While the Manitowoc County police department and their investigation techniques are at the forefront of the Netflix series Making a Murderer, Steven Avery, the man convicted of murdering Teresa Halbach in 2005, discussed other suspects who may havecommitted the crime. In a 59-page court document filed in 2009 obtained by The Wrap, Avery alleged that his brothers Charles and Earl Avery, as well as nephew Bobby Dassey and brother-in-law Scott Tadych, all were capable of murdering Halbach and framing Steven Avery with the crime.
As far as possible motives, Avery claimed they ranged from Charles desire to frame Steven over money [following his wrongful imprisonment settlement], a share of the family business, and over Jodi Stachowski, Stevens girlfriend at the time. Charles Avery also had a history of assaulting women who visited the Averys salvage yard.
Earl Avery similarly had a criminal history, having been charged with sexually abusing his two daughters in 1995. He also eagerly assisted police in their investigation of Steven Avery.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Making a Murderer co-directors Laura Ricciardi and Moira Demos said that Averys legal team wasnt allowed to broach the topic of other suspects during Averys murder trial. The defense said if it was given the opportunity, theyd like to argue it wasnt Steven Avery but it may have been this person or that person, Demos said. And the judge said, basically, You havent met your burden of proof and Im not going to allow you to mention any of those people by name. But you can name Brendan [Dassey],' Averys nephew whose (possibly coerced) statement pegged Avery to Halbachs murder.