Attorney seeks more evidence testing

MADISON, Wis. — The attorney for a Wisconsin inmate featured in the hit Netflix series “Making a Murderer” filed a motion Friday seeking permission to perform extensive testing on evidence she believes will show he’s innocent.

Steven Avery was convicted in 2007 and sentenced to life in prison in the death of 25-yearold photographer Teresa Halbach, who disappeared after a visit to the Avery family’s Manitowoc County salvage yard in 2005. Avery has argued he was framed.

His attorney, Kathleen Zellner, told reporters awaiting her filing outside the Manitowoc County courthouse she wants to date blood and DNA found at the scene to see if it was planted. She said the results will show Avery isn’t guilty and someone else killed Halbach.

Her motion notes forensic science has advanced dramatically since Avery was convicted. It asks for testing and re-testing on an extensive list of evidence, including Halbach’s vehicle key, which was found in Avery’s room with his DNA on it; Avery’s blood found in the vehicle; and a pair of women’s underwear found in the yard to see if they belonged to Halbach and contain male DNA.

“The most reassuring thing is that we are going to get to the bottom of who killed Teresa Halbach,” Zellner said. “And we firmly believe that we will establish it was not Steven Avery.”

The Wisconsin Department of Justice is handling post-conviction activity in Avery’s case on behalf of county prosecutors. A spokesman for the agency didn’t immediately respond to an email Friday afternoon.

Avery, now 54, was charged in November 2005 with sexually assaulting and killing Halbach, who disappeared that Halloween after traveling to the salvage yard to shoot photos for a magazine. Investigators found her charred remains in a burn pit in the yard.