The Hermann boys was saved, largely thanks to Bushman, although everyone helped, including then Sheriff Kocourek, who downright refused assistance from the Wisconsin State Patrol's Technical Crash Reconstruction Experts (Pg. As for Bushman, he was involved in a questionable single car collision in Sept of 1989. IMO driving through an intersection and off the road at highway speed with your vehicle only coming to rest due an embankment is something youd expect from an intoxicated driver, not something youd expect from a sober officer driving his squad car. This ^ level of inaction could only be the result of Kocourek sanctioning it. In their latest vendetta against alleged injustice, supposed members of the hacktivist group Anonymous have pledged to expose corruption in the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department. What did that man ever do to you people? I'll finish by reviewing how critical the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department was during the discovery, planting, re-discovery and recovery of the bones, and why it's reasonable to believe both the MCSD and Wisconsin DOJ were working together to cover up the truth of Teresa's death via obstruction of justice and the destruction of a crime scene. "I would be fearful to ever take my family on a trip and stop in your county to even get fuel. Seems about right. The first post appeared on Dec. 21, a few days after the release of Making a Murderer., Then it kind of snowballed from there, said Amy Meyer, historical society executive director. It said it would get involved in the legal dispute between the Manitowoc County Sheriff Department and Steven Avery to reveal police corruption. Not to myself but to members of our law enforcement community," Brey wrote. As far as I can tell, it started with the Hermann father joining the department in 1962, all while remaining president of Cleveland Auto Salvage. Unfortunately threats and intimidation are often effective. We were obviously nave in thinking that way.. In addition to their ever increasing involvement in the Sheriffs Department, the Hermann family owned the long operating Cleveland Auto Salvage (CAS) in southern Manitowoc County, one of a select few salvage yards that competed with the Avery Salvage Yard (ASY). Kakatsch kept trying to access the scene after being rebuffed. Indefensible 67m She said Manitowoc Mayor Justin Nickels has been working hard to bring people to the city's downtown, and this kind of publicity won't help that effort. Kocourek praised Petersen endlessly in his many promotion notices, one of which read (Pg. Ferak claims to have spoken to many former MCSD employees who said Petersen was driving way over the limit through the fog in a reckless manner. IMO the theory that Bushman and Hermann worked together to swap out evidence of the striking vehicle in the Ricky H case is made credible by their own actions. There is NO WAY I will move there, your state prosecutor is a snake, your judges are corrupt and the ease in which you framed those two innocent men, well your cover-up has just reaffirmed my mistrust in the judicial system and police. Averys sweat DNA found on the hood latch of Halbachs vehicle discovered by Calumet County law enforcement. Just as with Petersen, it was only a few months after the incident when Bushman's promotions starting rolling in. The series strongly impliesColborn and Lt. James Lenkof theManitowoc County Sheriff's Departmentplanted evidence to frame Avery for Halbach's murder. Jost, along with agents from the DOJ, ensured the bones were quickly collected using shovels, boxes and garbage bags, all without any photos or measurements being taken or experts being called to forensically examine the scene. Of course Hermanns declaration about the striking vehicle was based on an examination of evidence that had no real chain of custody. That the culture of corruption involving the key leaders at the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department is way more extensive than many people would realize from having just watched Making a Murderer. Here is a summary of Feraks examination of the incident, the resulting death, and the total lack of investigation into Petersen's potential culpability (Pg. Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. He called it one-sided and said it is profiting off the Halbach family's loss. Im not sure I can look my kids in the eye and believe my own words anymore. Notably, both cadaver dogs and bloodhounds independently made their way to the scene, which meant the burial site was emanating the scent of decomposition as well as Teresa's scent, likely because her decomposing remains were present at the burial site. Feraks identifies the Petersen incident as a "successful whitewash for Kocourek.". 160) at the Kuss Road cul-de-sac burial site. Ring said the group will try to find opportunities to highlight the communitys positive attributes, such as its scenic coastline, various recreation opportunities and friendly residents. Nice job! She was hearing a lot of skepticism around town. Amazing! "Remind me not to move to your county! The facts and evidence tell a different story. Bushman had the Hermann family to thank for getting the job, and Kocourek to thank for his many career advancements. Ricky's mother, however, was not so easily quieted. Avery, 23, professes his innocence and produces 16 alibi witnesses. One of the world's worst mothers, Barb Tadych, Brendan Dassey's mother, is featured in the Emmy-winning documentary, Making a Murderer. 151). Terrible and corruption run rampant!!! Former MCSD officer Bushman was called in, and he knew just what to do. The DOJ's criminal destruction of an apparent crime scene is extremely telling. Whether Steven Avery or Brendan Dassey are innocent or guilty they sure got railroaded by the indecent actions of your department. "He immediately became red around the face [] The desired response was received and the redness in his face indicated he was embarrassed, at that point indicating he himself had discussed the rumor.". That will be determined in federal court, I hope Hopefully you run a more honest and transparent ship than did the prior sheriff. But Sheriff Robert Hermann defended the investigators and saidviewers are not seeing the whole story. What will your department come out and say then? BUT that's jumping ahead a little bit too much. 3. I wished to catch what type of reaction this would bring. Again, Ferak theorizes Kocourek was steadily promoting those whose involvement in serious incidents he helped down play, such as Petersens running over a citizen, or Bushmans driving through an intersection at high speed and decently wrecking his squad car. Representatives of the Manitowoc County Historical Society, along with the Chamber of Manitowoc County, Manitowoc Area Visitor and Convention Bureau and other local leaders met Wednesday to discuss ways to bring a positive focus back to the community. Ferak never suggests Bushman was intoxicated but the thought definitely crossed my mind. That's significant. This wasn't great for the boys, because as Ferak says, "the discovery of a genuine crime scene off Kuss road was not conductive to the: Steven Avery is a bloodthirsty-psychopathic-killing-machine' narrative that Ken Petersen wanted to gin up in the community, (Pg. Bushman, while on patrol, observed what appeared to be a drunk driver. 