Since the release of Netflix's Making A Murderer documentary series a week before Christmas, 240,000 people have signed a petition asking President Barack Obama to pardon its imprisoned protagonist, Steven Avery. The series, comprising 10 episodes, presents the details of Avery's first case, in which he was imprisoned for a sexual assault in 1985. 18 years later, Avery was released after DNA evidence proved his innocence. However, two years after his release, Avery was charged with murder and sent back to prison for the rest of his life. The series portrays Avery's defense, which sought to prove that the State had planted evidence in order to convict Wisconsin resident. However, Ken Kratz, the State prosecutor, says the series omitted a series of crucial facts that would have proven Steven Avery's guilt.
The series "really presents misinformation," Mr. Kratz said in an interview on Monday, according to the New York Times.
Kratz asserts that Avery's sweat had been found under the hood of the murder victim, Teresa Halbach's car. This was not shown in the documentary series. Further, Kratz says a bullet found inside the garage where the alleged murder occurred matched a rifle found over Avery's bed. "If they planted it, how did they get a bullet that was shot from Avery's gun before Nov. 5?" he said.
The documentarians behind the series, Lauran Ricciardi and Moira Demos, say they reached out to Kratz for an interview, and the former prosecutor refused to answer any questions. Further, they assert that all the facts presented in Making A Murderer were the most relevant in the case.
However, Kratz remains steadfast. "Steven Avery committed this murder and this mutilation, and Steven Avery is exactly where he needs to be," he said. "And I don't have any qualms about that, nor do I lose any sleep over that."
