", 19. Former Manitowoc County Sheriff Kenneth Petersen, who arrested Steven Avery, the subject of the documentary series, "Making a Murderer," 31 years ago for rape in 1985, admits he heard about a phone call in 1995 that some say could possibly have cleared Avery of the rape charge. I imagine the Hermann father helping elect Kocourek had something to do with the Hermann sons becoming first and third in command decades later. It is sad to see for the world that the state of Wisconsin still lives in isolation and narrow-minded thinking. Permanent Dropbox Locations: Manitowoc Police Department, 910 Jay St., from 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM Monday thru Friday Consider giving Ferak's book a look if you haven't already. It's a concept that Sean Vandedrinck, 21, of Sturgeon Bay brought up jokingly. Anonymous announced that it would get involved in the legal dispute between the Manitowoc County Sheriff Department and Steven Avery, the star . There is no question thats what this film did, he said. Seems about right. "We just finished learning about the Teresa Halbach murder case. There is no question defense attorneys did a good job to try and paint a negative picture and paint us in a negative light, but what theyre suggesting didnt happen.. Bushman (a college drop out turned bus driver) applied to the Manitowoc County Sheriffs Department in the 1970's even though he had no law enforcement experience. How confident are you that Zellner will be able to exonerate Avery? As it turns out Schetter grew up with the Hermann boys in Manitowoc County, even serving as a groomsman at the younger Hermann brothers wedding (Pg. And although it's a big topic of conversation, she said, most people here are talking about the documentary itself, notdebating whether the men actually committed the crime. The 10-part Netflix series has turned an uncomfortable spotlight on Manitowoc, its sheriffs department and its legal system. Although only MCSDs history is examined in the post, the same lesson applies to other departments. Not surprising that Mr. Kratz resigned as a result of disgraceful behavior. And of course, the crime lab reported nothing was found at the burial site. They dont look at the great things were doing.. A pattern could arguably be established. Manitowoc County Drug Disposal Program is accepting unused and/or expired medications, over-the-counter medications, prescription medications and pet medications at no charge. "[Making a Murderer] touched on some of my investigation and expert experiments but not in as much detail as the book. Shannon Bolick, 29, a legal assistant at a law firm just down the street from the courthouse, had seen the first three episodes when approached by a reporter. The prevailing theory of police involvement (directly mentioned by Ferak in his book, Pg. Both Petersen and Bushman were hired by MCSD with no prior experience in law enforcement; both were in serious collisions in their squad cars; both became loyal underlings to Sheriff Kocourek; and both names turn up during the 1985 Penny Bernsteen assault case, the 1999 Ricky Hotchstetler vehicular homicide case, and the 2005 Teresa Halbach criminal homicide case. I used to think of cranes when I heard the name Manitowoc, not anymore . But Manitowoc residents say, not so fast. Unfortunately threats and intimidation are often effective. Cookie Notice Kocourek's legacy of corruption continued thriving thanks to Petersen becoming Sheriff. Only loyalists are hired and promoted and well meaning officers either burn out or are forced out. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. Im not sure I can look my kids in the eye and believe my own words anymore. If they had simply done their job properly when collecting those car parts, no one could make such claims. People are seeing our community presented in a bad light by this show and its pretty unfair to the people who live here, said Jason Ring, president of the bureau. But they were not the most senior department on the scene. I could also him taking an interest in auto racing, perhaps he would sponsor his own racing team for NASCAR. This is PART TWO in a three part series of posts concerning the troubling history of Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department as detailed by Jxxx Ferak in his book "Wrecking Crew." Obligatory: Any factual inaccuracies are mine, not Ferak's. Here is a link to PART ONE: Fuck-ups, Cover-ups and Promotions, largely concerning Sheriff Kocourek and his repeated promotions to inexperienced new hires . 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". Point being, Bushman was attempting to ice any further discussion about a police cover-up from Ricky's dad, and it seemed to have worked. 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 Bushman proved to his law enforcement buds he was a good man to have around in a sticky situation, and was adept at making incriminating evidence vanish into thin air (a skill he would put to good use once more years later). I could see him drinking Coors beer, but not Sam Adams or Corona. 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. "Saw your show on Netflix! By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. How sad for your countys image. I've included a brief review of the 1999 Ricky Hotchstetler hit and run vehicular homicide case, for which the Hermann brothers were identified as unofficial suspects, while officer Bushman was named as lead investigator. Ferak himself believes "Teresa met her gruesome demise about a half mile away from the Avery property" (Pg. This burial site fiasco likely culminated in MCSD planting the bones in Steven's burn pit. Let's shovel those bones into some boxes and garbage bags and carry on lads.". Examining the Hotchstetler case is important to understanding Ferak's theory about Bushman's conduct during the 2005 investigation into Teresa's disappearance, specifically regarding his time at the Kuss road cul-de-sac where a suspected burial site was discovered by Bushman's search team. 