78). As with everything else in this case, we must determine the value or worth of each claim based on the available evidence. 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. The Gina Hxxxxx incident didn't slow down Petersen's rise within the department. While watching this vehicle in his rear view mirror, Bushman lost his bearing in relation to the intersection. Apparently a social connection to the Hermann family did you wonders in Manitowoc County. 1/9/2016 12:30 AM PT. They only arrived at or around 3 p.m. Bushman, Colborn and Lenk had plenty of time to fuck with the scene or make evidence disappear. A review of the department's many different negligent driving incidents prior to Ricky, as well as an examination of how, post Ricky's death, his mother eventually caught the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department in a bold faced lie regarding their investigative efforts into her son's hit and run. The Hermann brothers (from MCSD) were unofficial suspects in Ricky's death, and they were even investigated by the DOJ regarding those allegations. Her criticism echoed thatof other residents, and the prosecutor and law enforcement involved in the case. Andrew Colborn, whose integrity is questioned in the film. Everything your pathetic county stands for is forever tarnished with the mockery of justice that was promulgated in that courtroom. ", Vandedrinckfirst learned about the trials when he started the series. I'll finish by reviewing how critical the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department was during the discovery, planting, re-discovery and recovery of the bones, and why it's reasonable to believe both the MCSD and Wisconsin DOJ were working together to cover up the truth of Teresa's death via obstruction of justice and the destruction of a crime scene. I can, however, now look my children in the eyes and say, 'at least we dont live in Wisconsin. Calumet County (Wiegert) and Manitowoc County executives obstruct the investigation into the alleged scene of Teresa's mutilation by unlawfully preventing Coroner Kakatsch from accessing the scene as was required of her by law. 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." The coroner later quit due to the obstruction she faced. "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. This was the third day police were on the Avery property without anything being found inculpating Steven. I watched Making a Murderer, and I thought it was masterfully done. Readers are invited to contribute.Phone calls to the Manitowoc County District Attorney's office this morning were not successful. Okay then. Kocourek wouldn't easily forget such a favor. Again, once you know the events of November 7 - November 11, this theory presents itself fully formed. Justice is no longer served to all impartially, but abused and obstructed at will. 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. This film shows only three to maybe four hours of courtroom for Steven Avery and youre talking a trial that lasted approximately six weeks, so there is a lot of evidence missing.". Well, shit! The facts are obvious that your department had something to do with this and a cover-up looks to be very clear. But I am equally as certain that what I did see, and hear, was more than enough to not only show a preponderance of reasonable doubt, but to convince me that Manitowoc County is replete with corruption. The whole trial, despite. Does Wisconsin know what JUSTICE is? After the woman was struck by Petersen she was pronounced dead, however a coroner determined the death occurred before she was run over by police. Eventually townsfolk, including Ricky's parents, were openly discussing their suspicions of a police cover-up. She said she'll finish the series but didn't have an opinion on whether the men are innocent or not. Let's shovel those bones into some boxes and garbage bags and carry on lads.". The Hermann father helped elect Kocourek as Sheriff - and as Sheriff Kocourek would go on to repeatedly promote Petersen (See Part One). Thompson voted in person in North Carolina and through an absentee ballot in Florida. 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. 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. Now, a Netflix series has put it on the map. Disgraceful. Its flowing in pretty good yet," he said. I look forward to working with you and having you as my right-hand man.. She was hearing a lot of skepticism around town. In 1981 Officer Petersen was involved in a traffic accident that may have caused a citizen death, possibly a preventable death Ferak argues. "I have never been the big paranoid person but after one of the emails I received contained the line and I quote 'ROT IN HELL FOR ALL ETERNITY YOU EVIL BASTARD!' Christ almighty that pissed me off. You all may have won a trial against one uneducated man, but you all have lost so much more. Ferak's theory is not exactly new to us on TTM, but it's nevertheless toubling to think about. Not surprising that Mr. Kratz resigned as a result of disgraceful behavior. Manitowoc County comprises the Manitowoc, WI Micropolitan Statistical Area. But Sheriff Robert Hermann defended the investigators and saidviewers are not seeing the whole story. Kocourek praised Petersen endlessly in his many promotion notices, one of which read (Pg. Come 2005 Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department was stacked to the tits with officers who would have done damn near anything to help out their former corrupted boss, Sheriff Kocourek. Everyone Practices Cancel Culture | Opinion, Deplatforming Free Speech is Dangerous | Opinion, Kathleen Zellner Files New Request For DNA Tests, Ken Kratz Offered Free Brain Fingerprinting, 'Making A Murderer' Part 2: Best New Evidence. IMO such an act cannot be