Steven Avery: Making a Murderer

Has anyone watched this on Netflix? I became engrossed in it, and was outraged at the end. I thought, how could our justice system fail so badly? So I decided to delve into the trial transcripts of both Avery and Dassey.

In my opinion, no doubt Avery killed Halbach. I read every single trial transcript, about 27 days, each transcript almost 200 pages.

Dassey, however, I feel was coerced into confessing, was a victim of his lawyer providing ineffective assistance of counsel who was working with the prosecutor. He has a very low IQ, and was easily coerced into confessing. I read all his trial transcripts as well, and cannot fathom HOW he was found guilty.

Dassey didn't deserve that and I watched the full interrogation video.

YES! Dassey breaks my heart and when you really get in the weeds of his case, it is despicable how his lawyer basically worked with the DA and had his own PI coerce another confession. I just read his habeas suit in federal court could languish for many more months.

Fortunately, he has several grounds to appeal, should one be denied.

Dassey is actually the only reason I stuck around to learn more about the case. I'm frustrated by so much focus being placed on Avery's claim to innocence when Dassey's case is the one that is far more likely to be one of wrongful conviction.

I am certain of Avery's guilt. The planting defense doesn't hold water, nor does the framing motive. There was never a guarantee that he would receive 36 million and the sheer scale of agencies that would have had to been in on the conspiracy makes it unlikely. There is some speculation that the blood was planted in the RAV4, but I find it unlikely that the police managed to plant the blood in a pattern that just happened to match that of an active bleeder.

I will say, Making A Murderer is perhaps the most emotionally manipulative documentary I have ever seen.

agreed @lilipadlane on it being an emotionally manipulative docu. however, won't deny, I like the entire concept of the documentary though....could've put the exact same work to another case or actually helping Dassey

I would agree. Had they used those techniques to focus on Dassey or help someone else who had truly been wrongfully convicted, I think they could've done great things.

Yes, it was manipulative. I was so angry after watching, but me being me, I decided to do my own research and came to the conclusion there is no way Steven Avery didn't do it. And I feel equally strongly that Brendan had nothing to do with it and was coerced.

I've mentioned before in my job, the worse cases to me are children and burned victims. The thing about burning a corpse, it is going to stink to high heavens. Burned corpses brought in for autopsy smell, and it's a unique smell unlike anything I could compare it to. I know he threw tires and garbage on her, but I don't think it would totally mask the smell. How did his sister, who lived next door, not smell something?

Funny thing, after claiming at trial the police planted this evidence, in his PCR appeal, he blames all his brothers, Bobbey Dassey, Scott Tadych and even customers at the salvage yard. The filmmakers didn't cover that though.

Unfortunately, so many people just watched the documentary and took it for gospel.

YES !! There is an entire subreddit dedicated to exploring theories of who killed Teresa Halbach and many seem to believe it was her brother or ex boyfriend, but there's no real basis to believe either of them were involved.

I find the Avery family dynamic interesting. Barb was so certain of Avery's guilt during filming, but now she claims he is innocent. I haven't read through the documentation in awhile, but I remember Robert Fabian mentioning smelling burning plastic . I wonder if Barb did smell something but due to family pressure, didn't talk about it. I also wonder if she did mention it in her deposition , which still hasn't been released.

Well, the family has a history of molesting family members. One of the Avery brothers molested his own daughters. Dassey's attorney Kuchinski's PI summed it up by saying in an email, "This is a one branch family tree. Cut this tree down. We need to end the gene pool here." Yes, it's harsh, but aside from Brendan, I can see where he got this sentiment.

So true. It seems like I read somewhere (I want to say the CASO Report) that Avery's mother would cover for the boys if they got in trouble, and that led me to believe family pressure might play a role in the retractions and the family proclaiming innocence.

I've also read that Mr & Mrs Avery didn't even attend Brendan's trial nor have they visited him, and I wonder if it's because they were angry with him because of the confession. Brendan, to me, is definitely a victim either way one looks at it. Either he is a victim of his uncle's manipulation or he is a victim of the officers who interrogated him, and possibly both.

His case saddens me. I feel as though he may be autistic, based on observations during his interrogations. I also feel that he may have been saying whatever he thought the detectives wanted to hear to take the stress off.

Ultimately, I agree with you. I don't understand how he was convicted given that there was so little evidence against him.

My husband is in a high ranking position in an elite law enforcement agency and even he was outraged at Dassey's interrogation. He unequivocally states it is blatant coercion, and to add insult to injury, he is not mentally proficient.

The father of the Avery's strikes me as abusive to his wife and kids, and there has been rumors of inbreeding. I have nothing for any of that clan, but the Dasseys.

In the email I referenced between Dassey's original attorney, Kachinsky and the PI O'Kelley, Kachinsky states he is cc'ing the DA, SA Fassbender and another detective re: the recorded the coercion of an admission from Brendan by O'Kelley. The one where he was asked, "Do you feel guilty for what you've done?" and had him draw all those pictures. That whole scene pissed me off, I wanted to choke that manipulative weasel.

lilypadlane wrote:

So true. It seems like I read somewhere (I want to say the CASO Report) that Avery's mother would cover for the boys if they got in trouble, and that led me to believe family pressure might play a role in the retractions and the family proclaiming innocence.

I've also read that Mr & Mrs Avery didn't even attend Brendan's trial nor have they visited him, and I wonder if it's because they were angry with him because of the confession. Brendan, to me, is definitely a victim either way one looks at it. Either he is a victim of his uncle's manipulation or he is a victim of the officers who interrogated him, and possibly both.

His case saddens me. I feel as though he may be autistic, based on observations during his interrogations. I also feel that he may have been saying whatever he thought the detectives wanted to hear to take the stress off.

Ultimately, I agree with you. I don't understand how he was convicted given that there was so little evidence against him.

Yes, they would continually prod him with his questions, "What about her head, Brendan?" How many different answers did he give til he got the "right one"? He was fed so much information, that it's no wonder he eventually confessed. After all, he thought he would tell them what they wanted to hear and go back to school for a project or something he had that day.

Not surprisingly Brendan Dassey's conviction has been overturned. I can see him being released soon.

Steven Avery still faces a more difficult case. Unless there is proof his blood was planted, I don't see him being released. He still is connected to the crime despite the questionable conflict of interest by a few members of police.

philosopher_king wrote:

Not surprisingly Brendan Dassey's conviction has been overturned. I can see him being released soon.

Steven Avery still faces a more difficult case. Unless there is proof his blood was planted, I don't see him being released. He still is connected to the crime despite the questionable conflict of interest by a few members of police.

I was never really convinced about Avery but I don't think Dassey hurt anyone. He might have seen something after the fact but I was happy to hear the news today that his conviction was overturned. I was following the developments for a few months after watching the doc, checked up now and then, and it always seemed like nothing was going to happen with his case. Nice to know that it has.

I am honestly happy to see Dassey get out. That poor kid was very mistreated when they tried to pin him for this. He is not fully with it.

I am so happy for Brendan. He should be released and all charges dropped. This young man breaks my heart. Steven Avery? He can hang for all I care.

Has anyone read the motion posted here?

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

A new theory of the crime is presented where Steven Avery was still framed, but primarily by the "real killer" Ryan Hillegas, who was Teresa Halbach's (allegedly abusive, over-involved, jealous) ex-boyfriend, with the police subsequently taking the bait and planting additional evidence themselves.

Parts of it definitely seem farfetched but it presents a lot of information that's worth reading and some interesting theories. I know it's long but I hope someone else wants to take the time to read this because I'd like to hear other people's reactions.