John Ferak

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin

Detective Dave Remiker and fellow Manitowoc County Sheriff's deputy Melia Prange broke department rules while the jury was sequestered at Brendan Dassey's April 2007 jury trial, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin has learned.

While the trial was in progress, Remiker received a one-page reprimand from supervisors at the sheriff's office. Prange agreed to accept a one-day work suspension for her role in the incident. The disciplinary measures are contained in personnel files that were recently reviewed by the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin as part of a public records request.

"Deputy Prange allowed her husband into the secured area of the jury to deliver pizza and obtain drinks," Prange's disciplinary report stated. "This unauthorized person was in the secured area on and off from" 9 p.m. until after 12:30 a.m.

"A review of the log book indicates that Deputy Prange did not log this unauthorized person in the log book during this time frame."

The nephew of Steven Avery, Dassey, then 17, went on trial on April 16, 2007. Special prosecutors Ken Kratz, Tom Fallon and Norm Gahn accused Dassey of raping, torturing and killing 25-year-old Teresa Halbach on Oct. 31, 2005. Avery was convicted of Halbach's murder during a separate trial involving Manitowoc County jurors.

For Dassey's trial, a jury from Dane County was bused to Manitowoc to hear trial testimony. To prevent the jurors from being exposed to outside influences, Manitowoc County Circuit Judge Jerome L. Fox sequestered them at the Best Western Lakefront Hotel near the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc.

Remiker and Prange were supposed to monitor the jury, which earlier that day heard several hours of testimony from Calumet County Sheriff's investigator Mark Wiegert, who was considered the lead investigator on the case.

While on duty that Saturday night, Remiker and Prange had a log book in their possession. Their assignment was to keep track of all people who were allowed into the secured area of the sequestered jury.

Both Manitowoc County sheriff's deputies failed to do that, their personnel files show.

One person who was given access to the jury was Prange's husband, Lee. He was allowed in the secured area of the jury over the course of at least 3½ hours that Saturday night, personnel files indicate.

"A review of the log book indicates that neither Deputy Prange nor Detective Remiker logged this unauthorized person in the log book during this time frame," stated Remiker's deficiency report, dated April 25, 2007. "In this incident, Detective Remiker should have used better judgment by logging in the visit and knowing that this type of visit could cause risk to the jury integrity."

Last December, Remiker sent an email to Manitowoc County Board Chairman Jim Brey proclaiming that he, Remiker "was one of the lead investigators on the case."

Remiker was one of a handful of sheriff's detectives from Manitowoc County whose actions were heavily scrutinized by Avery's defense lawyers Dean Strang and Jerome Buting, who had built their defense on the premise that Avery was innocent of the Halbach murder and that Manitowoc County Sheriff's planted blood and other clues against him.

Remiker, Sgt. Andrew Colborn and Lt. Detective James Lenk were a regular presence at the Avery Salvage Yard in the days leading up Avery's arrest on Nov. 9, 2005. The day before, Lenk and Colborn found a spare key that was on the floor of Avery's bedroom, an area already searched numerous times in the previous days.

On Saturday morning, Nov. 5, 2005, Pamela Sturm found Halbach's dark green RAV4 on the Avery Salvage Yard property under suspicious circumstances. When Sturm found the vehicle, she was patched into Calumet County Sheriff's investigator Mark Wiegert, who implored her not to touch the vehicle — which was missing both of its license plates and covered with tree branches. Soon afterward, Remiker rushed out to the Avery Salvage Yard arriving at 10:56 a.m., reports state.

Remiker remained a fixture on the Avery Salvage Yard that day. The log showed he, Lenk and Colborn signed out about 10:45 p.m. About four months later, Remiker and Lenk were back on the Avery Salvage property when bullet fragments appeared on the concrete floor of the small garage.

The bullet fragments that contained Halbach's DNA were not discovered back in November 2005 when Remiker and others searched the garage. The bullet fragments found in March 2006 gave authorities vital physical evidence to corroborate Dassey's incriminating statement that the developmentally slow teenager had given just days earlier to Wiegert and investigator Tom Fassbender.

