My Thoughts + Theories on Making a Murderer Part 2
I couldn’t not do a blog post on Netflix’s Making a Murderer Part 2, because just like the first season, it had me completely invested (I cried again, guys) and uncontrollably talking to pretty much everyone I know about the case. Today I’m sharing my thoughts and theories on the second season of the show released on Netflix last week, who I think killed Teresa, details of the planted evidence, additional information I’ve found & how I feel about Kathleen Zellner. Now, let’s dive in!
*SPOILER ALERT!*
I will be talking about all the details of the case including everything in Part 2, so if you haven’t watched it all yet and don’t want it to be spoiled, come back later after you’ve seen it.
WHO’S SIDE I’M ON
To start this off, I think both Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey are innocent in the murder of Teresa Halbach. I truly believe Steven would never have committed a crime so similar to what he was wrongly convicted of years ago, and getting to know him and his family through the documentary, I just don’t see it as a possibility.
As for Brendan, this is all so sad to me. They used him as a tool/pawn to nab Steven simply because they believe he’s guilty and wanted a confession out of someone that put Steven at the scene, and were willing to get that confession by any means necessary. It’s so clear they manipulated him. I think it’s highly possible the authorities truly believe Steven is guilty of the crime, but I think they could have planted the evidence they needed. They appear to have a huge vendetta against Steven, likely due to the lawsuit from his first wrongful conviction.
I don’t believe Brendan was of high enough intelligence to commit this crime without leaving any trace of DNA. They don’t have anything on him but his confession, which is so clearly false. He didn’t understand the magnitude of what he was saying, guessing what the cops wanted to hear and asked if he could go back to class afterward — clearly not comprehending anything. This is all such a mess and as everything progresses, it becomes more and more clear that there’s so much corruption involved. Very fishy.
CORRUPTION
Whether it’s the police planting evidence or the real killer steering the authorities in the wrong direction (or both), someone is being deceitful here. The inaccurate blood splatter/placement in Teresa’s car, how and where her car was found, Bobby Dassey’s computer history, the first location where Theresa’s car was left, the lack of evidence that an actual assault occurred in Steven’s bedroom and all the other smudged details don’t make the pieces of the story fit together, and it’s shocking that was overlooked.
In my opinion, I think Stephen’s blood was placed in Teresa’s car, the car was placed on his family’s lot, the key was placed in his house and the shell casings were not from the crime. This is all so elaborate to me that it’s amazing someone out there, or a group of people, were able to get away with it for this long.
Also, let me just say that Ken Kratz is too much. The fact that he’s still trying to involve himself in the case with interviews, releasing a book and showing up places he shouldn’t be at shows he’s looking for attention — even after his scandal. He seems to want to profit off this case as much as possible and will do so by any means necessary. I can’t stop laughing at Kathleen’s thoughts on him & that she says what everyone else is thinking!
THE GREAT KATHLEEN ZELLNER
…AKA, my new hero. OMG, this woman is killing it. I didn’t know what she was going to be like when they first introduced her on the show, and only hoped that she could at least make a difference. Like many of you, just a short time into the show had me admiring her and her work. Her job isn’t easy, it’s ridiculed and probably dangerous, but she’s pushes through in order to do what’s right. She’s ruthless when it comes to finding the truth and isn’t leaving any stone unturned. She believes in Steven and seeing her fight so hard to find out what really happened and to set him free is so admirable. She’s so intelligent and savvy at what she does and like many of you, I’d LOVE to be a fly on the wall in her investigation!
If you’re not following her on Twitter yet, you need to be. She’s constantly doing Q&As answering questions a lot of people have had following the last episode including any and all developments, clarification on things that didn’t seem finalized and so much more. It’s a great place to find additional insight, as well as keep up with everything as she uncovers it off camera. I seriously have so much respect for her.
POSSIBLE SUSPECTS
The biggest one on my list is Bobby Dassey. He stood out to me in the first season and I was always left wondering why they didn’t look any further into him whatsoever, at least not on the show. I had no idea if they would explore the theory of him being a possible suspect in Season 2, but THEY DID! Boy, did they uncover some nasty things about him, right?! I was legitimately SHOOK at his Google searches that they flashed across the screen and the disgustingly huge binder Kathleen had documenting all of them. This kid is twisted and for the prosecutors to see all of this, sweep it under the rug, label it as Brendan’s computer and pretend like they didn’t find anything of substance on it is despicable. How anyone in their right mind could ignore that kind of information, with Bobby potentially being a predator, just to nab someone else is despicable.
A lot of things are standing out about Bobby: the tail lights, being at the right place at the right time, his story not matching up, lies, his interest in death and torturing women… the list goes on. I think the scene Kathleen’s team reenacted could have very well been what happened. How he got her alone (potentially, this is all speculation of course) and was able to commit the crime without anyone hearing or seeing, I don’t know. I’m going to be listening to this video I found today, which is apparently the audio from Bobby’s interview — it’s 50 minutes long, so I hope it’s telling.
Scott Tadych possibly being involved is something I didn’t see coming. How close he is to the case with being married to Brendan and Bobby’s mom makes this all that much for intriguing, and honestly scary. The placement of Teresa’s car so close to his property is a red flag that I wish would have been addressed a long time ago. I don’t see him as being a big of a potential suspect as Bobby, but I do think it’s possible that he may know more than he’s letting on. However, is this theory is disproven, that won’t surprise me.
Now onto Teresa’s ex-boyfriend, Ryan Hillegas. This is something they didn’t touch on at all in the first season if my memory is correct. How he got access to her planner when it should have been with her in her car at the time of the murder is pretty big deal. Like Kathleen described, he’d have to have had access to her car before it was found, meaning he definitely could have been involved in placing it on the Avery property. Also, it’s possible that he had access to it before it was officially “found,” found out someone had moved it and just didn’t say anything.
THE FUTURE
I’m equally frustrated by Steven and Brendan being wrongly accused as I am about the real killer still being out there somewhere and not getting punished for it. I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life in jail for a crime I didn’t commit and the whole world thinking I did something so heinous. The number of failed attempts they’ve had in the last 10-11 years trying to convince people in power of their innocence has got be just as devastating as it is exhausting. I admire them for sticking through it, but I suppose that’s easy to do when you know you deserve freedom.
It’s sad to me that Teresa’s family may be finding comfort in knowing Steven and Brendan are behind bars when they might may not have been the ones who killed her. I do agree that all the publicity in this case has taken the focus away from Teresa in a sense, but I hate to say I think it’s necessary in this scenario to find the truth. I hope Kathleen is able to continue to make big moves with this case and in her process of squashing Steven’s conviction, she’s able to further prove Brendan’s innocence as well.
__________
What are your thoughts on the series and the case? Who do you think murdered her? Do you believe there’s corruption? Let’s chat in the comments! I could seriously go on and on about this case and additional evidence Kathleen has uncovered, but I’ll stop here. If you end up listening to Bobby’s interview too, let me know what you think. Thanks for reading & have a great weekend!
P.S. If you enjoyed this post, I did a similar one on Netflix’s The Staircase here.
