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.
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However, speaking to entertainment site TMZ, Avery’s former fiancee Jodi Stachowski said that she “firmly believes is guilty of raping and killing Teresa Halbach”, and that she is now anxious that the ruling on Dassey’s case may see Avery go free from jail.
Authorities involved in the case have called the series biased, while the filmmakers have stood by their work. The state Department of Justice, which handled the case, declined to comment. In his ruling, the judge said this combined with his low intellect and the lack of an adult present with him made his confession involuntary and his conviction was overturned. Dassey – who was 17 years old when he was convicted of intentional homicide in 2005 for the murder of 25-year-old Teresa Halbach – could now go free in 90 days if state prosecutors don’t refile.
On Friday, US federal magistrate William Duffin handed down the ruling in Dassey’s case on the grounds that he was coerced into making his original confession.
January 29, 2007: A judge dismisses sexual assault and kidnapping charges against Avery because Dassey may not testify at his trial. Many viewers believed the police used manipulative tactics to force the confession out of the 16-year-old, who ended up in prison. TMZ reported that Stachowski has sympathy for Dassey and thinks the State of Wisconsin messed up his life. An appeals court has thrown out there conviction as based on Brandon’s 2005 confession.
He was exonerated of a rape case through DNA evidence and freed from prison in 2003 after serving 18 years behind bars. Throughout the series, Dassey’s story changes dramatically as he undergoes a series of questionable interrogations, some of which were encouraged by his court-appointed pretrial attorney, Len Kachinsky. In April 2007, Dassey was convicted of homicide, sexual assault and mutilation of a corpse.
Avery has filed a notice of appeal in his own case.
“We know when an unbiased court reviews all of the new evidence we have, Steven will have his conviction overturned as well”, Zellner said.
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This isn’t the first time Avery’s ex has spoken out against him.
