There was a major piece of evidence you weren't shown in ‘Making a Murderer’

Since the Netflix documentary series "Making a Murderer" was released in December, people have been furiously debating who murdered 25-year-old photographer Teresa Halbach. 

If you haven't seen the 10-episode docuseries yet, you may want to stop reading and watch the full story first to avoid any plot spoilers.

If you have seen the documentary, you'll remember the case's original prosecutor Ken Kratz who was featured prominently during the film. And according to Kratz, the Netflix series omits one crucial piece of evidence that he believes led the jury to convict Steven Avery — a man many people today believe to be innocent — of the crime. 

The evidence? His sweat. 

Both at the trial and in the documentary, a lot of emphasis is placed on Avery's blood, which was found in Halbach's car. Avery's legal team argued the blood could have been planted there by police officers in an effort to frame Avery: Manitowoc County had access to an 11-year-old vial of Steven Avery's blood in the Clerk of Court's office in an unsealed cardboard box.

However, Kratz argues the sweat evidence tells a different story. He says Avery's sweat was found on the latch of the hood of Halbach's car, a detail that is noticeably absent from the Netflix series.

“How do you get Avery’s sweat underneath a hood latch of a vehicle?” Mr. Kratz told the New York Times. “That is completely inconsistent with any kind of planting."

It's worth noting that the information to look under the latch came from an interview with Avery's then-16-year-old nephew, Brendan Dassey. Dassey was ultimately convicted of the first-degree intentional homicide of Halbach, as well as mutilation of a corpse and first-degree sexual assault. Because Dassey reportedly has an IQ between 69 and 73, there are issues over whether or not his confession was coerced by police officers.

During the interview, Special Agent Tom Fassbender and Sergeant Mark Wiegert of the Calumet County Sheriff's Office ask Dassey several questions about Avery's interactions with Halbach's car. 

Here's the transcript (discovered by blogger Convoluted Brian and Reddit):

FASSBENDER: OK, what else did he do, he did somethin' else, you need to tell us what he did, after that car is parked there. It's extremely important. (pause) Before you guys leave that car.
DASSEY: The he left the gun in the car.
FASSBENDER: That's not what I'm thinkin' about. He did something to that car. He took the plates and he, I believe he did something else in that car. (pause).
DASSEY: I don't know.
FASSBENDER: OK. Did he, did he, did he go and look at the engine, did he raise the hood at all or anything like that? To do something to the car?
DASSEY: Yeah.
FASSBENDER: What was that? (pause)
WIEGERT: What did he do, Brendan?
WIEGERT: It's OK, what did he do?
FASSBENDER: What did he do under the hood, if that's what he did? (pause)
DASSEY: I don't know what he did, but I know he went under.

This is not the first time Kratz has spoken out about the sweat evidence since the  Netflix series aired.

"It wasn’t blood. It was from his sweaty hands," Kratz told Maxim in December. "Do the cops also have a vial of his sweat that they are carrying around? The evidence conclusively shows that Steven Avery’s hand was under the hood when he insists he never touched her car."

Meanwhile, Dean Strang, one of Avery's defense attorneys during the trial, told The New York Times that the DNA found on the latch was never actually confirmed as sweat. 

Avery was convicted in 2007 and is currently serving a sentence of life without parole. There are several petitions circulating the internet with thousands of people begging President Obama to pardon Avery. Thanks to "Making a Murderer," many people are becoming skeptical of his guilt.

Not Kratz though. 

"Steven Avery is exactly where he needs to be,” Kratz told the New York Times about Avery's imprisonment. “And I don’t have any qualms about that, nor do I lose any sleep over that.”