Brendan Dassey, once convicted as a teenager in 2007 for helping his uncle Steven Avery with a woman's murder in Wisconsin that was the focus of the 2015 Netflix docu-series Making a Murderer, will be released from prison pending an appeal, local news reports announced Monday.
Brendan Dassey had confessed to helping his uncle, Avery, carry out the rape and murder of Teresa Halbach, but attorneys argued that Dassey's confession was false, and came under duress after his constitutional rights were violated throughout the investigation. Dassey was 16 when Halbach was killed in 2005 after she went to the Avery family's property to photograph some vehicles.
Dassey was serving a life sentence for his involvement in the crime.
On Monday, a federal judge ordered Dassey free on several conditions, including that he not have any contact with his uncle or Teresa Halbach's family.
Following Judge William Duffin's order to release Dassey, Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel released a statement Monday that he intends to file an emergency motion to stop Dassey's release.
Tweet may have been deleted
Earlier this year, a judge had overruled Dassey's conviction and ordered him freed. The state had appealed and Dassey's case could be re-tried, a Milwaukee news station reported.
The attorney representing Avery, who is serving a separate life sentence for the murder, posted on Twitter about the ruling.
Topics Netflix
