'Making a Murderer' News: Teresa Halbach Bone DNA Evidence 'Not Conclusive'? [VIDEO]
There are new allegations that the bones found on Making a Murderer subject Steven Avery's property may not have been Teresa Haibach's after all.
The bones found on Avery's lot were a big part of his conviction, as documented in the Netflix series Making a Murderer. The prosecution, along with DNA expert Sherry Culhane, confirmed the bones to be Halbach's, but one person from the Stop Wrongful Convictions campaign doesn't believe there was conclusive evidence at the time.
"The DNA evidence described above is not conclusive," said Lynne Blanchard, of Stop Wrongful Convictions. "How is it even possible for tissue to survive a fire that disintegrated 60 per cent of the bone mass? The teeth which are commonly used to identify a body because they outlast bone didn't even survive the fire. Something's wrong and it becomes difficult to accept this evidence as presented."
Blanchard went on to discuss how the process of identifying the remains as Halbach's was suspicious.
"Everyone accepts as fact that Teresa's remains were found in the burn pit. Obviously it appears to be very incriminating, but what is going on with this evidence?" Blanchard said. "Why weren't protocols followed? No coroner, forensic anthropologist, arson investigator or photographer was called to the scene when the evidence was discovered. They had all of these high paid experts at their disposal and didn't call on them until after the evidence had been shoveled up and taken to the sheriff's office."
It remains to be seen if this suspicion will result in another trial for Avery, but he does have a new lawyer, Kathleen Zellner, investigating the case currently. She spoke with Crime Time recently about why she decided to take this case.
"It had all of the hallmarks of a wrongful conviction case and then when I met him, I realized in the time I spent with him in 15 or 20 hours, I absolutely don't believe he committed this murder," Zellner said.
She also noted the possible police misconduct present in the Manitowoc criminal justice system.
"I selected the Avery case because I think that there was very blatant police misconduct in planting evidence and I think there is also a discrimination against the Avery family because of a perception that they were dispensable," she said.
Making a Murderer is currently available to stream on Netflix.
