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The attorney representing Steven Avery said advances in forensic testing could help exonerate the man at the center of the popular Netflix series “Making a Murderer."
"Generally, since 2007, there have been significant advances in forensic testing ... the clearest way to do this is with scientific testing," Kathleen Zellner told Dateline NBC.
Zellner would not say what specific evidence would help prove her client is innocent of the 2005 murder of Teresa Halbach for which he is currently serving a sentence of life in prison, though she did say “there was a lot of evidence that wasn't tested."
Additionally, Zellner said there may be alternative suspects in the case at the center of the gripping documentary.
Meanwhile, Zellner's office tweeted a handwritten, signed note from Avery himself that read: "To My Supporter's [sic]: I want Every Forensic Test Possible Done B/c I am Innocent."
NBC’s "Dateline" will air a one-hour special Friday evening featuring Zellner’s first on camera interview on the case, as well as a rare sit-down interview from 2005 with Penny Beerntsen, the victim of the sexual assault case for which Avery was wrongfully convicted.
The series will also include new interviews with Steven Drizin and Laura Nirider, attorneys representing Avery's nephew Brendan Dassey who was also charged in Halbach's murder. Former prosecutor Ken Kratz will also make an appearance.
Avery spent 18 years in prison over the sexual assault of a jogger in Manitowoc County before he was exonerated by DNA evidence in 2003. He then filed a $36 million federal lawsuit against the county, its former sheriff and former district attorney over the handling of the case.
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However, soon after the county officials were deposed in the suit, Avery was accused of murdering Halbach, a 25-year-old freelance photographer. He is currently serving a life sentence in the case.
Avery filed an appeal earlier this month and Dassey is awaiting a judge’s ruling on a petition aiming to get him a new trial.
