Netflix’s docuseriesMaking a Murderer, released in December 2015, was like a spotlight turning on — overnight — in the case of Steven Avery andBrendan Dassey.
A skeptical account of their prosecution for the 2005 murder ofphotographer Teresa Halbach, the series brought national attention to allegations of planted evidence, a coerced confession and a coverup.
“There was such a tremendous response to the first season,” says co-director Laura Ricciardi. “And we understood that people had lots of questions at the end.”
Life in prisonfor Avery and Dassey, his nephew, reflects the limitations of their incarcerationas well as their famesinceMaking a Murderer‘s premiere.
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“The world you see in part 2 is in many ways a new world because of part 1,” co-director Moira Demos tells PEOPLE. That includes increased support for and scrutiny of both Avery and Dassey, as well as outsiders looking to capitalize on their raised profiles.
“People are selling friendly letters for money or writing fake letters,” Demos says.
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Netflix
Avery, now 56,has twice gotten engagedwhile in custody — with the tabloid mediafollowing along at every turn— and he spends time at the maximum-security Waupun Correctional Institution working in the kitchen and receiving visits from family and a few close friends, says his attorney,Kathleen Zellner.
Still, she says, “It’s hell on Earth.”
Zellner says Avery is “at the beginning” of his appeal process, but his nephew’s hopes are dimmer since the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up his case this summer. His next legal steps are not known, though his attorneys say they are continuing the fight.
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Dassey’s family “has been unfailing” in their support, according to Steven Drizin,one of his two lawyers.
“Life in prison isn’t easy,” says Laura Nirider, Drizin’s co-counsel.
Dassey is “a hopeful guy,” Nirider says, “and he’s somebody who throughout all of this still manages to have faith that one day the truth is going to come out.”
source: people.com
