A new documentary has hit Netflix and it has everyone talking about Steven Avery. “Making a Murderer” is a documentary that covers the murder case of Teresa Halbach with one man in the heat of it all: Steven Avery.

In 1985, Avery was convicted with rape charges and sent to jail. 18 Years later, he was exonerated after a DNA test had proved him innocent of the crime that put him behind bars. Two years later, he was convicted of raping and murdering Teresa Halbach. Over the course of ten years, this documentary follows Avery’s case from the first crime, to him being sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole

Now 53 years old, he is still insisting that he is innocent.

“I ain’t gonna give up. When you know you’re innocent, you keep on going.” -

Steven Avery

Many people think that Avery is where he should be, but many more think that he is actually innocent. This documentary showed a lot of things that were presented in the case, but a lot of it seemed to go very under reported.

1. Sergeant Andy Colburn

This part of the documentary is very brief and wasn’t really closed on. Many of the people following the case were mad because they were attacking the police and making it look like they were responsible for framing Avery. But the part that Sergeant Colburn brought up in the case showed that he knew too much.

Two days before the RAV4 belonging to Teresa was found in the Avery salvage lot, Sergeant Colburn called in a the license plate number to dispatch. He was told that it belonged to a missing person. He then explained the make and model to further make sure that it was the right vehicle.

When he was called to testify in court, he was asked about this phone call. He said that he couldn’t really remember it but that he never looked at the car before it was found in the salvage lot. But how did Sergeant Colburn know what Teresa’s license plate number was if he wasn’t physically looking at the vehicle at the time of calling it in? He can get the make and model by the picture, but the license plates are not visible.

2. People of Interest

Ryan Hillegas, Teresa’s ex-boyfriend, and Mike, Teresa’s brother, make an appearance in this case. It was found that Teresa’s voicemail was full after too many people called looking for her. After Teresa was reported missing, Mike and Ryan said that they guessed what her password was so they could get into her voicemail in an attempt to find her. During the trial, it was shown that someone deleted some of her messages after she had disappeared. Who else could it have been?

Yet, both men were not people of interest and they were not questioned further. Since they broke a federal law by going into Teresa’s voicemail, one might believe that they would at least be people of interest in the crime investigation, but it was just dropped.

3. EDTA Blood Test

There were traces of Steven Avery’s blood found in Teresa’s vehicle. During the trial, it was pointed out that Avery’s finger was cut and more than capable of smearing his blood in Teresa’s vehicle if he was in it. The Defense pointed out the fact that there was a vial of Steven Avery’s blood and a pin prick the size of a needle was in the top of the cover.

This led to the question of whether or not someone placed Avery’s blood in in Teresa’s car in an attempt at framing him. Prosecution issued a request for the FBI to do a test on the DNA found in the RAV4 be tested for EDTA, the chemical used to preserve blood in liquid form. This would thus prove whether or not Avery was in her vehicle.

The FBI first denied the request, but suddenly changed their mind and went on to do the rare test. It was said that the test was executed and sent back to the prosecutors in a very short amount of time. It was said that EDTA was not found in the blood that was found in the RAV4.

4. DNA Found on the Bullet

There is also the bullet that the police found six months after the initial search of Avery's garage. It was one single bullet with Teresa’s DNA on it, which made it look like the garage was where she was murdered. But there was no blood anywhere else. They didn’t find her DNA anywhere else in the entire garage, even after searching the place more than once.

Then there was also the fact that the woman who tested the blood had accidentally contaminated the only DNA on the bullet with her own. This should have made this particular evidence inadmissible in court, but they let it through anyway. The evidence had been all used up, making the test impossible to redo. After that, they didn’t talk about it again.

5. The Lack of DNA

The last under-reported piece of evidence would be the lack of evidence. There was no found DNA of Teresa’s in any of the places that the said murder and torture happened. The bullet they found in the garage was the only trace of Teresa. She was said to be shot in the head there but there was no blood of hers anywhere in the cluttered garage. It was also said that Teresa was in the trailer, but there was no DNA found. It was also said that she was shackled to the bed. That one was almost proved concrete through Avery buying shackles/handcuffs a little time before Teresa was missing. But, they were tested, and no DNA of Teresa was found on them.

If there was more investigating, this case would be a lot more solid in its verdict. People would be able to see whether or not Avery was actually guilty of the murder of Teresa. But there was hardly any proof or evidence in this case, and a lot of the evidence that was found is highly questionable.

So, is Steven Avery innocent? Or guilty?