Steven Avery

**Steven Allen Avery**, born on July 9, 1962 in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, U.S., is the main subject of the Netflix documentary series *Making a Murderer*. A former car mechanic, Steven Avery has now spent over 30 years of his life in prison.

In his teenage years Avery was convicted for burglary and theft. In his twenties, Avery was convicted for animal cruelty and for an attempted rape of a prominent local woman named Penny Beerntsen on Lake Michigan Beach, as well as being convicted for driving a sheriff deputy's wife off the road and pointing a loaded rifle at her.

For the latter offense Avery had to serve six years in prison concurrently with the 32 years for the former offense. In 2003, 18 years after his conviction, Avery was released due to DNA evidence pointing to a different perpetrator.

Following his release Avery sought between 2,000,000 to 36,000,000 dollars for his wrongful conviction through a civil lawsuit. In 2005, while still working on a case against the State, a local female photographer went missing. Her last known location was Avery’s Auto Salvage. Police investigation of Avery's area resulted in the discovery of various items of evidence. In 2007, four years after his release, Steven Avery was again convicted.

## Early life

Steven was born on 9 July 1962 in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin to Allan and Dolores Avery. He had an older brother called Charles (“Chuck”) and would later get a younger sister, Barbara (“Barb”), and younger brother, Earl. Since 1965 his family had their own car salvage business; Avery’s Auto Salvage - a 40-acre propery outside town where the whole family lived.

He attended public schools in nearby Mishicot and Manitowoc, where his mother said he went to an elementary school "for slower kids". According to one of his lawyers in 1985, school records showed that his IQ was 70 and that he "barely functioned in school".

In March 1981, at age 18, Avery, together with friend Edward, were convicted for burglary. Avery had broken into Harpt's Lake tavern thrice, each time through the same window, causing damage and stealing items.

On 24 July 1982, roughly three weeks after turning 20, Avery married Lori Mathiesen, a single mother of son Jason. Together they had four children: Rachel, Jenny, and twins Steven and Bill. Mathiesen said the relationship was physical and violent. The abuse consisted of punching, hitting and strangling Mathiesen. Mathiesen believes her son Jason had also been victim to Avery's physical abuse on one occasion. When Jason and Avery were spending time together near cars Jason returned having lost two teeth. Avery said this was caused by an accident with the cars. Mathiesen believes Avery had slugged Jason in the mouth after Jason had outsmarted Avery. In the 90's Avery admitted he had abused Mathiesen.

Later in 1982, two men admitted that, at Avery's suggestion, they had thrown the Avery family cat "in a bonfire and then watched it burn until it died", after Avery had poured gas and oil on it. In *Making a Murderer* Avery said he himself was the one who threw to cat over the fire and caused it to catch fire. In August 1983 Avery was released from prison.

In 1982 or 1983 Steven is said to have raped his babysitter Jean. Jean was laying on the couch when Avery came over and began fondling her. When Jean said "no" Avery put his hand over her mouth and told her that "if you yell or scream there will be trouble." Jean said there was sexual intercourse that lasted about 15~20 minutes. Jean had informed friends but not law enforcements. After the Halbach murder Jean provided witness testimony and was willing to testify against Avery in court.

During the early to mid 1980's Steven would, according to his cousin Sandra Morris, repeatedly expose himself to her when she drove by his area. Morris had told several people about these incidents, of which Steven had gotten aware.

In January 1985 Steven, now aged 22, forced Morris' car off to the side of the road. Avery stepped out of his car, approached her and aimed a rifle at her and gestured her to come along with him in his vehicle. He changed his mind when he noticed Morris had a child with her. Steven describes the "running off the road" as an accident and the subsequent rifle approach as a warning to stop spreading rumours. Steven said the rifle was not loaded, but when it was discovered hidden in his children's bedroom shortly after the incident it was loaded. He was sentenced to six years for "endangering safety while evincing a depraved mind" and possession of a firearm.

