Dolores Avery, the mother of Making A Murderer subject Steven Avery, has died at 83. TMZ reports that Dolores died on the morning of July 8 after a long battle with dementia. Avery’s attorney Kathleen Zellner shared a message to his fans, saying, “He needs your support now more than ever” while also included his mailing address at the Waupun Correctional Institution in Wisconsin.
Avery’s brother Earl told TMZ that Dolores had been in hospice care for 3 weeks before her death and that the last time she spoke to Avery was approximately 8 or 9 months ago. Dolores believed and publicly maintained that Avery was innocent and died one day before his 59th birthday.
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As documented in Making A Murderer, Avery had previously been convicted for the 1985 sexual assault and attempted murder of Penny Beernsten. After serving 18 years in prison, he was found to have been wrongfully convicted and released in 2003. He was again arrested in 2005 for photographer Teresa Halbach’s murder, which he claims is another wrongful conviction. Steven and his nephew, Brendon Dassey, were convicted of killing Halbach after cops revealed that her remains were discovered in a fire pit on the Avery family’s property. Avery was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2007.
In September of 2019, a “notable” serial killer had confessed to Halbach’s murder. The killer wasn’t identified at the time, though they were serving time for another crime when they approached Convicting A Murderer filmmaker Shawn Rech with the confession. Rech admitted to Newsweek they hadn’t confirmed its legitimacy, “but seeing as it was given by a notable convicted murderer from Wisconsin, we feel responsible to deliver any and all possible evidence to law enforcement and legal teams.” He added that during their 20-month production, they had “uncovered an unfathomable amount of information and evidence that is leading us to the truth.”
