DOC Joseph Evans Jr.
Joseph Evans Jr. is accused of being the inmate who confessed in writing to the murder of Wisconsin photographer Teresa Halbach. His name was revealed in a confession letter sent to Steven Avery’s appellate attorney Kathleen Zellner, which she distributed on Twitter. However, Evans previously told another story, writing in the past that Avery confessed to him.
The day before Zellner released the alleged written confession, Shawn Rech, the director of an upcoming documentary on the case, told Heavy that a Wisconsin inmate had confessed to the slaying of Halbach, which was featured in the Making a Murderer Netflix documentary, which caused a sensation and was criticized for being misleading a couple years ago. The director said the confession was being given to law enforcement but wasn’t verified.
“Inasmuch as attorney Zellner has released the inmate’s name, I will share it. Joseph W Evans, Jr.,” Rech wrote Heavy, shortly after Zellner tweeted out Evans’s supposed confession. “Also: Wisconsin DOJ has reached out and questioned me about teh (sic) confession.”
A spokesman for the Wisconsin Department of Justice released this statement to Heavy on September 24, 2019: “The Wisconsin Department of Justice has received the new information related to the case. DOJ takes all credible reports seriously, but it’s important to note that this new information directly contradicts information previously provided by the same individual.”
According to a 2017 WBAY-TV story, Evans, who was convicted of murdering his wife, previously claimed that “Steven Avery confessed to murdering Teresa Halbach.” In that 2016 letter, Evans allegedly wrote, “he would have gotten away with it, if his idiot nephew of his Brendan would not have spoken to the police like he told him not to…” Evans stated that he met Avery in prison, the station reported.
Zellner shared the several pages long handwritten confession on Twitter; the document identifies the inmate as Joseph Evans Jr. through an envelope and signature and includes demands for money. The letter, dated September 18, 2019 and addressed to Zellner, starts out, “I am making a claim to your reward offer for the information in the Steven Avery case. I’ve been trying to contact you by phone and through a friend and a family member But seem to get nowhere. I’m fully aware that you know who I am. But there’s a lot to all of this then (sic) what you know.”
It continues, “I’m ready to jump ship with the state. I was used by them but I’m ready to move forward with all I know. But for your reward offer I will tell you all that happened.”
Let’s see. You be the judge of the credibility of this confession.
#MakingaMurderer #TruthWins
“Let’s see. You be the judge of the credibility of this confession,” Zellner wrote.
There’s more…
#MakingaMurderer
Oh yeah, almost forgot the deposit slip.😂😂😂😂 #MakingaMurderer
Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey were convicted of murdering Halbach in a sensational case in which both men have maintained their innocence. Newsweek first broke the news of the Evans’ “confession.”
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Joseph Evans Jr., Who Received a Life Prison Term in 2008, Previously Told a Different Story About the Case
DOCJoseph Evans Jr.
According to Wisconsin state prison records, Joseph W. Evans Jr. is 54-years-old. He is currently incarcerated. Wisconsin court records say that Evans was found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide and criminal damage to property in 2008 in Marinette County. He received a life prison sentence without the ability for parole.
The WBAY-TV story from 2017 says that Evans alleged then that Avery confessed to him, allegedly saying Avery “lured Halbach into his trailer, forcing her into his bedroom with a knife at her throat. He writes Avery told him he tied Halbach up with a long-sleeved shirt, assaulted and killed her before his nephew, Brendan Dassey, even came over to his house. Avery told Evans Dassey helped him put Halbach’s body in the burn pit.”
Evans’ previous claims have been the subject of a Reddit thread in the past by those who follow the case.
Former DA Ken Kratz, who prosecuted the Avery and Dassey cases, responded to the new confession claim on Twitter, writing, “To be clear, like everyone else, this is news to me. I have NO COMMENT until I see the details. #MakingAMurderer.” Heavy has reached out to him about Joseph Evans Jr. too. Sheriff Dan Hartwig is referring questions to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
2. Evans Was Convicted of Shooting His Wife Dina to Death
Joseph Evans Jr.
A Wisconsin appellate court decision upholding Evans’ conviction says that he was accused of breaking into the Marinette trailer house where his estranged wife, Dina, was staying with a friend. “Evans allegedly kicked in Dina’s television set, sliced the arm of a couch, and splattered paint on the couch, love seat, hope chest, curtains and a clock,” the court records say.
