The Truth About The Steven Avery Case
Making a Murderer Did Not Do Anything Wrong
Making a Murderer debuted on December 15 , 2015 on Netflix and was an instant success. Unfortunately for me I had been assaulted and had a traumatic brain injury that resulted in me having to undergo brain surgery aka a craniotomy- i can now honestly say that I have a screw loose as a result. I only mention this because I missed the MaM splash and did not watch the series until the second season was released in 2018. I was instantly hooked. I have followed Steven's post conviction attorney Kathleen Zellner for many years- the Riley Fox kidnapping and murder was the catalyst for my learning of Zellner and her phenomenal skills.
The thing about true crime that one must understand is that there is more misinformation than there are factual sources. Looking for a link for this post for example I came across many inaccurate summaries of the case. Riley's dad was arrested for the crime but he was thanks to Zellner freed and the real killer found prior to trial-so he was never on death row as some inaccurate sites state. Kathleen Zellner has spent most of her career fighting to overturn wrongful conviction cases. She is an amazing attorney and tenacious and dogged in her defense of her clients. The fact that she was Steven's attorney got my attention and made me take a closer look at the case.
The problem with true crime is that sensationalism sells. The more drama around the individuals in the case the better. Many will report allegations no matter how weak or questionable the person making them. The other issue in wrongful convictions is that because the individual is in fact innocent is that there will be tons of unsubstantiated allegations of their behavior and supposed other non charged crimes thy committed floating around. If there is not a conviction it can not be used in a court of law. Prosecutors know this yet they still use these rumors to sway public opinion. This happens because journalists and law enforcement are trying to make the suspect capable of committing the crime they are claiming guilt of. That is what you see in both of the Steven Avery cases featured in Making a Murderer. Manitowoc County did it the first time in 1985 when they intentionally wrongfully convicting him of the assault of Penny B. Sheriffs Deputy Judy Dvorak wrote a police report that is entirely false. The person (RM)who she stated made the statements about Steven being seen in the area of an 11 year old girls abduction in Marinette County, Wisconsin in May of 1985 under oath stated multiple times she never told Dvorak any of the things Dvorak stated in an official police report that RM said.
Fast forward to 2005 and the Halbach investigation. There are multiple transcribed reports of interviews with individuals that state lots of horrific acts by Steven Avery. Not one of these allegations resulted in so much as a phone call to the police at the time nor do the investigators who are supposedly hearing these things do any additional investigation to determine the validity of the claim. These reports are simply filler material used to make Steven seem more monster like. In reality though Steven Avery is 5'4 with an IQ of 72. He had been in prison from 1985-2003 for a crime he didn't commit. Born in 1962 that means he was 23 when he was arrested in 85. He had also spent some time in prison prior to that for the burglary of a bar with some friends in which they stole some beer, cheese sandwiches and quarters as well as the cat burning incident that he and two friends did. Both of these convictions were covered in Making a Murderer. As for Jodi Stachowski's change from believing in Steven's innocence to going on Nancy DisGrace and making allegations of his guilt one should know that at the time she had been indicted for her 6th OWI and was facing a mandatory prison sentence in Manitowoc County. There are two reports mentioning allegations of abuse of Jodi by Steven-in one it is clearly stated that Jodi was extremely intoxicated and had not one mark on her to substantiate the claims. Did Jodi and Steven fight? I am sure they did. Steven had spent almost twenty years in a maximum security prison many of them for a crime he didn't commit and then he is simply released back into the modern world. Jodi has struggled with alcohol addiction her entire adult hood and addicts as we all know are not easy to live with much less maintain a romantic relationship. Nancy Grace is a disbarred prosecutor who had a case overturned for withholding exculpatory evidence from the defense in a murder trial. No wonder she advocated for Ken Kratz they both are unethical disgraced prosecutors.
One has to wonder why there is an attempt to convince people Making a Murderer got it wrong. The fact is that at the time of Teresa Halbachs disappearance in October of 2005 Manitowoc County, former Sheriff Tom Kocourek and former DA Denis Vogel were desperate to stop the civil suit depositions from continuing. Did one of them cause Teresa's death-i do not know. We know that these men intentionally wrongfully convicted Steven in 1985 when he was already going to prison and by doing so allowed a prolific and violent sexual predator and suspected murder Gregory Allen remain free to continue sexually assaulting multiple women. If they care nothing for protecting the women of their county even though they were elected to protect and serve the community They care little for the community they are being paid to protect.
Then there is what was done to Steven Avery's nephew Brendan Dassey- a sixteen year old low IQ emotionally disabled juvenile who there is not one piece of evidence showing any of the regurgitated "confessions' Calumet County officer Mark Wiegert and Wisconsin DCI S/A Tom Fassbender tricked him into repeating to help secure the case against Steven Avery occurred. Brendan was needed to incorporate a "narrative" of a crime into the public. When Brendan Dassey, his brother Blaine and mother Barb were removed from their home by Wiegert and Fassbender and held at Fox Hills for 24 hours the official narrative was for "their safety" yet they were brought back home the next day. While they had Brendan there they spent many hours with him that they did not record and then the next school day they "interrogate" him and he repeats a tale that helps officers convict him and his uncle yet evidence clearly shows is not what happened to Teresa Halbach.
These men knew Brendan was innocent and stole his life anyway. A kid who had never so much as had an interaction with law enforcement prior to this. A kid who is scared of blood. He was used to obtain the real goal which was convicting Steven of a crime that factually did not occur.
I encourage everyone to check out the FoulPlay YouTube Channel. There are several discussions about all aspects of this case for anyone who is interested in the truth.
The foulplay website has many FOIAd documents, dispatch calls, radio transmissions, Police Reports, photos and more on the Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey cases as well as others. There also is a FoulPlay discord channel a link to a community that can be found in the foulplay youtube videos description box for those who wish to further discuss the case.
I encourage anyone who wishes to learn more about this case to do so. It is a case full of police and judicial corruption and is a prime example of just how far the state government and judiciary will go to protect a wrongful conviction. Can this really only be about the money that they would have to pay Brendan and Steven? What or who else are they afraid of being known?
About the Creator
SunshineChristina
I am a social and criminal justice reform advocate and researcher. I love true crime and also fighting to help bring and spread awareness to the myriad of troubling issues that are effecting American society.
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