Making A Murderer’s jailed stars Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey ‘are staying positive this will be over soon’, says niece – here’s the full story of the murder they swear they didn’t commit
LITTERED with the rusted husks of broken-down cars, Avery’s Auto Salvage yard sits in 40 desolate acres of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin.
It was here on November 6, 2005, that police found charred human remains in a barrel and a burn pit.
They were later identified as Teresa Halbach, a 25-year-old photographer who had gone missing 10 days earlier.
Two years later, Steven Avery, then 44, and his teenage nephew Brendan Dassey were convicted of Teresa’s rape and murder and sentenced to life in prison.
The case was closed – or so it seemed.
Then, in December 2015, Netflix screened Making A Murderer.
The labyrinthine 10-part documentary quickly became a bona fide cultural phenomenon, with armchair sleuths across the world hooked – and many claiming Steven, now 54, and Brendan, 27, had been framed.
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Within 35 days, 19.3 million people had watched the series, while hundreds of thousands signed a petition asking President Obama to
pardon the pair.
The White House subsequently released a statement, explaining it was unable to intervene in state cases.
“It has taken a big toll on the whole family,” says Steven’s niece Carla Chase, who is the Avery family spokesperson.
Speaking exclusively to Fabulous she says: “Just not having the guys where they belong is hurtful. The talk behind the family’s back was bad in the beginning, but slowly disappeared over the years.
"Then there’s the stress of going to visit them and trying to make sure they always had money in their canteen [to buy toiletries, food, and phone credit in prison].
“No one knew, or could even imagine, what to expect once Making A Murderer was released. We didn’t even have a chance to see it prior to it being broadcast.
“It’s great to see that everyone is so caring, giving and willing to help – many actually see how corrupt the legal system can be and are outraged about how this case was handled. Steven and Brendan are both doing pretty good and staying positive that this will be over soon.”
Filmed over a decade, the series revealed Steven had previously been convicted of a crime he didn’t commit.
From a working-class family who lived on the margins of Manitowoc, as a youth he had several run-ins with the law for burglaries and, in one disturbing incident, for helping to burn a cat alive.
Then in 1985, Steven – at the time a 22-year-old married father of four – was convicted of the sexual assault and attempted murder of a local businesswoman.
Despite an alibi and repeated protestations of innocence, he was sentenced to 32 years in prison.
He served 18 – during which his marriage ended in acrimonious divorce – before DNA evidence finally exonerated him in 2003.
Almost overnight, Steven became the poster boy for wrongful convictions, suing Manitowoc County for £28million amid claims the Sheriff’s department had framed him for the crime.
But then, in only his second year of freedom, Teresa went missing.
A photographer for car magazine Autotrader, she had an appointment at Avery’s salvage yard on the day she disappeared.
Her car was later found in the yard, then her remains, followed by a bullet in the garage with her DNA on it.
Steven insisted he had nothing to do with her death, while Brendan – who, like his uncle, has a low IQ – confessed to helping Steven rape and shoot her, before recanting his confession and claiming he had been coerced by the police.
Conspiracy theories snowballed online immediately after Making A Murderer hit screens.
Why was there no DNA evidence in Steven’s trailer, where the murder had supposedly taken place? Had traces of Steven’s blood, found in Teresa’s car, been planted? Teresa’s car key, which was found in Steven’s trailer, was a pivotal piece of evidence for the prosecution – was it also planted by Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office, desperate to get rid of Steven (and that £28million lawsuit) and show they’d been right about him?
“As soon as Making A Murderer aired, there was an avalanche of support for Steven and Brendan,” says Shaun Attwood, author of
.
“Wrongful convictions go on all day, all over America, but this seemed like a particularly egregious example – Steven had already served 18 years for something he hadn’t done.”
Of course, not everyone was on Steven and Brendan’s side.
Teresa’s family – who had not participated in the documentary – maintained their silence, while former District Attorney Ken Kratz, who had prosecuted the case, publicly slammed it.
“Making A Murderer was so slanted to the defence,” says Ken, who has recently released his own book on the case.
“It misrepresented so many things the jury had seen, spinning a narrative that didn’t represent the truth.”
He also accused the film-makers Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi of omitting crucial evidence, such as traces of Steven’s sweat found in Teresa’s car. They quickly issued a rebuttal, claiming they were simply limited by time constraints.
“We stand by [the series],” Laura said.
“It is thorough. It is fair. That is why it took us 10 years to produce it.”
They then revealed that a juror had contacted them to say they also believed Steven was framed.
But with each new day, the story seemed to take another twist.
In January 2016, Steven’s former fiancée Jodi Stachowski gave a TV interview claiming he had been abusive and she believed he was “not innocent”.
Steven promptly retaliated in a letter from jail, saying she must have been bribed by the state.
The furore raged on, attracting the attention of hotshot lawyer Kathleen Zellner who that month took on Steven’s case.