Three weeks later, the criminal complaint alleged, “Evans fatally shot Dina in the chest.” According to the court records, “The State’s theory of the case was that Evans was motivated by a desire for power and control over Dina, who was in the process of divorcing him at the time of the murder.”
The jury heard four other acts incidents involving a former girlfriend, the court records say. In one of those instances, when she refused to make him dinner, Evans was accused of grabbing his then-girlfriend by the back of the hair and pulled her into the car, smashing her face against the rim of the car door,” the court records say.
According to the Peshtigo Times, Evans testified that Dina’s shooting death “was a horrible accident.” He said he was working on a gun when his wife suddenly entered the mobile home and startled him. “He said he stood up, and accidentally kicked a toolbox. He said he went to place the gun on a speaker when Dina grabbed his arm and the damn thing went off. He immediately called 911 seeking help,” the newspaper reported. The jury didn’t buy it.
3. Evans’ Letter to Zellner Weaves an Elaborate Tale About the Homicide of Teresa Halbach But Steven Avery Was Convicted Based on Blood & Circumstantial Evidence, Among Other Things
Steven Avery.
Evans wrote a lengthy, spelling error-riddled letter that mentions a lot of the evidence in the case, although, at this point, it’s all information that is widely known and was contained in various Netflix episodes as well as news reports.
“On Oct. 31, 2005, I was on my way home back from Sheboygan and as I was coming into Manitowoc, I went out to Avery’s Salvage Yard to see if they had a cover lense for my front passenger side directional light, because my wife hit a car just weeks earlier,” the letter sent to Zellner says.
“And I needed to replace my back window on my 1996 Chevy Tahoe. So when I went out there, I was told to go out in the yard and talk to an person named Earl (or) something like that, so I drove up to some out buildings but didn’t find this person. I seen a vehicle parked up by a trailer house, so I pulled up next to the vehicle on the passenger side of it. A lady steps out in front of my vehicle and I hit her.”
The “confession” letter continues, “She fell to the ground and hitted (sic) her head on a large rock. I got out to check on her but she was unconscious and her head was starting to bleed on her right tempal (sic) side where she hit the rock. I took off my hooded sweatshirt and placed it under her head. I ran up to the trailer home but no one was home. I then placed the lady in the back cargo area of her Rav Toyota to take her to the hospital, but she was dead already from her head injury. I then panicked and was scared.”
He continued, “I took about 6 different kinds of ‘pills’ that I had with me and a couple of large gulps of brandy that I had with me as well I then went back up to the trailer house and went inside because the front door was unlocked. I looked around and seen the name on a bunch of mail. The name was Steven Avery on everything I seen. I looked around his trailer. I seen a .22 riffal (sic) so I took it off the gun rack, then in the kitchen I seen a couple of bloody Band-Aids and tissue so I placed it inside of a plastic baggy I found. I took that and the gun with some bullets with me.”
Evans claimed in the letter that he planted Avery’s blood/DNA.
He claimed he “backed up to the over head (garage) door, opened it up, pulled the lady out of her vehicle, laid her down on the floor with cardboard and plastic. I took the gun and shot her 3 times. I then put her back in the cargo area of her Rav and drove over to the pit behind the garage. I pulled her out covered her up with debris. I then took the Rav and moved it by some junk cars. I took the bloody Band-Aid and smeared a little blood off of it…Then I took out a hand bag that had some electronic item cell phone, camera and other stuff in it. I took the keys with me. I removed the plate disconnected the battery and took the Band-Aid… put blood from it on the hood latch. I then covered the Rav with debris that was around it like brush/branches plywood a hood from another vehicle….I took the Rav key off the ring and tossed it between the wall/bookcase – bed in the bedroom.”
He claimed that he waited until later and then “I went back to the garage and got a gas can and went back to the pit. I stated all the debris on fire. I poured oil on it as well. …I used a shovel to move stuff around and to busy up some bones. I then went to the burn barrel and started a fire to burn the bag, cell phone camera…”
Prosecutors used a complex web of blood spatter and circumstantial evidence to convict Avery. They also told the jury they found Halbach’s car key in Avery’s bedroom and her car on his family’s junkyard property in Wisconsin. In addition, they said a bullet containing the victim’s DNA was found in Avery’s garage. The victim’s bone and teeth fragments, as well as shards of her belongings, were found in a burn pit behind Avery’s trailer. Avery’s nephew, who was 16 at the time of the murder, was not linked to the crime by forensic evidence. However, he confessed on videotape that he and Avery murdered Halbach.