### Early crimes and allegations

* In **March 1981, at age 18**, Avery was convicted of burgling a bar with a friend. They managed to get inside through a window that Avery had previously broken and stealing two cases of beer, a tool box, change from the pool table and electronic games, and prepackaged sandwiches.
Once they were inside, Avery and his friend broke open three bags of charcoal and poured them over the floor and pool table, dumped boxes of cigars on the floor, removed clocks from the wall and smashed them, and smashed numerous other items on the floor- including the cash register, bar glasses, a pizza oven, a typewriter, liquor bottles, and coffee pots. After serving 10 months of a two-year sentence in the Manitowoc County Jail, he was released on probation and ordered to pay restitution.
* A few months after his release, now **late 1982, at age 20**, two men admitted that, at Avery's suggestion, they threw Avery's cat "in a bonfire and then watched it burn until it died", after Avery had poured gas and oil on it. Avery was found guilty of animal cruelty and was jailed until August 1983. "I was young and stupid, and hanging out with the wrong people", Avery said later, of his first two incarcerations. In *Making a Murderer* Avery said he himself was the one who threw to cat over the fire and caused it to catch fire.
* **Starting in about 1982, at age 20, arguably until age 22,** Avery's relationship with Lori became physical and violent. The domestic abuse consisted of the punching, hitting and strangling of Lori by Avery. In the 1990's Avery admitted to the domestic violence allegations.
* In **1982 or 1983** Avery allegedly raped his babysitter Jean. Jean was laying on the couch, when Avery came over and began fondling her. When Jean said "no" Avery put his hand over her mouth and told her that "if you yell or scream there will be trouble." Jean said there was sexual intercourse and that it lasted about 15~20 minutes. Jean told some family members about the incident, but didn't tell the police about it. After the Halbach murder Jean provided witness testimony about the incident to the prosecution and she said she was willing to testify against Avery at trial.
* Sometime during the **early 1980'**s Avery had knocked two teeth out of his wife's son Jason. Allegedly Avery had become aggressive towards Jason because Jason had outsmarted Avery.
* Another time during **the 1980'**s Steven Avery had kissed his daughter Jennifer several times in the neck leaving several hickeys.
* On **3** **January 1985, at age 22**, Avery ran his cousin's car off to the side of the road. After she pulled over, Avery pointed a loaded gun at her. Avery was upset that she had been spreading rumors about him masturbating on the front lawn, which he stated was not true. Avery maintained that the gun was not loaded and that he was simply trying to stop her from spreading rumors about him. He was sentenced to six years for "endangering safety while evincing a depraved mind" and possession of a firearm.

## Wrongful attempted rape conviction

In the afternoon of Monday 29 July 1985 Penny Beerntsen, a prominent Manitowoc woman was jogging at Lake Michigan Beach. As she passed a tree on the beach a man near the tree approached her, grabbed her and pulled her into the woods where he sexually assaulted her. At the hospital Beerntsen gave a description of her assailant to Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Judy Dvorak and Sheriff Tom Kocourek that generally resembled Steven Avery, but also mismatched Avery at several key points, most notably his eyes and length.

      Following Beerntsen's description Deputy Gene Kushe, without further assistance of Beerntsen, drew a facial composite of the assailant. In *Making a Murderer* season 1 it is alleged that the drawing was made to resemble Avery. In his civil lawsuit, however, Avery and his attorneys never made such a claim. The facial composite was Kushe's first and last facial composite. Avery was arrested after the victim identified him in a photo line-up and later a live line-up.

Further investigation followed, and though the investigators did manage to find some evidence against Avery, it was far from definitively supportive of his guilt. An example is a witness of the assault on a boat at Lake Michigan describing the assailant wearing a black jacket and the cops later locating a black jacket in Avery's home. However the jacket appeared unused and aside from the colour didn't match the description given by the witness.

At trial, Avery proved, using a time-stamped receipt and 16 alibi witnesses that it would be nearly impossible for him to commit the crime. In a later interview Beerntsen stated that the alibi's stories all sounded "too similar". The State presented a witness that testified to seeing Steven Avery leave the property much earlier than the many alibi witnesses, mostly relatives, the defense had provided. Beerntsen, in her testimony, pointed her finger at Avery and said she saw him assault her. The prosecutor also asked her to show, with her husband, how the assault had occurred, impressing the Jury. Steven was charged and ultimately convicted of rape and attempted murder, then sentenced to 32 years in prison.

## Life in prison

#### 1980's

In **1987**, two years after the assault, Steven appealed. On 5 August of that year a higher court denied his appeal. In **1988** Steven divorced from his wife Lori. In **1993** Judge Hazlewood decided that physical contact between Avery and his children was terminated. Contact by telephone was still allowed once a week and on special occasions like birthdays.

#### 1995 - 1997: second appeal

In **1995** Avery's new attorney filed a motion with the trial court seeking the release of certain evidence for DNA testing. The trial court granted Avery's motion.

On **23 April 1996** Avery filed a motion for postconviction relief requesting the court to vacate his conviction. The motion was based on the DNA testing results of fingernail scrapings of the victim and revealed that there was DNA found that did not belong to Steven Avery, nor to Penny Beerntsen. Later that year, on 29 July, Avery filed a supplemental motion for postconviction relief in which Avery claimed that the sheriff's department had failed to provide Avery or his defense at trial with information regarding an “alternative suspect living in Sheboygan County who matched the description of the perpetrator.”

The trial court conducted a hearing on Avery's motion. An expert testified that there was DNA present in the scrapings taken from Beerntsen's fingernails that did not match DNA samples from either Avery or Beerntsen. Thus, “there was at least one additional individual present.”

The trial court, however, denied the motion for a new trial thinking the DNA evidence does not raise a reasonable probability of a different result at trial.

On 3 September 1997 the Supreme Court also denied the appeal.

