Netflix’s documentary series Making a Murderer with Steven Avery as its subject has caused tens of thousands of people to support a petition for the president to pardon Avery, says a report from Time. Avery was arrested in 2005 on murder charges and since then has been serving life in prison.
A story with many twists
So far, more than 100,000 people have signed a Change.org petition, while more than 18,000 people have signed a White House petition. The petitions are asking for a presidential pardon for Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey. The White House will be required to respond immediately if the government petition hits 100,000 signatures by Jan. 16.
Netflix’s story is about Avery and Dassey, who have been accused of raping and killing Teresa Halbach, a young woman who came to take photographs of Avery’s car for AutoTrader magazine. It is believed that she was last seen alive by Avery.
Avery’s nephew eventually confessed that he and his uncle raped, tortured and killed her after which they burned her body in the fire pit directly outside the house. If this appears a clear-cut case to you, I must tell you there are a lot of twists. Despite being exonerated from the crime by DNA evidence, Avery had to live in prison for 18 years, which he has just completed. Now after his $36 million lawsuit against the county, he is being accused of a brutal murder.
Netflix better than others
Netflix’s documentary Making a Murderer explores how Avery was convicted of murder in Wisconsin. The series is in ten parts and was released on Netflix on Dec. 18.
The documentary is not the first popular true crime series. There have been others such as HBO’s The Jinx and the Serial podcast. However, Netflix’s documentary is different than these two as it focuses on Avery’s innocence, according to reviewers. In Serial, Sarah Koenig is not able to reach a conclusion about Adnan Syed’s guilt, and The Jinx ends with Robert Durst’s seeming confession, says a report from Time. However, prosecutor Ken Kratz believes Netflix’s documentary leaves out vital information that proves Avery is guilty.
