There have been a lot of developments in the Steven Avery case since Making A Murderer was broadcast and more recently it looks like his new lawyer is fairly confident of getting him out. And that was before this massive new piece of information emerged.
It turns out that Teresa Halbach’s bones that were found on Steven Avery’s property in the burn pit might not actually be Teresa Halbach’s bones. This is huge because all throughout the series it seemed that this was 100% certain and was a big factor in the case and Steven Avery’s guilt.
Incredibly, there are actually about three different reasons why they might not be her bones. The first reason is to do with Wisconsin state DNA expert Sherry Culhane, who was a pretty frustrating figure during the series. Apparently she only sent ‘charred remains’ over to the FBI for testing, which were later confirmed as being from Teresa Halbach.
However, the fact that she only sent over ‘charred remains’ and not ‘bone fragments’ has cast doubt on whether or not the FBI was even able to test them. In any case, the tests never even actually matched Halbach and were instead matched to ‘a general mitochondrial DNA match connected to a relative of Miss Halbach’s mother’.
As you might expect from this case, the bones/remains/whatever weren’t logged properly at the FBI, which means they could have been tampered with at any point. All of this basically casts a lot of doubt on the credibility of those bones.
Featured Image VIA
Image VIA
Stop Wrongful Convictions Campaigner and author Lynne Blanchard explains the situation a bit more clearly:
Everyone accepts as fact that Teresa’s remains were found in the burn pit. Obviously it appears to be very incriminating, but what is going on with this evidence? Why weren’t protocols followed?
No coroner, forensic anthropologist, arson investigator or photographer was called to the scene when the evidence was discovered. They had all of these high paid experts at their disposal and didn’t call on them until after the evidence had been shoveled up and taken to the sheriff’s office.
The DNA evidence described above is not conclusive. How is it even possible for tissue to survive a fire that disintegrated 60 per cent of the bone mass? The teeth which are commonly used to identify a body because they outlast bone didn’t even survive the fire. Something’s wrong and it becomes difficult to accept this evidence as presented.
The absence of a chain of custody of the bones is critical because it could very well have rendered it inadmissible. What happened? They brought in the state officials right away to ensure that everything would be properly handled. Who dropped the ball? It is very suspicious given everything else that happened in this case.
Since the scene wasn’t documented, there is no proof that any bones were ever on the Avery property. As well, the Manitowoc County coroner was forbidden from entering the scene and none of the forensic experts were summoned until after the bones had been removed. We are to simply accept the word of the state witnesses who claimed to see the bones.
Fishy. And we’re not exactly going to believe the words of the state officials in Manitowoc County are we?
It’s basically just another piece of evidence to add to the growing list of facts that seem to prove Avery’s evidence. Or at least make it so that it’s not absolutely certain that he killed Teresa Halbach. We can only wait and see what else his new lawyer comes up with in the coming weeks.
For more of those developments in the Making A Murderer case, click here.
