• On November 23, 1982 Steven Avery is charged with animal cruelty for burning a cat alive. At the time Steven offered no objection to the charges. This was a seemingly inconsequential (albeit horrifying) act that presents major repercussions for Avery later in life. Manitowoc (by way media dissemination) uses this charge in an attempt to shift the public perception surrounding Avery come November 2005. (See: A Journey to the Past: Through The Eyes Of The Internet)

 

• More recently (2015) Avery flat out denied having anything to do with that instance of animal cruelty. As it turns out we have a motion filed by none other than Ken Kratz which supports Avery's claim that he did not burn a cat alive. Don't ask me why Steven admits to doing so in the documentary.

 

 

 

 

 

• Sandra Morris - Steven Avery's cousin - spreads rumors about Avery alleging he has been indecently exposing himself. (It seems Avery is already being aligned with Allen's perverted actions)

 

　

 

• After escalating tensions sizzle and burn between the two, Steven Avery explodes in a fit of rage. He runs Sandra Morris off the road, points an unloaded gun at her and orders her into his vehicle. A panicked Morris reveals she has her child with her. Once Avery becomes aware of this he allows them to leave. Sandra Morris is married to a MTSO Sheriff's Deputy (Really Steven? Come on, now).

 

　

 

• Shortly after the events depicted directly above Steven Avery is (rightfully) charged with endangering human safety with a deadly weapon. This major lapse in judgement costs Avery dearly. Recall, Morris' husband is a member of Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department. Morris is also close friends with the Manitowoc deputy who describes Avery to a DOJ investigator as so filthy that every time he came in to the sheriff's office he had to take a shower.

 

　

 

• In episode 1 of the documentary Steven contemplates the Sheriff's desire to 'pick on him'. In answer he recalls that he ran his cousin off the road. Avery asserts this event led to members of LE holding a grudge against him. I have no doubt this was the case. At the very least Avery was on the wrong end of some terribly shoddy police work come July 1985 (that's being very generous) but even he must have known his actions towards the wife of a Manitowoc deputy would not go unnoticed by the Manitowoc department.

 

 

 

 

Making A Mugshot

 

　

 

 

• On the same day of his arrest for running Morris off the road, Steven Avery poses for a mug shot. He is released awaiting trial. Indeed the trial for this particular charge never took place.

 

 

　

 

• With the mugshot in hand, a plan was brewing. Why put Avery away for six years when life is a possibility?

 

 

 

 

• Seven months after Steven's altercation with his cousin, a prominent local woman by the name of Penny Beerntsen is brutally assaulted on a Manitowoc beach by Gregory Allen. The date is July 29, 1985.

 

• As the documentary notes, the Beertsten's were a shining example of what Manitowoc wished it's citizens would aspire to. They owned wholesome commercial enterprises that were popular. They were wealthy, generous, they were kind - they were clearly people of substance.

 

• Frankly I have read nothing to make me think other wise, and I have read more than I care to admit. In the years since Penny and her husband have given multiple interviews, some together wherein they discuss the events of that horrible July day and the resulting actions by LE. (See here for a fascinating podcast featuring Penny Beersten and her husband discussing the 1985 case before it was publicly known Making A Murderer had been picked up by Netflix. The podcast is aptly titled "Reasonable Doubt.")

 

• Penny states she went on the local news after Steven was questioned for Teresa's disappearance saying she would never believe He had anything to do with it. The next day the bones were found. 

 

 

Dennis Vogel: Direct Examination of Penny Beersten (1985 Jury Trial)

 

　

 

PB: "When I kicked him he said, 'Now you're going to die. Now I'm going to kill you!'"

 

　

 

DV: (After a sympathetic pause) "And what did he do then?"

 

　

 

PB: "Then he put his hands on my neck and started chocking me very hard." 

 

Penny's Condition

 

• After Allen was done with Penny he left her bloodied and bruised but certainly alive and aware. She had been punched and chocked so much she could not walk. She began to crawl and thankfully was aware enough to use her elbows and knees so as not to destroy the evidence under her fingernails. After she was found by an unknown couple she was transported to the Manitowoc Country Sheriffs Department and was then manipulated by multiple members of the county into believing it possible that Steven Avery was the one who had assaulted her only hours earlier.

• As noted Penny managed to scrape her attacker collecting his DNA under her fingernails. Also collected during her examination was 13 pubic hairs. Nothing was done with these items after their collection (lack of technological advances) thankfully they were properly placed into evidence to await their fate.

 

• Penny is indeed a hero. If Penny did not crawl the way she did that day, the extra alleles from the fingernail scrapings might have never been discovered. If those alleles were never discovered, judge Hazelwood might not allowed the advanced DNA testing in 2003. If that testing in 2003 never went forward . . .

 

 

• By the end of the night Penny had already provided her description of Allen to the pencil. Funnily enough Penny ends up choosing Avery's photo from a photo line up, the same photo that was taken seven months earlier after he ran his cousin off the road, the same photo that the pencil (allegedly) traced only minutes. Allen's photo was not included in the line up, although Kocourek, according to Debra Strauss, did have access to his photo as well as his criminal history.

