Before I go into the review, I just want to start by saying this is not a determination of my opinion on the Steven Avery case. Along the way I kept getting asked to give my opinion as to his guilt and I don’t have one. I am not an attorney or a detective and I don’t think this case can be solved by watching documentaries or reading theories online. Also, I do not have political ideologies that align with anyone at the Daily Wire. The only purpose of this review is to verify whether or not there is pertinent information (the best of me assertion, again I have no legal education) that was left out of the Netflix documentary Making a Murderer.
On December 15, 2016 Making a Murderer debuted on Netflix. This has been deemed by most to be the series that made true doc shows and movies more mainstream. Before this we watched Dateline and speculated about who was the killer and kept it to ourselves. And there weren’t a lot of people who cared about court cases or who was innocent and guilty. But, once this series aired we all had the opportunity to see a case and decide if we thought he should be in jail or not. Now, we could see testimony, evidence and the layout of a case displayed in an easy to consume form. Now, we could be the judge. Needless to say the series skyrocketed and by all accounts made Netflix the biggest name in streaming. The fact that this docuseries was available over the holidays and all of the episodes released at once meant that you could binge it, which was also something fairly new at the time. This perfect storm meant that Making a Murderer was all people would talk about for almost all of 2017. They wanted to express what they thought was the truth, extrapolated from what they thought was the facts.
Candace Owens claim in the trailer for the show was that Netflix had manipulated what was seen as evidence and left out documents that should have been shown. If you are going to talk about this case and Steven Avery, you cannot pick and choose what you tell. Not only did they present a biased view of the case and all it’s details, they shaped the way the public views Steven Avery. You can’t do that and call them facts. Initially, my intention was to list differences between the shows Making a Murderer and Convicting a Murderer. However, there is just too much to form an actual list for a review. And so, what I thought would be best is to address a few things that seem to be the most important to understand.
Steven Avery is portrayed in Making a Murderer to have gone from a man who was released from jail because of his proven innocence to back in jail for a murder he was framed for. A lot of people said he didn’t escalate from petty crimes to murder. Well, they are right and they are wrong. He didn’t escalate from petty crimes to murder, at the time of the murder he had already abused both of his spouses and accumulated a history with underage girls. There are documents shown which are from both spouses, each claiming he not only abused them physically but sexually. There are letters he wrote from jail telling the children how he was going to murder and dismember their mother in graphic detail and then run off with them. There were also several women who tell about his advances and improprieties with them (touching, pressure for sex, etc.). There was even a report filed by his underage neice that he raped her, which was moving to a charge but the attorney said he was just charged with murder and they were going to focus on the bigger fish. Yes, they show a minor burglary in Making a Murderer and glaze over the fact that he threw a cat into the fire (someone else took the blame, but he admitted it and it is even told by witnesses the cat crawled out and he threw it back in.), but they don’t tell you about the very real history he had accumulated with police before he was arrested for murder. You don’t see the several documents reporting abuse, sexual abuse, misconduct with a minor; none moved to charges because the victims were intimidated by threats to the lives of their families. Each time he threatened to kill them and their families, all burned down in their houses.
Many people questioned why he would murder a woman right after he got out of jail. And many family members and his spouse will tell you that he thinks he is owed because he was wrongfully convicted. Jodi tells of a time he told her all women owe him because he was jailed so long for a rape he didn’t commit. His entire family speaks throughout the show about how he believes he can’t be touched anymore because he went to jail for something he didn’t do. Everyone believes this is the reason he thinks he will get away with it. As for why he would murder Teresa Halbach, the strongest reason would be he made advances toward her and she rejected him. It is told by several people how he touched women inappropriately and would blow up if anyone rejected him or would become angry when told he was wrong. There is also mention from the woman who works with Teresa that once she came to take photos of a vehicle and he came out in only a towel and made her uncomfortable. There is also evidence to show that when Steven Avery made the appointment for the vehicle to be photographed, he used his sister’s name and number to do so. Making a Murderer shortened the message left on his sister’s machine, asking for the address because she didn’t know where to go. The receptionist at AutoTrader testified in court that when she checked in with Teresa she said it was Avery Brothers and she was heading that way, so she finally figured it out. But, it there is added suspicion as to why Steven would conceal his identity in addition to the fact that he had contact Teresa directly before to schedule photos. There is also the fact that he propositioned Brian Dassey’s ex-girlfriend the night before and was rejected to create more questions.
Yes, the provider of the information is Daily Wire and they aren’t exactly my choice of all outlets, but they made a docuseries with some serious endeavors. There is no political or ideological twist and there are no mentions of anything that would make it less than a display of facts. All of the claims are substantiated by documents and interviews. Candace Owens is rarely shown or involved, though she does echo some of the things shown in the series. I do not trust the outlet or Candace Owens. I trust facts. There are police reports, audio files and interviews with his family.
Overall, this is a well made docuseries. If you are a fan of Making a Murderer and have the opportunity (you have to have a Daily Wire subscription), I would recommend you watch it. There is a LOT of information to process. While only briefly and in portions, you do get to see the police reports and hear from his actual family members and law enforcement. Also, Candace Owens’ accusation of manipulation and omission of information is well founded. While it is structured well and the flow is good, there is a LOT to go through and they don’t leave anything in between as a transition. There is only fact and accusation after fact and accusation. So, you might need a break between episodes. While I’m not a fan of the “weekly release” format, I will say in this case it is warranted. I would say this doc is an eight out of ten. I loved that there was so much information and the evidence behind it, but I wish it was more binge friendly. The episodic form makes it hard to remember things from previous episodes and in a doc you want people to remember. That’s the whole point. It was good, I just feel like it could have been a little better to be better than the rest.
