Avery: The Case Against Steven Avery and What Making a Murderer Gets Wrong

Most people who are interested in this book are already familiar with the Netflix docu-series, "Making a Murderer". Unfortunately, the docu-series is one of the most slanted "documentaries" that I can think of. The series does very little to try to remain objective, but it's quite obvious from the very first episode that it tries to portray Steven Avery as a poor man who is being framed by law enforcement for the murder of Teresa Halbach, a 25 year old photographer.I have to admit that when I originally began to watch Making a Murderer, I initially thought, "Ah, the police are setting this man up so that they don't have to pay the $36 million!" However, as I continued to watch, it became apparent to me that the documentary was very slanted in favor for Steven Avery's innocence. So I decided to keep an open mind, and after watching the documentary, I decided to do some further research. And I'm glad that I did. I found many omissions from Making a Murderer; and it was pretty obvious why these details were omitted: the creators of Making a Murderer are trying to paint a narrative for Avery's innocence, and including these other details would not help their cause.Fact of the matter is that the real victim here is Teresa Halbach, not Steven Avery. But Making a Murderer has caused legions of people to forget this fact. Also, we have to remember that all the physical evidence for Teresa are found on the Avery property:-Her RAV4 SUV.-Her burnt remains in Steven's burn barrel-The bullet with her blood DNA found in Avery's garage-The key to her SUV found in Steven's bedroom-Steven's blood found in her SUV-Steven's skin/blood DNA found under the hood of the RAV4 (not mentioned in Making a Murderer)Those are the facts, and there are other evidences too, but I won't list them all. But the question then becomes whether or not these evidences are there because they were planted by a corrupt police force, or whether they're there because Avery murdered Teresa Halbach. But another thing to consider is Steven Avery's question character, which is largely glossed over in Making a Murderer:-Avery doused his family cat in flammable liquid and tossed it in a fire (the series allows him to explain this away as just kids goofing around, again spinning the narrative in favor for Avery)-In 1985,Avery's own cousin, Sandra Morris, claimed Avery would do perverted acts such as masturbate in front of her as she drove past him. When she told others about this incident, Avery got wind of her telling others about his and he ran her off the road and pointed a gun at her. Making a Murderer then spins this incident by making Avery look like the victim in this situation. The show allows Steven to imply he was justified in his acts because was spreading supposedly false rumors about him and he claims the gun was unloaded (as if that makes it ok to point a gun at someone). And what's disturbing about the way the narrative handles this situation is that it seems to imply that the only reason Avery was prosecuted for this incident was because Sandra Morris was married to a Sheriff's deputy; but I'd like to think that people can figure out for themselves that if you run someone off the road and point a gun at them, loaded or not, then that person has every right to press charges and you will be prosecuted, regardless of whether or not you are married to a law enforcement officer!-Avery has apparently also been abusive to his ex-wife, as his sister-in-law reported in 1983 that Avery, "beat up on his wife, and she left home and went to a domestic violence center". Also, in a letter to his ex-wife, while he was wrongly imprisoned for a rape he did not commit, Avery said, "...if you dont [sic] brang [sic] up my kids I will kill you I promis.[sic] Ha Ha"-In a recorded phone conversation between Brendan Dassey and his mom, Dassey reveals some disturbing information that is omitted from Making a Murderer, and that is he implies that Steven Avery inappropriately touched him and a female family member. Dassey also when asked by his mom, "So Steven really did it (referring to the murder of Teresa Halbach)" Dassey's response was "yeah." This was a conversation between Dassey and his mom. This is pretty revealing.It's also worth noting that his ex-fiance who was featured in the docu-series, Jodi Stachowski, believes he is guilty of the murder of Teresa Halbach. This is a person who knows more about him on a personal level than any arm-chair detective who never even heard of "Steven Avery" until December of 2015.There is so much more that can be said about this case. Unfortunately, though, if Making a Murderer has revealed anything, it's that all it takes to get people to believe a lie is a documentary that is able to spin the narrative. Truth is, you can make anyone look innocent or guilty of a crime if you have the power of editing and manipulating which information makes it into the documentary.I urge everyone to honestly take a look at the evidence. The ONLY way the defense here works is if the entire police force is that corrupt. What we should not do is base our opinions solely on a documentary that was clearly created as a defense piece for Avery. Unfortunately, it seems that Making a Murderer has done it's job quite effectively in blinding people from objectively looking at the evidence.Many 1-star reviews for this book are from people who apparently haven't even read this book; they instead are giving it a 1-star simply because it's written by Ken Kratz, or because they believe Avery is innocent and will not even listen to the other side of the argument. Honestly ask yourself: are people who do such things really looking for truth? I think not. And that's a tragedy as these are real people, and Terersa Halbach was a real victim.

