Making a Murderer

Now, there's a chance.

Maybe the truth will come out.

I want everybody to know I'm innocent.

You know, that's all I'm asking for.

The State clearly was freaked out.

Norm Gahn looks at it, and from that point on,

you could tell that he was extremely worried.

Afterwards, Norm said, "This changes everything."

The Defense intends to bring this vial into court

and show it to the jury

to demonstrate that the vial was tampered with by officers.

And when officers are accused of what they're being accused of,

they deserve to have their reputations protected.

They're good, solid, decent family men.

I'm sure everyone in this room knows them.

We have to show the world...

that the blood that is in Teresa Halbach's car...

did not come from this vial of blood.

Mr. Buting?

After two months, they have not been able to present the court

with one single scientifically valid test

that would somehow prove what they would love it to prove.

There are no tests.

Even the FBI stopped doing them because they're not reliable.

The FBI is only doing this test now because the State is desperate.

Again, I just cannot emphasize too much,

give us the chance to meet this planting frame-up defense.

I believe it's fair to give them a chance to do so

and that's what I'm gonna do.

- Mr. Fallon? - Yes, and one final point.

If the Defense wants to put forth in their defense

that they're suggesting and implying in their pleadings today,

then they do so at their peril.

It is too late to sit on the fence.

The State has all the information it needs today.

It's had it for months to decide whether it's calling Mr. Dassey

to prove the three charges it added or not.

The three attorneys at this table have had long discussions

about whether we should proceed with all six counts

or whether we should proceed with the four counts

that don't require Brendan Dassey's testimony.

If put to that question today, then it is our inclination

to proceed on the four counts that do not require Brendan Dassey's testimony.

But if we have to start this case swimming upstream, if you will,

in the face of some instruction given to the jury

that they should be taking some negative view of the State,

then we intend to proceed on all six counts.

Mr. Strang, briefly.

All due respect to Counsel,

the State is supposed to start every criminal case swimming upstream.

And the strong current against which the State is supposed to be swimming

is a presumption of innocence.

That presumption of innocence has been eroded, if not eliminated, here

by the specter of Brendan Dassey.

And here's why the court needs to take some further curative action.

Up through the WFRV report last night, for example,

Steven Avery has been presented as the...

The man who allegedly raped... mutilated and murdered Teresa Halbach.

How many times will Steven Avery be charged in Manitowoc County

with rapes he didn't commit?

This makes two.

You know, forget getting the 18 years back on the first one.

Where do we go to get the last ten months back?

Where do we go to get our presumption of innocence back...

from a public who believes and has heard time and again

that he's an alleged rapist?

Even before a murderer.

I do not believe that the State has engaged

in any conduct to this point

which would warrant the giving of some type of instruction

unfavorable to the State should the State decide at this point

to dismiss some of the charges that have been filed.

We've got a hundred and... what is it, 130 of these jury questionnaires?

One person, only one, has said they think he might actually be innocent.

"Yeah, I'm willing to assume him innocent."

One.

Versus the more typical answer of,

"Is there any reason you...

you think you should not be selected to serve in this case?"

"Yes, I already think he is guilty."

Well, OK.

"A trial is pointless"...

"Are you aware of the publicity?"

"Yes, I read everything there was on the Internet and in the newspaper on this case

including Dassey's interview confession with detectives."

Um... "This case seems pretty much cut and dry.

I believe the defendant is guilty as charged."

- "Have you discussed this at length..." - There's the American spirit!

Right now, more than 15 months

after Teresa Halbach was murdered...

The jury is picked and the trial of Steven Avery

is ready to begin on Monday. Thanks for joining us.

One of the most high-profile murder trials in Wisconsin history is set to begin.

Teresa Halbach's family is seeking justice.

It took all week to seat a jury.

These jurors range in age from 20 to 80.

They include a carpenter, an international recording artist,

a homemaker, a mechanic, some working, some retired.

All Manitowoc County residents.

The jury will be bussed from Manitowoc to Chilton

each day of the trial. It's expected to last six weeks.

How are ya?

