For months, the Netflix Original Docuseries "Making A Murderer" has taken the world by storm. For a while, there was not a day that went by that I did not partake in a conversation surrounding this show. Coming from someone who had not watched it yet, I was so confused. Scratch that, I was the most confused I had ever been in my entire life.
Who is Steven Avery? What happened? Why is this trial so controversial? What the heck is going on?
I needed these questions answered immediately. So, I started the series expecting all of my questions to be answered.
I was wrong; I am more confused than I was before I started the series.
For some background before I start my rant, "Making A Murderer" is about the 2005 trial of Steven Avery for the murder of Wisconsin photographer Teresa Halbach (mind you, if you have not seen this series yet, this will contain some spoilers so stop now if you want to see it for yourself).
Okay, so first off, this is not the first time Avery has been on trial. He was wrongly convicted of the sexual assault of Penny Beerntsen back in 1985 and served 18 years (YES I SAID YEARS) in prison for this crime.
This poor, innocent guy served 18 years of his life for another man's crime. Thanks to the Wisconsin Innocence Project, he was exonerated by new DNA evidence that proved that another man committed the crime.
What really pisses me off about that whole situation is the fact that the police of Manitowoc County were literally doing everything and saying anything to get Avery arrested for this crime. It just seemed like he was being targeted. My jaw dropped throughout the entire first episode because I could not believe what I was hearing.
I mean, one of the officers got a call from the neighboring county saying they thought they had the real perpetrator. Excuse me, why was that not investigated? What?
Okay, so moving on to 2003, Avery is released. Good, we are getting somewhere.
He gets a girlfriend, reconnects with family, starts working at the auto shop, and finally gets a chance to live a free life.
And then he gets arrested for the murder of Teresa Halbach, and this is where I get confused.
I have never switched sides so much in my life. For an episode, I'm team Manitowoc County, and then in a second, I'm Team Avery again.
Finishing the series, I could not tell you 100 percent whether or not I think Avery is guilty or innocent.
What I can tell you is that the trial was absolute garbage. Please explain to me one moment when Avery had the right to a fair trial? Or the right that he is innocent until proven guilty?
I'll answer that for you, HE DIDN'T.
This case had so much public and media attention that no matter who was involved, he went into that trial convicted.
Manitowoc County was out to get him in 1985, and they were out to get him in 2005 as well.
There was so much reasonable doubt throughout that whole trial. I don't even know how you could convict him or let him go; it seemed like it was a lose-lose situation.
I honestly feel bad for Avery because I have so much reasonable doubt that I can't be happy with the verdict since I don't see anything that could prove him 100 percent guilty.
Why was there a hole in the blood vile? Why did a key just magically appear in a place that had been looked at multiple times? Do you really think that Steven Avery would be stupid enough to keep the Rav4 on his own lot, or when he had a perfectly workable car crusher on that same lot?
How stupid do you think a man who spent 18 years in prison is when it comes to committing crimes? Like not cleaning off the blood smudges in the car? Really?
And for the love of God, why were Brenden Dassey's statements not seen as coerced? At one point, the interviewer literally told him what to put in his statement. Those interview tapes were proof enough.
If I put every lingering question and comment I had after this series, this article would have a 3000 plus word count.
So to end, I have three closing thoughts:
1. Ken Kratz is the worst.
2. Steven Avery deserves a re-trial, end of story. He is still claiming he is innocent. Don't you think if he was truly guilty, he would have just said so by now? And Brenden Dassey deserves a re-trial too because that situation is just mind boggling.
3. Dean Strang and Jerome Buting, you guys are awesome.