Okay, I’m just going to address the elephant in the room and say that I do not know Teresa Halbach. It seems exceedingly likely that I am related to her (there cannot be that many Halbachs in Wisconsin) however I don’t know my Grandpa’s side of the family very well, and I don’t know any Halbachs in Manitowoc.
Does anybody in the family know how we are related to her? Aunt Sue maybe?
For those with no idea what I’m talking about, Netflix recently released a show entitled “Making a Murderer” about the murder of Teresa Halbach up in Manitowoc. Apparently everybody in the world is watching it, and I’m getting about 3 or 4 messages a day asking me if I’m related. Even worse, there are a significant number of people who just assume that we’re related, and are not bringing up this show to me because they’re worried it’s an upsetting topic.
The show is AMAZING and everybody should absolutely go and watch it immediately. I admit that I haven’t finished it yet (this baby has really put a cramp in our tv watching, let me tell you), but it is one of the most enthralling things I have seen in a long, long time.
I have to admit, every time someone says “Halbach” or it shows “Halbach” on the screen (about every 30 seconds or so), it throws me. Double that since it’s small town Wisconsin. Every interview, every recorded phone call sounds like my relatives from up nort’. It is like watching the twilight zone, or like someone made a documentary just for me. Freaking me out, believe me.
But the show itself is insane. Look, every documentary I’ve ever known anything about has been complete and utter bullshit. I absolutely assume this one is the same. I know they are trying to make it look like Steven Avery is innocent (or at least leave some doubt in your mind), and I don’t for one second lose sight of the fact that it’s a documentary and they are trying to shape a certain story. I’m sure they are leaving things out. Despite their best efforts, Steven Avery does not strike me as a guy I’d like to be friends with.
But all of that aside, O.M.G. this story. Manitowoc, I am looking some serious side-eye at your policing up there, geez o pete. Even if Steven Avery is guilty as sin, that does not in any way detract from from the absolute disaster of the way this case was handled. Even if Steven Avery is guilty, it’s not hard to imagine someone who isn’t guilty getting railroaded the same way. Brendan Dassey, for starters.
Anyway, everybody in the world is watching this show, and for good reason. Go watch it. Then come back here and talk about it. No need to worry about bringing up a sore subject.
Shane Halbach 
You admit that you suspect the slanted view of this story yet you believe the part about the police work? I don’t even like to watch stories that are made to attract attention by not telling the whole truth. Even when you decide, going in, that you don’t completely believe the whole “movie”, you still come away influenced by what is right in front of your eyes.
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Regardless of any slant that the show might try to take, there are parts that are unquestionably terrible on the part of the police. Two things in particular:
1) That the Manitowoc police didn’t recuse themselves completely when accused of tampering, but instead continued to “find” evidence, etc. They may or may not have done anything wrong, but why even raise the specter of it?
2) Allowing Brendan Dassey to be interrogated and then give a confession without his lawyer present
Both things are inexcusable, and are not disputed facts (The prosecutor has said that he regrets #1, and #2 got his lawyer removed from the case). Then there are things like the chief of police saying on tv that if they wanted Avery gone they would just kill him. I can’t think of any context that would make that statement acceptable from the chief of police.
I also believe that Brendan Dassey’s confession was coerced based on the video of the interrogation, but that one is perhaps a little more open to manipulation by the documentary, so I will limit to some of the issues listed above.
I am not taking a stand on whether or not Steven Avery is guilty, nor whether the police actually tampered with evidence.
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