Questions We Still Have After Watching Making A Murderer
Making A Murderer is the Netflix documentary series about Steven Avery, a man who was released from prison after 18 years, having been wrongly convicted of rape, only to find himself on trial for murder just four years later. If that sounds crazy, it's absolutely nothing compared to the backstory and details of the murder investigation that had enough shady shenanigans going on that even the NSA would look at it and go, "Whoa, that's messed up." And while the series goes in depth with ten solid hours covering key elements to both the rape and murder cases, we're still left wanting to know more. Here are some spoiler-y questions we still have...which you should only read if you've finished the series.
Who Was Deleting Teresa Halbach's Voicemails?
Teresa Halbach was the 25-year-old freelance photographer Avery was convicted of murdering. During testimony, her ex boyfriend revealed that he and Halbach's roommate hacked into her online cell phone records in an attempt to see with whom she'd recently been in contact. During this course of questioning, it was revealed that several voicemails on Halbach's phone must have been deleted—after she was already dead. Then the documentary just moves on, never addressing this again. Um, what? There has to be some way to figure out what originating number remotely accessed her voicemail, and maybe, say, take a closer look at the guys who admitted to hacking her phone records! This is like asking a kid if she snuck some candy and believing her denial even though her face is covered in chocolate.
What Was Up With Her Ex-Boyfriend Being So Involved Anyway?
Halbach's boyfriend not only took it upon himself to do his own aforementioned digital investigation, but he also headed up the civilian search effort that ultimately led to the discovery of Halbach's RAV 4 on the Avery property. Call us crazy, but this seems like a monumental effort on behalf of a former lover. And at the risk of going full nutjob conspiracy theorist here, it sure seems like the guy wanted to be on the front end of this thing, almost gathering info in real time alongside the cops to make sure suspicion wasn't headed his way. Seriously though, if this ex-boyfriend went to these lengths for his ex-girlfriend's murder investigation, imagine how hard he was stalking her Facebook page. He probably kept liking every one of her status updates even after they broke up. Who even does that?
What Happened To Lenk And Colborn
Perhaps the most frustrating aspect to the targeting of Steven Avery for Teresa Halbach's murder has to be the involvement of Sgt. Andrew Colborn and Lt. James Lenk. Both men had direct ties to Avery's wrongful rape conviction, then magically happened to be the two Manitowoc County officers to find key evidence in the murder case...despite the fact that Calumet County was called in to handle the investigation specifically to avoid conflict of interest. Then there's Colborn's call into dispatch during which he read off Halbach's license plate numbers as if he was staring right at them. That's problematic because it occurred two days before the vehicle was found during a civilian search of the Avery property. Where are these two paragons of law enforcement today? Is there a Corrupt Cop Hall of Fame? Because we'd like to nominate these clowns.
Has The FBI's EDTA Test Been Validated By An Outside Agency?
In order to dispute the defense's claim that blood evidence was planted in Halbach's vehicle (on account of a broken evidence seal and what appeared to be a syringe puncture in Avery's DNA sample, which sat in the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Dept.), the prosecution enlisted the FBI to create a lab procedure to test for EDTA—the chemical used to preserve the blood. It was a rushed and shady move, complete with an FBI analyst testifying that he'd apply the lab findings on the samples submitted to all blood evidence from the vehicle, regardless of further analysis. So, setting aside that scientifically false and irresponsible claim, has the FBI submitted this lab procedure for peer review? And did Bill Nye find that analyst and choke him out yet?
Also, and this is a sub-question to a point made above: has the Manitowoc County Sheriff's Department offered any explanation for why the evidence seal on Avery's blood sample package was broken and why there would be a puncture hole in the cap?
Was There More Significant Evidence Against Avery Not Shown In The Documentary?
Ken Kratz, the elderly librarian-voiced special prosecutor in the Avery murder case, has spoken out about additional DNA evidence found in Halbach's car as well as phone calls Avery made to her on the day of the murder. But Kratz had some issues of his own, namely a prescription drug problem and a sexting scandal in which he was trying to hook up with a domestic abuse victim he was representing. So, maybe his word isn't that ironclad? The phone calls can be explained away on account of Halbach's appointment to photograph a van on Avery's property that day, and if this additional DNA evidence was handled with the same care as the rest of the samples (which were tainted by a lab worker's own DNA, by the way), were they even admissible as evidence? Is that really the only other evidence that was supposedly so damning that the filmmakers omitted? Because, at this laughably incompetent point, nothing short of Avery periscoping the murder is going to convince us he actually did it.
Have Any Of The Other Jurors Spoken Out?
The only juror to appear in the documentary was Richard Mahler and he happened to be the one who was dismissed from the case due to a family emergency. He's since alleged that two of the other jurors had ties to Manitowoc County employees and that when he left there was a deep divide over the verdict. Do we seriously have to wait for one of the other 12 to ink their inevitable book deals, or is someone just going to sit down with Diane Sawyer already and give us all the soft-focus, filtered details we crave about this case?!
Were Any Other Avery Family Members Investigated?
Since Teresa Halbach's remains were found behind Steven Avery's trailer, it makes perfect sense for the police to start with him as their number one suspect. But he wasn't the only person living on that massive tract of land. Avery's parents, sister, and brother, Chuck, all had homes on the property. And for as colorful a rap sheet as Steven Avery has, his brother Chuck was no model citizen either, possessing his own multiple charges of harassment and assault on women. Was Chuck ever questioned? Did they search his home, too, or did the sheriff's department go straight for the guy who happened to be suing them for $36 million dollars over his wrongful imprisonment? Nah, that probably wasn't a factored into this at all.