Kathleen Zellner, the attorney for Making a Murderer subject Steven Avery, has filed a motion to test bones discovered in a Manitowoc County gravel pit that she believes will prove Avery’s innocence.
Zellner and her team filed a motion “of appeal and remand the cause for new scientific testing” on Monday “asking the Appellate Court to remand the case for this testing to take place.” The testing, which she claims to be different than the initial testing done on the bones, “has the ability to gather more data than traditional DNA testing.”
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“We are pleased to announce that one of the world’s leading DNA experts, Dr. Richard Selden @drrichardselden, is willing to test the bones in the Manitowoc County Gravel Pit with new Rapid DNA ID,” Zellner tweeted on Monday. “If this testing is allowed, we believe the bones will be Ms. Halbach’s.”
“This will prove the murder and mutilation occurred in the Manitowoc County Gravel Pit and the bones were planted in Mr. Avery’s burn pit to frame him,” she added in a second tweet.
Following the disappearance of Teresa Hallbach in 2005, investigators discovered bone fragments believed to be hers in Avery’s burn pit. During the trial, prosecutors used the bone fragments to make their case that Avery and his nephew, Brendan Dassey, had raped and killed Hallbach.
At the time, a pelvic bone was also discovered in a Manitowoc County gravel pit, a distance away from where the other bones were found. Zellner believes that should this bone prove to be Hallbach’s, “it would refute the State’s entire theory that she was killed on the Avery property in Avery’s garage and burned in his burn pit. That type of evidence reverses convictions.”
Zellner, who took on Avery’s case after it gained national attention, has long believed that Avery was framed for the murderer. Just last month, she detailed her theory that Dassey’s brother, Bobby Dassey, could be responsible for the crime.
In a series of tweets, Zellner noted that her client and Bobby were the only people who saw Halbach at the Avery Salvage Yard on the day that she was murdered. She also explained that Bobby followed her after she left, eventually getting her to pull over.
According to the theory, Bobby was able to frame Avery by taking a small amount of his blood from the trailer after Avery had cut his finger. That blood was then discovered in Hallbach’s car and seemingly directly linked Avery to the crime, though the blood evidence has largely been disputed.
Both Avery and Dassey are serving life sentences for Hallbach’s murder.
Making a Murderer Seasons 1 and 2 are currently available for streaming on Netflix.
