If you’ve blown through all 10 episodes of Netflix’s true-crime hit “,” you’re likely left with some big questions, like: Who DID kill Teresa Halbach, if not Steven Avery? Or did he — possibly aided by his nephew, Brendan — do it after all?
Either way, what isn’t this documentary telling me?
Turns out, quite a few things, for curious viewers who want the whole, unedited story. In the most recent development, directors Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi revealed during a “Today Show” interview Tuesday morning that they had since spoken to one of the jurors in Avery’s trial who believes he was framed.
RICCIARDI: “We were contacted by one of the jurors who sat through Steven Avery’s trial and shared with us their thoughts. [They] told us that they believe Steven Avery was not proven guilty, they believe Steven was framed by law enforcement, and that he deserves a new trial. And if he receives a new trial, in their opinion it should take place far away from Wisconsin.”
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: “And this is a juror who obviously voted to convict initially?”
RICCIARDI: “Absolutely.”
DEMOS: “Yeah, that’s right, so obviously we asked this person, ‘Explain what happened, why did you cast your vote for guilty?’ And what they told us was that they feared for their personal safety.”
Other information pointing to both Avery’s guilt AND innocence is flying around online, as well as calling for his — and his nephew’s — release.
First, who else could have done it? “Making a Murderer” focuses on Avery’s innocence and avoids pointing much to other possible suspects, as that was not allowed in the courtroom case that is most of the second half of the show. But if the Internet is good for one thing, it’s alternative theories, and there are plenty of them going around about leading suspects.
The prime candidates:
1. Another Avery. There are and criminal pasts, the leading figure being “Scott Tadych, brother-in-law to Steven Avery who, the court records show, had a previous history of violent offenses, including an alleged assault against a former girlfriend. Tadych’s alibi for the time that Halbach was murdered relied entirely on Bobby Dassey, older brother of Brendan Dassey, the learning-disabled teen convicted of aiding Avery in Halbach’s rape and murder.”
2. . “The docuseries alleges that Halbach’s ex-boyfriend, Ryan Hillegas, was never considered a suspect. He was never asked for an alibi for the day she went missing. Avery’s defense team used this fact in the trial, with Buting saying to Special Agent Fassbender, ‘Often, the most obvious suspect in a homicide is a spouse . . . or you look at a boyfriend or an ex-boyfriend.’ ” The prosecution, however, never considered Hillegas.
3. Her brother. Viewers have noted odd behavior from Halbach’s camera-happy brother, including his alongside her ex-boyfriend as well as this excerpt from an interview he did with the documentarians one day after his sister had been reported missing.
Interviewer: “How are you holding up?”
Mike Halbach: “Um . . . I mean… the grieving process, you know, could last days, could last weeks, could last years. You know hopefully, we find answers as soon as possible so we can, you know, begin to . . . hopefully, you know, move on, hopefully with Teresa still in our life.”
4. “.” The strangest theory involves an unrelated local man whose erratic, violent behavior led his wife to believe he was the one who had committed this murder.
As for the case AGAINST Avery: In addition to the things we learned about him in the documentary — including offhanded references to his previous arrests for both animal cruelty (he doused his cat in gasoline and threw it in a fire) and for threatening a woman at gunpoint — there’s a that didn’t make it in, including . Did Avery do it after all?
For his part, prosecutor Ken Kratz did an interview with to shore up his case that the guilty parties (Avery and his nephew) are already in prison.
, the directors maintain they presented a clear view of the trial as they saw it:
“I guess I would ask Kratz what he would trade it for. We tried to choose what we thought was Kratz’s strongest evidence pointing toward Steven’s guilt, the things he talked about at his press conferences, the things that were really damning toward Steven. That’s what we put in. The things I’ve heard listed as things we’ve left out seem much less convincing of guilt than Teresa’s DNA on a bullet or her remains in his backyard.”
The documentary has galvanized so much interest in the case, and so much public belief that Avery was framed, that several petitions have demanding new trials for him and Brendan Dassey. Public interest in the case doesn’t look likely to stop anytime soon, so look for new tidbits on the case popping up in the following weeks and months. Whatever the outcome, “Making a Murderer” has made detectives of us all.