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CHILTON Wis. - A state crime lab employee testified about how evidence was gathered during the investigation into Teresa Halbach's death. Avery's lawyers raised concerns in their cross-examination about situations where local investigators handled evidence collection instead of the crime lab's experts.
Crime Lab Oversees Collection of Bone Fragments
John Ertl detailed the careful methodology the State Crime Lab team used to sift through ashes from burn barrels on the Avery property. He described what appeared to be charred human remains found in four different burn barrels. He also said that investigators sifted through a pit of ashes near Avery's trailer and pulled out items they believed to be bone fragments. However, under questioning from Avery's attorneys, Ertl said that no record was kept of where in the burn pit bone fragments were found.
There was also discussion about how state crime lab investigators would have handled the case differently if local investigators had not already begun working on the scene. Ertl said there would have been more thorough photographing of the burn pit if local investigators had not already started digging through it.
Experts Search Trailer
Ertl testified that State Crime Lab experts were not immediately involved in searches of Steven Avery's trailer. He said that local investigators handled searches of the trailer at the beginning of the case but that State Crime Lab experts examined the trailer on Sunday, November 6, 2005. At that time, the Crime Lab experts used a chemical called Luminol to search for any blood stains in the trailer. Luminol causes blood and chemicals like bleach to glow under special lighting. The Crime Lab experts did find a few blood stains inside Avery's trailer. The stains were on the carpet but were primarily in Avery's bathroom. Under questioning from Avery's lawyer, Ertl said those bathroom blood stains could have come from Avery shaving at the bathroom sink.
Garage Checked
The state crime lab also checked Avery's garage for blood. Using Luminol, a section of the garage floor glowed. Prosecutors indicated that would have been possible for Avery to use bleach to clean up the blood and leave the area detected by the Luminol. Avery's lawyers raised the possibility that transmission fluid or some other automobile fluid could have caused the stain.
Smelter Not Studied by Crime Lab
Ertl also testified that he was not shown the salvage yard smelter - which is a piece of equipment used to melt aluminum from old transmissions. Avery's lawyers have raised concerns about whether enough investigative work was done on the smelter because an anonymous letter tipped investigators to check it. Last week, a top investigator said that an arson investigator observed that the smelter had not been used around the time of the Halbach murder. But Steven Avery's lawyers point out that evidence teams never evaluated to see whether there were bone fragments or signs of Halbach in the smelter. Further, Avery's lawyers raised concerns that Ertl oversaw collection of charred bone fragments at multiple sites but was never directed to check out the smelter.
Jury Sees Evidence
Jurors also got to see items investigators collected as evidence during the early search of Avery's trailer. A pair of handcuffs and leg-irons were held up for the jury to see. A bottle of bleach from Avery's bathroom was introduced in court. Jurors also saw a copy of AutoTrader Magazine that was on a desk in the trailer. The significance of these items has not been discussed by witnesses but will be during future testimony.
Check back here for updates throughout the day from TODAY'S TMJ4 reporter Mick Trevey, live in Chilton.
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