse will take that .22 caliber rifle, you will hear, do some test firings, and will match the .22 caliber bullet that was recovered in this case, as well as all of the shell casings that were recovered, and will tell you that this bullet and these shell casings came from this gun to the exclusion of all other guns on earth. This gun. Not just consistent with. They come from this gun.

Was Teresa shot in her head as Brendan will tell you? You'll hear from our

anthropologist, Dr. Leslie Eisenberg, who, uh, is the bone expert, who will find a piece of bone that she will describe as a piece of Teresa Halbach's cranium, that is, a skull bone piece, and you'll hear and you'll see that beveling, that curve mark there, is actually an entrance wound.

They even take, uh, x-rays of that particular cranial piece, and Ken Olson from the Crime Lab will tell you that -- and perhaps you can see those little white dots, uh, that are right next to, uh, the entrance wound -- those little white dots, when they're x-rayed, are lead. That's lead from a bullet. All right?

So these are bullet entrance wounds to Teresa's head, just like Brendan Dassey told you happened in the garage.

Both Dr. Eisenberg and our pathologist, Dr. Jentzen, will render the opinion that there are at least two gunshot wounds to the head found from these cranial remains. One on the'left side of the head, just like Brendan says, and one to the back of the head of Teresa Halbach. Do we believe that, um, Teresa's body was loaded in the rear of the SUV, as Brendan says? Well, you'll see and you'll hear from a blood spatter expert who will talk about the, uh, large stains, the blood stains, that are left from Teresa Halbach. That's her blood, by the way, and we'll show you some close-ups, unfortunately, uh, of that particular area of the cargo area of Teresa's car where, just like Brendan tells you, she's loaded in the back of the cargo area of the SUV.

Was her body burnt and mutilated like Brendan tells you? Lots and lots and lots of evidence about this.

First of all, the, um, burn area in the burn pit, itself -- You'll also, by the way, hear from some witnesses. Um, Brendan's now stepfather, Scott Tadych, will actually be called to testify. I'm sure he won't want to, uh, but he will say on the 31st, that night, uh, between 7:30 and 7:45 in the evening, he saw Brendan and Steven tending that fire, and we'll talk about the flames being so high behind that garage.

He not only sees the fire, he sees Brendan and Steven Avery. So an eyewitness will put Brendan there, just like he said he was, back tending that fire.

You'll hear about the bones being recovered and being charred, and we've already talked about this particular, uh, bone, but Dr. Eisenberg will also identify every bone that is found. Uh, these, uh, anthropologists are able to look at a little fragment of bone and tell you that it comes from this part of the leg, or that part of the arm, or that part of the spine. And she'll testify, and she'll tell you that every bone of Teresa Halbach is represented in that burn pit in the back.

You'll even hear from a dentist, the forensic dentist, Dr. Donald Simley, uh, who found a particular tooth, Tooth No. 31, on Teresa Halbach. On the left is Teresa's x-ray, when she was alive, of that particular tooth, and on the right is what's found in the burn pit. In the burn area. You'll be able to match them up for yourself, that Teresa's Tooth No. 31, um, one of the back teeth on the left side of her jaw, was recovered from the burn area.

Brendan says that a car seat was thrown in the fire. Do we have evidence of that? Can we prove that? Can we corroborate that evidence? Absolutely. We will show you, and, in fact, we'll bring into this courtroom, the remains of that burned car seat. Two-man job, ladies and gentlemen. Two people required to throw that car seat, to carry that particular metal grave car seat.

Brendan says the SUV was driven to the pit area. Uh, you'll find not only where the, uh, SUV was found, where the, um, crushed -- or car crusher is, you'll also see some diagrams that Brendan actually places where Uncle Steve and I dropped off and hid that vehicle to conceal this crime.

Brendan said it was concealed with branches and a car hood. Did that happen? Absolutely. Branches and a car hood, exactly as Brendan described, will be found concealing that car.

Members of the jury, two-man job. We'll probably bring in that large piece of heavy car hood to show you, um, that Brendan and Uncle Steve leaned that and concealed that car.

Were Teresa's license plates removed as, uh, Brendan said? Absolutely. We find the license plates in a junked vehicle.

Was Teresa's car hood opened up by Uncle

Steve as Brendan says? Well, on April 3, again, as a result of Brendan's statements, law enforcement swabs -- they take a Q-tip and -- and they swab the hood latch, reaching up underneath the hood, just to see if we can get a -- a DNA profile. Sherry Culhane does. She gets a full profile that's Steven Avery's sweat. Steven Avery's sweat is found on the hood latch, just like should happen if Brendan is to believed that Uncle Steve went under the hood.

