24 Jun Making a Murderer’s Brendan Dassey Has Murder Conviction Overturned

The classic “whodunnit” story is one which has endlessly fascinated audiences. In real life, however, such crime mysteries take a dark turn when they highlight the inadequacies of the justice systems tasked with solving them. True crime stories grip audiences, but the thrill of the “whodunnit” often gives way to horror  at the crime committed and, in some cases, raises serious questions about miscarriage of justice.

In December 2015, Netflix premiered Making a Murderer, a documentary television series which explored the life of Stephen Avery. Avery came from Manitowoc County, one of 72 counties in the state of Wisconsin. Writers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos came across Avery’s story in November 2005 and spent the next 10 years making a film about his run-ins with the law. Avery had spent 18 years in prison for sexual assault and attempted murder of Penny Beerntsen, who was attacked and raped by a stranger while running by the beach near her Wisconsin home. This conviction was overturned by DNA evidence in 2003, making Avery one of Wisconsin’s first DNA exonerees. Upon Avery’s release, he filed a $36million civil lawsuit against the county which was settled in January 2016 when the suit was settled for $400,000.

However, this settlement was overshadowed by yet another case, which Avery was embroiled in. Teresa Halbach, a local photographer who was visiting Avery’s scrap yard to take pictures of a car, disappeared in 2005. Her charred remains were found at the yard a week after she went there and Avery was charged with her murder, as was his nephew Brendan Dassey who confessed to helping his uncle commit the crime. Dassey, then 16 years old, was convicted of being party to first-degree intentional homicide, mutilation of a corpse and second-degree sexual assault on April 25 2007.

Brendan’s brother Brad believed he was guilty at the time. However, he later claimed that he “clearly didn’t have all the facts” and should have said “no comment” when asked his opinion on his brother’s guilt. Brad’s change of heart was caused by the Making a Murderer series, which he said opened his eyes to the corruption in Manitowoc County and convinced him of Brendan’s innocence.

“Nobody clearly knew all of the corruption back then. It was 10 years in the making with this new Netflix Series and honestly, I’m glad it’s out there. Tons of supporters see what corruption has happened to my brother and are furious of the injustice and that’s all that clearly matters at this point going forward.”

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