We thought we’d seen the last of convicted murderer Steven Avery and his nephew accomplice, Brendan Dassey, after Avery was denied a retrial and Dassey’s release from jail was blocked.
It turns out the immensely successful true-crime docuseries, Making a Murderer, is returning for a second season on Netflix. It is aptly titled Making a Murderer Part 2 and continues where it left off: providing an in-depth look at the high-stakes post-conviction process and exploring the emotional toll the process takes on all involved.
Avery, 56, is currently serving a life sentence (without the possibility of parole) for the 2005 death of photographer Teresa Halbach. The auto-parts yard owner had previously been jailed for 18 years for a sexual assault in 1985 but he was exonerated in that case by DNA evidence in 2003.
READ MORE: Steven Avery, ‘Making a Murderer’ subject, denied new trial
Two years later, Avery brought a US$36-million lawsuit against Manitowoc County, Wis., for the wrongful conviction. Making a Murderer‘s first part calls into question the investigation and trial that put Avery and Dassey behind bars and alleges the investigators and police in the case planted evidence and otherwise manipulated the outcome of the trial.
As for Dassey, in August 2016, federal magistrate William Duffin threw out the guilty verdict against him, ruling the conviction was based on a coerced confession that the defendant, now 28, gave as a 16-year-old with a learning disability. The state fought the ruling and won, and Dassey remains in custody.
WATCH BELOW: The latest on ‘Making a Murderer,’ Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey
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Steven Avery’s lawyer argues Teresa Halbach was killed by ex-boyfriend -
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Steven Avery’s new lawyer says case has ‘hallmarks of a wrongful conviction’ -
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Ex-detective says Steven Avery was framed, serial killer responsible for Teresa Halbach death -
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Dozens rally in support of convicted killer Steven Avery -
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Lawyer for Steven Avery files paperwork to have DNA evidence re-examined
In Making a Murderer Part 2, Emmy Award-winning filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos return to the Midwest, where they have exclusive access to Avery and Dassey, their families and the legal teams fighting for justice on their behalf.
“Steven and Brendan, their families and their legal and investigative teams have once again graciously granted us access, giving us a window into the complex web of American criminal justice,” said Ricciardi and Demos in a joint statement. “Building on Part 1, which documented the experience of the accused, in Part 2, we have chronicled the experience of the convicted and imprisoned, two men each serving life sentences for crimes they maintain they did not commit. We are thrilled to be able to share this new phase of the journey with viewers.”
READ MORE: Wisconsin wants ‘Making a Murderer’ inmate Brendan Dassey to stay in jail
Part 2 introduces viewers to Kathleen Zellner, Avery’s hard-charging post-conviction lawyer, in her fight to prove that Avery was wrongly convicted and win his freedom. Ricciardi and Demos follow Zellner, who has righted more wrongful convictions than any private lawyer in America, as she tirelessly works the case and uncovers unexpected evidence about what may have happened to Halbach and about how and why the jury convicted Avery of her murder.
Ricciardi and Demos also follow Dassey’s post-conviction lawyers, Laura Nirider and Steven Drizin with Northwestern University’s Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth, as they fight in federal court to prove their client’s confession was involuntary, a fight that could take his case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
‘Making a Murderer Part 2’ is available for streaming on Netflix as of October 19.
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