New Forensics Claim That The FBI Evidence Used In The Steven Avery Trial ‘Doesn’t Prove Bones Were Teresa Halbach’s’

We’ve reached the point in this whole Making a Murderer cluster fuck where speculation and NEW EVIDENCE(!!) starts to sound like a futile endeavor. Because in the end, Steven Avery’s fancy pants lawyer and the damning evidence against the prosecution is as useful as a netted condom if Avery isn’t awarded a new trial.

With that said, it’s becoming very difficult to understand how Avery has not been granted a new trial after law professionals and the general public has poked so many holes in the prosecution’s reckless approach to the case that has sentenced Steven Avery to spend the rest of his life behind bars. And this new evidence may be the most damning.

Mirror reports that the FBI did not confirm that the bones they tested actually belonged to Teresa Halbach. I’m no lawyer, but that seems like a pretty fucking important thing to confirm, no? Well, you may remember the insufferable Wisconsin state DNA ‘expert’ Sherry Culhane. This shadeball:

According to the new claims in court transcripts and evidence logs, Culhane sent only ‘charred material’ to the FBI. On January 20, 2006 Calumet County Sheriff Jerry Pagel released a statement to the media insisting that the bones matched Teresa Halbach’s, which was the reiterated in a statement from Ken Kratz to Culhane two weeks later.

But how could one possibly make the leap that the bone fragments matched the victim’s when charred material–not bone fragments–was the evidence tested. FURTHER, the charred material was never even found to match with Teresa’s. Instead, it was a general mitochondrial DNA match connected to a relative of Miss Halbach’s mother. FURTHER FURTHER, the materials found were not even logged properly, possibly suggesting tampering.

Stop Wrongful Convictions Campaigner and author Lynne Blanchard released a statement ruthlessly picking apart the way everything was handled:

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.

LOTTA questions, not a lot of rational answers.

[h/t Mirror]

Matt Keohan Avatar
Matt’s love of writing was born during a sixth grade assembly when it was announced that his essay titled “Why Drugs Are Bad” had taken first prize in D.A.R.E.’s grade-wide contest. The anti-drug people gave him a $50 savings bond for his brave contribution to crime-fighting, and upon the bond’s maturity 10 years later, he used it to buy his very first bag of marijuana.