I think its important to get our side of the story out because that obviously wasnt covered in the film, said Hermann, adding the department was ordered by the judge not to talk about the case throughout the trial. "You should be ashamed of yourself and the crooked department you run. First, Ricky's case, detailed in "Wrecking Crew" Chapter 15 (Cover-up) and Chapter 16 (Nothing There), Pages 147-165: One fateful night in January 1999 the snow was steadily coming down and while walking home at night, and less than a mile from his house, Ricky Hotchstetler was struck and killed by a suspected drunk driver who dragged the boy under their vehicle for nearly 50 yards, and then kept driving past the boy's house and away into the night towards the village of Cleveland in southern Manitowoc County (Pg. After days of nothing being found, Manitowoc County (Bushman) found the remains at the Kuss road burial site and quickly moved the evidence away from the burial site so the crime lab could be called and "clear" the scene, officially reporting nothing was found. The coroner later quit due to the obstruction she faced. While watching this vehicle in his rear view mirror, Bushman lost his bearing in relation to the intersection. You are responsible for the distrust and hatred for law enforcement that is ever-prevalent in our society and these sentiments are DESERVED. Manitowoc County is now officially on the map for having the most corrupt (law enforcement officers) in the nation, congrats. I used to think of cranes when I heard the name Manitowoc, not. Notably, both cadaver dogs and bloodhounds independently made their way to the scene, which meant the burial site was emanating the scent of decomposition as well as Teresa's scent, likely because her decomposing remains were present at the burial site. 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. And although she doesn't think it will affect the business in which she works, Cordova wondered if the series would deter people from visiting the county or the city. 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. 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. Andrew Colborn, whose integrity is questioned in the film. And now, thanks to MAM, Kocourek's crooked legacy will forever be tied to Steven Avery's name: Sheriff Kocourek was instrumental in Steven Averys 1985 wrongful arrest and conviction. Asked why this would be, Bolick responded, "A lot of them have lived it so watching a documentary is not going to change the way they view it.". Its unfortunate the word Manitowoc is causing some such grief, but again, these are people feeling that way from watching a television show, he said. She was there at one point. They were just sitting out in the open since October 31! Zellner worked closely with Ferak and told Newsweek the book explores important areas left out of the series. If she draws some stinkers, then her efforts to exonerate Steven Avery might be prolonged. Unfortunately, I think the film has done a lot of damage and is definitely not the way Manitowoc County would like to be put on the map.. I'll save that drama for PART THREE: "Thin Blue Lines and Suicides". We'll just have to wait and see what happens next, won't we? The pair collided with a second motorcycle operated by their friend who was traveling with them in the same direction. Well, shit! The series seems to have convinced much of its audience that two Manitowoc County men currently sitting in prison for the murder of a young photographer may, in fact, be innocent and the local. Making a Murderer fans will remember Ken Kratz as the special prosecutor brought in by Manitowoc County officials who convicted Steven Avery of Teresa Halbach's 2005 . Only two days after the death County officials held a press conference during which it was announced Petersen was absolved of any wrong doing or negligence regarding the loss of life. As we can see from above ^ it seems as though Kocourek went to great lengths to avoid investigating the incident or mentioning it anywhere in department filings. "Saw your show on Netflix! ", 18. This presented a problem for the department because Hermann had already informed the press the striking vehicle was an older Chevy or Van, definitely not a newer vehicle (wink wink). After arriving at the hit and run scene Officer Bushman quickly called the older Hermann brother, an off-duty Lieutenant, and asked that he come to the scene. "Never have I heard of such corruption at the hands of law enforcement as in the case of Steven Avery. Just to set the stage a bit - The Kuss road incident has long been a famous unresolved mystery of this case, and for good reason. And justice was served.. Its flowing in pretty good yet," he said. The crime lab, however, was not called immediately. I could see him taking up fishing, having a motorboat or perhaps a pontoon. Bushman knew the Hermann family well enough to list the Hermann father as a reference on his application to MCSD (Pg. Why would they collect critical evidence without properly tagging or taking photos? Ring said the group will try to find opportunities to highlight the communitys positive attributes, such as its scenic coastline, various recreation opportunities and friendly residents. Unfortunately, threats and intimidation are often effective. And then, when all was well within the department, the fickle finger of fate pointed at Steven Avery, leading to his exoneration in 2003, the filing of his 36,000,000 lawsuit in 2004, Teresa's death in 2005, Steven's arrest and ultimately his second wrongful conviction in 2007. 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. In this post I've continued with the theme of officers covering up their negligent driving by focusing on another example relating to the Ricky Hotchstetler vehicular homicide case, a death that long ago inspired whispers in the community of a police cover-up, including from Ricky's mom and dad. Not to mention, was Ricky's father even embarrassed, or was he red faced and flustered because he realized a corrupt cop was trying to intimidate him into staying silent about his concerns of a police cover-up? Whether Steven Avery or Brendan Dassey are innocent or guilty they sure got railroaded by the indecent actions of your department. MANITOWOC - The Manitowoc community is pushing back as it finds itself in the suddenly uncomfortable glare of a documentary that has brought international attention to the shores of Lake Michigan. Meyer and a volunteer spent time during the holidays deleting posts and trying to rebound from reviews that include statements such as, What an embarrassment. Obligatory: Any factual inaccuracies are mine, not Ferak's. First, they were aware the Coroner wanted to access the scene. He would be granted three major promotions in the following 8 years, quickly reaching the upper echelon of the MCSD. In Part One I reviewed serious squad car accidents of officers Petersen and Bushman that were both covered up or ignored by MCSD. It's a concept that Sean Vandedrinck, 21, of Sturgeon Bay brought up jokingly. 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 As a result, rather than taking the lead role in 2005, Petersen distanced himself from the investigation into Teresa's disappearance by offering to pay for the investigation if another department took over - that department was Calumet County assisted by the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation. 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. ", 2. In addition to their ever increasing involvement in the Sheriffs Department, the Hermann family owned the long operating Cleveland Auto Salvage (CAS) in southern Manitowoc County, one of a select few salvage yards that competed with the Avery Salvage Yard (ASY). Manitowoc was likely panicked on November 10. 160) at the Kuss Road cul-de-sac burial site. Her criticism echoed thatof other residents, and the prosecutor and law enforcement involved in the case. And Surprise! You and your department are the very reason that great officers and departments throughout our country are losing respect and trust from the American people. Bushman then let Hermann drive off with the improperly collected parts in his own personal vehicle (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. Ferak's Kuss road theory matches up with what we on TTM have been saying for years - Manitowoc County found the remains at the burial site, planted the bones in Steven's burn pit, manufactured their re-discovery a day later (and ensured a quick but unprofessional recovery of the evidence) and a day after that they began obstructing the investigation into the scene of their planting, desperate to keep the coroner away from the scene. "I just wanted to reach out with disgust at how your department handled the Steven Avery case. 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