Steven Avery's story has been documented in a 10-part Netflix series, 'Making a Murderer'.
Steven Avery's story has been documented in a 10-part Netflix series, 'Making a Murderer'.
Netflix's Making a Murderer is under fire for leaving vital evidence out of its "documentary" coverage.
The 10-part series released on December 18, by film-makers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, depicts a true-crime saga that raises questions over whether Steven Avery, a Wisconsin man convicted of the 2005 murder ofa young woman, was guilty of the crime or whether he was framed by law enforcement officials.
The prosecutor in the case, Ken Kratz, said viewers convinced of Avery's innocence did not get to see important evidence that led a jury to convict him, the New York Times reported.
Kratz says the series "really presents misinformation".
He resigned as prosecutor in 2010 and declined to be interviewed for the documentary because he did not believe the film would be impartial.
• Some of Avery's past criminal activity which included threatening a female relative at gunpoint and dousing a cat in oil and throwing it on a bonfire. (Avery did admit in an early episode that he threw a cat over a fire, but did not include these details.)
• In the months leading up to Halbach's disappearance, Avery had called Auto Trader several times and always specifically requested Halbach to come out and take the photos.
• Halbach had complained to her boss that she didn't want to go out to Avery's trailer anymore, because once when she came out, Avery was waiting for her wearing only a towel.
• On the day that Halbach went missing, Avery had called her three times, twice from an unknown number to hide his identity.
• The bullet with Halbach's DNA on it came from Avery's gun, which always hung above his bed.
• Avery had purchased handcuffs and leg irons, like the ones Avery's then-16-year-old nephew Dassey described holding Halbach, only three weeks before.
• In Dassey's illegally obtained statement, Dassey stated that he helped Avery move the RAV4 into the junkyard and that Avery had lifted the bonnet and removed the battery cable. Even if the blood in Halbach's car was planted by the cops, there was also non-blood DNA evidence on the bonnet latch.
Kratz also claims phone records have been left out of the popular series.
However, Laura Ricciardi told The Wrap: "All of the most significant evidence of the state is in the series. It was a nearly six-week-long trial, and it would just be impossible for us to include all of the less significant evidence."
Since the series was released Avery has received a wave of support, including more than 269,000 signatures on a petition asking US President Barack Obama to pardon him.
The 10-part series was released on December 18.
Earlier life
The 53-year-old Wisconsin native grew up in Manitowoc County, where his family ran a vehicle salvage business and built a reputation for being troublemakers. They were uneducated, outliers in the small community.
The young Avery sported a beard. He said that he was "stupid and hanging around with the wrong people" growing up, which resulted in his involvement with a couple of burglaries and one act of animal cruelty. But is he a rapist? A killer?
The first charge was tacked on to his name in 1985, then removed 18 years later. Avery spent years in prison for the violent sexual assault of a beloved community figure - everything that he was not, according to the documentary - only to have DNA evidence reveal that the crime was not committed by him.
Avery maintained his innocence the whole time, and he filed a $36 million civil suit against the county for wrongful conviction upon his release. For the first time in Avery's life, he was believed to be the good guy, fielding television interviews and public appearances that painted him as a sterling example of resilience in the face of unjust punishment.
The reprieve was short-lived. Two years after Avery thought he had escaped life behind bars for good, he was charged with killing Halbach.
After the photographer went missing, her vehicle was found in the Avery family's junkyard, and prosecutors said DNA tests revealed Avery's blood in the car.
Once again, he denied any wrongdoing. The jury did not buy it.
"The only thing I can think, they are trying to railroad me again and see if they can get away with it this time," Avery told the Associated Press in 2005. This was the scenario that his family had been afraid of: By remaining in the county they had launched a lawsuit against, they had put themselves at risk of retaliation.
Making a Murderer suggests Avery's innocence by pointing to all the parts of his life that made him appear all too guilty in the eyes of the jury. He had a criminal record, that one overturned conviction aside. His brothers had a history of sexual assault and burglary charges. Avery's nephew Dassey, who has a learning disability, told police that his uncle made him rape Halbach and help dispose of her body.
Then the documentary conjectures: Could the same things that made Avery look guilty actually have been what made him easy to frame?
