While it is true that the testing lab does not insert a needle through the cap to withdraw a sample, the hole in the blood vial is completely normal. In this YouTube video, you can watch the process of blood being collected and inserted into a vial. As you can see, a needle is inserted through the rubber cap of the vial, then the blood is transferred into the vial. This hole was not the "smoking gun" the defense had hoped when they saw it; in fact, all vials have this hole. A nurse was set to testify she had placed the hole in the vial, but Avery’s defense dropped their argument and prosecution decided not to call her. In addition, the evidence tape was cut in a meeting with Avery's own lawyers related to his wrongful conviction. Some have claimed the blood around the stopper is indicative of the stopper being removed, but again, there is a known reason. The blood vial was sent to Lab Corp for testing, and they removed the stopper to withdraw some blood. Avery's blood was found in six places in the car (front driver’s side portion, floor by the console, right of the ignition area, front passenger seat, CD case on front passenger seat, and a metal panel between the backseat and cargo area). Nick Stahlke, a blood pattern expert from the State Crime Lab, testified the blood pattern was consistent with transfer stains and "passive drops", which are indicative of active bleeding. Similar stains and drops were found in Avery's own Grand Am.

A test existed to determine if the blood in the car contained EDTA, an anti-coagulant used to preserve blood samples. If the blood samples taken from the car contained EDTA, which is present in preserved blood but not in blood from fresh wounds, it would lend great credence to the defense's claims of planting. For more on the EDTA test, see

Finally, the blood vial was held by the Clerk of Manitowoc County Courts, not the Manitowoc Sheriff's Department. The clerk testified she'd never seen Colborn in 2005, and only saw Lenk once in the summer of 2005. While Lenk had keys to the Clerk of Courts building, he did not have the access code to the room where the blood vial was stored. There's also no indication he knew the blood vial existed. He had not worked with the county during the 1985 case. While he had signed an evidence transfer form relating to the case, it did not list the blood vial on it, and he had not personally gone to the Clerk of Courts office to collect any evidence for transfer.

All evidence points to the blood in the Rav 4 not coming from the vial of Avery's blood in police custody.

Avery’s new lawyer, Kathleen Zellner, has claimed the blood was actually planted from fresh blood Avery left in his own sink. In her original Motion for Post-Conviction Relief, Zellner clarified Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Department officers could not have planted the blood, and instead blamed Ryan Hillegas, whose “scientific background” as a nursing student would’ve given him the required knowledge. Ryan was allegedly in Teresa’s Rav-4 coming from Kuss Rd to plant the blood, and Avery even submitted a sworn affidavit claiming the tail lights he saw looked like a Rav-4 coming from Kuss Rd. However, Ryan had the strong alibi of being at Teresa’s home with her friends and family, helping to search for her, on the night of November 3 when Zellner accused him of planting the blood.

Once this glaring error was pointed out, Zellner shifted to accusing Bobby, Avery’s nephew, of planting the blood. Avery even submitted a new affidavit saying he was now certain the tail lights were coming from Barb’s trailer, the opposite direction of Kuss Rd, which he had previously stated. A whole host of new memories come out in this affidavit, that were never mentioned before. Avery remembers he actually stopped by Barb’s trailer to show Bobby his bloody finger, he told Bobby cops had been by and Bobby suddenly got nervous, Avery had actually changed the van battery with Bobby so Bobby knew Teresa was coming that day (because of course having a charged battery is important when someone is snapping a few pictures of your vehicle), and that Scott Tadych had stopped by to visit Bobby on October 31. It should be stressed that Avery was interviewed three times by law enforcement in 2005, had submitted two affidavits to Zellner previously, and had given numerous media interviews, and none of these new “memories” had been mentioned before. In fact, he is directly contradicting his earlier affidavits. He is also contradicting Blaine’s 2005 interview, claiming Avery did not stop by at all prior to going to Menard’s.

Other than Avery’s new “memories”, there is absolutely no evidence that Bobby planted blood in Teresa’s car. In fact, Zellner previously claimed this would require a scientific background when she was accusing Ryan of planting the blood, which Bobby did not have. Bobby would have no reason to carry a pipette, which Zellner claims was used to move the blood to the sink to the Rav-4. Zellner has also switched from saying the Rav-4 was hidden at Kuss Rd to saying it was hidden at a turn-around a ways away from the salvage yard. As Avery claims to have not seen any light or activity when he returned from the end of the driveway to check out the taillights (a trip of possibly one minute), there is no explanation as to how Bobby managed to drive past Avery out to the main road and turn-around before the blood dried. Even if Bobby had used a back road through the quarry, tail lights or noise from his vehicle would’ve been noticeable. It’s unlikely anyone even could park, enter the trailer, pipette up some blood, exit, and drive their vehicle away before Avery got back from the end of the driveway. Because Avery had never mentioned these “memories” before, they contradict his earlier affidavits, they contradict Blaine’s 2005 interview, and they contradict common sense, this scenario seems incredibly unlikely.

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