Featured Image Credit: Wisconsin Department of Corrections / Netflix
Topics: Netflix, Film and TV, Crime
Joe Harker
Topics: Netflix, Film and TV, Crime
Steven Avery, the subject of Netflix crime documentary Making a Murderer, has lodged a new appeal as his lawyer has filed a claim alleging that there may be an alternative suspect.
In 2007 Avery was convicted to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole for the murder of Teresa Halbach.
Previously wrongfully convicted of the rape and attempted murder of another woman, Avery spent 18 years in prison before being exonerated, but two years later he was charged with murder.
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Claiming he has once again been wrongfully convicted, Avery has made and lost a number of appeals in his attempts to overturn his sentence.
Since the documentary was released, lawyer Kathleen Zellner has been working on Avery's case in an attempt to get him freed.
Her efforts were the subject of a sequel to Making a Murderer, though neither Avery nor his nephew Brendan Dassey have yet been exonerated or freed from prison.
Now, however, Zellner has filed paperwork for Avery's latest appeal which claims that a new suspect has arisen.
It said: "Two new witnesses in Mr. Avery’s case with new and compelling evidence about a murder mystery that has intrigued a worldwide audience.
"The rush to judgment and tunnel vision that led to the arrest, prosecution, and conviction of Mr. Avery is exposed by these new witnesses who provide new and undisputed evidence that directly links (the alternate suspect) to the murder of Teresa Halbach and the framing of Mr. Avery."
"Furthermore, this new evidence allows for a reconsideration of the real motive of this crime, as being a sexual homicide, which the culmination of an obsession by (the alternate) suspect with viewing thousands of image of violent, deviant pornography."
Previous potential suspects suggested in the case include Teresa Halbach's ex-boyfriend and Brendan Dassey's brother Bobby.
The appeal goes on to claim this unnamed alternative suspect acted out their 'obsessive fantasies' by murdering Halbach.
It also says the burden of proof is not on Avery to find the actual killer to demonstrate his innocence, and argues 'he does have a right to prove he did not receive a fair trial'.
Zellner says the new evidence meets all criteria for a 'third party suspect' and argues that Avery was 'deprived of a constitutionally guaranteed right to present a complete defense'.
If this alleged new evidence is compelling enough it could spring Steven Avery from prison, though it would need to buck the trend of his previous unsuccessful appeals to do that.
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