It seems that the entire western world is astounded and confounded by the legal case against Wisconsin man Steven Avery. Avery has been the victim of botched investigation before. Years prior to the conviction and became the story that shocked the world as Netflix’ original series, Making a Murderer, Avery was wrongfully convicted of the brutal assault of a young woman after she identified Avery in a line up. Years into the sentence, new DNA testing found definitively that Avery was innocent of the crime, and he was released.
Upon his release, Avery began the lengthy process of suing the local police department and the state for his wrongful conviction. Not long after Avery began this process, he was convicted of yet another violent time. This time, it was the physical attack and brutal murder of Teresa Halbach, a budding young photographer who had come to the Avery property to take footage of a vehicle. Also implicated in the murder theory was Avery’s young nephew, Brendan Dassey. The cases against Steven Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey for the murder of Halbach continue to unfold even now, more than ten years after the crime was committed.
A legal case given to the world
Steven Avery is now fifty-six years old. His nephew (and supposed accomplice in the crime), Brendan Dassey, is now twenty-nine. Both men are serving life sentences in prison for the attack and murder of Halbach, but the increasingly complex evolutions in the case are resulting in more doubt being laid into the outcome of the accusations. The Netflix original series that centred around the unfolding law system proceedings of the case brought to life everything, from Avery’s past criminal records, to the obviously coerced confession from a young, alone, and vulnerable Dassey at the hands of detectives assigned to the case.
The change in legal representation
After the Netflix gained considerable traction and became nothing short of a global phenomenon, the whole world was screaming for both men to be pardoned as it appeared clear as crystal that both men were innocent of the charges laid against them. Then-President Barack Obama was even called to pardon the men, but the power could not be in his hands due to the court system the crimes were processed under. Behind the most recent developments in the case is lawyer Kathleen Zellner.
Zellner is considered one of the best – if not the best at getting innocent men out of prison, and she has released more innocent individuals from prison than any other lawyer in the US. Period. Her involvement in the case, and her involvement in the second instalment of the series, has led to various new findings. That have turned the case on its head – again.
The new suspect in the case
It seems perhaps a bizarre way to share new information about the ongoing case for Avery’s freedom, but Zellner has taken to Twitter of all places to share her latest findings and thoughts on the case as it continues to unfold. In the twenty-long stream of active Tweets, Zellner doggedly insists that new evidence she has procured not only ensures Avery and Dassey’s innocence of the crime, but directly implicates another member of the family – Dassey’s older brother, Bobby.
Bobby was present at the time of the crime, he knew Halbach, he had opportunity and motive. More than anything else, Zellner says that the tens of thousands of images of illicit images and sites on the family computer were accessed at times that only Bobby was home. The Dassey garage was never scoured for evidence or cleaned following the brutal crime, and is being done so now. It seems that the evidence is nowhere near complete – this is a story that is likely to continue unfolding for some time. If Zellner (and her history as a lawyer) has her way…until Avery and young Dassey are freed.