", 11. 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). Such a deviation from established protocol when collecting evidence of a crime is a strong indication of BAD FAITH, in this case the destruction / fabrication of evidence. So Bushman's decision was to conduct no follow-up on damaged car parts found at the scene of a hit and run homicide? Relevant to this post - the MCSD should have stayed off the property, far away from Steven's trailer, and absolutely should not have been called to examine a burial site found just off the property, or involved in the quick and questionable collection of bone evidence from Steven's burn pit the next day. Once he is released from prison, he probably needs to move far away from Wisconsin for his own mental health and well-being. We were obviously nave in thinking that way.. Way before the Hermann brothers were first and third in command; before Teresa, Ricky, or Penny, the Hermann family still had an enormous amount of influence within the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department (MCSD). All evidence points towards the incompetence of your department I hope and pray your department and local police and that judge are found out, and YOU rot in jail. 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. Sharon McConnell of Manitowoc,approached as she was reading a newspaper at a local cafe,said she hasn't seen the series and doesn't plan to watch it. The repairs to vehicle set the department back nearly $4 000 in 1989 money. 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". Bushman) decided to question [Ricky's father] about a statement he made to REDACTED regarding the opinion that police may have been involved in the accident and are attempting to cover it up. MANITOWOC - The Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department, which has been accused of framing Steven Avery for a 1985 rape and planting numerous clues to convict Avery for the 2005 murder of. At the end of the day, despite whispers and worries of townspeople, the cover-up was successful. 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. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. 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. "I would never travel to your town as it is apparent there is a lot of corruption in the sheriffs office, the disgraceful prosecutor, and even the judges, including the appellate courts It is truly unbelievable that your community could make such a travesty of the judicial system. But they were not the most senior department on the scene. 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, Petersen and Bushman, who both happened to be involved in (separate) grossly negligent on-duty traffic accidents that were quickly swept under the rug by Kocourek. Manitowoc County Departments Our purpose is to improve the quality of life in Manitowoc County by providing effective, high quality, and responsive public services that promote the prosperity, self-sufficiency, and well-being of individuals, families, businesses, and communities. "If youre taking pieces out of context, it definitely changes the outcome. Kocourek praised Petersen endlessly in his many promotion notices, one of which read (Pg. Of course Hermanns declaration about the striking vehicle was based on an examination of evidence that had no real chain of custody. "You should be ashamed of yourself and the crooked department you run. "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. Manitowoc County Board Chairman Jim Brey, in an email sent in December, urged fellow county board membersto rally behind thesheriff's department, which was the target of angrymessages from people across the world. I think if it documented everything correctly and wouldnt have downplayed some of the key points, the response would have been totally different. The wildly popular "Making a Murderer" documentary. In 1981 Officer Petersen was involved in a traffic accident that may have caused a citizen death, possibly a preventable death Ferak argues. 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. 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 . Like Bushman, Petersen was quickly hired despite his total lack of experience in LE. Dog handlers were turned away after being lead to the site by their canines. TL;DR: Manitowoc County's Culture of Corruption Both Petersen and Bushman were hired by MCSD with no prior experience in law enforcement, and both ended up being involved in serious collisions with their squad cars, collisions that were quickly swept under the rug by Sheriff Kocourek. Feraks identifies the Petersen incident as a "successful whitewash for Kocourek.". Oddly, neither of Gina's male companions were injured in the initial motorcycle collision, which suggests perhaps Gina would have survived if not for Petersen striking her with his vehicle at high speed. In this case, surely the state knew to expect intense adversarial challenges if they were going to arrest Steven Avery. 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. "May God forgive the morally corrupt officers who participated in this case. Such levels of coordination between departments being devoted to boldly shirking well established law and procedure is truly unsettling and reveals Steven never stood a chance. God Bless his mother and father who have had to live through this I would NEVER EVER visit your town in fear that if I were to run a stop sign, you would have me arrested on a murder charge. Join half a million readers enjoying Newsweek's free newsletters. In the interest of explaining just how tangled this web is, I review the many, many familiar or social connections between the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department, Calumet County Sheriff's Department, and the Wisconsin Department of Justice. Everything your pathetic county stands for is forever tarnished with the mockery of justice that was promulgated in that courtroom. USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin sought access to written or electronic correspondence involving several current law enforcement officials at the Manitowoc County Sheriffs Office. Ferak argues the more than three hours between the discovery of the site and the arrival of the crime lab deepens suspicion about whether incriminating evidence of a crime scene was being hauled away (Pg. Her criticism echoed thatof other residents, and the prosecutor and law enforcement involved in the case. Years later, Kocourek, Bushman and Petersen would all play critical roles in the 1985 wrongful arrest and conviction of Steven Avery, the 1999 Ricky H vehicular homicide case, and the 2005 Teresa Halbach case. Averys sweat DNA found on the hood latch of Halbachs vehicle discovered by Calumet County law enforcement. ", 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. After everything, MCSD escaped facing civil liability and a family was forced to say goodbye to their daughter. ", 15. We had quality law enforcement out at the scene they worked hard at the case to get to the truth. This ^ level of inaction could only be the result of Kocourek sanctioning it. Sheriff at the time of Steven's 1985 wrongful arrest and conviction. From Zellner's investigative instincts to Avery's current standing in the court system to a detailed analysis of the accusations against former prosecutor Ken Kratz, Ferak covers a variety of new angles in the book and expands on the key points that make the case so polarizing. The boys in the club had once more saved themselves from facing civil liability, just like they did with Gina Hxxxxx (from Part One) and Ricky Hotchstetler (from above). Like many here, I've read and seen a lot of stuff, and I'm continually frustrated by what appears to be constant in your face corruption that permeates this case. 78). The city of Manitowoc Police Department, which has no connection to the sheriffs department, also has been fieldingcalls and comments on its social media accounts from around the world. Nice job! Bushman was unable to stop the squad car before it ran off the road though the T intersection the squad car, at just less than highway speed, struck the embankment and came to a rest investigation into the accident showed the case to be a result of inattentive driving.". I could see Steven Avery, let's say three years from now, living in Michigan or perhaps out West in, say, Montana or maybe even in the Sandhills of Nebraska. That will be determined in federal court, I hope Hopefully you run a more honest and transparent ship than did the prior sheriff. The suit was settledafter the homicide case was filed against Avery. Ferak believes officer Bushman's time on Ricky's case (learning how to disappear evidence) was just training for his time on Teresa's case, specifically his time at the Kuss road burial site. 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. She was there at one point. They have to realize the separation between a museum and a judicial issue. Petersen is also on record casually discussing how murdering Steven Avery would be preferable to framing him, a remarkable statement about an extrajudicial killing from the County's top law enforcement officer - a statement both the defense and filmmakers said deeply troubled them. I find it amazing that anyone involved from your county involved in the Steven Avery case can sleep at night. Manitowoc County is now officially on the map for having the most corrupt (law enforcement officers) in the nation, congrats. This evidence is filed and not taken action about until 2003, illustrating the bias and corruption of the Manitowoc county Police department, to protect its own reputation. Now the boys had to come up with a way to reasonably dismiss these newly found car parts as being totally unrelated to Ricky's death, and as we can see below, it's painfully clear they were not up to the task (Pg. If skeptics of Avery's alleged innocence reads The Wrecking Crew, what do you hope they take away from it? 77). He called it one-sided and said it is profiting off the Halbach family's loss. And they're turning their wrath on the east-central Wisconsincommunity. He takes all of my evidence, expert opinions and theories and really examines them in detail," Zellner said. I could see him taking up fishing, having a motorboat or perhaps a pontoon. 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. 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