His uncle, Steven Avery, was also convicted for Halbach’s murder, and is now incarcerated and appealing his conviction.
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The judge said that this, along with “Dassey’s age, intellectual deficits, and the absence of a supportive adult”, meant the confession was “involuntary”. When Dassey writes a “confession” proclaiming his innocence, O’Kelly then makes him rewrite his version of events and even goes so far as to make the learning-impaired teenager draw diagrams of the rape and murder, which are later used against him in his trial.
The saga of Making a Murderer – the Netflix documentary sensation – took another dramatic twist on Friday, when one of the documentary’s key subjects had his conviction overturned in a Wisconsin court.
Nirider says prosecutors now have three options: release Dassey, try him again or appeal.
The documentary series, and Avery’s defence team, suggested that law enforcement officials in Manitowoc County planted evidence against Avery after he filed a $36 million federal civil rights lawsuit against the county over his 1985 conviction. The judge ruled the confession was coerced and ordered his release within 90 days unless the case is appealed. In overturning the conviction, the judge cited the manner in which a confession was obtained from Dassey, who according to court documents has a low IQ.
Avery and Dassey, who was 16 at the time, were sentenced to life in prison.
Federal judge William Duffin handed down the shocking reversal August 12 that found investigators repeatedly made false promises to Brendan Dassey, 26, and coerced the involuntary confession out of the then 16-year-old to the rape and murder of 25-ear-old Teresa Halbach. Avery was found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide and being a felon in possession of a gun. The 25-year-old photographer was last seen alive with Avery, outside his Manitowoc County trailer, on Halloween 2005. Hours after the Making A Murderer subject had his homicide conviction and 41-year prison sentence overturned, the filmmakers who brought his plight into the public eye have spoken out on the case once more.
Attorneys for Dassey did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
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Stating that she was thrilled for Dassey as a result of the fact that the State of Wisconsin “willfully destroyed his life”, she warned that she believes that Avery is “capable of murder”.
