Finished the series? We've got the scoop on what's happening with the case now...
With every passing day there is a new headline about Making a Murderer’s protagonist, Steven Avery. Here's the lowdown on what you need to know now:
The Avery Family Speaks
During an interview with Access Hollywood, Steven's younger brother, Earl recounted his first meeting with his incarcerated brother in 8 years, claiming that Steven admitted that he only accused his other brother, Chuck of the murder of Teresa Halbach after being pressured to do so by his attorneys.
Earl also recalled to reporter, Stephanie Bauer that on the night of of October 31st, 2005, after returning from rabbit hunting he drove through the Avery's salvage yard next to the location where Teresa Halbach's car was later discovered and claims that there was no sign of a car. This new revelation could work in Steven's favour were there to be a new trial. Both Earl and Steven's father, Allan have said that Steven was 'acting normal' on the night of the alleged murder.
While Steven speaks to his family twice a day, Allan says his son's mental state is what you'd expect and they're in the process of adding Steven's preacher to his visiting list at the prison to help. Dolores also admitted in the interview that she often finds herself confronting people in public she hears talking about the case and her sons, shouting, 'Those Avery boys are innocent!' While the family have struggled with the financial burden of Steven's ongoing defense, they also appeared pleased with how his new lawyer, Kathleen Zellner is moving the process forwards.
The report also spoke to the victim, Teresa Halbach's father, who says that the family have not watched the Netflix documentary series and do not plan to.
The Key To Steven's Innocence?
Internet forum detectives have triumphed and unearthed a photo of Teresa Halbach holding a bunch of keys. While this may not seem like compelling evidence which could benefit Steven’s case, you may remember that the discovery of a lanyard with a single key on it by Manitowoc County Sheriff James Lenk was one of the most contentious and in the end, damning pieces of evidence in the case. With the unearthing of a photo of Teresa holding a bunch of keys, the internet has gone into overdrive speculating that the lanyard found in Steven’s house could have been a spare which was planted there by the police department.
Avery’s 2006 trial lawyer, Jerry Buting, has since admitted that he missed this piece of information in an interview with Rolling Stone, stating: ‘Dean and I worked on that case for 14 months before that trial, the last six months of which I did nothing but work on this case. We had 25,000 pages of discovery and police reports to go through, we had hundreds and hundreds of hours of tape recorded phone calls and interrogations and aerial footage, every salvage yard and expert opinions. But we were only two minds. What I’m discovering is that a million minds are better than two. Some of these people online have found things with a screen shot of a picture that we missed.
'There’s a picture of [Teresa Halbach] that I’ve looked at a thousand times that shows her standing in front of her vehicle, the RAV4. She’s got a camera in one hand and she’s also got keys and it’s like a key ring. You can see there’s a bunch of keys there like a house key, probably a photography studio key, maybe her parent’s house key. And those were never recorded.
'Instead we found this single key. Now we did challenge that, about how unusual it was, why is she walking around with one key? But I don’t think I caught the fact that there was a photograph showing what she really carried around with her is a bunch of keys. And none of those keys were ever found.’
Steven's New Appeal
Steven Avery filed a new appeal claiming that authorities used an improper warrant and a juror bullied others on the panel into convicting him. Viewers will know that originally, 7 of the 10 jurors had gone into deliberation with the belief that Steven was innocent.
In Touch Weekly have also supposedly uncovered new evidence about the case which suggested that the case was ‘deliberated improperly.’ After interviewing 13 of the 16 jurors in Wisconsin, it is suggested that some of the jurors had access to information which was included in the pre-trial conference and not the trial itself.
Jodi's 'Act'
Steven’s ex-fiancee Jodi Stachowski has now come forward to say that she believes that he is ‘not innocent’ as well as saying that he was physically abusive towards her during their relationship and ate rat poison so she could be hospitalised and separated from her now ex. Jodi was featured throughout the documentary and even provided evidence for the defense saying that she spoke to Steven on the night of the crime and he didn’t appear to be rushed. She now claims that her appearance in the documentary was an ‘act.’
Penny Beerntsen Comes Forward
Penny Beerntsen, the victim of the sexual assault which Steven was initially jailed for claims that she was asked to participate in the documentary but refused as she isn’t convinced of Steven’s innocence.
And The Most Popular Conspiracy Theories Surrounding The Case...
It’s safe to say that the internet has been alive with conspiracy theories about the case and who or who may not be innocent in the death of Teresa Halbach. We take a look at those who have been in the firing line of the forums…
Bobby Dassey and Scott Taydch
Bobby Dassey (Brendan’s brother) and his stepfather, Scott Taydch were supposedly on the Avery property at the time of the murder and according to the court, Bobby had scratches on his back when he was physically examined by law enforcement officers. Unfortunately, Scott and Bobby effectively served as each other’s alibis throughout the trial by claiming that they both drove past each other on their way to go hunting.
Teresa Halbach's Ex-Boyfriend
Would you be able to guess your ex's voicemail password? Probably not, yet Teresa’s ex boyfriend purportedly did and contributors to Reddit are hinting that maybe he knew more than he was letting on throughout the trial.
The Forensic Team
Another Reddit has claimed that those involved in the case may have had more connections to Steven Avery’s previous case than previously thought. For example, one of the forensic scientists involved in the case had testified in Steven’s previous case that there was DNA evidence which proved he was guilty. As we all know, Steven was cleared of all charges when DNA evidence proved him innocent. Funny, that. Is this evidence that the prosecution were conspiring against Steven?
The Manitowoc County Police Department
Of course, the main conspiracy theory and the one that the documentary and Steven’s defense supports is that the Manitowoc county police department framed Steven (for a second time, it seems) and are getting away with it. Will we ever find out? Who knows.