Netflix
I’ve crushed plenty of Netflix shows in an unhealthy amount of time but I don’t know if I’ve ever binged anything harder than Making A Murderer when it hit the platform in 2015.
It didn’t take long for people to start to rally around Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey, who were convicted of the murder of Teresa Halbach after her remains were discovered on the former’s property in 2005.
Making A Murderer highlighted the many flaws in the case that led to the men being convicted, and while it appeared Avery got royally screwed over, Dassey was easily the most sympathetic figure in the documentary.
The special needs student was just a teenager when he was hauled in for questioning and was interrogated multiple times over the course of two days without parental permission or a legal representative before police were able to coerce a dubious confession out of him.
He’d eventually be sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in 2048, but in 2016, it appeared he had been granted his freedom after a judge ruled police had used impermissible tactics to get Dassey to admit to the crime.
Unfortunately, the state of Wisconsin would appeal the ruling, and after a long legal battle, the conviction was eventually upheld. Dassey then turned to the Supreme Court to hear his case, but after they declined to do so, it appeared he was out of options.
Now, Dassey has turned to a last-ditch effort in an attempt to gain his freedom, as CBS News reports he has applied for clemency in the hope that Wisconsin governor Tony Evers will allow him to walk free.
It’s definitely a bit of a Hail Mary but Evers said he’ll take a look at the case, saying:
“We’ll deal with it just like we do any communication we receive.
We give consideration to all sorts of things that we reject. Whether there’s criteria or not, we’ll consider it and respond back to them.”
It’s worth noting that a convicted murderer recently said he was the person who killed Halbach, but last week, Avery’s lawyer came out and said the man in question has no credibility.
Here’s to hoping Dassey will finally be able to go home and watch WrestleMania.