This is the true story of how a dodgy trailer trash scum bag called Steve Avery was arrested for the assault on a young mother he was innocent of this charge served 18 years, was about to get a big pay off then he murdered a young lady he will now die in jail.
Quite right too.
OK book easy to read lots of Legal work in this story though. ( )

Originally posted here

I have mixed feelings about this book. Firstly, if you are reading this review and you have never heard of the Netflix documentary series Making a Murderer or Steven Avery then be warned, I am probably going to go into some details that could be classed as spoilers.

I like millions of others was riveted by Making a Murderer. However, I was dismayed to discover upon further research that a lot of evidence that was present in the Teresa Halbach trial was omitted from the documentary series, which kind of made me annoyed. I like to have all the information available before casting judgement. I was interested to read The Innocent Killer because I was hoping for an unbiased point of view of the whole thing.

Two thirds of this book concentrates on Avery's 1985 conviction and then (eighteen years later), the exoneration of the rape of Penny Beernsten. Griesbach's presentation of the facts and the subsequent police blunders was truly fascinating and gave much more insight into that case compared to what was explored by Making a Murderer. Sadly the last third of the book focusing on Teresa Halbach's murder in 2005 is where the narrative fell apart. Griesbach is unashamedly biased and wholeheartedly believes that Avery is guilty, without any clear explanation as to why. Key evidence presented by the defence was glossed over in this book and the whole trial was summed up in around sixty-five pages. That in itself is an injustice to the complicated nature of the whole case. It's a shame The Innocent Killer did not provide enough of an unbiased view like I had hoped.

Regardless, it was intriguing to read about a different point of view of Avery's conviction and there are snippets of information that I had never heard or read about before so I think it is a worthwhile read for those interested in Steven Avery's case. ( )

Unlike the Netflix series, this book focuses more on the initial wrongful conviction of Steven Avery. It was fascinating. This book does not portray Avery as kindly as the series does and it is nice to have two differing opinions of the man. Good read. ( )

It's rare, but what happened here is a good example of what happens when cops and prosecutors lose sight of their calling, when they're so convinced that what they're doing is right that they don't care about how they get the outcome they're seeking.

What happened in real life with Steven Avery seems like something out of a legal thriller. In fact while reading this book I had to keep reminding myself that these events are real and actually took place. As an American who is really interested in the criminal justice system I find myself in shock at what happened and hope that we as a country can learn from what happened.

Steven Avery was wrongfully convicted of an attempted sexual assault and spent 18 years in prison (not all of those 18 years were for the crime that he did not commit). After his release he went on to sue for wrongful conviction and just when it looks like he has built a really strong civil suit, Teresa Halbach goes missing and Steven Avery was the last person to see her alive.

Michael Griesbach really knows the ins and outs of this case and you can really tell that when reading this book. Griesbach played a role in getting Avery released from prison and also the subsequent trial for the murder of Teresa Halbach and does disclose this in the book.

I was surprised and impressed at the opinions that Griesbach expressed towards those police officers and prosecutors that dealt with the wrongful conviction of Avery. Quite frankly as someone that works as a prosecutor you wouldn't think that he would be that critical towards those who worked on the case and did everything possible to convict Avery. Griesbach shows refreshing honest in this book.

Griesbach did a great job in laying out both cases for the reader and while keeping it somewhat technical still making it interesting for laymen. I'm not a big reader of true crime (I've read a few) but I still found this to be really interesting and zoomed right through it. I would recommend this book if you enjoy true crime or if you are interesting in reading more about someone who was wrongfully convicted. There are important lessons to be learned from this situation and others like it and I only hope that our criminal justice system can truly learn those lessons and make some changes.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the galley. ( )