Steven Avery: The Movie

In Wisconsin, Steven Avery has been an obsession.

To say that the media coverage of the murder trial has been excessive is an understatement.

People are fascinated by the story.

Although the announcement of the verdict arrived unexpectedly, late on Sunday afternoon, the media were poised to pounce.

Some locals stations broke into regular programming to bring the latest news, including statements from victim Teresa Halbach's brother, the lead prosecutor, and the defense attorneys.

Helicopters brought live scenes from outside the Calumet County Courthouse, even though there was really nothing to see.

I want to be very clear about this.

There's no question that Steven Avery's case is newsworthy. It's a legitimate, major story. There's no question that it should receive attention and be covered thoroughly.

I understand why stations preempted programming to inform viewers of the verdict, though a crawl probably would have sufficed.

I don't get the need to provide live extended coverage of the news conference. I think a report on remarks could have waited for the next scheduled news broadcast, but that's just me.

Obviously, the media were giving the people what they want. Apparently, people can't get enough of the story.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has extensive coverage of the case.

The JS notes that Avery's conviction for the killing of Teresa Halbach made American legal history.

Avery is only the second person to be convicted of a serious crime after being freed from prison through DNA testing and the first such person to be subsequently convicted of killing someone, according to the national Innocence Project.

...Avery personalized efforts to free wrongly convicted prisoners in Wisconsin when he was released from prison on Sept. 11, 2003, after having served 18 years. He was the first Wisconsin prisoner freed by the now 9-year-old Wisconsin Innocence Project, which used DNA tests to link another man to the assault that put Avery in prison.

The Wisconsin Innocence Project, a program of the University of Wisconsin Law School, is affiliated with a national program, the New York-based Innocence Project.

According to the national organization, 197 people have been freed from prison through DNA testing after having been wrongly convicted of a crime. Before Avery, the only one to later be convicted of a serious crime was Kerry Kotler of New York.

Kotler was freed from prison in 1992, after serving 11 years for a rape that DNA tests eventually showed he did not commit. Less than three years later - and three weeks after being awarded $1.5 million for his wrongful conviction - Kotler was convicted of another rape and sent back to prison.

The fact that Avery was freed and now is on his way back to prison has put him in the national spotlight.

Avery's journey from prison and back again is getting attention across the country. Literally hundreds of news outlets are running the story.

CHILTON, Wis. -- A man who spent 18 years in prison for a rape he didn't commit was convicted Sunday of murdering a photographer, whose charred bones were found in a burn pit outside his home.

Steven Avery, 44, put his head down and shook it when the verdict was read. He faces a mandatory life prison term for killing Teresa Halbach, 25, on Halloween 2005 near his family's salvage yard.

Halbach disappeared Oct. 31, 2005, after going to the yard in rural Manitowoc County to photograph a minivan that Avery's sister had for sale through Auto Trader Magazine. Avery had called that morning to request the photo, testimony showed.

...Two years before Halbach died, Avery was released from prison after serving 18 years for a Manitowoc County rape that DNA analysis showed he did not commit. He later settled a wrongful-conviction lawsuit against the county for $400,000 and used it for his defense.

The jury convicted Avery of first-degree intentional homicide and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was acquitted of mutilating a corpse. The panel deliberated over three days and heard a month of testimony.

I'm thankful that Teresa Halbach's family members finally have some closure and can take solace that justice has been done.

But because Avery insists that he's innocent, and because his nephew Brendan Dassey will go on trial next month for assisting in the murder and rape of Halbach, this story isn't going away.

A young woman brutally murdered; Avery wrongly accused of rape, released from prison, then convicted of murder a few short years later.

It's a movie just waiting to be made.

That's what's bothered me about this case and the coverage in the media.

Steven Avery's crime and Teresa Halbach's tragedy provide entertainment for some and profits for others.

That's creepy. It doesn't sit well with me.

There's a fine line between reporting the news and exploiting it.

I hope people keep in mind that Teresa Halbach wasn't a character in a murder mystery. I hope they keep her family in their prayers.