'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Dateline: Unforgettable's new episode, titled Return to Manitowoc County, will revisit the shocking 2005 murder case of Wisconsin photographer Teresa Halbach. The episode will premiere on October 4, 2023, at 8 pm ET, exclusively on Oxygen.
The official synopsis of the episode, as per Rotten Tomatoes, reads:
"It's a mystery that defies easy answers, and "Dateline" has been following it for more than a decade; Steven Avery and his teenage nephew were convicted of killing Teresa Halbach; now, Andrea Canning shares her insight into the controversial case."
Teresa Halbach vanished on October 31, 2005; her last reported engagement was a meeting with Steven Avery at his home near the premises of Avery's Auto Salvage, to photograph his sister's minivan that he was selling on Autotrader.com. She was reported missing on November 3, 2023.
In order to find a clue regarding her disappearance, the investigators on the case conducted a thorough search through Halbach's personal belongings. It was during this search that the police discovered bloodstains inside Halbach's car. The car, however, was discovered in the salvage yard, where it was partially hidden. Avery's bone and teeth fragments were also discovered in a burn pit next to her residence.
While the gruesome nature of the crime shocked the police, their persistent efforts in the months after the murder and some crucial forensic evidence helped the killer in the case to be apprehended soon.
Steven Avery's DNA was discovered in Teresa Halbach's car
Forensic reports revealed that the blood sample discovered in Halbach's automobile and Avery's blood were identical. Teresa Halbach's body had also shown signs of s*xual assault and mutilation. Additionally, charred bone parts that belonged to Halbach were discovered in Avery's backyard.
On November 11, 2005, Avery was detained and charged with Halbach's murder, kidnapping, s*xual assault, and mutilation of a corpse. As a convicted criminal, he was already charged with a firearms offense. Avery argued that the murder accusation was fabricated in order to harm his ongoing civil lawsuit.
Because of Avery's previous criminal lawsuits against Manitowoc County, the county claimed to have turned over the murder investigation to the sheriff's office in the nearby Calumet County. Manitowoc sheriff's deputies took part in many searches of Avery's trailer, garage, and property under the supervision of Calumet County authorities.
A Manitowc officer discovered the car key belonging to Teresa Halbach was discovered in Steven Avery's bedroom. His lawyers said there was a conflict of interest in their participation and raised the possibility of tampering with the evidence.
In addition, Avery's lawyers found that an evidence box containing a vial of his blood that had been gathered in 1996 as part of his Beerntsen case appeals efforts had been opened and included what they thought to be a fresh puncture hole in the cork. They hypothesized that the blood discovered in Halbach's automobile might have been smuggled out of the container and placed there to implicate Avery.
To refute this assertion, the prosecution presented the testimony of FBI technicians who had examined the blood found in Halbach's car using a novel test created for the Avery trial and had discovered no ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, a preservative used in blood vials but absent from human bodies.
In expert witness testimony, Avery's defense team said it was impossible to determine whether the absence of EDTA meant the test was negative or whether the finding was inconclusive.
In addition, Avery's lawyers found that an evidence box containing a vial of his blood that was obtained in 1996 during his pursuit of an appeal in the Beerntsen case had been opened and contained what they thought to be a fresh puncture.
Steven Avery's nephew confessed to helping him with Teresa Halbach's murder
The legal trials for the case finally concluded in March 2006 when Avery's nephew, Brendan Dassey, was charged as an accessory after he confessed under interrogation to having helped Avery kill Teresa Halbach and dispose of the body.
Later, he faltered on his confession, alleging coercion, and declined to testify about his involvement at Avery's trial. During his testimony at his own trial, he made no indication of coercion. However, in a separate trial during the legal proceedings, Dassey was found guilty of murder, r*pe, and body mutilation.
Kidnapping and s*xual assault allegations made on Avery were withdrawn in pre-trial hearings held in January 2007. However, In March 2007, Avery was again put on trial in Calumet County, with Manitowoc County Circuit Court judge Patrick Willis presiding and Calumet District Attorney Ken Kratz handling the case.
Avery was found not guilty of the allegation of body mutilation but was convicted guilty of first-degree murder and illegal possession of a handgun on March 18. He received a concurrent five-year term for the weapons charge and a life sentence for the murder conviction, with no chance of parole.
Avery was sent in 2012 from the Wisconsin Secure Program Facility in Boscobel, where he had served five years, to the Waupun Correctional Institution. Avery was moved in 2022 to medium security Fox Lake Correctional Institution.
Dateline: Unforgettable's new episode, Return to Manitowoc County, premieres on Oxygen on October 4, 2023 at 8 pm ET.