Teresa Halbach had her whole life in front of her

and the evidence is going to show...

that on Halloween of 2005, that all ended.

That ended in the hands of the defendant... Steven Avery.

Who is this man? Virtually all of you knew something about Steven Avery

before serving on this particular jury.

Mr. Avery achieved some degree of notoriety back in 2003

when he was exonerated.

And at the close of this case,

I'm gonna point to every one of you potential jurors

and say that has absolutely nothing to do with this case.

When deciding who's accountable...

for the death of 25-year-old Teresa Halbach,

Mr. Avery's past and his past exoneration have nothing to do with this case.

The State intends to prove to you that the defendant restrained...

murdered and mutilated Teresa Halbach.

The mutilation of this little girl...

Excuse me, not this little girl, this young woman,

absolutely occurred because this is what's left.

Small, tiny pieces of bone fragment.

Now, despite Mr. Avery's efforts

to completely obliterate all these bones by burning,

to incinerate these bones completely, this bone survived.

It's Teresa Halbach's shin bone.

It's Karen Halbach's daughter's tibia.

Remembering the humanity of Teresa Halbach, remembering who she is,

what she meant to these people, is an important part of this process.

Ultimately, this process includes assigning accountability

for the murder and the mutilation of an innocent 25-year-old young lady.

And I'll ask at the conclusion of this case

that you return verdicts of guilty.

Thank you. Thank you, Judge.

Thank you, Mr. Kratz.

They wouldn't look at nobody else.

They're paying all their attention to me.

And they shouldn't be doing that.

That's what they did before.

In a long trial like this, openings are very important.

Really, probably more important even than the closings.

Because by the time they get to that point, um...

it's gonna be a matter of arguing for a few of them probably.

I think most of them will probably have already decided.

So we want to get 'em early.

Just get 'em thinking that there's another side to this they have not heard.

All they've been hearing, for what, 15 months,

is, you know, Teresa Halbach was burned.

Bones were found on Steven Avery's property.

Which is a horrible fact.

But what they don't know is that there's evidence those bones were moved.

And so... And neither does the media.

So it's gonna be interesting to see the reaction

when that little tidbit finally becomes public.

The blood I'm more...

a little bit more worried about than I was when I first discovered it

and was very happy and you know.

Because I don't trust the FBI at all

and I think that they're gonna come up with some dishonest test

that somehow claims that the blood in the vial

is different than what was found at the scene.

And that'll be a little bit harder to overcome.

I'm not worried about the key at all.

I like the key. I'm glad they're using it.

It shows that if they would be willing to go to that length of planting a key,

which I think is... the jurors are gonna get,

then... the blood follows easily. It does.

In 2004, Steven Avery filed a lawsuit

seeking some recompense for the hole in his life.

The time he had spent as an innocent man

for the crimes that Gregory Allen committed.

In October 2005, James Lenk and another ranking officer

of the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department, Sergeant Andrew Colborn,

both were pulled into the lawsuit,

questioned about their own activity and conduct

with respect to Mr. Avery's imprisonment.

It's Thursday evening about 5:00, November three,

when Mrs. Halbach reports Teresa missing.

That very night, Calumet is calling the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department

for a little bit of help.

And who do we get?

We get Sergeant Andrew Colborn.

And he's told, "Look, two places we'd like

to sort of check out and see if Teresa Halbach showed up on Monday:

the Zipperer residence... and Steven Avery."

Well, that's a name that rings a bell. You better believe.

Less than three weeks, or about three weeks after his deposition.

And it is interesting that of those two places

that Sergeant Colborn is asked to check out and inquire after Teresa Halbach...

he only goes to one. Goes to Steven Avery's home.

Out of the blue, the same night, Lieutenant James Lenk

calls Calumet about this missing person report.

Let's be clear. It's in another county.

It's not even Manitowoc County at all.

And nobody has called for Lieutenant Lenk.

Nobody's called looking for him.

But the Chief Detective of Manitowoc County

takes it upon himself that night to call Calumet

and offer to get involved in the missing person investigation

where one of the appointments that was to be kept was Steven Avery.