Convicting a Murderer

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.

For those interested in seeing more about the Avery case without having to deep dive into your own research, this is a good watch so far. I have no opinion on Candace Owens either way, but I will say she is my least favorite part of this show. Points of the case they want to hammer home shows her repeating herself multiple times, and I find a lot of the jumps to her talking are out of place and mess with the flow of the show.

I'm enjoying how the show makes the rebuttal to Making a Murderer (MaM). Showing scenes from MaM and how their recordings are edited was a nice touch. Making the case that MaM intended to leave out key parts of conversations and recordings is enough for to watch the show by itself in my opinion. I'm also thoroughly enjoying having interviews with people that support both sides of the case.

Overall, the pacing seems a little slow, and Candace's frequent appearances retract from my score. If you like true crime, definitely worth a watch.

Edit (10/5/23): As the series goes on, I like the pacing more. Definitely tuning in every week until it finishes!

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.

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.

As a 20 year investigator, so many things about Making A Murderer didn't make any sense to me. Convicting A Murderer answered those questions for me and told the whole truth. Complete interviews, complete police reports, actual forensic evidence, and common sense are finally being shown to the public.

Candace Owens haters will be happy to find that she is only a small part of this. People who have actually been victimized, and/or their loved ones, comprise the interviews in the film and provide evidentiary support for the correct conviction that has taken place. Although justice has been served, to some extent, my heart breaks for the children involved.