On Halloween night over a decade ago, Sandra Begotka and her husband Dave claim they saw Steven Avery at around 5.15pm at a fuel station around 13 miles away from the Avery Salvage yard, where he is said to have murdered Teresa Halbach and burned her remains.
Sandra exclusively told Female First:
"On October 31, 2005, we were riding our bicycles around Two Rivers, something we did often. I'm not sure of the exact time, but it had just gotten dark. Dusk for that time of year in that area should have been around 5.15pm, central standard time.
"We stopped at a fuel station - Patsy's Hwy 42 Mobil Mart - 816 22nd Street, Two Rivers, Wisconsin. This is where we saw Steven Avery.
"He was driving a nice looking, dark coloured Ford truck. He was wearing a red and white jacket (I would conclude it's the same one he is often seen wearing in the documentary [Making A Murderer]). He appeared to be buying gas for a red five gallon gas jug.
"Dave saw him first and said to me, "Look... it's Steven Avery!" I knew what he looked like because he had been on the news a lot... and I was also already very aware of who he was due to Dave's previous experience in the first crime. There was no mistake it was him. There appeared to be a blonde adult woman with him and she was reasonably attractive. I remember thinking and commenting to Dave that it looked like Steve was doing pretty good. We didn't stick around for long, we continued on with our bicycle ride.
"Dave knew who he was because he had lived in Two Rivers, Manitowoc County his whole life and had seen Steve before he was sent away to prison the first time - he did not know him well but had been out to the Avery Salvage yard many times in a business capacity. Then Dave was involved in the first incident on the beach for which Avery was convicted. After Steve was released, Dave following the news closely regarding his release.
"Soon after the story broke about Teresa Halbach being murdered and Avery being charged Dave and I called the Manitowoc Sheriff's department to report that we saw him. Someone took our info on the phone. Then I also composed a letter stating what we'd seen and sent it to the sheriff's department. We never heard anything further. So the sheriff did not follow up with us.
"That's about it. Dave followed the trial very closely and was upset by how it went. I recall him telling me about the strange way evidence was found. How Manitowoc County was not supposed to be involved but were actually very involved. We drove by Avery's Salvage business right after all this broke... there were hundreds of state police cars there. The place was crawling with cops and investigators... and none of them found any of the evidence. It was all discovered later. Too much does not add up."
If Steven was indeed spotted at around 5.15pm, this coincides with his calling Halbach's phone at 4.35pm, and then going on to speak to his girlfriend for about 15 minutes from 5.30pm. At around 6pm, Steven then allegedly called Brendan Dassey to invite him over for the bonfire. It's very possible he was spotted by Sandra and Dave Begotka.
Though the pair say they made a statement to the police, they add that it was never followed up. Could this now be deemed new evidence and enough to bring Steven a new trial?
Sandra's husband Dave has a YouTube channel where he talks about his experience relating to the situation. Strangely, Dave was also a witness to the first crime Avery was wrongly convicted for. His interactions from that day onward continue to confuse him. Check out what he has to say below:
Tagged in Making A Murderer