Steven Averys ex-fiance, Jodi Stachowski, figures prominently in the Netflix crime docu-series, Making a Murderer, in which she advocates for her former paramour. But in a new interview, which aired on HLNs Nancy Grace on Wednesday, Stachowski called Avery a monster.
Avery served 18-years in prison for a sexual assault he didnt commit. He was exonerated by DNA evidence in 2003. Two years later, Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey were convicted of the murder of Teresa Halbach.
In the Nancy Grace clip, Stachowski tells HLN producer Natisha Lance that she believes Avery killed Halbach. When asked why she would think he was capable of murder, Stachowski says, Because he threatened to kill me and my family and a friend of mine, though she says he always denied murdering Halbach when she asked about it. Stachowski says she was coming forward now because she wants to tell the truth and that is hes not innocent.
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The pair was in a relationship for two years. But Stachowski said their relationship was an abusive one, which were corroborated with police reports presented during the program.
I ate two boxes of rat poison just so I could go to the hospital and get away from him and asked them to get the police to help me, Stachowski says.
Stachowski also tells Lance that she was directed by Avery to make him look good and that she declined a final interview with the filmmakers last summer before the documentary aired. She said she asked to not be included in the documentary at all.
The interview includes Stachowski discussing Halbachs death, Dassey, whom she thinks is innocent, and she says she was supposed to testify against Avery but was never called upon. She also states she received further threats from Avery via letters from prison and that she has shared this information with authorities. While Stachowskisays she has not seen Making a Murderer, she maintains thatthe documentary was all lies.
Making a Murderer has raised questions about the U.S. judicial systemand inspired petitions seeking pardons for Avery.
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