### Crimes while in prison

* Between 1985 and 1993 Steven Avery repeatedly sent letters addressed to his wife Lori. In some of those letters he wrote death threats.
* During the same period Steven also addressed one of his letters to his children. In the letter he wrote he was going to kill their mother.

## Post-prison life

*further reading: October 31st, 2005 timeline*
Avery was released from prison on 11 September 2003, after DNA had exonerated him from the sexual assault on Beerntsen. Because of his prison life Avery had gotten accustomed to life in a small place, and he chose to live in an ice-shanty for some time following his release. At some point he met Jodi Stachowski, who was living in a red trailer next to Steven's sister Barb's residence on the Avery's Auto Salvage property.

Avery and Stachowski started dating and eventually got into a relationship. Avery moved in with Stachowski in her red trailer. Later, Stachowski was arrested for drunk driving and incarcerated.

On 31 October 2005 early in the morning Avery made a call to *AutoTrader* and made an appointment for a photoshoot for a vehicle owned by his sister. He gave his sister's name and her address, but did not give his own name. He requested "the same girl as last time", referring to Teresa Halbach.

At around 11:00 hours Avery left work unanounced and waited in his trailer for Halbach's arrival. Halbach showed up around 14:30 hours and was seen taking photo's of Barb's van and then headed in the direction of Avery's trailer. This was the last time anyone had seen, or heard from, Halbach.

Several days later Halbach was reported missing. A group of volunteers and law enforcement began a missing person's search. Two days later volunteers found Halbach's Toyota RAV4 on Avery's Auto Salvage and the missing person's search became a homicide investigation. Two days later Avery was arrested on charges of illegally possessing a firearm. As the investigation continued, more evidence surfaced.

Avery settled his civil lawsuit against Manitowoc County, ex-DA Vogel and ex-Sheriff Kocourek for $400,000 and hired attorneys Jerome Buting and Dean Strang to represent him in his upcoming trial. At trial Avery tried to convince the jury the evidence against him may not be as conclusive as it appeared to be and hinted at several inconsistencies or oddities in the evidence or investigation. The jury ultimately found him guilty.

### Post-prison crimes and allegations

* Stachowski described her relationship as physically abusive, stating she was pushed, hit, strangled and threatened with death. On one occasion Avery threatened to burn her family. A friend of Jodi, called Michelle, confirmed that Jodi had confided to her that Steven was violent with her. Another friend of Jodi called Tammy told the police she saw "a lot of bruises" on Jodi's legs and arms. Rollie Johnson once talked with Steven about hitting Jodi, telling Steven "it has to stop".
* Lori stated that **after his release** Steven would sometimes drive by her home to check up on her.
* In the **summer of 2004** Tammy saw Steven grabbing the breasts of two 13 or 14 year old neighbour girls. Steven allegedly told Tammy "if you need a piece, you need a piece."
* Also in the **summer of 2004** Avery allegedly raped a teenage relative called Marie. Marie claimed that on one occasion Steven put his hands over her mouth and had penis to vagina intercourse in Barb's residence. Avery threatened to kill her and hurt her family if she would speak up about it.
Though Avery denied he raped Marie, he did admit he had sex with her (while in a relationship with Jodi). Marie was willing to testify against Avery during his 2007 trial. Jodi was willing to testify against Avery about the alleged sexual intercourse Avery had with Marie, because according to Stachowski Avery told her he had been "fucking" Marie.
* On 30 October 2005, on the evening before the murder, Bryan Dassey's ex-girlfriend called Bryan, but the call was answered by Steven. After a short chat Dassey's ex hang up. She was later called back by Steven who asked her if she would like to “come over and have a little fun” and that “we can have the bed hit the wall real hard.” She told Avery that she would not come over to his house, and that he was wasting her cell minutes, and hung up the phone.

## Post-conviction life

Following his conviction Avery, still represented by Buting and Strang, appealed. His appeal was denied. In 2011 Avery, now represented by attorney Suzanna Hagopian, again appealed. His main argument seems to have been to acknowledge that the crime occurred at Avery's Auto Salvage and was sexually motivated. Because Avery was not alone on the property he says his brothers can not be ruled out. His brothers had also committed sexually motivated crimes in the past. The appeal was denied.

In 2015 Avery appealed again before learning that famous post-conviction attorney Kathleen Zellner had decided to pick up his case. Zellner filed a *Motion for Post-conviction Relief* in 2017, which was denied. Zellner tried to appeal the decision several times, each time without success. A decision by the Court of Appeals on Zellner's latest *Brief of Defendant-Appellant Steven A. Avery* is pending.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Second Supplementary Memo in Support of Other Acts Evidence, page 11
2. ↑ Motion to Deny or Increase Cash Bail, with exhibits 1-3, page 20
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 STATE of Wisconsin, Plaintiff-Respondent, v. Steven A. AVERY, Defendant-Appellant
4. ↑ Second Supplementary Memo in Support of Other Acts Evidence, page 9
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Second Supplementary Memo in Support of Other Acts Evidence, page 10