Steven Avery Update: Det. Colburn Fires Back After Zellner’s Recent Motion, Says He Never Planted Evidence
Just days after a wrongful conviction attorney filed a motion to test the evidence used to convict Steven Avery, the detective who worked on the case fired back at the lawyer, claiming that the planted evidence theory is “ludicrous.”
In Touch reports that Manitowoc County Detective Andrew Colburn, who still remains one of the most disliked people to surface on the popular Netflix docu-series Making a Murderer, doesn’t seem to be too worried about Zellner’s claims that he or anyone else on his team planted evidence on Avery’s property.
“[Zellner’s claims] are as ludicrous as anything else she’s come up with, and beyond that….I don’t have any other comment other than that is ludicrous.”
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Zellner’s recently filed motion on August 26 requested the evidence used to convict Avery during his 2007 murder trial. He was found guilty of killing 25-year-old freelance photographer Teresa Halbach, and the prosecution relied on blood found on the victim’s key and car, among other things, to win a conviction.
Although the DNA from the blood found on Halbach’s vehicle was a match to Avery, Zellner contends that it was possibly placed there by the detectives who worked the crime scene. Colburn was part of the team that handled Avery’s case.
Among the evidence being tested is the blood found on the interior of Halbach’s RAV4, next to the ignition, and blood found on the driver’s side door. Zellner stated that they are testing the blood for EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid), a chemical used to preserve vials of blood.
EDTA is not found in human blood, but can be found in vials of blood stored in police evidence rooms and crime labs. Zellner feels that detectives may have taken blood from a sample Avery gave to the Manitowoc County Police Department in the 1990s. The blood sample has remained in the county’s police evidence room since.
“I’m not surprised at all. The war against law enforcement continues and I’m not surprised at all.”
Zellner, of course, sees things differently than Colburn. She remains convinced of Avery’s innocence, recently stating that “no one who’s guilty will ever allow this extensive testing to be done.”
The attorney also touched on a number of other items collected for evidence which, according to her, never went through the proper DNA testing. Zellner, who previously stated that she has a different suspect in mind, said that testing these items could possibly lead detectives to the “real perpetrator.”
“Mr. Avery’s trial transcripts reveal that certain relevant evidence collected in his case was never subjected to prior DNA testing. If these items such as the blinker light, hood prop and battery cable are tested, they could conclusively demonstrate Mr. Avery’s innocence by identifying the real perpetrator’s DNA.”
Many Avery supporters have indicated many times that it’s ironic and almost implausible that Pamela Sturm, part of the civilian search team, found Halbach’s RAV4 within 20 minutes of being on Avery’s 40-acre property. Sturm testified that she’d never been on Avery’s property and wasn’t familiar with the Avery Salvage Yard layout, which houses hundreds, if not thousands, of old vehicles and auto parts.
Steven Avery’s brother, Earl Avery, however, is extremely familiar with the family property. Earlier this year, he said Halbach’s vehicle was not on the property the night she went missing, on October 31, 2005. In an interview with Us Weekly, Earl Avery said,
“We drove right through there, where that car was supposed to be, and it wasn’t there. That night of the 31, we were rabbit hunting.”
In the meantime, Steven Avery remains behind bars, serving a life sentence in a Wisconsin prison. He’s confident that he’ll one day see his freedom.
[Image via Netflix]
