Making a Murderer

We had a pretty good idea going into this prosecution

the kind of individual that Mr. Avery was.

I think that what Mr. Avery did to Teresa Halbach

should, uh, speak volumes as to the kind of person that Mr. Avery is.

That's why I'm very happy that the citizens of Manitowoc County

won't need to worry about Mr. Avery being on their streets anymore.

In the Penny Beerntsen case,

Steven Avery went to prison for something he didn't do,

and everybody was convinced that he did it.

And lo and behold, hey,

here's, uh, evidence beyond doubt that he did not do it.

But in the Halbach case, investigative techniques

and interrogation techniques are much better today than they were then.

Around here, the feeling is Steven Avery got what he deserved

and he is where he belongs.

Back behind bars for the rest of his life.

They ruined us.

They ruined our business.

I always thought Avery was a good name.

They knocked the name right down to nothing.

This one's worse than the first one.

There's no family here no more.

I don't talk to hardly nobody anymore.

I don't think we're going to, really.

To get over this. Unless he can get out.

I didn't think I was ever gonna get arrested again in my life.

And just, boom.

It took a lot... to keep my sanity.

I gotta prove my innocence again, just like my first case.

Once I prove my innocence, that clears me and Brendan and my whole family.

Any metal?

When you appeal it, when you ain't got no money,

then they give you appellate attorneys.

The appellate attorneys,

they gotta find a loophole that what they did, it's not legal.

We are here on the defendant's post-conviction motion.

I will note for the record the defendant is...

What I'd like... He always got... He's got the same judge, yeah?

That scares me.

All we can do is hope for the best,

but I got a hunch, anything, it'll have to go to appeals court.

That's my...

I hope I'm wrong.

Ma's got a lot of hope for a new trial.

The courtroom today was full of family and friends

from both the Halbachs and the Averys.

Today's hearing is essentially to ask the judge

who presided over the trial to change his mind.

Judge Willis expects to issue a written decision by December 1st.

And Avery's nephew, Brendan Dassey, has also filed some post-trial motions.

He'll have hearings similar to his uncle's beginning January 15th.

They always have everything ready for me when I come.

It's such a small prison, you know, the parking lot's really small.

They see my car drive up and they got everything out for me.

Everything all set up. My badge out there.

Everything all ready.

Have to laugh. It's...

It's not good to be known that well in a prison.

I started writing to Steven after watching the trial,

thinking that they couldn't possibly convict this man.

And then when the verdict came back,

I just wanted to let him know that I supported him,

and I truly did not believe that he did it.

I talked to her a few times over the phone...

and then she wanted to come to Boscobel to see me,

so I put her on the visiting list.

I went down there with the thought that I could be a blessing to him

and it turned out that he was a blessing to me.

He helped me through a lot with my husband's illness.

My husband had dementia along with Parkinson's.

And Steven helped me through it.

And he always tells me it worked both ways.

We encouraged each other.

It was just a friendship at that time.

But Sandy, she was there for me and she believed in me.

So I fell in love with all of that, and I fell in love with her.

Several months after my husband passed away,

my friends told me that there was more going on between Steven and me

than what I wanted to admit.

And I remember when I went to see Steven,

I said, "I've been told that there's more to our relationship."

And he says to me, "You mean, you haven't felt it all this time?"

Those were his exact words, and I said, "No."

She likes everything I like.

Sandy's mostly the important person in my life

and you might figure, my future.

In '85, they only took my brother away...

for something he didn't do.

And they knew it.

And now...

they took my brother away and my son.

If Steven would've did it, I think he would've confessed by now.

If he did it.

And he hasn't confessed.

And that's what he did with the first one when they sent him away for 18 years.

I believe he's still innocent.

And I know my son is innocent.

Brendan Dassey is now 19 years old

and spending the last part of his teenage years

at Columbia Correctional Facility in Portage.

Dassey's new attorneys say he should have a new trial.

The jury did not hear a lot of evidence

which would've explained to them why Brendan confessed to a crime

that he did not commit.

I had heard about this case from the get-go.

