Making a Murderer

About

Making a Murderer is an American web documentary series that recounts the story of Steven Avery, a Wisconsin man who served 18 years in prison after being convicted of rape and attempted murder of a local woman, then exonerated and released as a result of DNA analysis in 2003, only to be subsequently convicted of the murder of a local photographer and sentenced to life in prison. Upon its Netflix premiere in December 2015, the documentary was immediately met with critical acclaims and reinvigorated public interest in the case.

History

The series was co-created and filmed in the states of New York and Wisconsin over the course of a decade by Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, a duo of filmmakers who began the project as graduate film students at Columbia University after learning about Steven Avery's case through a New York Times article in 2005. Following the completion of the post-production process, the documentary was picked up by Netflix as a ten-episode original series and premiered on December 18th, 2015, with the simultaneous release of the pilot episode via YouTube that same day.

Background

The ten-episode series follows the story of Steven Avery, a resident of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, who served 18 years in prison from 1985 to 2003 after being wrongfully convicted of rape and attempted murder of a local woman named Penny Beernsten, with a particular focus on his legal battle against Manitowoc County following his exoneration by DNA analysis in 2003. Later on, the series also highlights the case of Brendan Dassey, Steven Avery's teenage nephew who is charged with, and eventually convicted of, being a conspirator to the murder of another local woman and photographer Teresa Halbach in 2005.

Online Presence

On December 17th, the eve of the premiere date, the official Twitter account for the Netflix series was launched. On December 23rd, the official Facebook page for the show was created, accumulating nearly 100,000 likes within the first two weeks.

Reception

Online Reaction

Upon its Netflix premiere on December 18th, 2015, Making a Murderer immediately became a trending topic on Google Search and major social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook and Reddit, as well as drawing the attention of the Anonymous hacktivist collective and prompting the launch of "Free Steven Avery" petitions on Change.org^[17] and WeThePeople.^[18] The petitions garnered more than 532,000 signatures and 129,000 signatures, respectively.

Season Two

In July 2016, Netflix announced^[27] that the production for a follow-up season of Making a Murder has begun, which will revisit the case with an in-depth focus on "the high-stakes post-conviction process."

On September 25th, 2018, Netflix tweeted a teaser for the second season of the series as well as an October 19th, 2018 premiere date. They captioned the video, ".@MakingAMurderer Part 2 premieres October 19." Within 24 hours, the announcement received more than 4,100 retweets and 10,000 likes (shown below).

The second season follows Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey's post-conviction process, introducing their post-conviction lawyer Kathleen Zellner. Zellner told The Wrap,^[30] "We were disappointed with the lower court’s opinion because it was riddled with factual errors, ignored most of the legal arguments and misapplied the law. In the greater scheme of things, the higher courts will make the final decision on whether Mr. Avery will be given a new trial. This decision was a speed bump and we have many levels of courts to appeal to before this is over. It is good to be on the way to those courts."

Reaction to the second season was mixed. Twitter^[31] user @YouWatchIListen tweeted, "I have no interest in a follow up to Making a Murderer. Why does it need a sequel, especially after some of the key evidence in the first season was proven to be false?" Twitter^[32] user @ac_hutchens tweeted, "Arguably the best #Netflix documentary ever made, and we’re getting part 2! #MakingAMurderer is coming back."

That day, Twitter^[33] published a Moments regarding the second season.

Impact

Brendan Dassey's Case

On August 12th, 2016, the United States Magistrate Judge William E. Duffin in Milwaukee, Wisconsin overturned^[28][29] the conviction of Brendan Dassey, the nephew of Steven Avery and one of the two main subjects featured in the Netflix documentary, on the grounds that his confession was coerced by the law enforcement in violation of the defendant's constitutional rights. Dassey, who had been convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison at age of 16, will be released within 90 days unless the state of Wisconsin decides to retry him or appeal the ruling.

Andrew Colburn's Lawsuit

On December 7th, 2018, former Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Detective Andrew Colborn filed suit against Netflix and Making a Murderer filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, as well as the series' producers, for defamation. Colborn believes the series created the false narrative that he and other police officers planted and tampered with evidence to help convict Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey.^[34][35]

Colburn, in the legal brief, contends that he is "neither a 'public figure' nor a 'limited purpose public figure'" and has in not "injected himself into the controversy surrounding the Avery case." Additionally, he believes that elements of the case were distorted in order to portray the plaintiff as a "corrupt police officer who planted evidence to frame an innocent man."

The brief continues:

"Pertinent and significant aspects of MAM are not true as represented and are, instead, false and defamatory toward plaintiff and others. Material and significant facts known to the defendants were omitted and distorted. Despite overwhelming evidence proving Avery and Dassey’s guilt and the utter absence of evidence supporting defendant’s accusations of police misconduct, defendants falsely led viewers to the inescapable conclusion that plaintiff and others planted evidence to frame Avery for Halbach’s murder. Defendants omitted, distorted, and falsified material and significant facts in an effort to portray plaintiff as a corrupt police officer who planted evidence to frame an innocent man. Defendants did so with actual malice and in order to make the film more profitable and more successful in the eyes of their peers, sacrificing and defaming the plaintiff’s character and reputation in the process."

Some online responded to the lawsuit by expressing their negative opinion of Colburn (examples below).

Kim Kardashian's Support for Brendan Dassey

On October 2nd, 2019, NBC News26^[36] tweeted that, "Advocates for Brendan Dassey have promoted a website containing a list of documents related to his case, including a hand-written letter from Brendan addressed to Gov. Evers" Dassey's letter to the governor simply lists his own personal interests like Adam Sandler, fairies, and Pokémon (shown below). The letter also urges the governor to please pardon him because he's innocent. The tweet gained over 1,700 likes and 400 retweets in four days.

That same day, Kim Kardashian West^[37] retweeted the letter urging Gov. Evers to read it garnering over 6,000 likes. West also promoted the Bring Brendan Home website in a tweet (shown below, left).^[39] The tweet accumulated over 1,900 likes and 280 retweets in four days. The next day, CoDirector of Center on Wrongful Convictions Laura Nirider^[38] shared in a tweet that "Gov. Evers vows to consider application…At a public event Wednesday, Evers said he would look at Dassey’s request" (shown below, right). The tweet gained over 840 likes an 130 retweets in three days.

Search Interest

External References