‘Making a Murderer’: Reddit Users Are Reviewing Evidence And Drawing Their Own Conclusions
The true-crime Netflix miniseries Making a Murderer has enthralled millions of viewers, and some of them have taken to Reddit to discuss and create theories on the case. Recently, actual evidence that was provided to the FBI for their investigation of Steven Avery has been uploaded by Reddit user Skip Topp. He has put the evidence on a new website, StevenAveryCase.org in PDF form and it is being scoured by Reddit users. According to Tech Insider, there are over 5,000 pages in the Making a Murderercourt case. The case also includes 14 critical files about EDTA in Avery’s blood. All 14 of those files are now available on the website created by Reddit user Skipp Topp.
In January, Dean Strang, who has gained fame through Making a Murderer as Steven’s former attorney, spoke to The Daily Beast about the evidence included in the files uploaded by Topp and its interest to Reddit users. His former client was convicted for the murder of photographer Teresa Halbach despite many questions about the investigation, questions that are examined in the Making a Murderer miniseries and that are discussed by Reddit users. He told The Daily Beast, “This is a case where I think substantial, real, and reasonable doubts remain about whether an innocent man got convicted.”
The evidence in the Making of a Murderer case that is seen as the most condemning is the presence of his DNA on the hoodlatch of Halbach’s RAV4. Strang takes issue with that evidence because his client’s fingerprints weren’t found on the vehicle. When asked about the presence of DNA, he responded as follows.
“But there were also no fingerprints there. If the DNA transfer was from his skin to the hood, where are the fingerprints? And you have, probably, both hands on the hood—potentially eight or 10 fingers that could leave at least a partial print.”
Steven Avery's lawyers argued the discovery of Halbach's car in plain sight at the salvage yard was suspicious. pic.twitter.com/LeURxZw852
— Making A Murderer (@MakingAMurderer) December 31, 2015
Investigators working the Making a Murderer case also indicate they found Avery’s blood smeared inside her vehicle, but again, there were no fingerprints. His attorney argues that the only way he wouldn’t leave fingerprints is if he were wearing gloves, but if he were wearing gloves, he wouldn’t smear his own blood in the vehicle. He believes the blood was planted by investigators.
Making a Murderer files include 14 folders of documents related to EDTA tests. These folders are among those uploaded by Reddit user Skipp Topp. The results contained within them discount Strang’s theory. EDTA is a preservative that is added to blood drawn from a suspect. The blood that was found on the RAV4 hoodlatch and smeared inside the car did not show signs of the presence of EDTA, making it highly unlikely the blood on the scene was planted by investigators. Strang believes the vial had been tampered with.
Jerry Buting worked with Strang on the Making a Murderer case and says that Reddit users have been truly valuable in their reviews of the evidence. He recently told Rolling Stone the following.
“We were only two minds… What I’m discovering is that a million minds are better than two. Some of these people online have found things with a screen shot of a picture that we missed.”
Among the things Reddit users have noticed in some of the Making a Murderer evidence is a discrepancy in some photos of a keychain. The one photographed with victim Teresa Halbach had several keys on it while the one investigators discovered in alleged murderer Avery’s bedroom was one key on a fob. Buting and Strang have suspected planted evidence all along and had they noticed this discrepancy in the Making a Murderer files, it would have strengthened their argument.
[Photo by Morry Gash, File/Associated Press]
