Making A Murderer Is Coming Back – And Sooner Than You’d Think

When is Making A Murderer back on our screens?

Making A Murderer Part Two will be made up of ten episodes, and Netflix has confirmed it will be ready to binge on Friday 19th October – so cancel all your weekend plans.

What can we expect?

Award-winning filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos return for part two of this story. Of the new series, the pair said: “Steven and Brendan, their families and their legal and investigative teams have once again graciously granted us access, giving us a window into the complex web of American criminal justice. Building on Part 1, which documented the experience of the accused, in Part 2, we have chronicled the experience of the convicted and imprisoned, two men each serving life sentences for crimes they maintain they did not commit. We are thrilled to be able to share this new phase of the journey with viewers.”

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like everyone’s favourite lawyers – and majorly unexpected sex symbols – Dean Strang and Jerry Buting, will be returning for this season, but Avery’s new lawyer, Kathleen Zellner, will be introduced. Zellner specialises in wrongful convictions, and the series will follow her working to overturn the case.

Where did we leave it in season one?

For those who haven’t watch the show since its release, here’s a little refresher: Steven Avery and his family owned a car yard in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin. In 1985, he was convicted of the sexual assault of Penny Beernsten, who was attacked while running along the beach near her home in Wisconsin.  He was identified by Beernsten, despite Avery having an alibi. 

Avery served 18 years in prison for the crime, but always maintained his innocence. Ultimately, he was exonerated with help from The Innocence Project, after DNA evidence proved that Beernsten was attacked by another man, Gregory Allen, who had previously been arrested on other rape charges.

After his release, Avery filed a lawsuit for $36 million against Manitowoc County and some of its police officers, who had failed to pass on important information. Then, two years after his release – and while the lawsuit was still pending – Avery was arrested again for the murder of Theresa Halbach, who had visited the family car yard before going missing. Again, Avery protested his innocence.

His lawyers, Jerry and Dean, built Avery’s case around the unreliable evidence presented by police and argued that he was being framed because of his lawsuit. The two presented several pieces of suspicious evidence, including the appearance of Halbach’s keys in Avery’s house, despite them not being spotted in earlier inspections and a tampered-with vial of blood. Avery’s nephew, Brendan Dassey, who has learning disabilities, also appeared to be coerced into stating that he and his uncle had murdered Halbach together. Ultimately, both Avery and Dassey were convicted of murdering Halbach.

What happened after season 1?

After the unprecedented success of the show, it made instant celebrities of them all and support was largely in favour of Avery being innocent. Prosecutor Ken Kratz claimed the documentary left out crucial facts. However, since the trial Kratz was forced to resign from his position as District Attorney after he was accused of sending “sexually coersive” texts to a 26-year-old domestic violence victim whose case he was working on. Two other women subsequently came forward with similar claims, and Kratz sought treatment for sex addiction and narcissistic personality disorder.
Brendan Dassey’s conviction went back and forth between being overturned and then not. After the series ended, a federal judge overturned his conviction after he deemed the confession “involuntary”, which The Department of Justice disagreed with. Furthermore, the sheer amount of interest in this series saw the creation of a huge White House petition in the US for Avery and Dassey to be pardoned, which actually received a reply from the Oval Office, who confirmed they would not be pardoning either of them. They both still remain in prison.

Is there a trailer for season 2?

Yes – a short 30-second trailer appeared on the Netflix US Twitter page – you can watch it here.