'Making A Murderer': Here's Everything We Know About Season One

A new season of Making a Murderer, the Netflix series that told the story of convicted murderer Steven Avery, is starting on October 19.

Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey were convicted of the murder of photographer Teresa Halbach in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin in 2005. Both are serving life in prison.

Burned remains of the 25-year-old were found outside Avery’s trailer on October 31, 2005.

Here’s what we know from season one of the hit series that made Avery's and Dassey's legal battles into international news.

Filmmakers Are on "Team Avery"

Though there are many questions raised about the behavior of Wisconsin authorities, the creators of the series appear to side with Avery, according to USA Today.

Many members of Halbach’s family and the prosecutors have pointed out that the documentary only tells one side of the story.

The Case Against Brendan Dassey

Avery’s nephew, 16-year-old Brendan Dassey, had no criminal history and was in special-education classes at the time of Halbach’s murder.

He confessed to investigators that both he and his uncle raped Halbach, and then killed her and put her clothes on a burn pile on Avery's property.

Season One showed many troubling aspects of Dassey’s conviction, including how the prosecutors’ investigators repeatedly pressed Dassey for more details about the murder.

But a federal appeals court ruled in 2017 that the confession given by Dassey should not be thrown out.

The Framing Question

The series asked whether it was possible that the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Department tried to frame Avery.

One possible motive, according to the series, was the fact that Avery was suing the county for $36 million over a previous wrongful conviction at the time of Halbach’s murder.

The Vial

One question that the series explored was whether it was possible that a Manitowoc investigator had planted Avery's blood from a vial in Halbach's car.

But a DNA expert from the FBI testified that according to testing, the blood almost certainly would have come from Avery bleeding.

According to USA Today, a newspaper obtained court documents indicating a prison nurse who drew Avery’s blood in 1996, “would testify that she was the one who put the hole in the vacutainer tube at issue.”

However, the nurse, reportedly identified as Marlene Kranitz, did not testify because “the prosecution didn’t think the defense had raised the blood hole theory at trial strongly enough to warrant rebuttal.” She died in 2012.

The Key

The key to Halbach’s car was found in Avery’s trailer. This ended up being a damning piece of evidence.

The series pointed out that a Manitowoc County investigator found the key after six previous entries to the trailer. But the State Crime laboratory Chief testified that she found Avery's DNA on the key.

This would indicate that both the DNA and the key would have had to have been planted in order for Avery to have been framed – which is much more unlikely.

Where Are They Now?

Avery is still in prison.

Avery’s new lawyer has failed to win a new trial, and lost the latest motion filed in in Manitowoc County Circuit Court in September. She remains committed to the case.

Dassey is also still behind bars. Dassey’s new lawyers had better luck, at least initially. They were able to get his conviction overturned in federal court in Milwaukee. However, the conviction was later reinstated.

The U.S. Supreme Court declined to consider his case in June.

Read more: USA Today