Convicting a Murderer

The series is meticulously made, with great attention to detail, comprehensive interviews, and never-before-seen audio and video clips and court documents that belie the claims of Steven Avery and insinuations of the 'Making A Murderer' filmmakers, that Avery is innocent and that the police enforcement is corrupt. Candace Owens is a force in this film. They showed both sides of the argument and provided the facts that the Netflix film intentionally left out.

This film also shows the truth of the power of media to affect people's minds and lives, particularly for evil. It also shows how it's easy to fool people, and how difficult it is to convince them that they were fooled.

There's a ton of stuff the jury saw that Netflix kept from their audience simply because it went contrary to their attempt to exonerate Steven. Watch this and see for yourself. When I watched Making a Murderer I thought Avery was guilty but by no means was that my verdict because of what I saw on the docuseries. Netflix drove hard the idea that the police contrived to frame Steven for the murder of Theresa with the motive that they didn't want to have to pay him the settlement for having served 18 years in prison for a false claim against him. I saw this as flimsy, firstly because it credits these officers in question as genius masterminds of the highest order secondly because such a plan itself, as it was supposedly executed, relies so heavily upon an ability to predict Avery's actions as well as Theresa's. Given that and the circumstantial evidence against Avery I didn't buy the narrative Netflix was selling. Now having watched the first 4 episodes of Convicting a Murderer it's very easy to see why he's sitting in prison today, why he has had no success with juries and appeals, namely, the evidence speaks for itself.

I am convinced Steven Avery is right where he belongs.

After watching the Netflix series back in 2015 something didn't sit quite right, I couldn't point out why and I did my fair share of research. Over time I got more and more unsettled by his supposed innocence.

The edits and cuts of phone calls, altering the answers given in court, keeping evidence out ... Well, they're storytellers, but they choose to sit on the wrong side of it.

After watching Convicting a Murderer, I still think the police were flawed at times, some participants were shady, to say the least, but the evidence pilling up to the same person leaves no space for presuming Steven Avery could be innocent.

I admit I enjoyed Netflix's version but it is important to keep an open mind and not be blinded by what we're shown there. As thin as a pancake can be, it always has two sides. Here we get to see the family, the police, the media... a much wider perspective.

If you were one of the many millions who watched Making a Murderer (MaM) back in 2015 and became interested in the Avery case, then you owe it to yourself to take a look at Convicting a Murderer (CaM) and compare the two before reaching any conclusions.

For me, after watching CaM, it would seem that the producers of MaM have some serious questions to answer. The Manitowoc Police Department are right to be angry for their deliberate misrepresentations in the Avery case, simply to garner more viewers and pocket a few extra bucks at the expense of the reputation of local law enforcement. Their defense always seems to be, "We are storytellers, not journalists", and that is exactly what they do: they tell a story. The only problem is, it is not an entirely true one, and CaM does an excellent good job of filling in the blanks that its predecessor chose to ignore.

As CaM reveals over the course of 10 comprehensive episodes, rather than simply tell the whole story of the case, the makers of MaM instead chose to leave many important details out, and flat out manipulated many of the actual courtroom interactions to fit their own agenda. Sure, the police did make some mistakes, and none of them will be rivalling Sherlock Holmes for plaudits, but it really isn't a very complicated case - though MaM made it seem so.

As someone who made up their mind about Avery years ago, I didn't need any further revelations from CaM to support my original position. But what CaM does reveal is just how easy it is for the media to manipulate people. Of course, there have always been such people in society. Rest assured, those protesting on the streets outside the courtroom are exactly the same kind of people who stood in the crowd 2,000 years ago pleading for another murderer to be set free.

Nobody likes to see anybody wrongfully convicted of any crime that they did not do. But, in this case, I am sure that the family of Teresa Halbach regret every day that Avery's original 1985 conviction was overturned.

And that is the sad, sad truth of the real story.

Have greatly enjoyed this documentary through the first four episodes. If you're not a fan of Candace that's ok. She only provides minor commentary here and there. What's more interesting is hearing from those in Steven's family...there's a lot that was cut out of Netflix's interpretation. So it's good to see full context on some aspects of the case. If you want to be well rounded on this story this is a real must watch so you can at least say you've heard both sides. I can already say that I have a much better understanding of how cars are crushed, Avery's history towards women, and the insane behavior of this family. Do yourself a favor and watch this series.