'Making a Murderer' Update: Bobby Dassey Named Top Suspect in New Brief

Steven Avery's lawyer, Kathleen Zellner, responded to the State of Wisconsin in a 49-page brief on Thursday, and it that response she named a suspect for the murder of Teresa Halbach who wasn't her client. The brief names Bobby Dassey as a leading suspect.

The state has been campaigning against Avery's request for a new evidentiary hearing, so Zellner issued a response explaining why the Making a Murderer subject has ample material to submit as new evidence.

Some of that, Zellner argued, has to do with Dassey.

Making a Murderer viewers will remember Dassey is the brother of Brendan Dassey, who is currently in prison for the murder of Teresa Halbach. Avery is in prison for the same. Both men claim they're innocent.

This isn't the first time Dassey has been mentioned. Part 2 of the true-crime series, now streaming on Netflix, shows Zellner explain the possibility that Dassey was involved in Halbach's death. More information on Dassey can be found here.

Zellner is convinced Dassey lied in his testimony during Avery's trial. He claimed he was asleep the day of Halbach's murder, but computer records tell a different story, the brief claims.

"At trial, the State's primary witness Bobby Dassey ("Bobby") committed perjury when he testified that Ms. Halbach never left the Avery property and that he was asleep when he was doing internet searches," the brief reads.

"He has a direct connection to the murder by his subsequent 3 admissions, violent pornography and word searches that reflect knowledge of the crime and the victim, motive and opportunity to commit the crime and plant evidence against Mr. Avery, including bones from his burn barrel and blood from Mr. Avery's sink."

That's just the introduction. Later pages of the brief go on to detail that Dassey could have used his own burn barrel to dispose of Halbach's body. Fans of the series may remember that it explained a list of human bones were found in Avery's burn pit and was used as evidence against him. Zellner has consistently argued that these bones were planted on Avery's property to frame him.

The bones were confirmed to be human, but Zellner alleged to Newsweek last year that they were never actually tested before they were return to Halbach's family.

This is a major violation of Avery's rights, Zellner explained, as the bones should be examined for possible exculpatory evidence. Even without them, though, there could be reason for the court to grant a new hearing.

"If Mr. Avery establishes in an evidentiary hearing that the primary burn site was the Dassey burn barrel and the bones from that 28 barrel were planted in Mr. Avery's burn pit, that evidence would be potentially exculpatory and would undermine confidence in his verdict," the brief explains.

In his original trial, though Avery was found guilty of Halbach's murder, the jury declared him not guilty of burning Halbach's body.

Zellner didn't have any further comment on Dassey's possible guilt, but she did tell Newsweek what the next steps are.

After submitting the brief on Thursday, there's no set timeline for the state of Wisconsin to determine what Avery should be granted. The options are to grant Avery new testing on Halbach's Rav 4, and either grant or deny a new evidentiary hearing. If it's denied, Avery and Zellner will take their requests to federal court.