Watching the first confession video - 2/27/06
[video=youtube;drwb15E_taM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drwb15E_taM[/video]
Does anyone know if they talked to Brendan before this ? Because clearly he is giving details that weren't fed to him at this point, at least not in this video.
He talks about seeing body parts in the fire and he is talking far more clearly than in the videos I saw in the documentary that were AFTER this video in early march of 2006.
So at the moment, I can't really say that he was fed details at all. The audio on this video is cutting out, but it doesn't seem to be possible that they could be giving him details in those dead spots because the conversation seems normal.
Starting to get the feeling that we were fed parts of the tape where they tried to get Brendan to be more specific about how the murder happened.
Starting to think that Brendan's first version of the story is the real story, because he mentions the body parts in the fire at steve's trailer.
Going to continue watching, but unless there is an earlier video/interrogation where they feed him all this, I'm starting to feel like the documentary manipulated this aspect. I don't recall seeing this clip in the documentary, but I will check.
Edit - He also says that steven noticed that brendan recognized the body parts and at that point told him not to tell anyone and that he threatened him. Audio cuts out at key moments of the video where he is answering about what Steven said. If there is not a version without these audio cutouts, I'd like to understand why ? Going to look for a transcript to this confession. The transcript I have is from an interview on 5/13/06 and there is blatant bullying of brendan imo.
Brendan says he drove the body there to the pit - matching what I had theorized was plausible if the murder occurred in the garage where the vehicle was likely hidden at the time.
It's very hard to make out what brendan is saying, a transcript is needed. But it sounds like he is talking about the murder taking place in a wooded area ?
I want to note that this video is NOTHING like the other videos, as they are just letting him talk. They aren't suggesting anything that I can tell. Let me know what you think.
Knowing if there is an earlier interview and it's contents is incredibly important now. Because my opinion is that he is NOT being coerced here.
Ok at 3:34:50 they ask him for detail about a "sled" , which is what I couldn't understand/hear what brendan said earlier , but it did sound like he said sled - but I just haven't heard that mentioned before. So brendan is saying that the murder occurred in the woods - according to steve and that he brought her to the fire via the sled. So that would mean he potentially drove the Rav4 with her body to the place it was found, and at that point put her on a sled.
It's obvious now why the police didn't like this explanation as it doesn't fit with garage being the murder location. So coercing brendan to say it happened in the trailer and/or garage would allow them to potentially plant evidence if you believe that theory.
This explanation also doesn't rule out that brendan and steven used bleach to potentially clean the floor in his garage , maybe just minimal amounts of blood that might have been on a knife and dripped or from steven. -- just theorizing here, but it makes the cleanup a much smaller job if this was the way it happened.
audio cuts out at a portion where they ask him why steven did this. All that we hear is that steven was angry. Brendan says he did not tell him why.
Brendan says that they threw bloody clothes on the fire. he says a blue shirt and jeans. I have not heard them say anything about how she was dressed. Brendan could have known this from seeing her when he got home, but he is talking rather naturally here and says there was a hole in the shirt. It's unclear to me if the hole in the shirt was fed to him, because of the audio dropout when he first described the clothes. It would have made sense if he did say that detail, so I'd want to confirm that via transcript. If the transcript doesn't show he first mentioned it, then the hole in the shirt is the first thing I noticed that seemed to be fed to him.
Next they ask him about how it has affected him. He clearly says that he has been sad for a few months, and that he couldn't believe steven had done it. I don't hear any coercion here.
He states that he didn't help put the body on the fire or anything else.
they ask for clarification on where he stabbed teresa and he said in the jeep.
They ask him if he knows what sexual assault is, and he says yes. But he says that steven didn't say anything about that.
They ask for more detail on the shirt. He say button up I think.
I'm still not hearing any coercion. They are letting him talk.
He says he didn't see camera or phone in the fire. So here's another detail that leads me to believe that they later wanted to have brendan say he saw the camera and phone in the burn barrel, likely where they were found. He doesn't mention that in this interview so far. So, I am prone to believe he didn't see those items in the burn barrel. The reason they'd want him to say he say them, is so they could put a timestamp on when the murder likely began. They want that to be as early as possible it seems. I don't recall when he says he is at the bonfire and sees these body parts, I will go back and check after I get through this. But I would imagine it is night time. So that means Brendan wouldn't have even known about the body until the evening. So using him for any of the murder timeline would be useless. That would be where the coercion would begin in future talks.
Brendan states he was at the fire for about 2 hours. - i will have to go back and get an idea of the time he got there to nail the time frame down.
They ask why he didn't tell anyone. He says he was scared that they might believe that he helped.
Have to say all of this is very convincing, unlike the videos I saw in the documentary. He is not pausing for periods of time as if he is thinking about what to say, this feels far more natural as if he is just answering questions. I am not hearing coercion. He is doing a majority of the talking.
He says that steven drove the truck past chuckies house, not sure exactly where that is. Also not clear if steven told him this or if brendan is just saying thats how it would have gotten from the pit to the place it was found.
