You never know where the next season of a TV show will venture. But in the case of Making A Murderer, a true-crime story unfolding in real time, the next plot twist is anybody's guess. Last week, news broke that Brendan Dassey's conviction was overturned by a federal judge in Wisconsin. In 2007, Dassey — who was found guilty alongside Steven Avery in the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach — was just just 16 when he was questioned and didn't have a lawyer or parent present. That lead to the potential for a coerced confession. Nobody could've predicted this turn of events — or its implications for what we might see happen to Mr. Avery next.
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Avery's new attorney, Kathleen Zellner, sounds optimistic about her client's future in the wake of Dassey's exoneration. She believes that retesting old DNA evidence — some of which she thinks may have been tampered with or planted — and presenting a new murder suspect will be enough to free Avery.
“There is evidence that already exists in the case that points to a different location and a different suspect,” Zellner told the New York Times. “We’ve got a combination of forensic evidence and a tip from somebody that we’ve interviewed multiple times that we think is credible.”
Meanwhile, the whole world will be watching the case with bated breath. Filming for season 2 of the hit Netflix series is already underway — with the participation of Ms. Zellner. So it's very possible that we will see what happens to Dassey after he is released (presumably in the next 90 days). We could also see Zellner cooperating with creators Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos to lay out her new theory for the audience. It's not outrageous to imagine watching Mr. Avery walk free in front of the camera. But without a clear idea of where the case will go in the weeks and months ahead, there is no wrap date or premiere in sight. That's true-life TV for you.
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