Notorious Inmate Confesses To 'Making A Murderer' Killing In Handwritten Note

A Wisconsin prison inmate has reportedly confessed to the murder of Teresa Halbach.

Her death was the subject of 2015 documentary series Making a Murderer, for which 57-year-old Steven Avery and his 29-year-old nephew Brendan Dassey are currently serving life imprison.

The confession was reportedly given to the film crew of Convicting a Murderer, rival documentary series, during filming.

Director Shawn Rech told Newsweek: "Seeing as it was given by a notable convicted murderer from Wisconsin, we feel responsible to deliver any and all possible evidence to law enforcement and legal teams."

Police are now looking to verify the confession.

The unconfirmed admission of guilt comes shortly after Avery's lawyer Kathleen Zellner, who featured in the second series of the acclaimed documentary series, announced her team were putting out a $100,000 reward for information on the case.

On Monday evening (23rd September), the 61-year-old lawyer tweeted: "We received the handwritten confession on Saturday. It is worthless unless it is corroborated. #MakingAMurderer2 #WorkingOnIt #NotsoFast".

Rech and his team have been in production for the last 20 months where they claim to have uncovered "unfathomable amount of information and evidence" that he says is "leading [them] to the truth."

The director also confirmed the confession did not come from Avery or Dassey.

Convicting a Murderer claimed to investigate the parts of the case that Making A Murderer left out, speaking to relatives of Halbach and Ken Kratz - the disgraced former District Attorny who played a huge part in putting Avery away.

The 10-part documentary series is due to launch in 2020 as a 'sequel' to Making A Murderer.

If the confession is corroborated and Avery is released it will be the second time has been found to be wrongfully convicted.

Avery had previously been wrongfully convicted of sexual assault and attempted murder in 1985 but was exonerated after serving 18 years of a 20-year sentence when DNA evidence found him to be innocent. After his release in 2003, Avery filed a $36 million lawsuit against Manitowoc County, and received a small fraction as a settlement.

Two years later, Avery was convicted of Teresa's murder and sentenced to life without parole.

Avery's 2007 murder trial was the subject of the 2015 documentary series which garnered the case international attention, and brought new evidence to light.

Viewers learnt about witness coercion and tampering of evidence on behalf of Manitowoc County Police Department, who Avery maintains framed him for the murder as payback for the disgraced police force's 2003 suing.

The doc also covered the arrest of Steven's then-16-year-old nephew Brendan Dassey, who is still serving time in prison, but maintains his confession was coerced.

Kathleen, who runs her own law firm specialising in freeing the innocent, was introduced in documentary's second season, which landed on Netflix in 2018.

Viewers watched as Zellner ruthlessly tore down the Manitowoc County Police Department's failures in protocol, bulldozed the defence's timeline of events and fought tirelessly to appeal Avery's conviction.

It awaits to be seen what happens next, but we'll keep you updated.

Featured Image Credit: Netflix

Topics: TV Entertainment, Steven Avery, Making A Murderer

Ciara Sheppard

Ciara is a freelance journalist working for Tyla. After graduating from the University of Sussex, Ciara worked as a writer at GLAMOUR Magazine and later as the Assistant Editor of Yahoo Style UK.

@ciarasheppard