Steven Avery Jury Trial Day 1 - 02.12.2007

MICHAEL HALBACH CROSS

• TH was an athlete in high school, played vollyeball until her sophomore year
• Reasonably athletic and fit
• TH grew up working on a dairy farm, all the kids helped w. chores, but TH mostly helped inside the house, and baby-sitting her sisters
• TH could stand up for herself/was independent
• Halbach's were tight-knit immediate family, close extended family as well
• After reporting TH missing, her family started discussing where they knew she was on Oct 31, what appointments she had, where she was supposed to be before and after that date
• They were able to nail down all her appointments on Oct 31
• Heavy media coverage of the case
• HAD PASSWORDS FOR CELL PHONE AND COMPUTER
• MH had the passwords because he did website graphics for her business
• MH never checked the cell phone bill, so wasn't certain the password was correct
• KNEW PASSWORD TO HER VOICEMAIL
• CHECKED TH'S VOICEMAIL AFTER KH FILED MISSING PERSONS REPORT
• MH thinks he would know what keys she was carrying
• Does not believe she had keys to her parents house, or any other cars, or "fancy things" on keychain
• Can't recall if TH had swipe card for gym
• TH had separate garage/house key for the farmhouse she was sharing w. SB
• TH was essentially next door neighbors w. her parents (although rural) you could see their house through evergreens
• MH was a videographer, and had helped TH out w. a wedding before she disappeared, he was doing videography, she did photography
• Can't recall for sure if TH carried a purse
• TH did not wear a lot of jewelry- maybe a few rings, but not bracelets, necklaces, or earrings often

KEY POINTS

MH CHECKED TH'S VOICEMAIL ON NOV 3

MICHAEL HALBACH TIMELINE

3/22/1980: TH BORN

2002
TH graduates UWGB w. photography major
Starts her own business, Photography by Teresa

AUGUST 2004
TH starts working for Auto Trader magazine to supplement her income

AUGUST 2005
TH coaches her sister's 7th grade volleyball team

OCTOBER 2005
TH owns/drives a Toyota RAV4
TH is approx 5'6, 135 lbs

SAT 10/29/2005
PM: TH helps MH shoot a wedding video
Late PM: TH going to Halloween party

SUN 10/30/2005
Last day MH sees TH
Halbach family gathering at Grandpa's

THURS 11/3/2005
MH working
Call from Jay Breyer, runs Youth Educated in Safety, a missing persons organization
2-2:30P: Call from KH asking if MH had seen/talked to TH since Sunday, Oct 30
5:00P: KH files missing persons report
Early PM: MH checks TH's voicemail
PM
Earliest possible time MH found out TH had appointments at Avery Salvage Yard
News mentions TH case
Someone able to access TH cell records online (per Strang)

FRI 11/4/2005
Halbach's ask for help handing out posters
Media coverage begins of TH
AM: MH knew about Avery Salvage Yard appt for sure
2-2:30P: Met w. anyone who had time to do vehicle searches across WI

SAT 11/5/2005
Halbach's do searches by car
RAV4 found
Heavy media coverage of TH case
7:00A: Group of volunteers meet at TH's house to retrace the route she took Oct 31

NOTES ON HALBACH TESTIMONY

Not impressed w. Kratz's Direct. He has to ask the witness if he's asked him a question already, which Michael remembers wasn't asked, but Kratz doesn't. Just looks disorganized and unprofessional, IMO.

Defense did a great job with Cross. Was able to get from MH that he knew Teresa's voicemail password and computer passwords, AND that he checked her voicemail. The exchange between Strang/Halbach over checking TH's cell phone records on the computer is interesting and a bit confusing- Strang says "he thinks someone accessed her cell records on the computer, and Halbach replies w. "I don't think on her computer" Were the cell phone records accessed on a computer, will there be proof of this? If there is, MH's answer becomes much more interesting

