In 2015, Netflix brought international attention to the case of Steven Avery in the Emmy-winning true crime documentary series Making A Murderer.
The hard-hitting first season combed through the two criminal cases that Avery was involved in. After being exonerated and released in 2003 for a wrongful conviction for the sexual assault and attempted murder of a young woman named Penny Beerntsen, for which the Wisconsin native spent 18 years in prison, he was charged and convicted again for the murder of another young woman, Teresa Halbach. The series also covered the trial of Avery’s nephew, Brendan Dassey, who was ultimately convicted for helping his uncle.
Making a Murderer focused primarily on Halbach’s murder trial, particularly detailing the defense’s accusations of prosecutorial misconduct, evidence tampering, and conflicts of interest, as well as an alleged coerced confession from Dassey. Season 2, which came out in 2018, depicted the family’s attempts to overturn the two men’s convictions with the help of famed wrongful conviction lawyer Kathleen Zellner.
Is Netflix releasing a third season of Making a Murderer?
No. Not presently, anyway, as there have been reports about a possible third season of Making a Murderer. Judging by a January 2024 X post, Kathleen Zellner is still representing Steven Avery, who recently appealed the court’s decision again, “alleging a mountain of factual and legal errors by his former judge.” However, there have been no other major developments in the Avery/Dassey case to warrant a third season.
In 2023, right-wing news media company The Daily Wire released a tentatively confutative docu-series titled Convicting A Murderer, which criticized Netflix and Making a Murderer docu-makers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos for “transforming an irrevocably evil man, Steven Avery, into a sympathetic character,” per host Candice Owens. The 10-episode show features interviews from people not included in its Netflix counterpart, namely law enforcement officers, family members, and fans-turned-investigators.
Making a Murderer won four Primetime Emmys in 2016 for Outstanding Editing, Writing, and Directing for Nonfiction Programming and for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series.