Read Part One Here.

Read Part Two Here.

Read Part Three Here.

Read Part Four Here.

Read Part Five Here.

Read Part Six Here.

Read Part Seven Here.

Forgive the time I’ve spent away — both Amy and I have been incredibly busy in the past month and we have been scrambling to get back to our series. But we’re all caught up now and ready to dive in deep. Are you?

Let’s start with…

The Blood On Teresa’s Dashboard

I wanted to have Amy take a look at some more planted evidence. If you recall Amy has picked up in the past that the key evidence being presented was placed there — likely by James Lenk — and I thought we might see what she had to think about the blood that is supposedly Steven Avery’s on Teresa Halbach’s dashboard.

Here’s what she found:

Picture of car steering wheel with blood — I actually see someone doing this…and the person I see doing this I have read before. I am going to have to go back through your pictures.

Okay, so more planted evidence — which is what was presented in the documentary, that the vial of Steven Avery’s old blood was tampered with and then put on the dash. So who put it there?

I just went back through…Mustache Man [Scott Tadych]! I see Mustache Man doing this. He was at the crime scene. He was working with them. He is dumb enough for this placement too. I literally see him planting this blood in his goofy and cocky way… excited as if he had been given an assignment by the big guys to be a “real” cop! Like a boy.

Very interesting. He definitely could’ve had access to the car. And it makes sense that the authorities might pass off a job this risky to a civilian involved, especially if Tadych was as eager to help as he seemed on the stand. Also interesting that Amy noted “dumb enough” — because if the documentary is right, then the blood was literally taken from the vial and squirted with a syringe. That is pretty fucking dumb.

So let’s hop over to:

Kayla Avery

I knew I had to have Amy read Kayla, Brendan Dassey’s cousin, because I was absolutely aghast when I watched her portion of the documentary. Not at HER, but at what her tearful confession might suggest. Kayla begins her testimony by agreeing with the prosecutors — that Brendan told her something about Teresa Halbach. And the photo I sent is from that portion of the testimony. Amy said:

The picture of the young girl above this car steering wheel photo — I feel she is lying about placing someone close to the scene…or nearby…and also about the character of Sad Man [Steven Avery]? Like maybe testifying to his anger issues or threats or reactions or things she witnessed? Either way, she is not being truthful right here in this picture. She doesn’t want to be there and she doesn’t want to be a part of it.

Spot fucking on. Kayla initially told “school counselors” that Brendan was upset at a party and recounted to her about how he went into Steven Avery’s trailer and saw Teresa Halbach tied up. As the examination goes on, she begins to deny remembering that conversation, then eventually breaks down in tears and admits that she had originally lied — “He didn’t tell me anything. I — I kinda made up the statement and I’m sorry.” She goes on to say he never told her that he saw the body parts or that he had seen Teresa alive in the trailer.

Amy’s read suggests that the authorities perhaps involved poor Kayla too. And I think this is true; her final statement in the examination once asked if she made this up to get Brendan into trouble — which, to me, is a VERY leading question — is, “Not really. I was just really… confused about everything.”

What would have made her confused? Was she involved in a long, terrible session of interrogation by the police like Brendan had been?

And speaking of, let’s check out:

Brendan Dassey’s Interrogation

For many, this was one of the most painful parts to watch. I know it was for me. Poor Brendan put through hours of questions he doesn’t understand, prodded towards answers he doesn’t mean, unable to really get what’s happening here. For god’s sake, he even asks if he’ll be back to school in time to turn in a project. (DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON WRESTLEMANIA.)

So from this still, Amy picked up:

Picture of boy being questioned on the couch — this again saddens me. He is forced. Forced into this. Even the person sitting across from him… I presume questioning him… is just going through motions and script. His posture… his energy… everything is dishonesty in what he is trying to convey. Almost like acting.

Acting is an interesting note. I, for one, thought he eventually figured out what they wanted from him and just gave it to them — acted out what they expected to hear so he could get back to school. And we all know he was forced. It’s also important to note that the person across from him is “going through motions and script.” They knew what they wanted him to say.

I wanted to touch on a more positive aspect of the case, so I sent over a photo of:

Dean Strang and Jerry Buting

Ahh, my handsome lawyer heroes. These guys were just so amazing to watch, and just genuinely nice dudes from what it seemed. Remember how fast Amy picked up that Ken Kratz was slime? Well:

Next — the two men in suits standing next to each other. These two men… they feel like they really wanted to do something good… and failed? I sense both advocacy in them… and yet, they didn’t have what it took to get it done? I just keep hearing a half defeated tone of them saying “Look, we believe we did the best possible job…considering the evidence.”

I don’t know what else to say here. I mean… they were superstars but she’s right. They didn’t have what it took.

I don’t feel they are shady. Just in over their heads? I get the sense that they thought something was going to be much easier than it ended up being. They remind me of the underdog team going up against the state champs from the last 5 years. It is really awesome that they even believe they have a chance… but they quickly find out that was pretty much imagination? And so there is some defeat and slouched over shoulders in energetic sense.

The “something was going to be much easier” really stings. The episode where Strang and Buting find the vial of blood has been tampered with, they seem so sure of themselves. Like, it’s in the bag. And my god, it should have been.

Okay. My heart hurts. So let’s finish up with:

Jodi Stachowski

Steven Avery’s ex-girlfriend, who presumably left him after being threatened by police, is an interesting character. She initially vouched for him, then (just in the past year) recanted, saying he was guilty. So what did Amy read from her?

This woman confuses me… I think because she just is confused. It feels to me she doesn’t really know what to believe. She knows her own experiences…and her interpretations of Sad Man and others… but she also has a lot going on inside herself concerning it all.

Very interesting. “She knows her own experiences” — her recent claims have been that Steven Avery (Sad Man) tied her to the bed once. So she may be swayed by the idea that if he did it to her (under her apparent discomfort) that he might have tied Teresa Halbach to the bed as well. So, like, she doesn’t think he’d kill anyone, but the detail about trying her to the bed might have thrown Jodi off.

I don’t get anything from her being a witness as far as seeing anything that day or connection in that way. More character-related? I honestly don’t think she knows what to believe.

This strikes as very true. She wasn’t involved in the trial from what the documentary shows, but that could be wrong if it was left out on purpose. I don’t think the police WANTED to reference Jodi, though. She might not behave as a witness.

So we’ve got some more information, some more credibility from Amy. I think it’s time to go after the real meat of the matter. We need to find out who did this. I’m going to do some deep research and try to see what we can get.

And, in penance for you having to wait so very long for this update, I’d like to add I’ll accept reads from the comments for the next session. So please, throw anything my way that you think might be the key to breaking this case. Any missed clues, any specific people. Let’s do it. Let’s work together and crack this thing wide open before it goes to trial.

Part 9 Coming Soon.

If you love true crime and mysteries, check out Amy’s series titled “A High School Friend Is Being Charged With Attempted Murder And, As A Medium, I’m Going To Use My Gifts To Help Her” here.