Netflix may be filled to the brim with lighthearted sitcoms, romantic comedies, and reality shows about food, but people still keep finding themselves drawn to the streaming platform's darker offerings. One such example is Making a Murderer, a documentary series that premiered on Netflix in December 2015. Now that a second season is finally arriving, fans may be wondering if Steven Avery is still in prison after Making A Murderer: Part 2, which will premiere on Netflix later this month.
Unfortunately for him, it looks like Avery is currently in prison, according to BuzzFeed. But if his attorney, Kathleen Zellner, has anything to do with it, he could be released soon. The 10-episode first season of Making a Murderer, which was made over the course of a decade, chronicles the arrest and imprisonment of Steven Avery. The Wisconsin native was first arrested in 1985 for allegedly raping and assaulting a woman named Penny Beerntsen. Officials gave Avery a 32-year prison sentence, but he was released in 2003 after 18 years, once he was proven not guilty, thanks to a new set of DNA results. The results helped determine that a man named Gregory Allen, who was already in jail for another crime, was Beerntsen's actual predator.
But, a few years later, Avery was arrested again for allegedly murdering photographer Teresa Halbach. This new case was a complicated one, and Avery maintained that he was innocent and likely being framed. But Avery was convicted of the murder in 2007, and was sentenced to life in prison. A jury also found Avery's nephew, Brendan Dassey, to be guilty of taking part in Halbach's murder, and he was sentenced to life in prison as well.
This is where Zellner comes in. Zellner specializes in false convictions, and her law firm has been trying to overturn Avery's 2007 conviction ever since Netflix released Making a Murderer three years ago, Digital Spy reported. Zellner will be a big part of Making A Murderer: Part 2, and the trailer features her heavily. "I have one goal, and that's to overturn the conviction of Steven Avery," she says.
The fact that Zellner signed on to represent Avery helped convince Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos, Making a Murderer's creators, to make a second season. "We thought it was an incredible opportunity to turn a lens on the post-conviction phase of the process — which is definitely a lesser-known phase of the process," Ricciardi told Vanity Fair in an interview.
The filmmaker also spoke with Variety about what viewers can expect in the upcoming season. “In part two, we wanted to look at the experience of the convicted and imprisoned, two people who are serving life in prison, maintaining their innocence, and wanting to fight to regain their freedom," Ricciardi said. "For us, the central dramatic question for part two was, will these two individuals succeed?”
While it looks like Zellner wasn't successful this time around, that's not to say the fight is over.
Making A Murderer: Part 2 will hit Netflix on Oct. 19.
