MANITOWOC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Steven Avery’s attorney filed another post-conviction motion Tuesday in the latest attempt to overturn his conviction or get a new trial for the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach.
Avery is serving a life sentence for the freelance photographer’s murder. Avery’s nephew, Brendan Dassey, was also convicted. Their cases received worldwide attention with the 2015 release of the Netflix series “Making A Murderer.”
While Dassey has no appeals pending — his latest appeal was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 — Avery has continued to file a series of appeals and post-conviction motions, now by attorney Kathleen Zellner.
The 50-page document filed Tuesday continues Avery’s claims he was framed, claiming another person is the actual killer. Since that person has not been charged, FOX 11 is not naming him.
“Two new witnesses in Mr. Avery’s case with new and compelling evidence about a murder mystery that has intrigued a worldwide audience. The rush to judgment and tunnel vision that led to the arrest, prosecution, and conviction of Mr. Avery is exposed by these new witnesses who provide new and undisputed evidence that directly links (the alternate suspect) to the murder of Teresa Halbach and the framing of Mr. Avery. Furthermore, this new evidence allows for a reconsideration of the real motive of this crime, as being a sexual homicide, which the culmination of an obsession by (the alternate) suspect with viewing thousands of image of violent, deviant pornography. On October 31, 2005, the obsessive fantasies of (the alternate suspect) became a reality when Teresa Halbach was brutally assaulted and murdered by two rifle shots to her skull,” the motion states. “Mr. Avery does not have to prove who committed this terrible crime to receive relief. This is not his intent or purpose. However, he does have a right to prove he did not receive a fair trial. The new evidence, which establishes that (the alternate suspect) meets all of the Denny criteria to be a third party suspect, and the evidence of two Brady violations demonstrate that Mr. Avery was deprived of a constitutionally guaranteed right to present a complete defense to the charges against him.”
The motion argues prosecutors failed to turn over evidence which would have pointed to the alternate suspect.
The motion also quotes another witness who claimed to see Halbach’s vehicle outside the Avery property after her death and before it was discovered, arguing that supports the theory the vehicle was planted there to frame Avery.
The state has not formally replied to the motion, and no hearings have been scheduled.
The case is currently assigned to Sheboygan County Judge Angela Sutkiewicz.
Before this filing, Avery’s most recent appeal was denied by the Wisconsin Supreme Court last November. That decision included the rejection of several claims related to the alternate suspect.
