A National Obsession
The first installment of Making A Murder was an enormous, runaway hit for Netflix when it debuted on the streaming service in December of 2015. Seemingly overnight, the 10-part series about the 2005 murder of photographer Teresa Halbach in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin and the two men convicted of the crime, Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey, was all the talk around the proverbial water cooler. The world came to a halt and binged on a murder mystery for the holidays.Netflix started production on the second season during the summer of 2016 and it's finally coming to the service on October 19th. A lot has happened since the original true crime docuseries hit Netflix, and here's everything we know so far about what you can expect in the sequel.
The Production Team Is The Same
Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos return as the writers, directors and executive producers of the series, just as they were for the first series. In a press release from Netflix, they gave a good idea where the show was headed:"Steven and Brendan, their families and their legal and investigative teams have once again graciously granted us access, giving us a window into the complex web of American criminal justice," said Ricciardi and Demos. "Building on 'Part 1,' which documented the experience of the accused, in 'Part 2,' we have chronicled the experience of the convicted and imprisoned, two men each serving life sentences for crimes they maintain they did not commit."
What We Expect To See
So, Netflix has said that the follow-up series is going to focus on the post-conviction life of Avery and Dassey. There has been a concerted effort from many directions that tried to determine if justice has been served properly in this case and that, too, is going to be a big aspect of part 2.Viewers will likely see what kind of effect these convictions had on Avery and Dassey, as well as the success the series has had on their family members and others close to them. The legal cases for both of the convicted have been very active in the time since the first part aired and the sequel is sure to follow all the twists and turns of both.Ted Sarandos, the Chief Content Director for Netflix, commented that "There is a ton of info that wasn't explored just in the confines of the episodes we've already done."What we don't expect is a lot from Teresa Halbach's family, who have denounced the first series as being completely one-sided. They have repeatedly said they think justice has been served and the producers of the documentary are presenting the evidence unfairly.
Where Are Avery And Dassey Today?
Since his conviction and sentencing to life in prison, Steven Avery has been incarcerated at the Waupun Correctional Institution in Waupun, WI.Brendan Dassey is in Columbia Correctional Institution, in Columbia County, WI. In an interesting, but inconsequential side note, this is the prison where the notorious serial killer Jeffery Dahmer was beaten to death in 1994.
Steven Avery Has A New Attorney Who Has Been Very Busy
Steven Avery's new attorney, Kathleen Zellner, has requested new trials based on either new evidence or questionable rulings in the original trial. Most recently, in September 2018, Zellner argued for a new trial based on a CD containing evidence that was recently discovered to have not been turned over to the defense. The judge in the case, Sheboygan County Circuit Court Judge Angela Sutkiewicz, found while rejecting the request for a new trial that the evidence contained on the CD was also on other CDs that were turned over to the defense and that nothing on it was held back from Avery's lawyers.This is the second time that Judge Sutkiewicz has rejected a request for a new trial from Zellner. In October of 2017, she rejected Zellner's request stating that they failed "to establish any grounds that would trigger the right to a new trial."Zellner has also said that she has other suspects that deserve looking into. In March of 2016, Zellner told Newsweek that there were a "couple" of suspects, but refused to name them. Later, in June of '17, Zellner named Halbach's ex-boyfriend, Ryan Hillegas, as a possible suspect, saying he "intentionally misled investigators" and "volunteered false information."As an attorney, Zellner has dedicated her practice to defending those she believes have been wrongly convicted and has worked on behalf of quite a lot of convicts. According to a Netflix press release, she has "righted more wrongful convictions than any private attorney in America." She is sure to be a compelling person in this series.
