One of the latest crazes and binge-watching obsessions is the 10-episode series Making A Murderer which has been brought forth by Netflix. The series was released in mid-December, and it has placed a huge spotlight onto the case of Steven Avery who was accused of brutally murdering 25-year-old photographer Teresa Halbach in 2005. Now, there are a lot of questions regarding what really may or may not have happened and plenty of theories to go with them.
Please let it be known that even though this case is years and years old, the series just debuted on Netflix in mid-December. There are going to be SPOILERS in this article for the show Making a Murderer . If you don’t want to know some of what happens, then stop reading now.
Avery was sentenced to life in prison for murder as was his nephew, Brendan Dassey, who was also involved in the murder and found guilty. All of this comes after Steven Avery was falsely accused of rape, served 18 years, and then was exonerated in 2003.
At the time he was arrested for Halbach’s murder, Avery had been suing Manitowac County, the sheriff at the time, and the district attorney at the time for $36 million. This case has brought about the hit series on Netflix and a number of theories since.
Many theories have riddled the internet with what they think actually happened, who they think actually did it, and if Steven Avery had anything to do with it at all. Hello Giggles has put together an excellent list of eight theories collected from Reddit, but everyone has an opinion.
Let’s take a look at five of the biggest ones going around right now.
1.) Satanic Ritual
This is one of the lesser believed theories, but one that is at least being passed around. Due to the fact that Teresa Halbach did disappear on Halloween, it’s believed that a cult of some kind may have kidnapped her for their rituals. Not only would a Satanic cult want to do this for their own benefit, but they could also easily make Steven Avery their patsy in it all and pin it on him.
2.) The Avery Brothers did it and framed Steven
As time went on, Steven Avery’s brothers appeared to turn on him more and stop caring what happened to him. In Making a Murderer , viewers can even see that at times it seemed like they were a little too involved in the finding of Teresa Halbach’s RAV4.
Rolling Stone even reports that Steven Avery himself thought his brothers framed him at one point and his legal team pointed the finger at their alleged guilt. Earl and Charles Avery have never once been looked at as suspects, but other than Steven and Brendan, no one else really was at all.
It is rather odd that the police never looked at either of the Avery brothers who do have a criminal history of sexual assault and violence. At one point in late 2005, Earl even hid from authorities when they went to his home to collect a DNA sample from him.
3.) Mike Halbach, Teresa’s brother, was involved in her murder
This is one that many people around the Internet have really latched onto and think it’s a true possibility. Many have said that he just seems sketchy and strange and like he doesn’t ever have any emotion. Now, Steven Avery’s mother, Dolores, has told the Daily Mail that she believes all her sons are innocent and places blame on Michael Halbach.
“I don’t remember it (the day Teresa Halbach visited Avery Salvage Yard) much. She was here but then she left, that’s what I know. They say her brother [Michael Halbach] might have had something to do with it.”
Often times, many put Teresa Halbach’s ex-boyfriend, Ryan Hillegas, in cahoots with Michael. Him taking charge as the leader of the search party and sending people exactly where they need to go to find her RAV4 has everyone on edge.
4.) The Manitowac County Sheriff’s Department and “The German Man”
This is one of the most obvious and one that a lot on the internet isn’t overly convinced on. Yes, the Manitowac County officials are not fond of the Avery family, especially Steven, but some feel it to be too obvious.
It’s mostly believed that someone else ended up killing Teresa Halbach, and the sheriff’s department and district attorney found this as their opportunity to stick it to Steven Avery. With him bringing the $36 million lawsuit against them, they would have to come out of pocket for it, and pinning this murder on him was the easiest way out of it.
With this theory in place, a post was written by a blogger named Brian McCorkle and then linked by Redditor wildantics85 regarding a situation with a woman in another town at exactly the same time Halbach disappeared. The woman’s husband was allegedly showing strange behavioral signs, and to not slander him, his full name has not been released, but his last name is allegedly “German.”
“The week of October 31st 2005, the citizen’s husband at the time […] was acting strangely, cutting the tags from her clothing and cutting her clothing apart. Their relationship became strained so she rented a place in Maribel, WI to separate. The property is about 5 miles from Avery Auto Salvage, and is located along the route Teresa would have taken…”
The woman claimed to also have found a pair of “yellow lace panties” that didn’t belong to her and that dogs found bones on their property.
The Reddit post and McCorkle’s blog have oddly enough since been taken down, but parts of it can be found on different sites.
5.) Bobby Dassey and Scott Tadych conspired in the murder
If you’ve watched the show, you know that both Dassey (Brendan’s brother) and Tadych (Brendan and Bobby’s stepfather) are extremely contradictory on the stand. They even contradict themselves and their own testimonies from the past. It seems like they almost implicate themselves by not having their stories straight.
These are just some of the theories out there, and again, Hello Giggles has a few more as well.
The case of Steven Avery is one that simply isn’t going anywhere soon, and numerous petitions have gained hundreds of thousands of signatures requesting his release. The White House has said though that a pardon will not and cannot come from President Barack Obama. Until anything else can be done, the theories for Making a Murderer will keep coming.
[Image via Netflix]