After weeks of hearing about Steven Avery and seeing articles about "Making a Murder" on my newsfeed, I finally gave in and watched the documentary. The documentary basically focuses on Steven Avery’s side of the murder trial of Teresa Halbach. Most of the articles out there are about whether or not Avery murdered Halbach, supported by the author’s theory of what they think happened. I honestly have no idea what happened that night. No one does except Teresa Halbach and the murderer. I do have my own theories, but instead of spoiling that for you, I will let you watch it and determine your own theory. However, there are spoilers about certain events that happened through the documentary below.
Something I do believe about the case is that neither Avery nor his nephew, Brendan Dassey, got a fair trial. First of all, the officers who investigated the murder had a conflict of interest. One of the most controversial parts of the case is that Steven Avery was convicted and spent 18 years in jail for rape he did not commit at the hands of the Manitowoc Police Department. And now these officers are investigating a murder where Avery is a suspect? To be fair, they did call in a neighboring county police to oversee the investigation, but the Manitowoc officers should have let the other officers handle the case.
Secondly, "Making a Murder" shows clips from Dassey’s integration. Why is this a point? Well Dassey’s court appointed attorney, Len Kachinsky, allowed the 16-year-old to be integrated alone. While it is true that viewers only saw parts of the questioning process, it is also evident that Dassey has some learning disabilities. In one of the clips he asked the investigator how long it would take, because he wanted to make it to sixth period. It is even shown later on in the episode that Dassey has low IQ. So, why was he left alone to be questioned? This lawyer was later dismissed, but the next lawyer, Michael O’Kelly, did not seem to be on his side either. He pretty much pulled another confession out of Dassey and disregarded Dassey’s claim that he was innocent.
Finally, Avery’s case should have never been held in Manitowoc County. He already has a history with a wrong conviction and too many people were too close to the case. Not to mention, all the media that surrounded the case that made it difficult to stay objective. Even if the case is appealed and taken to an “appropriate court,” it might be too late. Between the documentary, hundreds of other theories and the media involvement, it might be too late for a jury to stay objective. Maybe Avery and Dassey did it or maybe they did not, but they did not get fair trials.