Dassey's Legal Odyssey Has Been A Roller Coaster
Part 2 will also introduce Brendan Dassey new lawyers, Laura Nirider and Steven Drizin, from Northwestern University's Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth.Dassey's legal team has gone about his post-conviction work in a different way from Avery's lawyer. They have focused on getting his confession overturned. If you remember, this was a major point of contention at his original trial as well. His lawyers then, as his lawyers since, have argued that the confession was coerced and Dassey's diminished mental capabilities made it impossible to for him to understand the consequences. At the original trial, those complaints were dismissed and he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.In the years since his legal team has continued to fight the nature of the confession in federal court. They even had some success, but ultimately failed. Here's the basic timeline of the federal case:-In December of '15, shortly after the show was released, Dassey's lawyers filed what's called a writ of habeas corpus. That means they believe he received an unfair trial based on the coerced confession.-In August of 2016, a United States magistrate judge, Judge William E. Duffin, agreed that Dassey's confession had been coerced and ordered that he be released from prison. It was a huge victory for Dassey and his team, but it would be short-lived as the state of Wisconsin announced they would appeal the decision and Dassey remained in prison.-In June of 2017, three judges from the 7th Circuit, an appeals court, upheld Judge Duffin's decision. Again, the State appealed and asked for a rehearing with all the judges of the court.-In December of '17, the full panel heard the appeal and reversed the earlier warning. They upheld the original conviction, stating that the confession was proper.-In February of 2018, Dassey's legal team filed an appeal with the Supreme Court of The United States, but in June, the Supreme Court denied to hear the appeal with no reason given why.Exploring how the case wound its way through the federal court system should be a fascinating part of the series.
Not Everyone Thinks Avery And Dassey Are Innocent
Since the first part aired, there have been numerous online petitions, protests, and calls for retrials or the outright release of Avery and Dassey. But not everyone thinks this is fair and not everyone thinks they are innocent. The second series is sure to focus on both sides of this debate.Ken Kratz and Michael Griesbach, the original prosecutors on the case, have both written tell-all books emphasizing their belief that proper justice was served. From the time the first part was released, Kratz has been critical of the show, calling it one-sided, and in an email stated Netflix should "either provide an opportunity for rebuttal, or alert the viewers that this series was produced by and FOR the defense of Steven Avery, and contains only the opinion and theory of the defense team."Avery's ex-fiancée also believes he is guilty. She called Avery "abusive," and "a monster" and said she even ate rat poison in an attempt to get away from him by going to the hospital.There was even a supposed jailhouse confession. In a letter sent to a Rockford, IL newspaper, one of Avery's fellow inmates named Joseph Evans claims Avery confessed to him and told him details.Of course, most notably, the family of Teresa Halbach thinks the two men are guilty and Halbach's aunt called the docuseries "terrible," adding that she "can't believe this came out. It is really unfortunate." Halbach's cousin also said of the show, "It is so very one-sided. It seems like there are some shenanigans by the police in there from what I hear and read about, and I can see where people are getting their opinion, but they are only getting one side of the story." Halbach's family believe that Avery and Dassey as "100% guilty."It will be interesting to see how much of these stories the show delves into. The first part focused very little on the victim or her life and family and we suspect this one will not either.
Steven Avery Almost Got Married
In the weirdest news since the last series - while in prison, Avery got engaged to a legal secretary named Lynn Hartman, but he eventually dumped her, calling her a "gold digger."In a Facebook post, Avery's friend Sandra Greenman said "Steve called me two times tonight and wants everyone to know that Lynn and him are done. She has been in this relationship for money and publicity. His eyes are finally opened!!! Lynn received at least 5000.00 dollars from Dr. Phil, and he thinks more. She got another 1000.00 for doing other shows. She also wanted to be on as many as possible. His words-she is a golddigger. He wants someone to contact Dr. Phil before Mon. show and let him know she was only in the relationship for money. I checked and doublechecked with him to make very sure he wanted this put on and he said very much so."We don't expect much from that story, but it's always noteworthy when someone with a life sentence finds love with someone on the outside.
Whew!
So that's what we know. Be sure to check out the trailer for part 2 below, and get ready your popcorn and Wisconsin Cheese Curds ready, the binging begins on October 19th!