Again, facts not known by law enforcement at the time Brendan made these statements.

Brendan says that the garage floor was cleaned with paint thinner. You're going to hear from a man by the name of John Ertl, from the Crime Lab, who will talk about a three- or four-foot circle, just to the left and behind the riding tractor, uh, which is a big bleach stain. Uh, Mr. Ertl will talk about that bleach stain. You'll see that bleach and paint thinner are recovered. Uh, but perhaps most importantly, Brendan, himself, hands over to Investigator Fassbender his jeans. He says, these were the pants I was wearing that night, and these pants are splashed with bleach from cleaning Uncle Steve's garage. Brendan said that, uh, Teresa's Halbach's, uh, key was put into the bedroom. You already know that the key was found in Uncle Steve's bedroom.

Interestingly, Brendan says that the clothes of Teresa Halbach, after they cleaned up, were burned. They were thrown onto the burn pile. Little bit harder to prove that her clothes are actually burned. But we did it. You're going to hear from a young lady today, uh, by the name of, uh, Katie Halbach. Katie's actually sitting in the front row. Teresa's sister.

She knows about Teresa's clothes, and Teresa owned a pair of what's called Daisy Fuentes jeans. They're jeans, you're going to hear, that are sold at a Kohl's Department Store. She kidded her sister. Katie kidded Teresa, as sisters sometimes do, about having those kind of jeans. Um, but you're going to hear that after Teresa's death, those jeans were missing. Those jeans were gone. Teresa was wearing those jeans on the 31st of October.

Jeans have little rivets on them, and those of you that are wearing jeans can kind of, uh, take a look at this a little bit later, but Daisy Fuentes has six different rivets that actually say the words "Daisy Fuentes" on them.

You're going to hear that the five of those six rivets were recovered from the burn area right behind Steven's, um, garage. Also a zipper was found and some other clothing items were found. So as Brendan Dassey, that nobody else knew about the burning of the clothes, Brendan Dassey, when he says that we burned her clothes, were able to verify that.

Was Avery's finger cut and actively bleeding? Of course, it was. We have a photo of it and we have Avery's blood, which Mr. Stahlke, the, uh, blood spatter expert, will tell you how all of those are left.

Brendan says that Teresa's cell phone and camera were burned in Avery's burn barrel. Burn barrel was outside the car. You're going to hear and read a report from a gentleman by the name of Curtis Thomas. Mr. Thomas works at the FBI in Virginia. Mr. Thomas got to see all these electronics which were recovered from Mr. Avery's burn barrel. And guess what was in there? Teresa Halbach's Motorola V3 RAZR cell phone, Teresa Halbach's PowerShot A310 digital camera are found, just like Brendan said they would be.

Lastly, did Avery's girlfriend call twice on October 31? Phone records will indicate that a woman by the name of Jodi Stachowski, the girlfriend of Steven Avery, called twice on the 31st, just like Brendan said.

The evidence in this case, members of the jury, isn't just going be based on the statements of a young man, aren't just going to be the fanciful, um, expressions or, um, imagination of somebody. We're going to be able to prove to you in this case that things the public didn't know, things the police didn't know, were provided by a young man who was at the scene. Was he there? Absolutely. Did he help? Absolutely.

And so the jury's role, then, will be to decide these facts. Your role as a jury will be to decide whether Brendan's admissions of involvement in this case, knowing things that nobody else knows, that only the murderer and the murderer's accomplice could know in this case, and you are to search for the truth,

The evidence, members of the jury, at the conclusion of this case is not going to show that Brendan Dassey was at the wrong place at the wrong time. The evidence is going to show that Brendan Dassey was at the right place at the right time.

Teresa Halbach got lucky. She got lucky that there was a young man who showed up. She got lucky that there was one person that could save her life. But the choices that Brendan Dassey made, the choices that he made with his uncle, insured that instead of leaving, instead of just saying, no, instead of talking Uncle Steve out of it, which were all choices that he had, instead of calling 911, instead of calling his mother or a family member, or instead of actively rescuing this girl, Brendan Dassey chose to rape this young girl, to involve himself in her murder, and to help dispose of and mutilate this 25-year-old body.

Choices require consequences and accountability, and at the conclusion of this case we're asking that you find the defendant guilty. Thank you, Judge.