Steven Avery’s new attorney Kathleen Zellner promises that “explosive evidence” will free the Making a Murderer subject.
While speaking to PEOPLE, Zellner said that she has discovered “big, explosive evidence,” that she believes will shed light on the case and cause the courts to have to question Avery’s murder conviction.
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“We believe the case will ultimately collapse when it gets to the higher courts within Wisconsin,” she asserted. Zellner also went on to speak on behalf of Avery, saying that “he will die in prison before he would ever take a deal.”
“That’s why I’m so positive that he’s innocent,” she added. “That’s the strongest characteristic of someone who’s innocent: They’ll die in prison before they will admit guilt, and that’s Steven Avery.”
Making a Murderer debuted in 2015, captivating the world with the story of Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey, who were both convicted of murder after Dassey confessed.
Since then, Dassey’s lawyers have fought his conviction, claiming that his confession was “unconstitutionally coerced,” which a judge has since agreed with. Both men have maintained their innocence.
Making a Murderer was created by Moira Demos and Laura Ricciardi, who spent a decade filming what became the first season of the show on Netflix.
After the first season debuted to mass critical acclaim, the filmmakers sat down with Deadline and spoke candidly about the series and revealed how they maintained the motivation to keep going for the 10 years before signing a deal with Netflix.
“What drove us is we really felt we had this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to tell the story of one of Wisconsin’s first DNA exonerees who was later charged in a serious crime,” Ricciardi said. “He was wrongly convicted in 1985 and 20 years later found himself back in the system. We wanted to know, was he stepping back into essentially the same system, or had the system evolved over those 20 years.”
“He happened to be involved in a high profile murder case, but that wasn’t really what motivated us to cover it. We asked him if he would be okay with us telling his story, and we went on this incredible journey with him,” she went on to add. “We finished filming, for the most part, by 2007, and really needed time to work with the material, and felt like giving up was not a choice, it wasn’t an option.”
The complete first season of Making a Murderer is streaming now on Netflix, and part two will premiere Oct. 19.
