Kathleen Zellner Takes Shot At Tom Fassbender Over Dassey Confession
Kathleen Zellner continued to rib State of Wisconsin officials involved in convicting Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey of murder in the 2005 killing of Teresa Halbach.
Avery’s noted post-conviction lawyer took a Twitter shot at the co-lead investigator in the case, Tom Fassbender, on Sunday, quipping about his officer’s choice of words when coaxing Dassey into confessing to the killing.
“Fassbender promises BD he will treat him like a son & not leave him ‘high & dry’ A life sentence is real fatherly?” the lawyer tweeted.
Zellner is referring to an audio recording of Fassbender and Mark Wiegert’s questioning of Dassey inside Mishicot High School before he was arrested for first-degree murder. In the clip, Fassbender attempts to soften the mood by telling Dassey he wasn’t a cop at that moment but a concerned father.
“Mark and I, yeah, we’re cops, we’re investigators and stuff like that, but I’m not right now. I’m a father that has a kid your age too,” Fassbender said.
“There’s nothing I’d like more than to come over and give you a hug cuz I know you’re hurtin’. Talk about it. I promise, I won’t leave you high and dry.”
Dassey gave the investigators little during the visit. The interview was the second time Fassbender and Wiegert questioned him during a school day. The first resulted in a poor recording so they returned for a better clip.
After the assurance that Fassbender was not at the school as a police officer but a father, Dassey begins to alter his story to coincide with details of the crime investigators systematically plant into his mind, his lawyer, Laura Nirider claims. Fassbender begins by suggesting to Dassey that he “probably” witnessed Teresa Halbach’s body burning in Steven Avery’s fire pit. The investigator rattles off possibilities of what the boy surely saw: a hand, a foot, or bones.
It wasn’t long after these initial remarks did Dassey claim Avery stabbed Teresa Halbach and throw her in the fire. It is also the basis of Dassey’s admission that he saw her toes, forehead, belly, and fingers in the bonfire, his attorneys argued.
Meanwhile, Kathleen Zellner continues to tweet about what she maintains was a massively staged crime scene perpetuated by the real killer and befuddled members of law enforcement who were duped into helping set Avery up for murder.
Zellner, who has 175,000 Twitter followers, also tweeted about Brendan Dassey’s IQ, which was between 74 and 81. The result, Zellner says, destroying the boy’s chances of surviving against who she called “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”
Here’s what attorney Kathleen Zellner says proves Steven Avery was wrongfully convicted. https://t.co/k9OxanrQBa
— The Post-Crescent (@PostCrescent) June 8, 2017
The attorney sent a string of tweets Saturday, taking jabs at officers who found Halbach’s key and what she claims was a false Avery DNA swab investigators allegedly lifted from the hood latch of Teresa’s car.
Zellner is currently awaiting word from the Wisconsin appeals court about whether her 1,200-page motion will be heard by a judge. She is asking for Avery’s immediate release or a new trial.
[Featured Image by Morry Gash/AP Images]