 

　

 

• Penny was unable to read the report that was prepared for her, but is told to sign it anyhow. Before the day is out Steven Avery is arrested for the assault by officers Petersen and Bushman of Manitowoc County. He is placed in a cell by himself and is refused access to a phone. The Manitowoc County Sheriff, Thomas Kocourek, is the one giving orders at this point in time. Reese Evans, Avery's 1985 lawyer, is contacted by Avery's wife who alerts her to the situation. Reese Evans comments in the documentary that something about this case was different - never before nor since has she seen a case with a sheriff (Kocourek) that heavily involved.

 

　

 

• Shortly after Steven's arrest in 1985 there are multiple indicators that he is completely innocent of the crime of sexual assault. Kocourek and Vogel would eventually be accused of withholding exculpatory evidence. A serious offense.

 

 

1.) Avery had concrete dust on his clothes and hands, corroborating his alibi placing him away from the scene of the crime. At the time officers did bring this to Kocourek's attention but were told if they reported anything favorable to Avery, they would be immediately fired.

 

 

2.) As Steven's civil lawyer bluntly states in the documentary, there was not a single iota of physical evidence connecting Steven Avery to this case. In fact, the Sheriff (Kocourek) was told by the police (Bergner) you have the wrong guy, you need to be aware about this Gregory Allen.

 

 

3.) When the story surfaced among the police communities Manitowoc County Detective Thomas Bergner contacted Sheriff Kocourek to relay his concern that Allen, not Avery, had attacked Penny on the beach. Bergner also informs Kocourek about the lack of surveillance on Gregory Allen during the time of the attack. Gregory Allen had a long history of using sexual violence in his attacks and was operating on an escalating basis in the Manitowoc area, so much so that the Manitowoc City police assigned daily surveillance to him. As fate would have it, on the day that Penny was assaulted the officers assigned to surveil Allen were called to investigate other crimes. So at the very time Allen was not under surveillance, Penny was suddenly assaulted. Kocourek easily dismisses his concerns.

 

 

4.) Penny Beersten started receiving disturbing phones calls, sexual in nature, only a month after her traumatic assault. Steven was still behind bars. Kocourek told her he would handle it. Also, Penny was contacted by an officer outside of Manitowoc County and informed that Allen was still being looked at as a suspect. She relayed this concern to Kocourek who replied that she should allow him to deal with contacting the police as it having her do so would be confusing for her. 

 

 

5.) Multiple personnel from Vogel's own office tell District Attorney Vogel that they believed, based on their knowledge of Gregory Allen, that he was the most likely suspect based on the profile of this crime - not Steven Avery. They relayed this opinion to Vogel. Vogel dismissed their concerns.

 

 

6.) Multiple witnesses testify under oath regarding Steven Avery's whereabouts on the day of the 1985 attack. Due to the majority of the witnesses being Avery's family, they are not believed by the court. If the alibi witnesses were seen as credible, there would have been no way to find him guilty as Avery was accounted for every minute of that day until late at night upon his arrest at 11:45pm on July 29, 1985.

Allen Avery

 

"Tom Kocourek told Stevie, 'I don't care if you did this or if you didn't do it, I'm gonna get you for it.' Now is that anything to say? To anybody? And what did they do? The goddamn Dennis Vogel and the son of a bitch Ed Hazlewood, the judge - Steve had 22 witnesses at least, there was one of them right there, and everyone of us was called fabricators. Liars."

 

　

 

• After what must have been a terrifying trial, Steven Avery is convicted for the crime that Gregory Allen committed. Judge Hazelwood, in an interview with the filmmakers, stated that Penny was a very good witness, she was very positive in her identification. This was no doubt a certainty that came to her through being coached by Vogel, the lead prosecutor - the Ken Kratz of 1985.

 

　

 

• After Avery's conviction, Allen would go on to assault multiple other women before finally being captured in 1995.

 

 

　

•  There has been a fairly consistent opinion among members of TTM that we have not even begun to scrape the surface of the 1985 trial and surrounding events. Most of the mystery surrounds Gregory Allen. We know from the documentary he is an evil, evil person and yet he seemed to get away it more often than not. Remember, police were following him for 13 straight days and checking on him up to 14 times each day and yet, as fate would have it, the officers assigned to monitor Allen were called away right before he assaulted PB? I will never be able to let that go.

 

• Also, let us never forget that Beersten and Kocourek were neighbors. Very close neighbors. Further, as Penny has stated many a times since, the beach where she was assaulted was a beach she would frequent with her family. Also, according to a DOJ agent and Avery's own attorney Kocourek was unusually involved in securing this conviction. Was this simply due to Kocourek feeling a responsibility for a neighbor more than he would a victim not from his neighborhood? Or was there a more sinister reason for Kocourek's determination to implicate Avery while ignoring Allen?

　

• Many questions arise when you consider Allen's role in this mess. Was he a relative of a high up member in the club? Was he a CI with amazing connections to a criminal underworld? Or was it as simple as him peeping in a window and snapping a photo of a state official in a compromising position?

 

• If Zellner can get him to talk, he might blow this whole thing wide open in ways we could never have imagined.