Many who watched Netflix series Making a Murderer disagreed over whether Steven Avery, the Wisconsin man now imprisoned for the murder of 25-year-old photographer Teresa Halbach, truly deserved the conviction and sentencing he received. During the confessions, Dassey admitted to sexually assaulting Halbach in his uncle’s home and helping Avery kill Halbach.
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Uncle and Nephew pair Steve Avery and Brendan Dassey were the subject of a Netflix special called making a murderer.
Dassey was also charged with Halbach’s murder and sentenced to life in prison.
February 2006: Detectives Mark Wiegert and Tom Fassbender are told by Dassey’s cousin, Kayla Avery, that Dassey had been “acting up lately”.
Dassey was convicted in 2005 in the murder of photographer Teresa Halbach. Two years later, while the suit was still pending, he was arrested in the death of Halbach, whose charred remains were found on his family’s auto salvage yard.
On Friday, a federal judge ruled investigators made false promises and took advantage of Dassey’s age and intellectual deficiencies to unfairly coerce a confession.
In its report on the ruling, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted that Duffin “was highly critical of investigators, Dassey’s pretrial attorney and the state courts on how they handled the case, concluding that Dassey’s constitutional rights were violated”. As shown in the documentary, Kachinsky arranged the interviews but did not attend.
Although he didn’t represent Brendan Dassey, Jerry Buting – Avery’s former attorney, along with Dean Strang – was questioned by local news station TMJ4 about the situation with Dassey and his eventual release. Dassey later recanted his confession in a letter to the trial judge.
Dassey’s case was so alarming in part due to his apparent intellectual limitations, which some people felt bordered on a disability. In 2007, Dassey was sentenced to life in prison with no parole.
Conversely, Steven’s brother Chuck refuses to celebrate Dassey’s release until his bro is freed as well. His motion is denied.
Brendan Dassey writ granted to reverse his conviction.
The case was thrown into the national spotlight late a year ago by the popular 10-part Netflix documentary series.
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U.S. Magistrate Judge William Duffin handed down a 91-page ruling Friday that cited several violations committed by authorities during their original interrogations of Brendan Dassey after the crime, which resulted in a confession.
