Steven Avery

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This article is about Steven Avery in Wisconsin. For the pitcher, see Steve Avery.
Steven Avery
Steven Avery

Steven Avery (born July 9, 1962) is the first person in the U.S. to not only be charged with a homicide after being exonerated by DNA evidence for a previous crime, but to be convicted as well. The Wisconsin man was exonerated in 2003 after serving 18 years on a rape conviction in which DNA analysis later linked the crime to another man. On November 11, 2005, Avery was charged with the murder of 25-year-old freelance photographer Teresa Halbach. His own blood was found in her SUV, which was found parked on his family's salvage yard in a rural area west of Mishicot, Wisconsin, near Manitowoc and Green Bay. On March 18, 2007, Steven Avery was found guilty of murdering Teresa Halbach, not guilty of mutilating a corpse, and guilty of illegally possessing a firearm.

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[edit] Background

At age eighteen, Avery pleaded guilty to burglarizing a bar and was sentenced to ten months in prison.[1] When he was twenty, Avery and another man pleaded guilty to animal cruelty after pouring gas and oil on Avery's cat and throwing it into a fire; Avery was sentenced to prison again for that crime.[2] In 1985, Avery was charged with assaulting and flashing his cousin and possessing a firearm as a felon, and with the rape for which he was later exonerated.[3] He served six years for assaulting his cousin and illegally possessing firearms, and twelve years for the rape he did not commit.[4]

The Wisconsin Innocence Project took Avery's case and eventually he was exonerated of the rape charge. After his release from prison, Avery was the toast of the Wisconsin State Capitol. Avery and his attorneys (Stephen Glynn and Walter Kelly) filed a $36 million federal lawsuit against Manitowoc County, its former sheriff, Thomas Kocourek, and its former district attorney, Denis Vogel. On October 31, 2005, the same day that Halbach went missing, state legislators passed the Avery Bill to prevent wrongful convictions. The bill has since been renamed out of respect for the Halbach family.

[edit] The Avery trial

Halbach's vehicle was also found on the property, and Avery protested that authorities were attempting to frame him for Halbach's disappearance to make it harder for him to win his pending civil case regarding the false rape conviction. To avoid any appearance of conflict, Mark R. Rohrer, the Manitowoc County district attorney, requested that neighboring Calumet County authorities lead the investigation.

On March 18, 2007, he was convicted of first degree homicide for Halbach's murder and of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was acquitted on the charge of mutilating a corpse. The Steven Avery Trial ended on Sunday March 18, 2007 when Steven Avery was found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide in the murder of Teresa Halbach.

Sometime during the day on October 31, 2005, photographer Teresa Halbach, 25, drove her blue 1999 Toyota Rav 4 along Route 10 in eastern Wisconsin. She had started out from her home in Hilbert, Wisconsin and was heading east. She had three appointments that day to photograph used vehicles for the Auto Trader Magazine. One of those appointments was at Avery Auto Salvage in Gibson, Wisconsin, near Lake Michigan, about 35 miles from her home. She was scheduled to meet with Steven Avery, 43, one of the owners, and photograph a maroon Plymouth Voyager minivan that he was putting up for sale. She'd been there at least fifteen times before, taking pictures of other vehicles for the magazine.

[edit] Events

[edit] 2005

  • October 31, 2005 - Halbach was last seen before she left on an assignment to take pictures of cars for sale.
  • November 5, 2005 - Halbach's SUV was found near Avery's trailer, partially hidden in the salvage yard.
  • November 8, 2005 - Bone fragment found in Avery burn pit, along with piece of zipper and wire from tires. Also, key to Halbach's SUV found in Avery's bedroom.
  • November 9, 2005 - Avery was arrested on a weapons charge and later charged with Halbach's murder.

[edit] 2006

  • January 17, 2006 - Avery pleaded not guilty to the crimes related to the Halbach case and an unrelated gun-possession charge.
  • March 1, 2006 - Brendan Dassey, Avery's nephew, was charged in connection with Halbach's murder. According to Calumet County Sheriff Jerry Pagel, he "admitted his involvement in the death of Teresa Halbach as well as Steven Avery's" actions in the photographer's death.
  • March 1 & March 2, 2006 - Bullet fragments found in Avery garage, one of which contains Halbach's DNA.
  • March 3, 2006 - Dassey pleaded not guilty to all charges.
  • April 1, 2006 - Dateline NBC aired a special report on the Avery case.
  • June 29, 2006 - Dassey sent a letter to the judge presiding over the case, recanting his confession to police.

[edit] 2007

TV news vans parked outside the Calumet County courthouse to cover Avery's murder trial
TV news vans parked outside the Calumet County courthouse to cover Avery's murder trial
  • February 12, 2007 - The Steven Avery trial started. Many Green Bay and Milwaukee market TV stations, along with newspaper sites, are currently streaming the trial on their websites. WBAY's digital subchannel also airs the trial.
  • March 15, 2007 - Deliberations start after closing arguments end that morning.
  • March 16, 2007 - Deliberations start over after juror is dismissed due to family emergency.
  • March 18, 2007 - Steven Avery was found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide in the murder of Teresa Halbach, not guilty of mutilating a corpse, and guilty of illegally possessing a firearm.

[edit] References

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