Before "Making a Murderer," Steven Avery was simply a disappointment to the champions of America's wrongfully convicted inmates.
But after watching Netflix’s latest true-crime documentary, many people don’t believe justice was served judging by what they witnessed during the 10-episode series.
Steven Avery was exonerated in 2003 thanks to DNA evidence after spending 18 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. In 2005, however, Avery was accused alongside his then-16-year-old nephew Dassey of killing a young woman named Teresa Halbach.
10 years and one documentary later, many people today are siding with Avery and Dassey — there are even petitions asking President Obama to grant the two men presidential pardons — but it’s interesting to look back on public sentiment while Avery was on trial in 2005.
Even back then, the Avery case was attracting national attention because of its bizarre story. How could a man, who had already been to prison for a crime he didn't commit, turn around and commit a heinous murder? Suddenly after two years as the poster boy for how the justice system can wrongfully convict innocent people, Avery was now an embarrassment to anyone who had championed his cause.
The Milwaukee Mag 2006 feature “Blood Simple” is a fascinating look at public sentiment around the time of Avery and Dassey's trial. It’s very anti-Avery and paints a picture of Halbach — "a farm girl with a big world view" — who was viciously raped and murdered by two men who hailed from a repeatedly criminal family.
Some of the articles are more even-handed, like the Associated Press. In a Washington Post story, the Averys come across as paranoid for believing the cops may have had a hand in framing Avery. On CNN, Nancy Grace was worried the prosecution wouldn't have enough evidence to put Avery behind bars.
But if you can only read one the previous articles from the time, make it the original New York Times article which inspired “Making a Murderer” writer-directors Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi to travel to Manitowoc County and begin filming the Avery case in the first place.
“The case of Steven Avery, who was once this state's living symbol of how a system could unfairly send someone away, has left all who championed his cause facing the uncomfortable consequences of their success,” Monica Davey wrote for The Times.
"This lets down so many people," Stephen M. Glynn, one of the lawyers who represented Avery in his $36 million civil lawsuit against the former prosecutor and former sheriff (and who also appeared in "Making a Murderer"), told The Times in the article. "This case became something that could have had an enormously positive effect on the criminal justice system in this state, but now that's up in the air."
The obvious undertone that runs throughout the entire piece is what Avery's case will mean for future DNA testing and prisoner releases — what if Avery had never been released from prison? Would Halbach still be alive?
The article goes on to discuss the Avery Task Force and the Avery Bill, both of which are referenced in the documentary, and how the people leading the charge to get monetary compensation for Avery and others like him began to distance themselves from the new Halbach case.
There are even several quotes from Avery’s parents, both of whom play a prominent roll in the Netflix series, saying they believe he is innocent.
For anyone who watched the documentary, it’s a must read. Check it out here.