The Manitowoc County sheriff's administration gave Remiker, Lenk and Colborn special recognition reports for their personnel file complimenting them for their investigative work at the Avery Salvage Yard that led to Avery's Nov. 9, 2005 arrest. Days earlier, special prosecutor Ken Kratz announced to the media that Manitowoc County would not be involved in gathering evidence against Avery, who had a $36 million lawsuit against the county after losing 18 years of freedom because of a wrongful conviction for rape.

By the time that Remiker got into trouble during the Dassey trial, the sequestered jury had already heard six days of testimony. Remiker told his supervisors he had no prior knowledge that Prange's husband had entered the secured area of the jury that Saturday night, "but Detective Remiker was aware of his presence at certain times," his deficiency report pointed out.

Prange's punishment was more harsh. Her violation of the jury sequestration order was discussed at length behind the scenes at the sheriff's office on April 23-25, the seventh, eighth and ninth days of Dassey's jury trial.

After three days of discussions involving Prange, this official version of events is contained within her disciplinary file.

"You were responsible to have your husband respond to the hotel to deliver pizza for the jury," her statement reflected.

"Your intention was not for him to stay in the area, but (you) learned that there would be no waitresses available to get drinks.

"You asked your husband to stay for several hours in the bar area to assist with getting drinks to the jury floor."

Furthermore, Prange's personnel file reflects that she and other unidentified sheriff's officials discussed the jury sequestration violation with the judge.

This week, USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin reviewed the Dassey trial transcripts. The trial record during the week of April 23, 2007 contained no mention of discussions in the courtroom involving the prosecution or defense lawyers surrounding the issues that arose with Remiker and Prange.

During the trial, Dassey was represented by public defenders Raymond Edelstein and Mark Fremgren. They became his replacement lawyers after Len Kachinsky was removed from the case.

Prange agreed to accept a one-day work suspension, to be taken on May 1, 2007.

"You assured (the sheriff''s) administration along with the judge that your husband did not discuss or have conversation with the jury," her disciplinary action stated. "You realized now that ... your husband, should have been logged into the log book ... You apologized for your actions stating this will not happen again. You also thought a 1 day suspension was fair."

Prange's conduct during the Dassey trial was a drastic contrast to her performance in 1999, when she received a letter of recognition from Sgt. John Seim that praised her professionalism during the trials of the co-defendants involved in killing City of Manitowoc Police Officer Dale TenHaken.

Both of those juries were also sequestered and put up at a local hotel. At that time, her last name was Justinger.

"After both trials, many jurors approached me and expressed to me that they were very happy with the treatment they received from the deputies ... Deputy Justinger should be commended on maintaining an atmosphere where the defendants could receive a fair trial," Seim stated.

And just a month prior to her suspension in April 2007, her supervisor, Sgt. Andrew Colborn, gave her a glowing performance evaluation report.

"Deputy Prange continues to excel at any and all crime prevention tasks, as well as any public relations assignments she is given," Colborn wrote on March 21, 2007. "Another solid performance year, Melia, thanks for all you do!"

According to her personnel file, Prange, a courthouse security bailiff, continues to meet her job requirements, but her personnel file shows she has had several disciplinary problems in recent years. In August 2013, Prange lost her temper and started shouting at Lynn Zigmunt, clerk of Manitowoc County Circuit Court.

Zigmunt had notified Prange that food, drinks and other garbage were starting to become a common nuisance inside the building's courtrooms.

According to her personnel file, Prange considered it "a slap in the face" when Zigmunt called her a "security bailiff." Prange argued she was not at the courthouse to clean up the garbage. Prange's supervisors gave her a written reprimand over the episode. "The perception of the confrontation was that you addressed another department director angrily with a raised voice — this is not the acceptable standard on the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Office."

In September 2014, Prange got a written reprimand after Deputy Inspector Larry Ledvina determined that Prange was accessing her Facebook account from a county government computer to play the game "Candy Crush" during work hours.

"Deputy Prange needs to utilize County equipment for its intended purpose," that reprimand stated. "This report is being given to you as a notice that your conduct on the referenced date failed to meet the performance standards of the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department."

John Ferak: 920-993-7115 or jferak@gannett.com; on Twitter @johnferak