Netflix’s Making a Murderer dropped out of the blue in Dec. 2015 and captivated streaming audiences who were home for the holidays. This month, Making a Murderer Part 2 returns to Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey, both convicted of murder after a highly controversial trial. The trailer for the second installment catches us up on years of updates.
After Making a Murderer, Avery and Dassey’s legal team committed to overturning their convictions. Joining the original team of lawyers from the first part are esteemed Chicago defense lawyer Kathleen Zellner, who has made a career out of overturning wrongful convictions, and Tricia Bushnell, legal director of the Midwest Innocence Project.
The effort takes aim against a system that the defense teams say favors the prosecutions. The original case was riddled with controversies, especially in the wake of Avery’s release for a previous crime he did not commit. Zellner pokes holes in the prosecution’s case, pointing out that a phone call from the murder victim was made miles from the Avery’s property.
In 2016, Dassey’s conviction was overturned by a federal judge on the grounds that his confession was coerced, only to be reinstated a year later by the United States Court of Appeals. The case even made its way to the Supreme Court, though it rejected a motion to hear further appeals.
Making a Murderer was created by filmmakers Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos and premiered on Netflix in 2015, gaining massive critical acclaim and a large international audience.
Making a Murderer Part 2 premieres on Oct. 19 on Netflix.
