Making a Murderer prosecutor breaks silence to reveal new evidence omitted by ‘insidious’ documentary makers that ‘proves Steven Avery is guilty’
MAKING a Murder's chief prosecutor has accused the show's producers of conning millions of viewers worldwide into thinking Steven Avery is an innocent man.
Ken Krantz has claimed the hit documentary makers used deceptive editing, left out key evidence and even fabricated facts in an astonishing new book.
The hit Netflix show alleged that Steven Avery, a man who had served 18 years in prison for a rape he did not commit, was then framed for another murder two years after he filed a $36 million lawsuit against Manitowoc County, Wisconsin.
Avery was convicted in 2007 of the 2005 slaying of Teresa Halbach the trial of which the documentary charted heavily suggesting his innocence.
Now using unseen evidence, the disgraced lawyer is attempting to put forward his side of the story and
also claims that the Netflix series destroyed the lives of two fine cops, Lt. James Lenk and Sgt. Andy Colborn.
In his revealing new book, Avery: The Case Against Steven Avery and What "Making a Murderer" Gets Wrong, Krantz claims the acclaimed documentary left his life and reputation in ruins.
He tells how the show's aftermath caused him to lose his law firm, receive more than 4,000 death threats and even have exploding packages sent to his office.
In the documentary it was revealed that in 2009 Krantz was forced to resign after it emerged he was sexting the ex-girlfriend of a man he was prosecuting.
The 56-year-old told : "Making A Murderer is a very good piece of entertainment but it's not really what happened - it's simply not how the case happened in real life.
"When the filmmakers came out with Making A Murderer it was so clearly not only biased but distorted in the sense that the public worldwide were being told certain facts existed or there wasn't evidence to convict him and evidence they did have was somehow shady or sketchy - that just simply wasn't true.
"I believe the filmmakers knew they were being dishonest when they presented the case in the manner they did.
"They are fooling people and shame on them."
He goes on to accuse the Netflix series makers, Laura Ricciardi and Moria Demos of using a technique called "splicing" to make the courtroom scenes seem different to how they actually took place.
In what he brands "more egregious than fabrication" he says the filmmakers altered the film to make it look like different answers were given to different questions.
This is how he claims they managed to make certain people appear as the "villains" of the piece.
Additionally he says that one of the central claims of Avery's defence, that a hole found in a vial of Avery's blood from his previous false rape conviction proved it had been used to plant it in Teresa's car.
But Krantz says this theory was disproved early on after a nurse provided written testimony saying she made the hole when she drew the blood from Avery.
However the film makers have stood by their work and rejected the lawyers claims.
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It was also revealed today that a federal appeals court will hear Avery's nephew Brendan Dassey who was also sentenced to life imprisonment in 2007 for the murder.
A federal magistrate judge overturned Dassey's conviction in August. He ruled that investigators took advantage of Dassey's youth he was 16 at the time and cognitive problems to coerce his confession.
The state of Wisconsin argues that detectives did nothing wrong.
Dassey, now 27, has remained in prison pending the appeal.
The case hit the headlines again just before Christmas after it was revealed Steven Avery sent a card to his supporters claiming he and his nephew Brendan Dassey would be freed in 2017
The card read: “To all my followers: Merry Christmas! Thank you for believing in me, science will save me and Brendan in 2017. Steven Avery.”
The 54-year-old’s case became a global phenomenon when it was made the subject of a Netflix documentary series.
Avery's nephew, Brendan Dassey, was also handed a life term after he confessed to detectives that he helped rape and kill Halbach.
Dassey’s family has made a festive appeal for donations to a charity for children who have parents locked up in jail over the holidays, reports the .
The 27-year-old’s family posted a Facebook message saying that while Brendan did not want any presents for himself he wanted people to help the Angel Tree Project.
In November, a judge ordered new tests into the blood vial which played a crucial role in convicting Avery.
Avery’s lawyer Kathleen Zellner has confirmed that an agreement was filed with Angela Sutkiewicz – the special judge appointed to oversee his appeal.
The vial of blood was a sample of Avery’s from 1996 which was allegedly tampered with during the trial, according to his defence.
Another crucial piece of evidence being retested is the spare key for Halbach’s sport utility vehicle which was found in Avery’s bedroom by sheriff’s deputies.
Also being re-examined is the swab from the hood latch of the victim’s vehicle that later generated a DNA profile for Avery.
Dassey, who was 16 at the time, suffers from cognitive problems and has an IQ of just 70.
State attorneys are appealing the decision while Dassey’s lawyers are trying to prove his confession and legal representation during his first trial were unconstitutional.
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