Lisa Buchner

At Steven Avery's 2007 trial, school bus driver Lisa Buchner testified for the defense on Day 19 about a woman she recalled seeing photograph a van near the Dassey boys' driveway. Buchner said she regularly dropped the boys off around 3:30 to 3:40 p.m. She remembered noticing the van during an afternoon drop-off, but could not recall the exact day.

On cross-examination, Buchner used Exhibit 81 to indicate the drop-off, the woman, and nearby vehicles. She could not place the sighting on October 31 or confirm that it occurred during that week, and agreed it could have been one or two weeks earlier. She also could not estimate her distance from the woman or describe her clothing, although she maintained that she remembered seeing a woman.

On redirect, Buchner said she had approached police on her own about the sighting, believed she did so that Saturday, and gave a statement a few days later. Investigator Mark Wiegert later testified that, during their November 7 interview, she placed the sighting among October 31, November 1, and November 2 without identifying which day. He also acknowledged hearing her testify that it could have been a week or two earlier. Her estimate of the bus drop-off time therefore did not establish the date of the sighting.