Brendan Dassey Said 'Making a Murderer's Steven Avery Molested Him

Public records show that Brendan Dassey accused his uncle Steven Avery of molesting him before they were convicted of murder.

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Complex Original

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While Making a Murderer made a strong enough argument for convicted murderer Steven Avery's innocence to convince more than 300,000 people to sign a petition asking for his pardon, there are those who've criticized the Netflix docu-series for leaving out "crucial facts."

One of those people is journalist Dan O’Donnell, who covered Avery's trial for the murder of 25-year-old photographer Teresa Halbach, and has referred to the series as "one of the more slanted, one-sided pieces of storytelling in recent memory." He now hosts a podcast titled Rebutting a Murderer, dedicated entirely to detailing why O'Donnell believes Avery is in fact guilty.

One thing that O'Donnell says not only the filmmakers, but also police and lawyers on both sides, ignored was the fact that Brendan Dassey, Avery's teenage nephew who was also convicted of helping murder Halbach, told detectives that Avery touched him sexually

Working off of O'Donnell's statements, The Wrap obtained transcripts through a public records request that show  Dassey did indeed tell investigators that Avery tried to touch his penis through his pants. The site posted an image of one of the transcripts, a conversation between Dassey and his mother. 

In that document, Dassey's mother asks "did he make you do that?," to which Dassey replies "ya." Later in the conversation he says that Avery would "grab me somewhere where I was uncomfortable."

So why is this important to the murder case? O'Donnell says it shines a light on the level of control that Avery could have exerted over Dassey, crucial evidence, he says, in showing that Avery could have coerced Dassey into helping him torture and kill Halbach. 

Avery's lawyers, speaking to The Wrap, have flat out denied that Avery molested Dassey in any way. The accusation is also part of the interview that the series and Avery's original defense team said was a false confession by Dassey.

Avery, who recently penned a letter from prison to his supporters, got an entirely new legal team after the series came out. That firm is currently working toward "adding Mr. Avery to its long list of wrongful conviction exonerations," they said. 

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