He again answers that the steven stabbed her in the jeep. so he is consistent on everything to this point, I have not heard him say anything inconsistent to this point. I am assuming that is what they are doing now, is asking him the same questions to test if he is consistent as well as see if it brings out new details. -- but I don't hear any feeding of details. It's all coming from brendan
they again ask how he got her from the jeep to fire pit - again brendan says the sled. consistent again.
They ask if steven mentioned the path he took to get her from the jeep to the firepit. He says no.
They ask him if there is any doubt in his mind that what he saw in the fire was her body. Audio cuts out and he talks softly, but based on them not questioning further I am assuming he said he is sure. Will have to check transcript, but seems likely he just agreed.
They ask about if steve said anything to him since then, he seems to say no - audio cutout.
Brendan says he doesn't know who's knife it was and wasn't told.
Investigators leave the room and to this point as I said, they have been very nice to him and i don't notice any coercion whatsoever.
Brendan says he helped steve put a silver/grey suziki in the garage. Haven't heard this vehicle mentioned before. Anyone ?
They ask him about steven's girlfriend jodi and if steven mentioned anything about her related to this. He says no.
something I can understand is asked about the golf cart, and brendan just says that it's his mother's golf cart. (barb janda)
Now they go to clarify how he got her from the pit to the fire. and audio cuts out, can't hear the response.
They ask about where steven got the rope that he tied her up with, and he says he doesn't. He says he didn't see rope on her in the fire or where the rope came from. I can't say I heard brendan ever mention anything about rope, so this is them giving him that detail. But he says he didn't see it. It is possible that in the audio cutouts that he might have mentioned that steven said he had her tied up. Because he did say that Steven told him about her being killed in the Rav4 and having had her in the woods - might have said she was tied up? audio cutout (damn)
They ask if he saw teresa wrapped up in anything at anytime. He says no. I think they were testing to see if he had seen her BEFORE he saw the body in the fire. So , I tend to believe what he said here and that he first sees her in that fire.
Brendan says that he stayed at fire till 10:30 - so based on his 2 hour statement earlier - 8:30-10:30 was when he as there.
He talks about steve saying he was going to continue burning and then fill it in and the create a new fire pit. Seems like he is saying that maybe that's what you do when you are done burning ? not sure. But I think they were asking to find out if steven told him about anything in regards to getting rid of any remaining bones.
They ask if he thought chuckie might have saw something ? Brendan says probably because chuckie came down there or something and audio cuts out.
Brendan says he did see chuckie and steven talk, i think by chuckies truck. But didn't know what they talked about. He never asked chuckie about the conversation and chuckie never told him anything about their conversation. He says he never told chuckie about any of this.
They ask him about the next day and maybe that is when he saw chuckie and steven talking, not sure. But he says they were in the garage working on another car - Monte Carlo ? he says monty. Detectives question him about him saying it was the suzuki in there but he clarifies this was the next day and the suzuki was probably not in the garage at that time.
They ask about the any cuts he noticed on steve. He says a cut on the left arm that steven told him came from glass somewhere in the yard.
They ask if steven had told him about being injured anywhere in the process of killing teresa. The audio cuts out, but you can see brendan motioning to his hand around the knuckles about where Steve had his cut on his hand. He says that the scratch came from teresa's fingernail. He is very clear that Steven told him that. they ask for clarification, audio cutout :/ but it appears he confirmed what he said based on body language.
Now they ask about if steven said there was a struggle. He said, yes and that when steven was trying to tie her up that she struggled and that's when the scratch occurred. So it sounds like Brendan was aware of the rope. That likely got mentioned earlier in a audio cutout. Will check transcript, but it doesn't seem as if this is new territory that brendan knew there was rope.
They ask again why he didn't go to police. He says again he was scared. And says something else I can't make out.
They ask if Steven got out on bond tomorrow would he be scared ? he says yes. Because he would probably try to kill him or something.
If you haven't watched this video, please watch. Because these guys are not coercing him, and suggesting things, brendan said that he was afraid steven would kill him. That wasn't a cop asking "Because he would kill you ?" -- that's very important detail imo.
They ask why he would think that and he says because steven told him not to say anything.
They ask if he has had trouble sleeping at night and he replies "sort of" and they ask why and he says because he's trying to figure out why steven would have done that.
Anyone who has seen the documentary, you need to watch this first video. Decide for yourself if you believe he was coerced. Even with the cutouts, I have to admit I have great sympathy for Brendan knowing what happened from here. But, if this is the first interview with brandon, I am going to say that I believe every word and that Avery is guilty.
jmo
I would also say that I think the police are scum for what happens from here. They all deserve to be put in a jail cell right besides avery. I feel so bad for this kid now.
I will look for transcript and watch the other videos to see if my opinion changes, but right now... I don't buy that anything in this video was coerced. your thoughts ?
Sorry for the long post, but I am sure many wouldn't enjoy going through and watching all that with the audio cutouts etc, and if we can't find a transcript this is at least a good summary of what was said, so you can refer to it to find info in the video.