Ken Kratz's well-written book shows unedited transcripts and evidence presented to the jury at the Steven Avery trial, answering many of the questions raised by the Netflix series Making a Murderer. The conclusions won't necessarily be welcome for those proclaiming Avery's innocence, but the book is a gripping read and cannot be ignored by armchair detectives.Kratz reveals willful misdirection by the documentary team - for example, on the bullet fragment FL. Or the details of Andy Colbert's "calling in" the license plate. Or the syringe hole poked in the blood vial. And many more.We learn Kratz's sympathy towards Brendan Dassey, and the explosive revelations that he believed Dassey could have been released on a plea deal during the Federal appeal. Did Northwestern put their noble desire to improve the system for minors ahead of their client's interest? Kratz believes so.I came into this skeptical and, after watching both seasons of the TV show twice, disliking Kratz immensely. When he promoted his book, through an obviously planted question at the federal courthouse press event, I presumed "Avery" would be a whining rant. It's not, it's tightly written and well worth a read.Kratz addresses his own demons in some great writing on addiction and narcissism. He never shies away from his ugly behavior, even mocking his own appearance and thin voice. It's evident how much shame and responsibility he feels at his show off "big house and six figure income" sexting to the young sexual abuse victim he pursued.To his credit, Kratz never makes excuses for his behavior and explores his sex addiction honestly, even drawing parallels between himself and Avery and suggesting that if Steven Avery had had access to the therapy resources Kratz had enjoyed, Teresa Halbach might still be alive.Fans of the TV drama or true crime won't be disappointed: you could think of it this as a bonus "third season", giving a chance to relive some of the drama from Manitowoc County. Of course, by the very end of the book there is no drama, just facts and a brutally murdered young woman with the guilty parties in jail.

This is a very good book it answers some of the stuff that in the Netflix show making a murderer didn't make sense to me I don't believe or agree with everything he says in this book but it does make me question if Steven Avery is really innocent or not

After following this case I was very interested in the facts of the case. Very educationalAnd informative. Very well written

I’ve watched both MaM and CaM multiple times and while initially irritated at what was presented by MaM, learned from this book and Convicting a Murder, I am far more irritated at both the sordid culpability of both Netflix and the two people who knowingly and willingly had misled many who thought they had been accurate when in fact they had been anything but. In the end the unfortunate victim Teresa Halbach and her family along with friends were left abused, belittled and abandoned when they were most in need. RIP Teresa.

I'm happy you wrote this book, Ken. Absolutely maddening how many people have been brainwashed by "Making a Murderer." Read this book - Avery is right where he belongs.

Wie viele hier hab ich die Netflix Serie gesehen und war schockiert darüber, wie das amerikanische Justizsystem zwei Männer derart unfair behandeln kann. Ich wollte aber auch der Gegenseite Gehör schenken und hab mir daher dieses Buch besorgt.Meine Meinung ist seither eine andere. Es mag ein paar Ungereimtheiten in dem Fall geben, aber die Sachlage ist eindeutig. Avery und Dassey wurden aus meiner Sicht zurecht verurteilt. Dass man in einem solchen Fall nicht alle Fragen abschließend beantworten kann liegt vermutlich in der Natur der Sache.Enttäuscht bin ich rückblickend von der Serie: sie ist gut gemacht und sehr spannend, verschweigt aber bewusst gewisse Fakten und dreht die Geschichte zugunsten der Verteidigung. Am Ende fragt man sich als Zuschauer, wie zum Teufel die Juroren hier einen Schuldig-Spruch fällen konnten.Man hätte natürlich auch eine neutrale Aufarbeitung wählen können und beide Seiten beleuchten - auch aus Respekt vor der Opferfamilie und den Polizisten.Aber um es in Kratz‘s Worten zu sagen: „ You don’t want to muddy up a perfectly good conspiracy movie with what actually happened.“

I'm going to give this 5 stars just to counter the judgemental attitude of some of these reviews.I went into this book just the same as the rest of the viewers of Making a Murderer, I really wanted to discount all points out forward and believe the show but I kept an open mind and started.Now what you really have to ask yourself is 'who should I really believe?' should you believe a multi million dollar TV Broadcaster who wanted to make a successful 10 part series to make more money and win awards on the back of the Avery family, the Halbach family and the state? Or do you want to believe a lawyer who (past wrongdoings aside, this is mentioned in the book) was in the most basic sense just doing his job?Common sense has to come in somewhere and although I still remain neutral and would personally vote innocent in this particular case, there are a lot of very compelling points out forward in this book. Once you really think about it you have to wonder exactly how far does this conspiracy go?I think I've said enough about the case so I'll talk about the book itself. It gives a new point of view to people who have only just heard about the Avery/Halbach case and is broken down into simple segments which are easy to digest and not to "forensic science packed" so even the most layman (myself) can understand. I seriously urge you to go into this with an open mind but even if you don't you can't ignore the points put forward"Well Kratz is obviously lying in this book!" I hear you cry. Well why would this (once successful) lawyer and state Da put these lies into words, put his name on it and distribute it globally?Give it a read, open your mind and eyes.

Price was great and shipping was fast

... wird in diesem Buch erläutert. „Making a Murderer“ wurde zu Unterhaltungszwecken zusammen geschnitten und es ist wichtig, sich das nicht zu vergessen und sich nicht manipulieren zu lassen. Wer Fakten zum Fall Avery/Dassy möchte, die in der Serie aus dramaturgischen Gründen weggelassen oder gar verändert wurden, der sollte das Buch lesen... und überlegen, ob das, was Netflix da zeigt, nicht moralisch grenzwertig ist...