What is Wrong with Teresa Halbach’s Case?

When dealing with criminal cases, sadly, the victim’s side of the story is often muddled up and lost. Especially in cases where media is involved. There is no doubt that media is a crucial part of today’s justice system but it also poses a great threat to it. Ironically, in their fight for justice, they often create more victims than they would like to acknowledge.

Their thirst for entertainment and staying ahead of the competition often results in hindering the justice procedure. We get to witness this first-hand with the 2005 missing and later homicide case of Teresa Halbach. The now infamous trial has been the talk of the town ever since the release of the 2015 docu-series Making a Murderer.

The two-part docu-series goes in-depth and attempts to provide viewers with a much broader view of the entire story. This is crucial as forming a judgment knowing only half the story, especially in a case that could cost many individuals their lives is the most frightening negligence of justice.

Who is Teresa Halbach?

Teresa Halbach was a beautiful young 25-year-old woman. She was running her own photography business as well as carrying a side hustle with Auto-Trader. It was through this side hustle that she happen to come across the Avery family and Steven Avery himself (the alleged murderer).

[Please note that although the Court has already sentenced him for her murder, the appeal is still pending. And before forming any judgment, it is important to look at some very crucial variables of the case as well.]

Timeline

On September 11, 2003, Avery is released from the Stanley Correctional Institution. His overturned wrongful conviction receives much interest from the media and the public.

October 12, 2004, Avery files a lawsuit in the US District Court seeking a total of $36 million from Manitowoc County, Thomas Kocourek, and Denis Vogel [who became key variables in the later stages of the case].

On October 31, 2005, Teresa Halbach goes to Steven Avery’s house to conduct a photo shoot of a van that needed to be sold. Before going, she did call the Averys and confirmed the appointment and before this instance, she was known to have visited the place at least 15 or so times. So, it was definitely not her first time. It was stated in the court that she should have arrived anytime between 2:30 to 2:40 that afternoon. According to the evidence presented in the court proceedings, it was the last time anyone had ever seen Teresa alive [although it is not known for sure as there was no thorough investigation done or followed up on any other possible leads].

Please note that a source provided information that allegedly Teresa did not want to visit the Averys but there seems to be no indication or proof of such a claim. Plus, the call recording indicates no emotion that could indicate fear or aversion that could point toward the above claim.

On November 3, 2005, it is after approximately more than 60 hours or so that Teresa’s mother decided to report her daughter as missing. It is the same day that Calumet County informs Manitowoc County that it would be providing assistance in the missing case. According to the docu-series, it is also made clear that for the last two days of Teresa not arriving back home, and her roommate did not inform authorities.

On November 5, 2005, Teresa’s relative with her daughter believed it would be a good idea to check the Avery Auto Salvage area. So, Teresa’s brother provided both the mother and daughter with a map of the area as well as a camera [which, to be noted, was not given to any other search party]. And coincidently, the pair were able to locate the van only minutes after the salvage area which consisted of approx. 4000 cars.

Later, Teresa’s burned body was discovered near the Avery family property which allegedly seemed to have been moved from one place to another.

What is Wrong With the Teresa Halbach’s Case?: Doesn’t it All Seem A Little Too Convenient?

The things that seem to have gone wrong with Teresa Halbach’s case are unbelievable and the biggest issue is that there could potentially be a suspect at large just like it did in 1985 when Steven was first wrongfully arrested and sentenced. However, sadly, most of the parties involved in the investigation seemed to have unfortunately made up their minds before even beginning the investigation and so did the public — all thanks to the negative approach of the investigation team.

For instance, the early assumptions made by the investigators and also, the holding of press conferences that made these assumptions public, implicitly expressed the idea to the public that it is Steven A. Avery who is responsible for Teresa Halbach’s death. Doesn’t it seem all too hurried?

Here are some of the following issues that I found wrong with Teresa Halbach’s case.

INVESTIGATION

For starters, the approach to how the investigation was held seem not only outlandishly unprofessional and unethical but also, seemed to be rushed. When the investigators got the warrant to search the Avery property, they did so and they did it quite thoroughly — to an extent that it seems suspicious.