A specialist in wrongful convictions – her motto is: “Don’t hire me if you’re guilty, because I’ll find out” – she quickly announced that she had new evidence to prove Steven’s innocence.
Last November, she launched a fresh appeal and successfully petitioned the court for access to DNA evidence so it could be re-examined using advancements in forensic testing.
“There is evidence that already exists that points to a different location and a different suspect,” Kathleen said.
But why were no other suspects mentioned during the original trial?
“Officials concealed them,” alleges Shaun.
“Steven’s defence had multiple other suspects, but Ken Kratz filed a motion to exclude them all. One of these included a man who had regularly visited Avery’s salvage yard – who, shortly after the murder, had gone home and attacked his girlfriend with an axe. He was then spotted at the salvage yard the same day Teresa’s car was found there. While in prison for the attack, he saw Brendan’s mother when she was visiting her son, went up to her and said: ‘I know Brendan and Steven didn’t do it.’”
Last year, court papers from 2009 emerged in which Steven suggested his own brothers Charles or Earl might have been responsible – stating they had a history of sexual violence against women.
In 1995, Earl was charged with sexual assault, while in 1999, Charles was accused of sexually assaulting his then-wife, though his charges were later dropped.
Meanwhile, Brendan’s legal team is also working to free him.
In August 2016, a federal court ordered that he be released after ruling that his confession was “involuntary”.
But in November, the day before he was due to leave prison, the federal appeals court blocked his release – so Brendan remains incarcerated pending another trial.
“It has been a roller coaster of emotions,” says Carla.
“Especially when we thought Brendan was finally coming home, but we had that gut feeling that the state was gonna pull something and break our dreams once again.”
Ken has also felt the shockwaves from Making A Murderer’s mammoth success.
His tenure as Calumet County district attorney came to a shameful end in 2010 after a sexting scandal, when it was revealed he had sent explicit messages to a series of vulnerable women, including a victim of domestic abuse.
He went on to become a defense attorney, but since the series aired, his career has crumbled in the most public of ways.
“I was painted as the villain in Making A Murderer,” he says.
“I had no idea that a case I prosecuted over 10 years ago could lead to so much outrage. I had death threats, threats against my children – someone said they wanted to rape my daughter while I watched. It was well beyond anything you can imagine.
I was painted as the villain in Making A Murderer.
Ken Kratz,
“I retired at the end of last year – the internet response has been so brutal to me personally, and it drove my law firm into the dirt. My staff and clients were targeted with abusive calls. It got to the point where it was just too much.”
Despite the public outpouring of sympathy for Brendan and Steven, Ken remains convinced of their guilt – and Making A Murderer’s bias.
“It is much easier to fool people than it is to convince people they’ve been fooled,” he says.
“Tens of millions of people were fooled by the misrepresenting of information in Making A Murderer. I think eventually people will be very angry with the film-makers who fooled them.”
The legal wranglings continue to rumble on, and anyone expecting a speedy resolution will be left disappointed.
“The wheels of justice turn very slowly. They’re quick to lock people up, but slow to let them out,” says Shaun.
“I believe Brendan will get out. There is not a shred of evidence to link him to the murder, except that forced confession. Steven will have a harder time – although I believe 100% both are innocent – because he has a criminal history. But Kathleen Zellner doesn’t take a case on unless she is very confident of winning. And there’s more evidence of Ken Kratz committing sex crimes than of Steven Avery murdering Teresa Halbach.
“If he is ever released, Steven will be institutionalised, probably with post-traumatic stress disorder. When he was first released after serving 18 years, he lived in a tiny hut replicating the dimensions of his cell. He will need serious help to get used to life on the outside, as will Brendan, who has essentially grown up in prison.”
Specifics about the second series of Making A Murderer, scheduled for release later this year, remain shrouded in secrecy.
It is known that Kathleen Zellner, Brendan’s legal team and the Averys are on board, and Steven has given the film-makers more interviews from prison.
In the meantime, Carla and the rest of the family continue to exist in the shadow of a 30-year nightmare, in which normal life has become a distant memory.
The Avery salvage yard, as desolate as ever, has become a ghoulish pilgrimage site for fans of the show, who have flocked there to snap grinning selfies in front of the sign.
Business is suffering, and with the advent of the second series, the scrutiny shows no signs of abating.
“When I agreed to be the family spokesperson, I never knew what I would be in for,” Carla says.
“Social media can be so terrifying at times, but I told the guys I would be there for them and I wouldn’t walk away.
“If anyone would like to show their support to them, we have two family Facebook groups that people can join: the Steven Avery & Brendan
Dassey Project, and Justice for Brendan Dassey.
“People can write to the guys. The Avery’s salvage yard also has merchandise available, which goes right to help with bills. We can only stay hopeful that one day soon, both guys will be coming home.”
(£10, Gadfly Press) is out now. Avery: The Case Against Steven Avery And What Making A Murderer Gets Wrong by Ken Kratz (£18.95, BenBella Books) is out now.