Dassey’s lawyers have challenged the interrogation techniques used to obtain those confessions, and, on Avery’s behalf, Zellner has challenged the state’s blood and other evidence and she has argued the victim’s body was moved from elsewhere to the junkyard property. The men’s convictions have been upheld at many levels in the court system, and they remain in prison. Dassey’s conviction was overturned by a federal magistrate judge, but that ruling was then also overturned.
Avery was previously exonerated of an unrelated sexual assault for which he spent years in prison.
4. Zellner Says That Evans’ ‘Confession’ Occurred ‘Solely’ Because of a Reward Offer & the Letter Contains Demands for Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars
The Avery salvage yard where the victim was last seen.
When asked about the director’s comments before she released the confession document, Zellner, told Heavy that she received a handwritten confession that she was trying to verify and that her investigators are looking into the background “of this individual.” In early September, Zellner announced a citizen was putting up a $100,000 reward for information leading to the “real killer.”
DOC/Manitowoc CoTeresa Halbach and Steven Avery.
The Zellner firm, using the same email that Zellner herself had signed with the earlier response, told Heavy: “The inmates (sic) name is familiar to us but I do not want to release it yet. We were contacted a week ago by the inmate. He mailed the handwritten confession to us before he contacted the production company. The confession occurred solely because of our 100k reward offer and had nothing to do with the production company. When we did not immediately respond to this person he called the production company.”
In the letter, Evans said that he wanted a “complete negotiation for amounts to protect me from civil action, criminal fines attorney fees, etc.”
He added, “for your reward offer I will give you the information.” He asked Zellner to “place $2000 down on my prison inmate account, set up a meeting with me, if you have a side counsel to represent me that would be great.” He added “after that I want $13000 to start the process…”
He continued: “After all is said and done, I want $250,000 over your $100,000…Keep your panties on and shirt down because I’m not out to screw you.”
Zellner wrote on Twitter: “We received the handwritten confession on Saturday. It is worthless unless it is corroborated.”
5. Shawn Rech Is Directing a New Documentary Called ‘Convicting a Murderer’
This is a view of Steven Avery’s trailer on his family junkyard property.
Rech is the director of Convicting A Murderer, a documentary that explores the case. He says the inmate is on audio also.
“As part of their investigation into the case and coverage of Steven Avery v. Wisconsin, the producers of ‘Convicting A Murderer’ have received a confession to the murder of Teresa Hallbach (sic) by a convicted murderer from the state of Wisconsin,” Rech wrote Heavy. “An audio recording of the confession is being delivered to law enforcement and legal teams for review. Meanwhile, ‘Convicting’ producers will conduct their own investigation into the legitimacy of the confession as they continue production on the 10-part series.”
Rech further told Heavy: “We haven’t confirmed the legitimacy of the confession, but seeing as it was given by a notable convicted murderer from Wisconsin, we feel responsible to deliver any and all possible evidence to law enforcement and legal teams. Having been in production for 20 months, we’ve uncovered an unfathomable amount of information and evidence that is leading us to the truth. Our investigation does not end here.”
A press release from 2018 on the new documentary stated that production had started on “Convicting A Murderer,” described as “a follow-up to Netflix’s sensational 2015 documentary series ‘Making A Murderer’. Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Shawn Rech (A MURDER IN THE PARK, WHITE BOY, WRONG CAT) will direct the 8-episode series.”
The release added: “He’ll also produce along with his long-time partner, Chicago Attorney Andrew Hale. ‘Convicting A Murderer’ will investigate the controversial case built by the State of Wisconsin against Steven Avery for the 2005 murder of Teresa Hallbach (sic), in which police were accused of tampering with crime scenes and planting evidence to manipulate the investigation and implicate Avery of the murder. Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey are currently serving life sentences.”
Teresa Halbach. Photo from her missing person poster.
The release continues: “Shawn Rech, who has creative control over the series, has exclusive, unprecedented access to District Attorney Ken Kratz, Lead Investigator Tom Fassbender, and other major players in State v. Avery.”
He was quoted then as saying, “When ‘Making A Murderer’ was produced, many on the law enforcement side of the story could not, or would not, participate in the series, which resulted in a one-sided analysis of the case. This docu-series will examine the case and the allegations of police wrongdoing from a broader perspective. It will also share with viewers the traumatic effects of being found guilty and vilified in the court of public opinion.”
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