153). A pattern could arguably be established. Next I'll briefly review all three (yes, three) criminal investigation of Manitowoc County Sheriff's department conducted by the Wisconsin DOJ Division of Criminal Investigation (one in 2003, one in 2004 & and the last in 2009). As you might have guessed, Kocourek didn't push Bushman to conduct an investigation that would result in a member of the Hermann family, a member of his own department, being indicted for felony vehicular homicide. Manitowoc County is a county in the U.S. state of. The series seems to have convinced much of its audiencethat twoManitowoc Countymen currently sitting in prison for the murder of a young photographer may, in fact, be innocent and the local legal system corrupt. ", 16. Among other things, Petersen told reporters Steven "could be a con man" (false and inflammatory) that he burned a cat alive (false and inflammatory) and that if he wasn't convicted of Teresa's murder he would kill AGAIN (speculative and inflammatory). "Never have I heard of such corruption at the hands of law enforcement as in the case of Steven Avery. The DOJ then destroyed the burn pit all together (like straight up demolished it) ensuring no forensic examination could ever take place, thereby protecting Manitowoc County's frame job from crumbling. Ferak himself believes "Teresa met her gruesome demise about a half mile away from the Avery property" (Pg. Allegedly, the older Hermann brother (instead of driving around all night to different dealerships) took the improperly collected evidence to his familys salvage yard and swapped out the damaged car parts from the scene for older car parts so to redirect the upcoming vehicular homicide investigation away from the Hermann family, their business and vehicles. I watched Making a Murderer, and I thought it was masterfully done. WISN/YouTube. The past wrongs allegedin the series aren't doing a whole lot for Manitowoc's image today. Daniel Hartwig, Sheriff Department Director Daniel Hartwig Sheriff Phone: 920-683-4200 Contact Us Location Information Manitowoc County Sheriff's Office 1025 South 9th Street Manitowoc , WI 54220 Maybe the nightly news has been right all along: we live in a corrupt and violent world where not even small-town justice is free from corruption and agendas The city of Manitowoc and the state of Wisconsin should be ashamed of who was/is representing them and who was/is supposedly protecting its citizens. 95: I (Inv. Manitowoc County Drug Disposal Program is accepting unused and/or expired medications, over-the-counter medications, prescription medications and pet medications at no charge. Ferak's theory is not exactly new to us on TTM, but it's nevertheless toubling to think about. Justice is no longer served to all impartially, but abused and obstructed at will - and that's exactly how Manitowoc County became the cesspool of corruption it was in 2005, and why the integrity of Steven's 2007 conviction must be examined once more. What originally drew you to the case of Avery? It's hard not to be intrigued when you first learn MCSD discovered a burial site a half mile away from Steven's trailer the day before MCSD found bones in Steven's burn pit (nothing suspicious about that). Soon after the initial collision Officer Petersen sped by in his squad car and, due to the thick fog, literally ran over Gina while racing to a nearby bar to investigate claims of underage drinking. Not to mention, Hermann's decidedly unique access to nearly unlimited car parts from his family's Auto Salvage Yard fits in with such theories (again, I want to note such conspiracies originated in the community long ago, not on reddit after MAM). 2023 www.postcrescent.com. In this THREE PART series of posts I will explore information about the troubling history of Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department as revealed by Jxxx Ferak in his book, "Wrecking Crew: Demolishing the Case Against Steven Avery". If the Avery case was in the state of Nebraska, the state of Iowa and the state of Illinois, I would have to say there would be a 98 percent chance Zellner would be successful in winning a new trial or getting Steven Avery's conviction overturned, primarily based on the Brady violation allegations she has raised. Hundreds of emails sent to Hermann and other county officials in December and Januarywere recently turned over to the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin to comply with a public records request. One of the loudest voices in the public conversation about Steven Avery's possible innocence is Kathleen Zellner, Avery's attorney, who was featured on the Netflix documentary series about the Wisconsin murder case, Making a Murderer. According to social media, people all across America feel the same way. The Manitowoc Sheriff's Department is known as a northern style "good ole boy" network that would rival the KKK counties in the south, complete with a lot of false arrests and arrogant, poorly trained and disciplined deputies. Of course IMO the decision to back away from the case was only for the benefit of the public's perception. McConnell said she feels bad that Halbach's parents have to go through this again now that the documentary has created such a furor. Talking with residents throughout the city in recent days,it seemed like few had watched the entire series. For decades now, the Hermann family has had an enormous amount of influence within the Sheriff's department and also the community. It appears statements were not taken from the two males involved with the initial collision (or were taken but not reported). 86): Your excellent service to Manitowoc and the Sheriffs Department in your past positions have prepared you to assume the responsibilities of Lieutenant, and I am sure you will do an excellent job as you have in the past.. People that are passing judgment on just the facts in that film, I think theyre way off base. "I dont think weve peaked yet. This is just kind of a blip in the history of the world. But we are dealing with the state of Wisconsin, a place I lived and worked at two different times in my life, and for that reason, I would say it's 50-50. I truly feel sorry for the residents of your county who will be judged according to the actions of a few. "I just wanted to reach out with disgust at how your department handled the Steven Avery case. 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