Jodi Stachowski seemed like a faithful ex who just got pushed too far by the authorities and others involved in Steven Avery’s murder trial during the Netflix series Making A Murderer. But on Wednesday’s Nancy Grace, Stachowski was a completely different person. As we noted earlier, Stachowski called Avery “a monster” who she believes is guilty of his crimes and belongs in prison.
During the interview, Steven Avery’s ex poked holes in almost every theory put forth by the creators of Making A Murderer. This includes a key moment in the documentary where she claims she talked to Avery on the phone at the time of the murder. According to Stachowski, this was a lie:
Previously, Stachowski claimed to investigators and the Making a Murderer filmmakers that she had two “normal” 15-minute conversations with Avery while she was in jail for a DUI.
“I’m looking at the phone bill from October 31,” Stachowski told filmmakers on-camera. “I called Steven at 5:36 p.m. — supposedly when all this murder or whatever was supposedly happening. And we talked for 15 minutes, and the conversation was normal. He didn’t sound rushed or like he was doing anything. And if he was in the middle of doing something, we wouldn’t have talked for 15 minutes.”
Now, Stachowski says she lied about the phone calls, and her belief that Avery was guilty, out of fear for her own safety. “He did sound funny. He didn’t sound rushed or whatever, but he did sound funny – like he was lying or hiding something.”
She also claims that Avery has attempted to contact her several times by letter, including a recent letter that contained threats to call police with claims that she is driving drunk and allegedly trying to get money from her for his family.
There are also holes poked in the idea that Avery was always a loving husband and that their relationship was healthy. Stachowski claims that Avery threatened her at several points, including an incident where he threatened to burn her house down and another where he “threatened to throw a blow dryer” in the bath tub and claimed he would get away with it.
Stachowski says she suffered repeated physical assaults at Avery’s hands, including one incident in which he choked her until she lost consciousness only to wake up as he was dragging her to his car. (Calumet County prosecutor Ken Kratz successfully argued in Avery’s 2007 trial that he had transported Halbach’s body in the back of her RAV4.) Stachowski said the police arrived and intervened shortly thereafter. Authorities, however, reported no physical evidence to support Stachowski’s claims.
After authorities zeroed in on Avery as a suspect in the Halbach murder, they combed the Avery property for evidence. While no trace of Halbach inside Avery’s home was ever found, “they did find blood,” Stachowski said. “But it was my blood in the trailer. How they didn’t find any of hers, I don’t know.”
One thing that is clear from all of this, Steven Avery is currently getting a new trial. It just doesn’t seem to be the one he wanted. You can check out the full interview below.
(Via The Daily Beast / HLN)