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. The charges against Avery in 2005 drew national attention. Disgraceful. I wished to catch what type of reaction this would bring. 151). Ferak's theory is not exactly new to us on TTM, but it's nevertheless toubling to think about. Your entire county is FILLED with white trash idiots and you have the audacity to bully and pick on him all this after falsely imprisoning him for 18 of his prime years of his life. 79) only 15 minutes from the Hermann family's Auto Salvage Business (yes, the same Hermann family whose son would eventually take over for Petersen as Sheriff). For more information, please see our The County Steven was suing? 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. So Bushman's decision was to conduct no follow-up on damaged car parts found at the scene of a hit and run homicide? For those who don't know, by November 2005 the Wisconsin DOJ had conducted TWO separate criminal investigations of MCSD for potential misconduct in office, once in 2003 (re: Steven, detailed in MAM season 1) and once in 2004 (re: Ricky Hotchstetler, detailed in Part Three, coming soon). Terrible and corruption run rampant!!! Kocourek wouldn't easily forget such a favor. The report in which the AG cleared MCSD of any wrongdoing or ethical violations (even though there was evidence the department knew Steven was innocent and Gregory Allen was guilty). You all may have won a trial against one uneducated man, but you all have lost so much more. "Your entire sheriff dept are the ones who should be tossed in jail It makes me ashamed to be from Wisconsin and you can bet I wont be in a hurry to ever drive past your cesspool of evil. That's significant. Steven Avery was wrongfully convicted in 1985, exonerated in 2003, and filed a lawsuit in 2004 seeking millions in damages from Former Sheriff Kocourek and former DA Vogel for their intentional misconduct. And then, when all was well within the department, the fickle finger of fate pointed at Steven Avery, leading to his exoneration in 2003, the filing of his 36,000,000 lawsuit in 2004, Teresa's death in 2005, Steven's arrest and ultimately his second wrongful conviction in 2007. 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. In this case, surely the state knew to expect intense adversarial challenges if they were going to arrest Steven Avery. 160) at the Kuss Road cul-de-sac burial site. And Surprise! Thompson voted in person in North Carolina and through an absentee ballot in Florida. Christ almighty that pissed me off. As such, it's no wonder both Petersen and Bushman became Kocourek's loyal underlings, helping him and the department out in 1985 (re: Penny) in 1999 (re: Ricky) and in 2005 (re: Teresa). Many locals were unwilling to weigh inpubliclyon the series, but those who did are far less likely than outsiders to turn against officials anddont seem to give the series much weight. 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.. In 2016 especially and also in 2017, I made countless trips to the Manitowoc County Courthouse and to the Avery Salvage Yard, as well as to the Manitowoc County government building, where I reviewed hundreds and hundreds of employee personnel records for Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department officials, past and present. The crime lab, however, was not called immediately. Ferak attempts to connect the Ricky H case and Teresa H case via Bushman's conduct in both cases. Shame on you. The county historical societys star rating on its Facebook page plummeted after dozens of people most from outside Wisconsin began posting negative reviews and comments related to Avery. Steven Avery, was accused and sent to prison in 1985 for the rape of a Manitowoc (Wisconsin) woman, Penny Beerntsen. (The commenters) only connection to knowing anything about Manitowoc is Netflix and then going on social media. Amazing! Steven's lawsuit directly contradicted Attorney General Lautenschlager's report on the 1985 case, the report issued after the first criminal investigation of MCSD in 2003. 162-163). Again, once you know the events of November 7 - November 11, this theory presents itself fully formed. Sheriff Petersen was still doing whatever he could to help cover up the truth from behind the scenes such as when he threatened Coroner Kakatsch with arrest if she tried to access the scene of Teresa's mutilation, as was required of her by statute. A volunteer for the Manitowoc sheriffs, the same department Avery was suing for wrongful imprisonment, was one of the jurors that put the convicted killer behind bars, OnMilwaukee reported. ", John Ferak: 920-993-7115 orjferak@gannett.com; on Twitter@johnferak, People protest at pro-Steven Avery rally in Manitowoc, Politician: Steven Avery's eyes prove he's guilty, No Steven Avery evidence planted: detective, Lt.Andrew Colborn fires back at"Making a Murderer" critic, Sheriff Rob Hermann urges letter writer to do more research, Manitowoc politician calls emails "borderline threatening. Were the bones found in Steven's burn pit because the body was burnt there, or because the bones were moved there post burning? On November 7, 2005 Bushman and the younger Hermann brother signed in together at the command post. The wildly popular "Making a Murderer" documentary. Keep up the good work! 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