On Netflix, there is a documentary series called "Making a Murderer". I came home one night around two weeks ago to find my dad and step-mom watching this. Luckily, they had just started so I was able to join in. As I sat down, after I had changed into my pajamas, they briefed me on what I had missed. I learned that Steven Avery is an average man that lives in Wisconsin. I learned that he was charged with raping a woman and served 18 years in prison. Normally, this would disgust anyone and they would be glad to learn that he did time and upset that he was let go.

The difference with Steven Avery is that he was innocent.

During this rape trial, Steven Avery had numerous alibis as to where he was when the rape happened, including his own mother. While the victim was being questioned about the appearance of her attacker, there was a woman in the room who said: "that sounds like Steven Avery". One, that's highly unprofessional and two, she just put bias into the minds of those in the room. The suspect sketcher then drew a sketch of one of Steven Avery's mugshots from way back when from a minor offense he had committed. With this sketch and many other sketches lined up, the victim picked out Steven Avery. This seems conclusive. The shocker is, and this came out while Avery was sitting in prison, an officer of the Manitowoc County Police Department, which is the county carrying out this investigation, was found to have suppressed vital evidence on this case. He received a memo stating that the criminal may not be Avery, that it may a man named Gregory Allan. Gregory Allan was a man with no alibi and a record for assaults and crimes that fit the nature of this rape investigation. This Officer's name was Colburn. The DNA from the rape kit was processed and released and the DNA was not Avery's, it belonged to Gregory Allan. This moment is also when the memo was found from Officer Colburn. Avery was then released deemed an innocent man. Because of this conviction, Avery's wife divorced him while he was in prison, taking their kids with her and away from him.

A little less than a year later, Teresa Halbach went missing. Her ex-boyfriend and family started a search party, hoping they would find their Teresa. One day, her aunt decided to check out the Avery Salvage Yard. While scouting the yard, Halbach's aunt found Halbach's car. She then called the police and asked if this was the right car and the police told her that they could not say and then proceeded to send police to the Avery family business. When the police arrived at the scene, it was the Calumet County officers from the next town over who came to do the investigation due to the Manitowoc County officers not being able to carry out the investigation because of a conflict of interest with Stephen Avery's past and Avery's ongoing sue against the county for wrongful conviction and the violation of his civil rights (they did not give him the right to an attorney nor did they give him a phone call when he was arrested and imprisoned for the rape trial 19 years before). The visiting officers roped off the salvage yard and proceeded with an 8-day investigation of Avery's trailer and barn. Besides finding the car on the property, the next biggest finds were bones found to be of human descent and looked like had come from the burning of a body, as well as the key to Halbach's vehicle. When DNA tests were done on this key, they found Avery's DNA on it, but they did not even find Halbach's DNA. She had driven this car for a decade, more or less, and her DNA was not found on it at all. Not in a nook and not in a cranny. How could that be? The biggest thing about finding this key was the fact that the Calumet County Officer's said that the Manitowoc County Officer's had no hand in this investigation except for when they let the visiting officers use their equipment/machinery. This would be fine except for the fact that when one of the visiting Officer's was on the witness stand he stated that when he looked at the spot where the key was found, he did not see it. It was Officer Lenk from the Manitowoc County Department and one of the Officer's that was found to have suppressed evidence in Steven Avery's defense in the first trial that actually found the key.

Just when the case seemed to become stagnant, Avery's nephew told the police that he and Avery kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and killed Teresa Halbach.

This boy has an IQ of 73 and a verbal IQ of 69. Two Manitowoc County Detectives pulled this 17-year-old out of school for a three and a half hour questioning without the consent of his mother and without her even knowing.

When Avery's nephew admitted to coming to Avery's house to hear a woman screaming and then Avery asking him to help him murder this woman, members of his family, the only thing he had left, began to hate him.

Avery's nephew was then again brought in for a lengthy questioning on a school day. There was one piece of evidence that the detectives knew the public, nor anyone else, knew quite yet. This piece was that Halbach had been shot in the head. The entire time they were questioning Avery's nephew they kept hinting at this because it would appear definitive if that fact came out of the nephew, Brendan's mouth. In the questioning one detective asked "What happened to her head?" and it was very evident that Brendan was guessing, he said "we punched her in the face," and when asked "What else?" he answered, "we slit her throat." When the detectives still were not getting the answer they wanted it one detective said "I'm going to just come out and say it, who shot her in the head?" to which Brendan replied, "Steven did."

This conviction obviously set Steven back.

