MAKING A MURDERER IS BACK
The Netflix series that changed true crime TV returns this week, and Boyd Hilton has the low-down
Before the ten episodes of Making A Murderer arrived on Netflix a week before Christmas in 2015, hardly anyone outside of the small community of Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, had heard of Brendan Dassey and Steven Avery. But within days of the series airing, they became household names across the globe. Such was the word-of-mouth impact of the show, with instant glowing social media reviews from the likes of Alec Baldwin and Ricky Gervais (who called it, “The greatest documentary I’ve ever seen”), it became a cultural phenomenon.
But, as season one reached the world, Avery and Dassey were both serving life sentences for a crime they say they didn’t commit – and they still are. THE STORY SO FAR The riveting true facts of the Making
A Murderer story are that in 1985, used-car dealer Steven Avery was arrested, charged and imprisoned for sexual assault and attempted murder, but was then exonerated after 18 years in prison, when new evidence came to light. Then, in 2005, came the extraordinary twist that, just as Avery was suing the local police, he was arrested for a new, unconnected crime – the murder of photographer Teresa Halbach. Avery’s teenage nephew Brendan Dassey, who confessed in controversial circumstances to “helping” with the murder, was also charged. Both were convicted in 2007. THE REACTION Such was the power of this multilayered story of crime, punishment and seeming injustice that the cases of Avery and Dassey became huge causes, with mass protests and even a petition calling for thenpresident Obama to pardon Avery and Dassey – even though it was not in Obama’s power. In particular, the filmed confession of learningdisabled teenager Dassey infuriated viewers because it seemed so clear that he was being coerced by the detectives interviewing him, with no lawyer or parent present.
Now, three years on, we get to see what has happened to Dassey and Avery since their convictions. And their stories continue to be utterly engrossing. THE NEW CHARACTERS The series’ co-directors and creators, Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos,
carried on filming everyone involved in the case after the series arrived, and the big developments since then revolve around the new legal teams for Avery and Dassey. The ten new installments have exclusive access to Avery’s formidable new lawyer Kathleen Zellner, who only got involved after seeing the show, and is America’s most successful exonerator of people convicted of murder. Zellner is an incredible character, as anyone who follows her on Twitter (@Zellnerlaw) will know, and she’s an instantly powerful on-screen presence.
The directors also have access to young Dassey’s new legal team, led by Laura Nirider and Steven Drizin, who are based at Northwestern University’s Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth. If anyone can convince America’s higher courts that Dassey’s confession was coerced, it’s these guys.
THE NEW EPISODES
Making A Murderer Part 2, as Netflix is calling it (not season two, note), begins with a recap of events since the first ten episodes aired back in 2015. A huge part of the story is, of course, the extent to which everyone involved in the case became world famous – from the alleged perpetrators and their immediate families, to the prosecuting and defence lawyers and, of course, the relatives of the victim, too. The directors show just how huge the impact of their own series has been on all these people, as well as acknowledging that there are two sides to the whole saga, with many insiders within the US legal system still insisting that this isn’t actually a miscarriage of justice at all. Whatever your view, Making A Murderer is set to occupy our minds all over again, and for some time to come…
‘Their stories continue to be utterly engrossing’
Making A Murderer Part 2, Netflix, Friday 19 October