explained away innocently. The DOJ's criminal destruction of an apparent crime scene is extremely telling. Obligatory: Any factual inaccuracies are mine, not Ferak's. Suggesting that Steven "might kill again" before he was even convicted of Teresa's murder totally ignores Steven's presumption of innocence while speculating about future murders. Kocourek, Petersen and Bushman were a powerful and corrupt trio in the community. What do you see for Avery in the coming years? In a word, she said, she's hearingthe series called "ridiculous.". Ferak reviewed the Hochstetler hit and run case to, among other things, establish the possibility that Bushman engaged in corrupt conduct by helping disappear pieces of evidence. On Pg. Avery, 23, professes his innocence and produces 16 alibi witnesses. Ferak reveals that way back in 1978 the Hermann father helped elect Kocourek as Sheriff of the MCSD (Pg. Once he is released from prison, he probably needs to move far away from Wisconsin for his own mental health and well-being. 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. Get this shit. The facts and evidence tell a different story. She was there at one point. Bushman should be issued a written reprimand relating to this accident. One of the reviewers on the ARB was officer Petersen, who (as we saw from above) was no stranger to minimizing blowback due to careless driving of squad cars. 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. I couldn't believe Bushman wrote what he wrote in his report of his confrontation with the victim's father - Bushman MCSD Report, Pg. IMO the evidence strongly suggests that Bushman, Lenk and Colborn covered up evidence of a crime at the Kuss road cul-de-sac (Teresa's scent and the scent of death were emanating from the burial site). Since it was released, the sheriff's department has gotten between 250 and 300 phone calls and hundreds of emails some positive, but many more negative about its role in the Avery case, Hermann said. U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Manitowoc County, Wisconsin QuickFacts Manitowoc County, Wisconsin Table (a) Includes persons reporting only one race (c) Economic Census - Puerto Rico data are not comparable to U.S. Economic Census data (b) Hispanics may be of any race, so also are included in applicable race categories Children are also placed on death row at age 17. First, they were aware the Coroner wanted to access the scene. One of the biggest liars even got promoted to (lieutenant)? There is NO WAY I will move there, your state prosecutor is a snake, your judges are corrupt and the ease in which you framed those two innocent men, well your cover-up has just reaffirmed my mistrust in the judicial system and police. The cause of justice is not the cause of the Wisconsin Dept of Justice and other corrupt Wisconsin law enforcement. People that are passing judgment on just the facts in that film, I think theyre way off base. He really is very lucky he didnt hit another vehicle or a pedestrian. 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. Two years after Ricky's death (2001) Kocourek would retire and become an executive of the local Big Brothers and Big Sisters Program (where he would work alongside the wife of Calumet Investigator Mark Wiegert). I used to think of cranes when I heard the name Manitowoc, not anymore. "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. Among the missing evidence Hermann cited: The comments that evidence was planted is just not practical. In a notice of promotion (to Lieutenant) Kocourek said of Bushman (Pg. 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. As a result, the culture of corruption fostered and nurtured under Kocourek's watch (from 1978-2001) was kept alive by Ken "we could have killed Steven Avery" Petersen, who succeeded Kocourek as Sherrif and was in charge of MCSD at the time of Steven Avery's 2003 exoneration and Teresa Halbach's disappearance and death in 2005. No accident reconstruction occurred, and no one asked Petersen exactly how fast he had been driving through the thick fog. USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin sought access to written or electronic correspondence involving several current law enforcement officials at the Manitowoc County Sheriffs Office. I'll try to keep this as brief as possible and mainly focus on Bushman and Hermann's mishandling of crime scene evidence, which IMO was done not out of incompetence, but as an attempt by two corrupt officers to cover-up the truth of Ricky's death. For decades now, the Hermann family has had an enormous amount of influence within the Sheriff's department and also the community. At or around 10:30 a.m. Bushman's Group A discovered the burial site just off the Kuss Road cul-de-sac, not even a half mile from the Avery Salvage yard property boundary. Ricky's mother, however, was not so easily quieted. Its a shame theyre making money off it at the expense of the Halbach family. Yellow S. Las Vegas, NV 15 19 2/25/2023 Corrupt police department. 154). 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. All of this created a BROKEN CHAIN OF CUSTODY. He pleaded guilty and was ordered to pay $225 in court costs. 170) a bold but carefully worded statement. It's enough to convince me the case needs to be reviewed. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. 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. Why was the DOJ happy to stand aside, and even help clean up? The film is definitely one sided, he said. I could see him getting a dog or two and maybe becoming a rancher. Manitowoc County Drug Disposal Program is accepting unused and/or expired medications, over-the-counter medications, prescription medications and pet medications at no charge. 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