The thing is, this 17-year-old was questioned many times after that and each time the story of how they killed Teresa Halbach did not add up, it was inconsistent. Brendan also had many phone conversations with his mom and his testimony faltered. Some calls he would tell her that he did it and some he would say that he didn't. His lawyer then brought in his own investigator to question Brendan. He had Brendan write down what he did the day of Teresa Halbach's murder. Brendan wrote that he got off the bus at 3:45, he hung out with his friend until about 7 o'clock when Steven Avery called him and asked if he wanted to come over and hang out by a bonfire, so he went over there because he also had a piece of mail for Avery. Around 9 o'clock Brendan's mom called him and told him to come home and he did. In Brendan's story of what he did that night did not have Halbach in it at all. He was then asked to draw pictures of what happened. He was told to draw her restrained on the bed. Brendan did, but when he did so he drew her restrained with rope and chain when the police have said she was handcuffed. He also spelled her name "Teresha." At the beginning of this questioning he also told his own defense that he did not do it.

Brendan told his mom that he feels that his own lawyer believes that he is guilty, but when they brought it to the attention of the judge to get his lawyer taken off of the case the judge said "no."

a little bit later down the road, the judge realized that Brendan's lawyer was not on his side and then said "yes."

Avery believes, and rightfully so, that the police have framed him for this murder. He told them that the police had his blood and DNA from the last case and he believes they used it and placed in Halbach's car. This is a possibility due to the fact that there is no way his blood would have gotten in the car. While there was a cut on Avery's finger, there was no DNA of Avery's in the car, only his blood which indicates that he was wearing gloves so there is no way any blood from that cut could have even gotten in the car. Avery's lawyers when to the evidence room at the Manitowoc County Police Department and pulled out what little they had from Avery's last case. The only thing they had was a Styrofoam box with a vile of Avery's blood. When they pulled this box out it was very obvious that it was tampered with. The red evidence take had been cut and reapplied with clear scotch tape. That was suspicion number one. When they opened the box they examined the small vile of blood belonging to Steven Avery. The cap of this vile had a small hole in it indicated that someone stuck a syringe into the vile.

This created a whole new side of the case for Avery's defense.

Around the same time, the pieces of bone that were found on the Avery property were examined a lab. When the examiner/tester of these fragments came to the witness stand she admitted that when testing the DNA of the bone her DNA mixed with it accidentally as well. Avery's defense questioned her in the regard that after years and years of doing this it seemed kind of convenient that she messed up this one time.

The question was then brought up on Avery's defense if they searched for any other suspects besides Avery because most often the ones guilty are the ones closest to us. Such as, a family member, significant other or ex-significant other.

The fact that when her phone records were checked there were messages that had been erased on her phone to which no one had her password. One of the Detectives in charge of questioning Brendan was brought to the witness stand and admitted that they were able to find the password to her phone. Her ex-boyfriend, the head of Halbach's search party, was brought to the stand next. He admitted that he and Halbach were friends for a while and dated for a short period of time off and on. He also stated that Halbach did not live alone, she lived with a mutual friend of theirs. One day, shortly after her disappearance, he went over to their house to hang out with her roommate and asked about her. When her roommate said that she hadn't been home for awhile, her ex-boyfriend testified that he and the roommate were able to go online and get her phone records as well as guess her password. Lucky guess. It was her sisters birthdays. Something that was not common.

This search party was also allowed admission to the Avery Salvage Yard from the police officer's on the scene after the yard was deemed a potential crime scene and should not have any persons not associated with the law on its grounds.

This continues to take the blame away from Avery, but not in the eyes of the offense.

Avery's defense pulled up a phone conversation between Officer Colburn and a police dispatcher. Colburn read the license plate from Halbach's car two days before it was found asking if that plate belonged to a dark blue Rav4 owned by Teresa Halbach when the dispatcher said "yes," Colburn said "ok," and hung up.

The only way that Colburn would have known was if he was looking directly at the car.

This was recorded two days before the car was found.

I am only half way through the series and this is what I know already. This case started a year after Avery got out of 18 years in prison for something he did not do. It started in 2002 and there has not been an end result yet. It is 2016 and the Avery case is still being disputed. This poor man is losing his life due to the possible malicious framing acts of those in his home county who have sworn to protect him.

His first trial began when he was 22, he had a brief year of freedom and now the second trail has gone from 2002 to the present. These acts of possible injustice have eaten up Avery's entire life.

I believe that he is innocent, but what if he's not?