Steven Avery, Brendan Dassey of 'Making a Murderer' fame seek commutations

Nearly 21 years after the killing of Teresa Halbach, Steven Avery is still claiming innocence and pursuing exoneration.

Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey were convicted in the 2005 murder of Halbach at the Avery property in Manitowoc County. The case received international attention after Netflix’s “Making a Murderer” documentary released in 2015.

Here’s what to know about Avery and Dassey in 2026.

What are latest updates in Avery, Dassey cases?

Avery and Dassey have both applied to Gov. Tony Evers’ reinstated Commutation Advisory Board, which reviews eligible applications and makes recommendations for sentence commutation to the governor. A commutation shortens a sentence a person is currently serving, but does not reverse a conviction.

According to records obtained by The Post-Crescent, Avery submitted a commutation application to Manitowoc County on Sept. 10. Judge Guy Dutcher reviewed the application 11 days later.

“Consideration of the file contents and the application for commutation renders this court to conclude that sentence commutation would be entirely inappropriate,” Dutcher wrote.

Dassey submitted a juvenile life sentence commutation application Sept. 2. It was reviewed by Manitowoc County Judge Robert Dewane, who gave no opinion before the application – as well as Avery’s – was sent to the state board.

The next Commutation Advisory Board meeting is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Oct. 23. Neither Avery nor Dassey are listed as applicants for commutation on the meeting agenda. The board is not required to address their petitions.

What past appeal efforts have been made?

Avery has been denied in all of his prior appeal efforts in the Halbach murder case.

Most recently, on May 21, 2025, the Wisconsin Supreme Court denied Avery’s petition for review of his latest appeal. The appeal, filed in August 2022, asserted a different man killed Halbach, framed Avery and acted as a key witness against him at trial.

The Sheboygan County judge presiding over the case at that time denied the motion in August 2023, and Avery appealed the ruling.

On Jan. 15, 2025, the Wisconsin Court of Appeals sided with the judge and upheld the Manitowoc County Circuit Court’s denial of Avery’s motion for postconviction relief. A panel of three judges from the Court of Appeals said Avery’s motion was “insufficiently pled” and that there was not adequate evidence for an evidentiary hearing.

Following the decision, Avery’s attorney Kathleen Zellner said the denial was “expected,” but she told The Post-Crescent Avery “will never give up on proving his actual innocence” and that his “legal team is more dedicated to winning his freedom than ever before.”

Avery’s attorneys then asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to review the case in February 2025. The attorney general filed a response stating a review by the court would be a “waste” of the court’s “scarce time and resources.”

In March 2025, Avery sent a letter to the state Supreme Court without advice from his legal team. He wrote that he was “a victim of a setup” that “has to be fixed now.” The court said it would not take the letter into account because “Mr. Avery is not entitled to hybrid representation in which both he and counsel present arguments to the court.”

The Wisconsin Supreme Court also denied Avery’s petition for review for previous appeal attempts in 2011 and 2021.

Dassey saw a glimmer of hope for a release in 2016 when a federal judge overturned his conviction on the basis that Dassey’s constitutional rights were violated by the investigators interrogating him. However, a review by the United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit upheld Dassey’s conviction with a 4-3 vote.

In June 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would not hear Dassey’s case.

Where are Avery and Dassey now?

According to online records, Avery is being held in the Fox Lake Correctional Institution. On June 1, 2007, he was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole.

Dassey is in the Oshkosh Correctional Institution. He was sentenced to mandatory life in prison on Aug. 2, 2007, with the possibility of parole in 2048.

What happened to Teresa Halbach?

Halbach, then 25, of Calumet County, was a freelance photographer for Auto Trader Magazine. She went missing on Halloween 2005 while on assignment at Avery’s Auto Salvage, the Avery family’s 40-acre salvage yard in Two Rivers.

Avery had been out of prison for just over two years at the time after being wrongfully convicted of sexual assault in 1985. He was in prison until 2003, when DNA evidence proved another man committed the crime.

Investigators found burned bone fragments in a fire pit on Avery’s property, Avery’s and Halbach’s blood in the woman’s vehicle, remnants of a camera and electronic devices in a burn barrel, a bullet in Avery’s garage with Halbach’s DNA and the key to Halbach’s vehicle in Avery’s bedroom with Avery’s DNA on it.

In November 2025, Avery was charged with murder, kidnapping, sexual assault and mutilating a corpse. A few months later, Dassey was charged with party to the murder, sexual assault and mutilating a corpse.

Avery has maintained his innocence in Halbach’s slaying since his arrest, though Dassey, then 16, told investigators he assisted his uncle in sexually assaulting and killing Halbach, then burning her body. Dassey later recanted his confession but was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, with eligibility for release on extended supervision.

What is ‘Making a Murderer’?

Netflix’s “Making a Murderer” is a true crime documentary filmed over the span of 13 years that follows Avery and Dassey’s stories, as well as the case investigation, trial, aftermath and postconviction proceedings.

The documentary also highlights arguments made by Avery’s trial attorneys that the Manitowoc County Sheriff’s Office may have framed Avery. According to the attorneys, the department faced losing millions of dollars to Avery in a wrongful conviction lawsuit for which he served 18 years in prison.

The first season premiered in December 2015 and primarily focuses on Avery and Dassey’s arrests and convictions. The second season came out in October 2018 and explores the aftermath of the convictions. Each season has 10 episodes.