Making A Murderer tells the story of two men, Steven Avery and his nephew, Brendan Dassey and their involvement in the death of one Teresa Halbach. Let’s take a look at the official series description directly from Netflix.
‘Exonerated after spending nearly two decades in prison for a crime he did not commit, Steven Avery filed suit against Manitowoc County, Wis., and several individuals involved with his arrest. Shortly after, however, Avery found himself behind bars again, this time accused of the murder of 25-year-old photographer Teresa Halbach.
She was last seen on Avery's property, where she was to photograph a vehicle. Avery and nephew Brendan Dassey were tried and convicted of the crime.'
The series launched thousands of debates online and created heroes and villains. The heroes emerged in the form of two criminal law attorneys Dean Strang and Jerome Buting who now have a cult following and a pantomime villain was established in the form of the Manitowoc County Police and their lawyer, Ken Kratz.
So, what’s happening with all of this right now?
Well, Ken Kratz isn’t having a great time. Fans of the show flocked to his website to leave damning testimonials of him and his services.
As for Avery and Dassey, a petition made it’s way to Barack Obama who couldn’t do much as the President cannot interfere with state laws. Dassey’s conviction was eventually overturned as the courts in 2016 found that his confession was made involuntary.
Dassey may be set for release despite the State of Wisconsin attempting to appeal the court’s decision. The date of his release is yet to be known, but thanks to constant appeals against his release, no-one is yet certain as to when, or if, Dassey will be released from prison.
The Avery family is using the popularity of the documentary to fundraise for a new case to be brought to clear the name of Steven Avery and have hired a new lawyer, Kathleen Zellner for the next defense case.
Zellner has already stated that she believes a new suspect has emerged and has pushed for the evidence used to damn Avery to be retested with new methods that didn't exist at the time of Avery’s original trial.
Strang and Buting, the two lawyers for fought hard for Avery’s release have spoke out about the need for widescale reforms for the justice system and have toured the country and appeared across the media to talk about the judicial system.
Dean Strang and Jerome Buting plan to bring their discussions to the UK in 2017 to raise awareness of the current state of the US criminal justice system.
With Avery’s current pursuit of another case, Dassey’s pending release and the awareness campaign of Avery’s former lawyers, the case of the Teresa Halbach death is gathering steam ten years after it concluded and 2017 looks set to be the year when this case may finally be resolved, one way or the other.
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