The Making A Murderer saga continues.
Kathleen Zellner, the defence attorney seeking a retrial of Steven Avery over the 2005 death of Teresa Halbach, had provided a judge with evidence she believes implicates Avery’s nephew Bobby Dassey in Halbach’s murder.
In her most recent attempt to overturn Wisconsin Circuit Court Judge Angela Sutkiewicz’ recent rejection of a new trial, Zellner points to grisly computer evidence not adequately assessed the first time around.
That evidence? Photos allegedly of Halbach, alongside images depicting “young females being raped and tortured, and images of injuries to females, including a decapitated head, bloodied torso, a bloody head injury and a mutilated body.”
In her most recent 54-page filing, Zellner argues that those images were accessed on the Dassey family computer at times when only Bobby was present. Speaking to Rolling Stone, the defense attorney said “the viewer – whom we believe is Bobby – has a morbid fascination with the death of young women”.
In the motion, Zellner also claims that the trial also messed up by ignoring a statement by Bobby’s older brother Bryan. In 2005, Bryan told investigators that Bobby told him he’d seen Halbach walking away from Avery’s trailer on the family’s auto salvage lot.
But, in the trial, Bobby said he’d seen Halbach walking towards the trailer. That testimony went a long way in convincing the jury of Avery’s guilt.
Zellner also points to a recent affidavit signed by Bryan, in which he said “I distinctly remember Bobby telling me, ‘Steven could not have killed her because I saw her leave the property on October 31, 2005.’”
Dassey didn’t respond to Rolling Stone’s request for comment.
Then, there’s the stunning claim that the amount of Avery’s DNA found on the bonnet hatch of Halbach’s Toyota RAV4 could have only been left if he tried to open it around 90 times. That claim echoes the documentary series’ running theme that the prosecution may have tilted the scales against Avery.
All told, Zellner’s motion argues there’s more than enough evidence to satisfy Wisconsin’s minimum burden of new evidence to open up a new trial.
Avery is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for Halbach’s murder.
In August last year, Brandon Dassey – younger brother to both Bobby and Bryan – had his homicide conviction overturned after it was found investigators’ coercive interviewing combined with Dassey’s “intellectual deficits, and the absence of a supportive adult, rendered Dassey’s confession involuntary.”
If you want to get around a broader run-down of the evidence Zellner claims could influence that conviction, you can do so right HERE.