Manitowoc County stated multiple times and even unnecessarily stressed to the media that they would not be involved in the investigation. Yet, it was the Manitowoc County officers who found two key pieces of evidence that ultimately suggested that it was Steven A. Avery who should have murdered Teresa.

Now, the biggest issue with these pieces of evidence is that they have been recovered from places that had already been searched so, doesn’t it seem all too convenient that it was the officer who was not supposed to be involved in the proceedings whatsoever found these key pieces of evidence?

Furthermore, when looking at the interviews conducted during the first few weeks of the investigation showed the level of interest of investigators, and especially the comments made by the special prosecutor, Ken Kratz quite interesting when looking in retrospect considering how he threatened multiple women.

What I want to point out is that we can never be sure about any individual until and unless there is SOLID evidence that suggests that he is liable for committing the crime he has been alleged of. For instance, in Ken Kratz’s case — there is solid evidence, unlike in the Avery case which he builds himself. People were rooting for him to win but now what?

FOLLOWING ON LEADS

In any criminal investigation, it is imperative to look at multiple different leads and make sure that there is no lead left in order to ensure no innocent man is put behind bars. But in Teresa Halbach’s case which, unfortunately, from the very beginning became STEVEN A. AVERY’S CASE. Instead of looking at Teresa’s life and finding a MO [motive] for her murder, they went on and arrested Steven Avery who seem to have no motive to murder her.

According to the docu-series, the Defense Attorneys are providing solid evidence that suggests that she could have been stalked or harassed but there was no further investigation done. Which is baffling. Why would you not follow up on leads that could potentially suggest more to the story of how she could have died or what her life looked like?

Such behavior from the investigative authorities suggests quite strongly what their attitude was towards this case. Doesn’t it look like they only cared about putting Avery behind bars which they ultimately succeeded in even after the DA put valid and reasonable doubts about the case?

FAMILY RELATIONS

Due to the lack of investigation conducted outside the Avery theory, it seems like a number of important relations were spared from an interrogation which seems a little wrong, don’t you think? Considering how little knowledge we have about Teresa’s life and relationships. The investigators never looked into Teresa’s side of the story, for example, the kind of people she was involved with on a daily basis, and her relationship with her friends, family, and relatives — none were taken into consideration during her own investigation. Unfortunately, since the beginning of the case or even before it, the case started revolving around the accused instead of the victim.

For example, authorities never looked into her love life or living situation. They did not even follow up on the fact that her own brother checked her voicemails and seemed to listen to [ultimately removing them] voicemails from a very crucial time frame. Or how the finding the car completely intact in an auto salvage area seemed reasonable?

ROOMMATE

How can police officers and investigators not interrogate the one individual who was living and spending each and every day with the victim? Teresa, at the time of her death, was living with her ex-boyfriend’s friend. Now, this roommate seemed to have not informed the authorities when Teresa never returned back to their place. Shouldn’t this be important for authorities to create the timeline of events, if not anything?

MENTAL HEALTH

Teresa, the victim talks about how she wants to be a mom and about dying…

This video was recorded three years prior to her death and provides a glimpse into who she was. This is an important piece of evidence as it portrays the kind of outlook she had on life and her overall take on it, at least to a certain extent.

Now, what strikes me most about the two videos is that even though prima facie, she appears to be okay but it doesn’t entirely seem to be the case. Call it wild speculation, if you may but the majority of times when people contemplate their future or dying, they are going through some difficult phase in their lives. Now, this is crucial in the case because investigators never looked into the victim’s mental health or the kind of headspace she was in during the time of her death. If they did, they could have found more information about the case instead of simply “creating” [by coercion] evidence.

Conclusion

This article simply fails to do justice to the overwhelming amount of evidence that has been put forth by the defense attorneys in the case so far that suggests the things that have gone wrong with Teresa Halbach’s case. This becomes clear when looking at the docu-series Making a Murderer by Netflix.

From the very beginning, the case converted from finding who murdered Teresa to putting Steven behind bars. This is important because as a result of such an attitude — Teresa may never find justice and in a way, they created another victim just like they did in 1985.