THOMAS PEARCE DIRECT

• Professional photographer, 38 years experience
• Asked TH to work through his studio doing weddings and portraits
• Started her own business, not to be in competition, but compliment eachother
• Worked out of his studio, but started her own business
• They cooperated in doing advertising, promotions, learning, and helping eachother
• TP would book weddings for her, TH would book for him
• Never any competition between them
• TH would call upon TP for advice on how to run a business
• Told him that she picked up Auto Trader as a client, and was running around doing business
• When TH first started w. Auto Trader, she was doing Mondays, which are days they are typicall closed in the industry, because they work a lot of Saturdays
• Then it was Mondays, Wednesdays, and some Saturdays. TH was constantly telling him she was running around doing Auto Trader
• TP sat TH down and told her he didn't want to see her get burnt out from "running here, running there". That was what she enjoyed, "constantly running" but TP worried about her well-being
• TH told TP she was taking photos for SA, who she had to remind him was "the guy who was wrongfully convicted" which led to a discussion that helped him remember the case
• TP discussed TH running around the county all by herself, and whether she was safe
• She was working for TP when she purchased the RAV4, he took theh picture where she is standing in front of it
• TH was extremely reponsible, always kept TP informed of if she was going to be gone for the day, if she had appointments, was she taking off for the weekend, etc.
• TH was one of the founders of the BMG Marketing Group, and was very active in it
• When TP still had not seen TH after her weekly Weds meeting w. the BMG group. He thought this was a little strange, and tried to call her, but her voicemail box was full and he couldn't leave a msg
• Very strange that TH's voicemail was full, as he always got right through to her, and she was very good at returning calls/msgs
• TP calls TH again on Thursday, when some of her work starts being shipped in to be processed
• Believes if TH was out of town or sick, she would have called by now, TP is now "really, really worried"
• TP called KH, who said she was going to call some of TH's friends

BEST POINT
TP never saw TH past October 29, and it was not normal for her to not show up for work w.o a call, or neglect her work. She was responsible.

First post, just want to say thank you for the transcripts. Going to get stuck into them now.

Hi all, just dropping in to say hello and thanks for the helpful summaries. There's so much material here (5,508 pages worth of transcripts alone), it's tough for people to digest it all without a "reader's digest" version.

:welcome5:

Do we know if TP was obsessed with Teresa in anyway? Curious
Did he hound her or go after her at all, and since he knew about SA's prior? ( she gave him a refresher on the case )
Tossin thoughts around

stephsb said:

THOMAS PEARCE DIRECT

• Professional photographer, 38 years experience
• Asked TH to work through his studio doing weddings and portraits
• Started her own business, not to be in competition, but compliment eachother
• Worked out of his studio, but started her own business
• They cooperated in doing advertising, promotions, learning, and helping eachother
• TP would book weddings for her, TH would book for him
• Never any competition between them
• TH would call upon TP for advice on how to run a business
• Told him that she picked up Auto Trader as a client, and was running around doing business
• When TH first started w. Auto Trader, she was doing Mondays, which are days they are typicall closed in the industry, because they work a lot of Saturdays
• Then it was Mondays, Wednesdays, and some Saturdays. TH was constantly telling him she was running around doing Auto Trader
• TP sat TH down and told her he didn't want to see her get burnt out from "running here, running there". That was what she enjoyed, "constantly running" but TP worried about her well-being
• TH told TP she was taking photos for SA, who she had to remind him was "the guy who was wrongfully convicted" which led to a discussion that helped him remember the case
• TP discussed TH running around the county all by herself, and whether she was safe
• She was working for TP when she purchased the RAV4, he took theh picture where she is standing in front of it
• TH was extremely reponsible, always kept TP informed of if she was going to be gone for the day, if she had appointments, was she taking off for the weekend, etc.
• TH was one of the founders of the BMG Marketing Group, and was very active in it
• When TP still had not seen TH after her weekly Weds meeting w. the BMG group. He thought this was a little strange, and tried to call her, but her voicemail box was full and he couldn't leave a msg
• Very strange that TH's voicemail was full, as he always got right through to her, and she was very good at returning calls/msgs
• TP calls TH again on Thursday, when some of her work starts being shipped in to be processed
• Believes if TH was out of town or sick, she would have called by now, TP is now "really, really worried"
• TP called KH, who said she was going to call some of TH's friends

BEST POINT
TP never saw TH past October 29, and it was not normal for her to not show up for work w.o a call, or neglect her work. She was responsible.

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