Making a Murderer is a Netflix original documentary. It focuses on the wrongful conviction of one, Steven Avery. Who was incarcerated in 1985 for the rape and attempted murder of Penny Beernsten. 18 years later in 2003 he was cleared of all charges and released from prison when better DNA testing proved that he was not the culprit. Avery served almost 2 decades for a crime he did not commit. He was again arrested and charged 2 years later in 2005 with the murder of Teresa Halbach. He is currently still in prison. 

The documentary was written by Laura Ricciardi and directed by Moira Demos. It was originally slated to be 8 episodes in length but was later stretched to the 10 episode current form. The documentary was filmed over the course of 10 years with the creators moving back and forth between New York and Wisconsin during that time period. 

Backstory:

Steven Avery grew up in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. His family owned a salvage yard and it was located on the outskirts of town. The town itself was not very large and the Avery's were considered somewhat as outcasts by most of the general population. Poor folk that were content just socializing among themselves. The family didn't' really participate in any school functions or town gatherings. This created somewhat of a mystery surrounding the family and their 40 acre salvage yard compound. 

Avery had a couple minor blemishes on his criminal record. He was arrested for burglary several times as well as cruelty to animals. These were all small time offenses and one's that Avery confessed to immediately. In 1985 when Avery was 23 years old he was arrested for the attempted rape and murder of Penny Beernsten. She identified him out of a lineup of 5 and said she was certain he was the man who did it. Avery was quickly declared guilty, even though he had an alibi that was confirmed by multiple sources. 

In Avery's mind and a lot of their family's minds, this crime was being used as a means to finally get Steven Avery. It had been apparent for some time that the legal authorities in that county didn't care much for the Avery family and in particular Steven Avery as they thought he was a bad apple and certain to eventually commit a heinous crime. This was their chance to finally nail him. 

Steven Avery spent the next 18 years in prison, all the while claiming his innocence. Finally in 2003 he was cleared with the help of the Innocence Project and when better DNA testing was able to prove without a shadow of a doubt that the DNA found on Penny Beernsten came from another man. Just like that, Avery was a free man after spending almost 2 decades behind bars for a crime he didn't commit.

As you can imagine he wanted to be compensated for this wrong doing that likely took at least a quarter of his life away from him. A couple months later Steven Avery filed a $36 million dollar lawsuit against Manitowoc County and several of the law enforcement officials that were involved with his wrongful conviction. As you can imagine the County and legal department were embarrassed by the entire situation but were not going to pay out $36 million without a fight. 

Avery charged again:

As the lawsuit dragged on for a couple years, Steven Avery would be arrested again in 2005 on charges of rape and the murder of one, Teresa Halbach. This was great timing regarding the lawsuit and those named in it, as the lawsuit was immediately dropped when Avery was arrested. Avery was forced to take a $400k settlement to help pay for his legal defense team. 

The evidence against Avery was damning to say the least but the timing was also very suspicious to Avery and many others that were close to the situation. Pretty soon a decent case was being made that the legal authorities were setting up Avery, framing him, so they didn't have to shell out $36 million to pay for his wrongful incarceration several years prior. There were several interesting pieces that seemed to fit that theory, beyond having a motive, and that would be the basis for the Avery defense going forward. 

I won't go into detail here as to what all the pieces of evidence were, instead I encourage you to watch the documentary or read through this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Avery to get a better understanding of exactly what happened. 

Reception:

The film has garnered an overwhelmingly positive review from viewers and critics alike. They mostly praise its in-depth and comprehensive material. 

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 97% approval rating and IMDB rates it as 8.8/10. 

The only negative reactions seem to come from those that say the film was slightly slanted towards Avery's innocence. Many, especially those involved, felt like it wasn't nearly as controversial and unclear as to Avery's innocence as the film makes it appear. 

In late 2016 it was announced that a second season is being worked on that will focus on Steven Avery now and what has taken place since the first season concluded that might help free him in the future. 

My Review:

  

I had heard about this series for some time now but never really sat down to watch it. However, this weekend I couldn't find much else to watch so I figured I would give it a try and see what all the fuss was about. My intent was only to watch a couple episodes, but as each episode finished, I couldn't stop. I needed to find out what happened next! Before I knew it, I had watched the entire season, in one day... Don't judge. 

The film makers did a great job of keeping you interested in the entire story. It was different than a lot of documentaries that I have seen and was closer to a thriller/mystery film in the fact that it had so many twists and turns and you never really know who was telling the truth and who wasn't. Just about every 30 minutes I would change my mind as to whether he was guilty or not and that was by design of the filmmakers. It made for an enjoyable watch. 

My overall rating would be 9.5/10

The story itself is heart wrenching. To think that a man could spend 18 years of his life behind bars for something he didn't do makes me want to throw up. Then if the legal authorities are doing it again just to make sure they don't have to fork over the $36 million?! That is just despicable. 

One of Avery's defense lawyers said it best when he said, 

"You know, I really hope Avery actually did what they are convicting him of, because if he didn't and he is forced to spend another huge chunk of his life behind bars for something he didn't do?! I can't really live with that..."

To that, I would have to agree...

Some interesting tidbits:

After watching the series I started to do my own investigation regarding the case. The series seems to hint very heavily that the police framed him and that the legal system got this one wrong. However, when reading up on the case myself, a few key facts were left out of the series that make Avery look significantly more guilty than what they show in the series. 

• Her phone was found outside his trailer, but that was never mentioned in the series.
• Avery had used a fake name when calling in to set up the photo's being taken for Auto Trader.
• There were other personal items of Teresa's found in the fire pit.
• An inmate told authorities that Avery had confided in him that he would create a torture chamber for young women if he ever got out. 
• Avery had called her phone 3 times that day where she screened his call. 

None of these things were mentioned in the series and they look pretty damning regarding Steven Avery's innocence. I probably would have rated the series a 10/10 had they included these things.  

Was Avery actually guilty?

I have no idea for sure, only God and Avery can know that one for sure...

More than 500,000 people signed a petition sent to then President Barack Obama to pardon Steven Avery. Obama stated that he didn't have the authority to act in this case because it was tried at the state level. 

I highly recommend watching this series. It is gripping and entertaining. It is a sad story with many twists and turns and one that I was surprised I had not heard more about when it was happening. I guess me living on the other side of the United States might have had something to do with that. 

For those of who that have seen it or are familiar with the story, what do you think, was Avery guilty?

Live well my friends!

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Making_a_Murderer

Netflix

Image Sources:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5189670/mediaindex?ref_=ttmi_ref_mi

Follow: @jrcornel

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