Watched them all, my 1st reaction was wow this guy got did dirty 2 times. after reading up online about this case I'm not sure he was innocent of the 2nd crime.
SPOILER ALERT
Here are some basic things we know right now:
- Parts of Halbach’s body were found burned in Avery’s fire pit.
- Evidence of Avery’s involvement was found inside his home.
- There is DNA evidence tying the bullet found in the Avery garage to Halbach.
- Avery was the last known person to see Halbach alive.
- Police found her car, with blood on it and in it, left on the Avery family’s lot.
- Avery’s high-school age nephew, Brendan Dassey, confessed that he had assisted his uncle in murder of Halbach.
But beyond all that, here are just a few items that the producers of “Making a Murderer” decided to leave out that make the case less riveting and Avery more sympathetic:
— Not only was the bullet found in the garage linked to Halbach’s DNA, but it was
forensically tied to Avery’s gun as well. Seems like a pertinent thing for viewers to know. To believe Avery was innocent, you now have to believe that forensics specialists were in on the frame-up and lied about both the DNA and gun, or messed up both tests.
— The criminal complaint claimed that authorities had found restraints — handcuffs and leg irons — at Avery’s residence. In 2006,
Avery admitted to buying them so he could use them on his then-girlfriend. This alone doesn’t mean Avery is the killer of course, but it does lend credence to the description offered by Dassey and the police. We heard nothing about this during the show.
— The infamous car key that was found in Avery’s residence
had DNA of his sweat on it. So not only are we asked to believe the Manitowoc police department planted the keys in his trailer (and that the neighboring police force was either incompetent or complicit in the deception), but also that somehow the cops had extracted Avery’s perspiration and put it on the key. Another explanation might be that Avery handled the keys when dealing with Halbach, although he denies having ever seen them.
Which bring up additional question: If Avery’s defenders are convinced that DNA from one pubic hair completely exonerates him in the rape case, why does DNA evidence in this case not prove his guilt?
—
Avery once opened the door to Halbach “just wearing a towel.”
The 25-year-old photographer was allegedly “creeped out” and told a co-worker she wouldn’t work with Avery again. The information was excluded not only from the documentary, but also from Avery’s trial
, as the judge ruled the information about the incident was unclear,
according to the AP.
—
Avery not only called Auto Trader and specifically requested Halbach to take pictures the day she was killed, but he also gave a false name when he did so. Why? And why would he, and the documentarians, fail to mention it? Avery then called Halbach’s cell phone three times the day she died, twice using *67 to obscure his identity. None of this proves his guilt, but all of these actions undermine the defense’s contention that Halbach was just someone that happened to come by that day for a job. It sounds like he wanted her to come by. None of this is mentioned in the documentary.
— Not only was Avery’s blood — which we’re supposed to believe was planted by the police after being extracted from an evidence room — found in six places on Halbach’s vehicle,
but DNA from his sweat was also found on a hood latch. How did it get there? Did the police have a vial of perspiration ready to go the day of the murder?
— You’d also have to be gullible to believe that Avery was merely a flawed, but good-hearted victim of unfortunate circumstance once you learn more about his history. According to an
Appleton Post Crescent article from 2006, Avery planned the fantasy torture and killing of a young woman
while in prison. According to Ken Kratz at least, Avery also drew up plans for torture chambers while in prison. True? We don’t know. The documentary never mentions (or disproves) any of these accusations.
—The young Avery didn’t unintentionally set fire to a cat, as “Making a Murderer” suggests,
but poured gasoline on the animal and then threw it into a bonfire, according the Associated Press. And Avery didn’t only threaten a female cousin at gunpoint, an incident the documentary portrays as the unfortunate actions of an immature teen, but is also alleged
to have raped a young girl and threatened to kill her family if they spoke out, according another story in
Post Crescent (
paywalled). If we’re to believe Dassey’s conversations with police, Avery had also molested his cousins. “I even told them about Steven touching me,” Dassey
explains to his mother after one of the interviews with police.
