By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc,com, originally filed Friday, January 8, 2016
HLN's Nancy Grace tonight at 8 on her show will lay out why she thinks Steven Avery is guilty and why the producers of the popular Netflix documentary "Making a Murderer" are wrong, wrong, wrong.
The documentary, which came out last month, has elicited massive sympathy for Avery, who was imprisoned for murdering Teresa Halbach in 2005. She had been assigned to take pictures of a van for AutoTrader (a Cox-owned operation) and was never seen again.
Avery, who served 18 years in prison until 2003 for a sexual assault crime he did not commit, and Brendan Dassey, his nephew, were both sentenced to life in prison for Halbach's murder in 2008.
"Making a Murderer" lays out a case that Avery had been framed by the cops. And viewers bought into it. More than 360,000 people have signed this change.org petition asking for Avery to be freed via presidential pardon. (The federal government, though has no jurisdiction. It's a state case.)
Grace wasn't buying this scenario in 2005 and isn't buying it now, even after seeing much of "Making a Murderer." She feels the jury and the prosecutors were right.
When you look at the Netflix documentary, it's a beautifully put together piece and very persuasive. But it's like having one half of a trial. It's not the whole story.
She said when she talked to Avery himself in 2005, she felt his story didn't hold up at all, especially how the victim's car ended up on his property. She also felt there was enough forensic evidence to point to Avery. She also thinks Dassey was at least guilty of raping her before she died.
Grace hopes her special will lay out the prosecution's case and provide a nice counterpoint to "Making a Murderer."
Fox News' Jeanine Pirro is airing a more evenhanded special Saturday. And Investigation Discovery is fact-tracking its own version.
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