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Defense Attorneys: Avery To Plead Not Guilty

Preliminary Hearing Held Tuesday

Updated: 8:16 am CST December 7, 2005

Defense lawyers say that the man accused of killing missing photographer Teresa Halbach will plead not guilty when he returns to court for his arraignment on Jan. 17.

Steven Avery, 43, was ordered to stand trial on Tuesday on charges that he killed Halbach at the Avery family's auto salvage yard near Mishicot and got rid of the body by burning it.

Circuit Court Judge Patrick Willis heard from six prosecution witnesses before deciding that there was enough evidence to try Avery on charges of first-degree intentional homicide, mutilation of a corpse and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Nine witnesses were subpoenaed for the preliminary hearing, WISC-TV reported.

Avery has contended that he's being set up because of the $36-million lawsuit that he filed against Manitowoc County for being wrongly convicted in a 1985 rape case. After serving 18 years, he was freed from prison two years ago after DNA evidence showed that he didn't commit the rape.

Now, the DNA evidence described in court Tuesday showed bone fragments found in a burn pit on the Avery property were consistent with Halbach's genetic material.

Sherry Culane, a DNA analyst with the state crime laboratory, said that that profile could be found in only one out of 1 billion white people.

The FBI is doing more DNA testing of the remains to come up with a positive identification.

Halbach's blood was found in the back of her vehicle, which was found partially concealed in the salvage yard, Culhane said.

She said that Avery's DNA was on the vehicle's ignition

Leslie Eisenberg, a forensic anthropologist, testified that none of the bone fragments found at the salvage yard was more than five inches long, and the fragments had undergone considerable heat and burning. She said that the bones were from an adult female and the fragments appeared to represent each segment of the human skeleton.

Family Files Death Certificate

The Halbach's family has filed her death certificate with the Manitowoc County register of deeds.

The filing was done Tuesday -- just over a month after she disappeared while on a photo assignment to the Avery salvage yard.

The certificate notes that her body wasn't found but lists the place of death as the address of the salvage yard on Avery Road in the town of Gibson.

A memorial service for Halbach was held earlier at her hometown church in Calumet County.

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