When Steven Avery was arrested and charged with Teresa Halbach's murder,

that was big news in the innocence world.

When Brendan was arrested, that was immediately on my radar screen

because it was one of the first video-recorded interrogations

in the State of Wisconsin,

and I had been involved in the litigation

that led the Supreme Court to require videotaping.

Steve Drizin has made his life work studying false confessions...

so I was very pleased that somebody with the resources,

the experience and the credibility, especially on confession issues,

took over the case.

That was huge.

It was at that point I was willing to step in, um, just to watch them work.

See them do what they do and to be a part of that.

What we argue in our post-conviction motion

is that Brendan's pre-trial attorney, Len Kachinsky,

violated his duty of loyalty to Brendan.

Every attorney in this country owes a duty of loyalty to their clients.

That's part of the constitutional right to counsel.

And what happened in this case is that Attorney Kachinsky

took steps to essentially coerce Brendan into pleading guilty.

And we argued that Attorney Kachinsky's behavior is absolutely intolerable,

that no court in Wisconsin should sanction that kind of conduct

and that Brendan should get a new trial.

You were appointed, was it on March 7th or March 8th?

- March 7th. - March 7th. OK.

Did you talk to Brendan on that day, on March 7th?

- I don't believe I did. - OK.

However, you did talk to the press, is that right?

Yes, shortly after the appointment, the calls started rolling into the office.

Sure.

I want to draw your attention to a news report from Channel 26

that says, "We have a 16-year-old who, while morally and legally responsible,

was heavily influenced by someone that can only be described

as something close to evil incarnate." Right?

That's what it says I said, but that wasn't me.

OK. Um...

Is there anything about this statement that bothers you?

To say that we have a 16-year-old who's morally and legally responsible,

that would in effect admit guilt

and that is something you should definitely not say.

Just for the record, Your Honor, Mr. Kachinsky testified

that he did not make those comments

and this exhibit is being introduced as impeachment evidence

to demonstrate that in fact Mr. Kachinsky made those comments.

The court will receive it.

Attorney Len Kachinsky immediately lashed out at Steven Avery.

We have a 16-year-old who, while morally and legally responsible,

was heavily influenced by someone that can only be described

as something close to evil incarnate.

And, uh, the next day, you make the statement

that "if the confession is valid and admissible as evidence,

it would almost certainly result in a conviction."

- Right? - Correct.

OK. You still hadn't reviewed Brendan's statement, right?

- No. That's correct. - That first statement?

- Correct. - All right. March 10th appears to be

the first time you went to see him, is that...?

- That sounds correct. - OK.

And when you got out from that meeting,

the press was there waiting for you, right?

- They were there waiting when I got there. - OK.

- Yes, they were. - All right.

I want you to refer to an interview with you from NBC 26.

It says that, "Kachinsky says at this point

he hasn't ruled out negotiating a plea deal in the case." Right?

- That's correct. - OK.

And how did that advance Brendan's case?

Because I knew that Brendan's family was watching these newscasts

and so in effect it was a message to try to get them accustomed to the idea

that Brendan might take a legal option that they don't like,

so part of the intended audience was Brendan Dassey's family.

- Yeah... - And Brendan himself.

About his only contact with the outside world was, uh, visits with his parents

- and, uh, television. - Yeah. Now...

Brendan's best interest was to demonstrate that he had his own moral compass.

And he wasn't necessarily the pawn of the Avery family,

that he could make his own moral decisions as to what was right or wrong

under all the circumstances,

and part of that would be to admit being involved, you know,

in the death of Teresa Halbach.

During that meeting with Brendan on that day,

uh, he told you he didn't do this. Correct?

I believe he did.

And he told you that what he said

and what was in the complaint about what he said was not true. Correct?

- I believe he said that. - OK.

And he also told you at that time that he wanted to take a polygraph test

- to prove that, correct? - Oh, correct. Yes.

OK. So Brendan is asserting his innocence.

- Yes. - When he talks to you.

Imagine if you were in Brendan's position,

a 16-year-old charged with one of the most serious crimes

you could possibly be charged with.

You're intellectually limited, you may not understand what's happening to you.